THE CHERRIES OF NEW YORK 1 59 



named but the descriptions of all who have described the two show that they 

 are very similar, if not identical. The history of Louis Philippe, long known 

 in America but little or not at all known in Europe, throws some light on the 

 question of its distinctness from OUvet, the origin of which is known, inas- 

 much as Louis Philippe seems to be the older of the two. The value 

 of the two varieties to cherry-growers is the same and is indicated in the 

 discussion of Olivet. 



Elliott,^ the American pomologist, imported Louis Philippe from France 

 in 1846 but the cherry does not seem to have been known at that time in 

 Europe and it is possible that Elliott gave it its name. For the first few 

 years the variety was not given the recognition it deserved but, in 1862, 

 it was recognized by the American Pomological Society by a place on its 

 list of recommended fruits which it still holds under the name, Philippe. 



Tree vigorous, upright-spreading, open-topped; trunk and branches intermediate in 

 thickness; branches with numerous very large, elongated, raised lenticels. 



Leaves ntmierous, four and one-half inches long, two and one-eighth inches wide, 

 oval to obovate, thick, leathery; upper surface dark, shiny green, smooth; lower surface 

 olive-green, with a large, prominent midrib; apex taper-pointed; margin finely serrate, 

 with reddish-brown glands; petiole one inch long, usually with one or two large, globose, 

 yellowish-red, glands, variable in position. 



' Elliott's American Fruit Growers Guide, published in 1858 and dedicated to Professor Jared P. 

 Kirtland, was one of the notable pomological books of its day. Cherry growers, in particular, owe Elliott 

 a debt of gratitude for the publicity that he gave to Kirtland's cherries, having described in his book 20 

 of the sorts originated by Professor Kirtland. Beside his fruit book he published Popular Deciduous 

 and Evergreen Trees (1868), Handbook for Fruit-growers (1876) and Handbook of Practical Laudscape Garden- 

 ing (1877). He also served pomologists well for many years, at various times, from 1850 to 1873, as the 

 secretary of the American Pomological Society. Franklin Reuben Elliott was bom in Guilford, Con- 

 necticut, April 27, 1817. We know, from complimentary speeches, accepted by Elliott, that he was 

 a descendant of John Eliot, " The Apostle of the Indians." As a young man he engaged with a brother 

 in New York as an importer of dry goods, the firm being rated at half a million dollars. Financial ruin 

 came through a disastrous fire and, in 1836, Elliott went to Newburgh and was employed by A. J. Downing 

 from whom he imbibed his knowledge and much of his love for pomology and horticulture. A roving 

 disposition and dissipated habits led him to leave Downing for a position with a relative near Cincinnati 

 who was a market-gardener. A ready pen seems from this time on to have been his chief means of liveli- 

 hood for we find him successively in Cleveland, Ohio, and St. Louis, Missouri, in newspaper work; after 

 a few years in each place he wandered to Washington where he was employed in the Agricultural Depart- 

 ment of the Patent Office illustrating American fruits. From his hand in the Patent Office reports and 

 from his fruit book, came some of the most acciu'ate and beautiful representations of the fruits of this 

 continent. It is probable that while in Washington he began work on his Fruit Growers Guide, the time 

 for which, he tells us in his preface, took ten years. Social infirmities seem to have cost him his position 

 in Washington and his last employment was with the Cleveland Herald, after which comes the record of 

 his death and burial in a pauper's grave January 10, 1878. One of the most brilliant pomologists of his 

 time, his career seems again and again to have been checked by the weaknesses of his life ; even so, he rendered 

 horticulture valuable services for which we must give him gratitude and honor. 



