2 BULLETIN" 350, U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 



material which has not only been discarded as valueless, but has 

 actually been a source of expense, due to charges for hauling it away. 

 New York, Michigan, Wisconsin, and California produce the bulk 

 of the cherries grown for canning purposes, and in preparing the 

 fruit for canning large quantities of pits and juice accumulate. 



RELATION OF THE CHERRY TO SWEET AND BITTER ALMONDS AND 



ALLIED PLANTS. 



The cherry belongs to the natural order Drupacese, which includes 

 a number of our most important fruits, such as peaches, apricots, 

 and prunes. It is a native of Asia Minor and has been introduced 

 into Europe and the United States. 



The fruit of the red sour cherry furnished the material for the 

 following investigation, since it is mostly the fruit of this variety 

 which is pitted for commercial use. The red sour cherry is designated 

 botanically as Prunus cerasus L. Among the principal varieties 

 grown commercially are the Montmorency Ordinaire, the Richmond, 

 and the English Morello, the first named being the most important 

 variety and producing the bulk of the fruit grown. 



The peach, known botanically as Amy g dolus persica L., the apricot, 

 Amygdalus armeniaca L., and the prune, Prunus domestica L., are 

 closely related to the cherry, as are also the sweet almond, Amygdalus 

 com/munis dulcis DC. and the bitter almond, Amygdalus communis 

 amara DC. All of these species, including the cherry, produce drupa- 

 ceous fruits which, although of somewhat different sizes and shapes, 

 possess the same general characteristics. 



The kernels of both the sweet and bitter almonds yield products of 

 commercial value, as do also the kernels of the peach, apricot, and 

 prune. From the standpoint of chemical composition the kernels of 

 these various species, and also of the cherry, are for the most part 

 identical. All consist principally of a fatty oil and protein, with 

 smaller quantities of sugar, mucilage, and the glucosid amygdalin. 



It is generally known that bitter almonds yield two important com- 

 mercial products, namely, fixed oil and volatile oil. The fixed oil is 

 obtained from the kernels by expression, while the volatile oil is the 

 result of a chemical process induced by the action of the enzym emul- 

 sin upon the glucosid amygdalin. It has been found that peach, 

 apricot, and prune kernels also yield oils very similar to those obtained 

 from bitter almonds. 1 The present investigation has shown that 

 cherry kernels likewise are capable of yielding similar oils. 



COMMERCIAL IMPORTANCE OF CHERRIES. 



As has been stated, the pitting and canning of cherries is restricted 

 almost entirely to the red sour cherries. A variety of sweet cherry, 



iRabak, Frank, op. cit, 1908. 



