OUR COMMON FRUIT TREES 



very early times and their history is very similar to 

 that of the Apple and Pear. The Sweet Cherry, 

 Mazzard or Gean, from which the Heart and Bigar- 

 reau Cherries have been derived, is a native of west- 

 ern Europe, including England and Norway and 

 eastward to Asia Minor and the Caucasus, but is 

 rare in a wild state in Spain and Italy; in Russia it 

 is apparently confined to the southwestern provinces 

 and to the Crimea. It favours well-drained light 

 soils on the margins of woods, and especially 

 among Beech-trees. It is a handsome, more or less 

 loosely pyramidal tree from 80 to 90 feet tall by 10 

 feet and more in girth of trunk. In Beech woods on 

 the Chiltern Hills in England it grows to perfection. 

 It is less hardy than the Sour Cherry, suckers little 

 from the roots, and from the fact that birds favour 

 its fruit it owes its specific name. The Sour or Pie 

 Cherry from which the Kentish Cherries and Morellos 

 have been derived is native of southeastern Europe, 

 Asia Minor, and the Caucasus, and in this country is 

 a much hardier tree than the Sweet Cherry. It is a 

 low tree, rarely 40 feet tall, with a broad, wide-spread- 

 ing crown and suckers freely. It is naturalized in 

 the colder states of this country and over a great 

 part of Europe. A variety (marasca), native of 

 Dalmatia, is worthy of mention as the source of 

 Maraschino, a distilled liqueur much used in Europe 



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