THE BURBANK CHERRY 



The foundation stock with which I chiefly 

 worked was the variety known as Early Purple 

 Guigne, crossed with the Black Tartarian; but in 

 subsequent crosses the qualities of Russian, French 

 and American cherries and of numerous others 

 were introduced, in an attempt to achieve the 

 ideal cherry. 



A familiar but notable characteristic of the 

 cherry, in which it differs markedly from most 

 other fruits, is its habit of ripening at the very 

 beginning of summer, while many of the small 

 fruits are not yet in blossom. This characteristic 

 gives the cherry peculiar commercial value, as it 

 comes on the market at a time when there is a 

 scarcity of fruits. 



It occurred to me many years ago that there 

 would be a still greater advantage if a cherry 

 could be produced that ripened several weeks 

 earlier than any variety then on the market. 



So early ripening was one of the first ideals 

 at which I aimed. With that object in view I 

 naturally selected for my early hybridizing 

 experiments specimens growing on trees that were 

 observed to bear earlier, even if by only a few 

 days, than surrounding trees. 



To come at once to the sequel of the story, I 

 may say that I was able after many years of 

 experimentation to produce a cherry that ripens 



[211] 



