IN CHERRY AND BERRY TIME. 95 



from rusting in the tree, and so injuring it. The 

 Kootenays are famous for their cherries, as they 

 are for strawberries and apples ; while the Okanagan 

 is regarded as the country of the peach, the 

 tomato, and the apple. The varieties of the cherry 

 principally grown in the former district are Governor 

 Wood, Black Tartarian, Royal Anne, and Early 

 Richmond. The first three are sufficiently well known 

 in England to need no remarks. The Governor 

 Wood is grown because it ripens early. The Royal 

 Anne, which is a synon3^m for the Napoleon Bigar- 

 reau, is the prime favourite on the Prairies, and in 

 the Kootenays grows to a remarkable size. The 

 Early Richmond is in great demand for preserving in 

 syrup, a form of keeping fruit for winter use exten- 

 sively employed by Canadian housewives. Certainly 

 a dish of preserved cherries, eaten along with some 

 preparation of rice, is delicious in the early spring. 



I am given to understand that the best cherries to 

 grow commercially are the Bing and the Lambert. 

 Both are big, dark-coloured fruits, which, having 

 firm skins, travel well for long distances, and always 

 command good prices. When packing cherries in 

 the way that I shall describe presently, it is easier, 

 more economical, and quicker to pack large fruit than 

 small fruit, and the superior attractiveness of the 

 larger and finer fruit is self-evident. Hence, if one 

 were planting a cherry orchard from the beginning, it 

 would probably be a judicious plan to select the Bing, 

 the Lambert, the Royal Anne, and the Early Rich- 

 mond. There is something to be said for Governor 

 Wood on the score of its early ripening; but, as a 

 fruit, it is distinctly inferior to the varieties I have 



