THE CHERRY. 



TTT one of the meetings of the El Paso County Horticul- 

 / tural Society, in the early part of the year 1882, the 

 subject for discussion was the cherry, based upon a paper 

 read by R. T. Crawford, Esq., of Colorado Springs. This 

 paper we give in full, for the reason that but little attention 

 has thus far been given to the culture of this fruit in Colo- 

 rado, and hence little is known as to the adaptability of our 

 climate to its successful growth: 



" The common cherry tree (prunus cerasus) is of Asiatic 

 origin, and is, I think, a native of Persia. It was introduced 

 from there to Italy about seventy years before Christ, and 

 about 1 20 years afterwards was introduced into Great Britain. 

 It is now extensively cultivated in the temperate regions of 

 Europe and America. There are a great many different 

 varieties. Over three hundred are now reckoned in the 

 various catalogues, many of which are worthless for culti- 

 vation compared with the new and improved sorts. The 

 branches are spreading, horizontal or slightly inclining up- 

 ward in the larger class of trees, and dropping in the smaller 

 ones. They are generally divided by nurserymen into two 

 classes, the Hearts and Bigarreaus, or sweet cherries, and 

 the Dukes and Morellos, or sour ones. The former are 

 strong vigorous growers with large leaves, and grow into 

 large spreading heads or tops, and are best suited for the 

 purpose of shade. They produce large heart-shaped sweet 

 fruit, varying in color from a light yellow to a dark purple. 



The Dukes and Morellos are of a slow growth, and do 

 not even attain so large a size, but are much more hardy 



