BIRD CHERRY. 137 



Linnaeus says, that sheep, goats, and swine, 

 eat the leaves, and that cows are fond of it, 

 but that horses refuse it. 



The variety with red fruit, commonly called 

 the Cornish cherry, flowers two or three weeks 

 later, and is therefore not so desirable in the 

 shrubbery. 



The bird cherry may be propagated by 

 layers, which should be performed in the 

 Autumn ; but the handsomest trees are raised 

 from seed, which should also be sown at 

 the same season upon a bed or border of good 

 ground. A wet soil is not congenial to this 

 tree. 



Medical writers tell us that a decoction of 

 the berries is sometimes given with success 

 in the dysentery ; and Dale informs us that 

 in his time the fruit was used to hang about 

 the necks of children, as a cure for the epi- 

 lepsy. A strong decoction of the bark is used 

 by the Finland doctors, who have private 

 doors for private patients, and its beneficial 

 effects are corroborated by the testimony of 

 M. Broerland, in the Stockholm acts. He 

 directs six ounces of the dry, or eight of the 

 fresh bark to be boiled away in eight pints of 

 water to four: the dose is four ounces four 

 times a-day. 



