CHAPTER XVIIT. 
THE CHERRY. 
Although the amount of cherries grown in this State is 
small as compared with the aggregate weights of some other 
fruits, the cherry, from the growth of the tree and the size and 
quality of the product, is entitled to rank as one of the grand 
fruits of California. The size of the California-grown cherry is 
a matter of pride with residents, and a marvel to visitors. It is 
related that one of the most distinguished Eastern pomologists, 
who was taken to an Alameda County cherry orchard during 
picking-time, could not recognize the varieties, though he had 
himself propagated and shipped to California the very trees 
which were bearing the fruit, the size of which so far surpassed 
all his mental standards. And quality is commensurate with 
size. Whatever disagreement there may be concerning the fla- 
vors of our other fruits as compared with Eastern, the rich- 
ness and excellence of the California cherry have never been im- 
peached. Recently the shipment of cherries to eastern markets 
and the extension of the canning interest have considerably en- 
larged the opportunity for profitable growth of the fruit. 
Famous Old Trees—-The longevity and productiveness 0: 
the cherry tree in this State is naturally of interest. Cherries 
were planted in some of the earliest settled parts of the State 
and are still in full vigor. One of the most famous trees is a 
Black Tartarian, which was brought from France by Dr. L. E. 
Miller, and planted by him in 1854, on land now owned by 
Robert Hector, in Placer County, just below Rattlesnake Bar, 
on the American River, about eight hundred feet above sea level. 
It is described as seventy feet in height, the branches cover- 
ing a space between seventy and seventy-five feet in diameter. 
The trunk branches about six feet above the ground, and at that 
point has a girth of over ten feet. A close record of its crop 
has been kept, as follows: 1886, two hundred boxes, of ten 
pounds each; 1887, one hundred and eighty; 1888, three hun- 
dred; 1889, two hundred and twenty; and 1890, three hundred 
boxes. Since that date this yield has not been exceeded. The 
trees are too large to be profitable, for the fruit has to be picked 
with the aid of extension ladders securely guyed, by men slung 
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