THE CHERRY. 



335 



might open the communication between Europe 

 and that continent 1 We may as well imagine 

 that all men would wear stockings for ten thou- 

 sand years, and never have the sense to think of 

 garters to tie them. AU these seem convincing 

 proofs of the youth, or rather infancy, of the 

 world, as being founded on the operation of 

 principles more constant and steady than those 

 by which human society is governed and directed. 

 Nothing less than a total convulsion of the ele- 

 ments will ever destroy all the European ani- 

 mals and vegetables which are now to be found 

 in the western world." 



Several liqueui's are manufactured from cher- 

 ries. A large black cherry (Merise noire) is 

 used in the composition of the ratafia of Gren- 

 oble; and the maraschino of Zara is prepared 

 from a particular species of cherry cultivated in 

 Dalmatia. Kirschwasser, which is a cheap spi- 

 rit, forming a considerable article of commerce, 

 is the fermented liouor of a small black 

 cherry. 



The whole of the genus primus yield what is 

 commonly called gum, that of the cherry tree 

 being the best. But this substance, which is 

 called cerassin, resembles tragacanth (the gum 

 of the astragalus'), and is therefore improperly 

 called gum, as the term is usually understood, 

 and applied to gum Arabic. 



The Romans had eight varieties of cheiTy. In 

 the British gardens are upwards of forty sorts. 

 The French divide the cherries into grioUes, or 

 tender-fleshed ; higarreaux, or hai-d-fleshed; and 

 guignes, or small fruits. The fruit of many va- 

 rieties is somewhat heart-shaped; hence the very 

 general name oi heart-cherry . Why some are called 

 duhes is not so well ascertained. The MoreUo 

 cheiTy is very distinct from the other varieties, 

 bearing almost exclusively, in the preceding 

 years, stock wood, and the pulp of the fruit has 

 somewhat of the consistence and flavour of the 

 morel ; whence the name. 



Varieties of the cheny are continued by graft- 

 ing, or budding on stocks of the black or wild 

 red chen-ies, which are strong shooters, and of a 

 longer duration than any of the garden kinds. 

 Some graft on the MoreUo, for the purpose of 

 dwarfing the tree, and rendering it more prolific; 

 but the most effectual dwarfing stock is the ma- 

 haleb, which, however, will not succeed in the 

 generality of soils in Britain. For procuring 

 new varieties, however, recourse must be had to 

 raising from the seed. From these a good many 

 new sorts may be expected. The stones are 

 planted in light sandy soil, in autumn or spring. 

 They will germinate the same year, but should 

 not be planted out till tlie second autumn after 

 sowing. The cheny thrives best in a dry, light, 

 sandy soil, and an elevated situation. Some 

 sorts, as the May-duke, will thrive in all soils 

 and aspects. Early fruit is obtained from wall 



trees ; but the cheny does equally with espaliers 

 or standards. Insects, as the red spider, attack 

 the wall-cheiTy ; but the other sorts are not very 

 liable to be preyed on by such vermin. 



T]ie Chinese Cherry (primus pseudo-cerasusj 

 is a valuable new species of that fruit, introduced 

 into this country so recently as 1819. The fol- 

 lowing is an extract from the account of this 

 variety, presented to the Horticultural Society 

 by Mr ICnight, their president : — ■ 



" I received a plant of the Chinese cherry from 

 the garden of the Horticultural Society in the 

 summer of 1824, after it had produced its crop 

 of fruit ; and it was preserved under glass, and 

 subjected to a slight degree of artificial heat till 

 the autumn of that year. It appeared very little 

 disposed to grow ; but produced one young shoot, 

 which afforded me a couple of buds for insertion 

 in stocks of the common cherry. Soon after 

 Christmas the tree was placed in a pine-stove, 

 where it presently blossomed abundantly, and its 

 fruit set perfectly well, as it had previously done 

 in the gardens of the Society, and it ripened in 

 March. The cherries were middle-sized, or ra- 

 ther small, compared with the larger varieties of 

 the common cherry, were of a reddish amber 

 colour, very sweet and juicy, and excellent for 

 the season in which they ripened. The roots ot 

 the tree were confined to rather a small spot, and 

 the plant was not even in a moderately vigorous 

 state of growth. I therefore infer that the fruit 

 did not acquire either the size or state of per- 

 fection which it would have attained if the tree 

 had been larger and in a vigorous state of growth, 

 and the season of the year favourable." 



The Gean (primus avium), the Yrench guigne, 

 is a tall tree common in woods in some parts of 

 England, and fi-equently gi'owing wild in Scotland. 

 The fruit is smaller than that of the common 

 cherry, of a red colour when um'ipe, and a 

 deep purple or black when it anives at maturity. 

 The flavour is superior to that of most cherries. 

 Indeed, the cerone, or black cherry, is supposed 

 to be an improved variety of the wild gean. The 

 wood of this tree is used for many kinds of do- 

 mestic furniture, and other purposes. 



The Bird Cherry (primus padus). This is 

 a Greek name given to this tree by Theophrastus. 

 It is in shrubberies very ornamental, from its 

 purple bark, bunches of white flowers and ber- 

 ries, which are successively green, red, and black. 

 It is common in the native woods of Sweden and 

 Scotland, and in both countries the berries are 

 infused in spirits in order to give them an 

 agreeable flavour. The fruit is nauseous to the 

 taste, though greedily eaten by birds. The bark 

 has been employed by the Swedes and Finlanders 

 in medicine. The tree is very leafy, and dislikes 

 a wet soil. The wood is beautifully veined, and 

 is used for cabinet work in France, as is that of 

 the primus Virginiana in America. 



