124 THE CHERRIES OF NEW YORK 



Leaves numerous, three and three-eighths inches long, one and three-fourths inches 

 wide, folded upward, short-obovate, thick, stiff; upper surface glossy, slightly rugose; 

 lower surface pale green, thinly pubescent; apex sharp-pointed, tapering toward the base; 

 margin coarsely serrate, glandular; petiole thick, dull red, grooved on the upper surface, 

 nearly one inch long, glandless or with one or two small glands at the base of the blade. 



Buds conical or pointed, plump, free, arranged singly as lateral buds and in small 

 clusters on spurs; leaf -scars inconspicuous; season of bloom intermediate; flowers white, 

 one and one-fourth inches across; borne ia scattering clusters in twos and threes; pedicels 

 one inch long, slender, glabrous, greenish; calyx-tube with a faint reddish tinge, cam- 

 panulate, glabrous; calyx-lobes tinged red, long, acute, glabrous within and without, 

 reflexed; petals obovate, entire, tapering to short, narrow claws, with a broad but shallow 

 notch at the apex; filaments about one-fourth inch long; pistil glabrous, shorter than 

 the stamens. 



Fruit mattires early; three-fourths of an inch in diameter, cordate to conical, com- 

 pressed; cavity somewhat abrupt, regular; suture deep, distinct, often extending entirely 

 around the fruit ; apex depressed; color dark red; dots numerous, small, brownish, obscure; 

 stem slender, one and three-foiu-ths inches long, adheres strongly to the fruit; skin thin, 

 tough, separating readily from the pulp; flesh dark red, with reddish juice, tender and 

 melting, sprightly, sour; good to very good in quality; stone nearly free, longer than wide, 

 nearly round, slightly flattened, with smooth surfaces; somewhat ridged along the ventral 

 suture. 



DOWNER 



Prunus avium 



I. Kenrick Am. Orch. 218. 1835. 2. Hovey Fr. Am. 2:93, 94, PI. 1851. 



Downer's Red Heart. 3. Kenrick Am. Orch. 276. 1832. 



Downer's Late. 4. Proc. Nat. Con. Fr. Gr. 52. 1848. 5. Ann. Pom. Beige 2:65, PI. 1854. 



Guigne Tardive de Downer. 6. Mortillet Le Cerisier 2:95 fig., 96, 97. 1866. 



Downer is a Sweet Cherry, one of the so-called " Hearts " much prized 

 by those who know it as a late cherry delicately and richly flavored. Pos- 

 sibly it is the best of the late Sweet Cherries. Several defects keep it from 

 being of any considerable worth; it thrives only in the choicest soils; the 

 trees are often unhealthy as well as lacking in vigor; the flesh is thin and 

 the stone is large; and, though the cherries set abundantly, the yield is small 

 because the fruits are small. So, while the variety is almost indispensable 

 in a home orchard, ripening after almost all of the dessert cherries have 

 gone, Downer has small place in a commercial plantation. It should be 

 said further in its favor, however, as a commercial fruit, that it stands 

 harvesting and shipping very well. 



Downer takes the name of Samuel Downer, Dorchester, Massachusetts, 

 who grew it some time before 1832 when it first found a place in pomological 

 works. It was included by the American Pomological Society in its 



