The Plums and the Cherries 



dark-red varieties with coloured juice, of which the EngHsh 

 Morello is a well-known example. 



The Sweet Cherry of Europe (Prunus Avium, Linn.), 

 has given us our cultivated sweet cherries. Wild seedlings in 

 fence corners are called Mazzards. They have brown bark, and 

 grow tall and pyramidal around a central stem, often attaining 

 great age and size — very different in habit of growth from small, 

 short-lived sour cherry trees. The leaves are broad, doubly 

 toothed, sharp pointed, and limp in texture. The flowers are 

 much like those of the preceding species, but they open later, 

 when the leaves are out. The cherries are more or less heart 

 shaped and generally sweet. 



Beside the Mazzards, which are inferior in fruit, there are the 

 Heart cherries in cultivation, two groups of them: (i) Those with 

 firm fiesh, and (2) those with soft, juicy flesh; and the Dukes, 

 which have light-coloured, acid flesh. The Hearts are variously 

 coloured — some red, some black, others yellow. 



Cherries in Japan 



Everybody admires, in a casual way, the crisp, dainty 

 blossoms of our garden cherries, and the large, rosy ones of certain 

 European ornamental varieties often seen in American gardens. 

 But until one goes to Japan he cannot realise how beautiful a 

 blossoming cherry tree can be, nor what it is really to love the 

 flowers. The native species, Prunus Pseudo-Cerasus, has been 

 specialised in the direction of beauty, according to the ideals of 

 Japanese artists. Grace of line and delicacy of texture and 

 colour have been patiently worked for — not in flowers alone, but 

 in leaf, in branch, and even in bark. The whole tree crowned with 

 its blossoms is the ideal toward which patience and artistic skill 

 have successfully striven for centuries. 



"Spring is the season of the eye," says a Japanese poet. 

 The third month is cherry-blossom time, and as the gardens 

 burst suddenly into the marvellous pink bloom all eyes and 

 thoughts are fixed upon them. 1 he passionate love for Sakura, 

 the cherry, symbol of happiness, lays hold on all classes alike. 

 In a quiet ecstasy of joy the Japanese people turn out in holiday 

 attire to view tlic wondrous spectacle. It is a great national 

 fete, a time of universal rejoicinji;. 



33' 



