CHERRIES AND CRAB APPLES 197 



I 



indispensable value of our fruit trees as such nor their 

 extensive and extended culture. Quite the contrary. 

 But the creed of the true horticulturist is founded on 

 that old Biblical truism — "man cannot live by bread 

 alone." 



Any attempt to portray in words that marvelous 

 floral spectacle known in Japan as the Cherry Festival 

 fails lamentably. It must be seen to be ap- 

 preciated, but no language can exaggerate the beauty 

 of the Japanese Cherries. Readers who have visited 

 Japan and have basked in the loveliness of the Cherry 

 blossoms must have yearned deeply to possess some 

 of the trees. Such feeling is natural. We should 

 have these Japanese Cherries in our gardens and there 

 is no valid reason why here in eastern North America 

 we should not have our own Cherry festival, for the 

 trees are perfectly hardy and thrive here. In the 

 Arnold Arboretum the few large examples we have pro- 

 duce a wealth of flowers each and every season. 



THE CHERRIES 



Of flowering Cherries the Japanese recognize a 

 hundred or more varieties with white, yellow, pure 

 pink to rose-colored blossoms. Some are small shrubs, 

 others large trees with wide-spreading crowns; 

 some have pendent and others quite erect branches. 



