TIIK CHERRY. 



335 



might open the communication between Europe 

 and that continent ? We may as well imagine 

 that all men would wear stockings for ten thou- 

 sand years, and never have the sense to think of 

 garters to tie them. All these seem convincing 

 proofs of the youth, or ratlier infancy, of the 

 world, as being founded on the operation of 

 principles more constant and steady than those 

 by which human society is governed and directed. 

 Nothing less than a total convulsion of the ele- 

 ments will ever destroy all the European ani- 

 mals and vegetables which are now to be found 

 in the western world." 



Several liqueurs are manufactured from cher- 

 ries. A large black cherry (Merise noircj is 

 used in the composition of the ratafia of Gi-en- 

 oble; and the maraschino of Zara is prepared 

 from a particular species of cheny cultivated in 

 Dalmatia. Kirschwasser, which is a cheap spi- 

 rit, fonning a considerable article of commerce, 

 is the fermented liauor of a small black 

 cherry. 



The whole of the genus prmivs yield what is 

 commonly called gum, that of the cherry tree 

 being the best. But this substance, which is 

 aiUed cerassin, resembles tragacavth (the gum 

 of the astragalus), and is therefore improperly 

 called gum, as the term is usually understood, 

 and applied to gum Arabic. 



The Romans had eight varieties of cherry. In 

 the British gardens are upwards of forty sorts. 

 The French divide the cherries into grioUes, or 

 tender-fleshed; Ugarreatix, or hard-fleshed ; and 

 gidgnes, or small fruits. The fruit of many va- 

 rieties is somewhat heart-shaped; hence the very 

 general name oiheart-cherr!/. Why some are called 

 dukes is not so well ascertained. The Morello 

 cheny is very distinct from the other varieties, 

 bearing almost exclusively, in the preceding 

 years, stock wood, and the pulp of the fruit has 

 somewhat of the consistence and flavour of the 

 morel ; whence the name. 



Vai'ieties of the clierry are continued by graft- 

 ing, or budding on stocks of the black or wild 

 red cherries, which are strong shooters, and of a 

 longer duration than any of the garden kinds. 

 Some graft on the Jlorelle, for the purpose of 

 dwarfing the tree, and rendering it more prolific; 

 but the most effectual dwarfing stock is the ma- 

 haleb, which, however, will not succeed in the 

 generality of soils in Britain. For procuring 

 new varieties, however, recourse must be had to 

 raising from the seed. From these a good many 

 new sorts may be expected. The stones are 

 planted in light sandy soil, in autumn or spring. 

 They will germinate the same year, but should 

 not be planted out till the second autumn after 

 sowing. The cherry thrives best in a dry, light, 

 sandy soil, and an elevated situation. Some 

 sorts, as the May-duke, will tlirive in all soils 

 ond aspects. Early fruit is obtained from wall 



trees; but the cherry does equally with espaliers 

 or standards. Insects, as the red spider, attack 

 the wall-cherry ; but the other sorts are not very 

 liable to be preyed on by such vermin. 



The Chinese Cherry (prunus pseudo-cerasiisj 

 is a valuable new species of that fruit, introduced 

 into this country so recently as 1819. The fol- 

 lowing is an extract from the account of this 

 variety, pi-esented to the Horticultural Society 

 by Mr Knight, their president : — 



" I received a plant of the Chinese cherry from 

 the garden of the Horticultural Society in the 

 summer of 1824, after it had produced its crop 

 of fniit ; and it was preserved under glass, and 

 subjected to a slight degree of artificial heat till 

 the autumn of that year. It appeared very little 

 disposed to grow ; but produced one young shoot, 

 which afforded me a couple of buds for insertion 

 in stocks of the common cheiry. Soon after 

 Christmas the tree was placed in a pine-stove, 

 where it presently blossomed abundantly, and its 

 frnit set perfectly well, as it had previously done 

 in the gardens of the Society, and it ripened in 

 Jlarch. The cherries were middle-sized, or ra- 

 ther small, compared with the larger varieties of 

 the common cheny, were of a reddish amber 

 colour, very sweet and juicy, and excellent for 

 the season in which they ripened. Tlie roots ot 

 the tree were confined to rather a small spot, and 

 the plant was not even in a moderately vigorous 

 state of growth. I therefore infer that the fruit 

 did not acquire either the size or state of per- 

 fection which it would have attained if the tree 

 had been larger and in a vigorous state of growth, 

 and the season of the year favourable." 



The Gean fprtmus avium J, the ¥vench. giiignc, 

 is a tall tree common in woods in some parts of 

 England, and frequently growing wild in Scotland. 

 The fruit is smaller than that of the common 

 cheny, of a red colour when unripe, and a 

 deep purple or black when it an-ives at maturitj'. 

 The flavour is superior to that of most cherries. 

 Indeed, the cerone, or black cherry, is supposed 

 to be an improved variety of the wild gean. The 

 wood of this tree is used for many kinds of do- 

 mestic furniture, and other purposes. 



The Bird Cherry (prtmus padtis). This is 

 a Greek name given to this tree by Thcophrastus. 

 It is in shrubberies very ornamental, from its 

 purple bark, bunches of white flowers and ber- 

 ries, which are successively green, red, and black. 

 It is common in the native woods of Sweden and 

 Scotland, and in both countries the benies are 

 infused in spirits in order to give them an 

 agi'eeable flavour. The fruit is nauseous to the 

 taste, though greedily eaten by birds. The bark 

 has been employed by the Swedes and Finlanders 

 in medicine. The tree is very leafj^, and dislikes 

 a wet soil. The wood is beautifully veined, and 

 is used for cabinet work in France, as is that of 

 the prunus Virginiana in America. 



