THE CHERRIES OF NEW YORK 1 67 



Tree vigorous, healthy, not always productive; branches long, grajdsh-brown, 

 smooth, with a few small, inconspicuous lenticels. 



Leaves numerous, four and one-half inches long, two and one-fourth inches wide, 

 folded upward, long-oval, leathery; upper surface dark green, smooth; lower surface Ught 

 green, pubescent, grooved along the midrib; apex taper-pointed, base abrupt; margin 

 coarsely and doubly serrate, glandiilar; petiole one and one-half inches long, tinged with 

 dull red, thick, with from two to five very large, reniform, reddish glands, variable in 

 position. 



Buds of meditmi size and length, conical, plump, free; leaf -scars rather prominent; 

 season of bloom early; flowers one and one-fourth inches across, in scattering clusters 

 in twos and threes; pedicels three-fourths inch long, glabrous; calyx-tube green or faintly 

 tinged red, campanulate, glabrous; cal5rx-lobes greenish streaked with red along the edges, 

 long, obtuse, glabrous within and without, reflexed; petals broad-oval, entire, slightly 

 indented at the apex, tapering to short, blunt claws; filaments one-half inch long, shorter 

 than the petals; pistil glabrous, shorter than the stamens. 



Fruit matures in mid-season; small, cordate to blunt-conic, compressed; cavity 

 shallow, narrow, abrupt; suture an indistinct line; apex flattened or depressed; color black; 

 dots small, ntmierous, obscure; stem slender, one and one-fourth inches long, adherent 

 to the fruit; skin thin, rather tender; flesh reddish, with dark colored juice, tender, meaty, 

 crisp, aromatic, mild flavored, sweet ; fair to good in quality ; stone free or semi-clinging, 

 variable in size, ovate, flattened, blunt-pointed, with smooth surfaces, tinged with red. 



MEZEL 



Prunus avium 



I. Am. Pom. Soc. Cat. 26. 1909. 



Bigarreau Monstrtieux. 2. Land. Hort. Soc. Cat. 46. 1831. 



Bigarreau of Mezel. 3. Horticulturist 1:475 &g., 476. 1846-47. 4. Mortillet Xe Cemjef 2: 107 fig., 

 108. 1866. 5. Downing Fr. Trees Am. 454. 1869. 6. Leroy Diet. Pom. 5:218 fig., 219. 1877. 

 Great Bigarreau. 7. Horticulturist 6:20 fig., 21. 1851. 8. Downing Fr. Trees Am. 253. 1857. 

 Monstreuse de Mezel. 9. Am. Pom. Soc. Cat. 74. 1862. 

 Schwarze Knorpel von Mezel. 10. Mathieu Nom. Pom. 377. 1889. 



Mezel seems to have made a stir in pomological circles in the middle of 

 the Nineteenth Centtiry by reason of the great size and beautiful appearance 

 of the cherries. Though on the recommended list of the American Pomologi- 

 cal Society and frequently spoken of in the pomological works of the day and 

 offered by some nurserymen, we have not been able to find many trees of 

 this variety now growing in New York. We glean from the literature 

 that Mezel pleased the eye more than the palate and that the trees, while 

 vigorous and healthy, were not productive. At any rate after a decade or 

 two of much advertising and what wotdd seem to have been a very thorough 

 trial, Mezel failed to receive very general approbation from cherry-growers 

 and has now almost passed from ctiltivation. Contrary to the general 



