390 Descriptions of Select Varieties of Cherries. 



thy of cultivation, compared with this, have been very re- 

 cently brought to notice, and have been allowed to fill up 

 the collection of the amateur, to the neglect of the Elton 

 and other sorts of far greater excel- 

 lence. We trust our descriptions of this 

 and other equally meritorious kinds, 

 long introduced but long neglected, 

 will make them better known, and 

 much more extensively cultivated. 



The Elton is one of the largest of 

 cherries, long heart-shaped in form, 

 with a pale amber skin, and bright red 

 cheek. The tree is a very vigorous 

 grower, with a spreading and some- 

 what pendent habit, and the leaves 

 are conspicuously large and handsome. 

 The fruit is borne in pairs on rather 

 long stems. 



According to the Pomological Mag- 

 Fig. n. The Elton. azine, (Vol. II, p. 92,) where the El- 

 ton is beautifully figured, this variety was raised by Mr. 

 Knight from a seed of the Graffion or Ambree cherry, 

 (known as the old Bigarreau,) which had been fecundated 

 by the pollen of the White Heart. Its merits, says the same 

 work, " can scarcely be too highly spoken of. In flavor it 

 is by many considered the most delicious of cherries." This 

 estimate of its qualities is fully maintained after long culti- 

 vation in our climate, and it must be considered as one of 

 the most valuable varieties, indispensable in every good col- 

 lection. 



The tree is of a vigorous and upright habit, making 

 rather long annual shoots, and forming a regular but open 

 head. 



Size, larg€, about one inch long, and seven eighths of an 

 inch in diameter : Form, oblong heart-shaped, broad at the 

 base, narrowing to the point, and somewhat flattened : Skin, 

 clear yellowish amber, deeply tinged with pale red on the 

 sunny side : Stem, rather long, about two inches, somewhat 



