XIX 



THE CLASSIFICATION OF CHERRIES 



THE cherries seem to divide naturally into 

 several comparatively distinct classes. These 

 classes are so far separate and distinct that 

 nearly every pomologist who has studied 

 them has been able to recognize and describe 

 them, and various pomologists are, therefore, 

 fairly well agreed as to the limits of these dif- 

 ferent groups. There is still some disagree- 

 ment, to be sure, and at many points it seems 

 impossible to reconcile one particular classifi- 

 cation with another ; but these discrepancies 

 and contradictions are less important than 

 with most other classes of fruit. 



We have, at the outset, two distinctly dif- 

 ferent botanical species, Prunus avium and 

 P. cerasus, giving us our sweet cherries and 

 our sour cherries respectively. There is very 

 seldom any doubt as to whether a given 

 variety comes from one or the other of these 

 species. Beyond this point we may divide 

 the two species into several fairly well-marked 



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