CHAP. XLII. iJOSA'CE^E. CE'llASUS. 699 



persons are allowed to partake of the cherries, on condition of not injuring the 

 trees ; but the main crop of the cherries, when ripe, is gathered by the respective 

 proprietors of the land on which it grows : and, when these are anxious to 

 preserve the fruit of any particular tree, it is, as it were, tabooed; that is, a 

 wisp of straw is tied in a conspicuous part to one of the branches, as vines 

 by the road sides in France, when the grapes are ripe, are protected by 

 sprinkling a plant here and there with a mixture of lime and water, which 

 marks the leaves with conspicuous white blotches. Every one who has 

 travelled on the Continent, in the fruit season, must have observed the respect 

 that is paid to these appropriating marks ; and there is something highly 

 gratifying in this, and in the humane feeling displayed by the princes of the 

 different countries, in causing the trees to be planted. It would indeed be 

 lamentable, if kind treatment did not produce a corresponding return. 



The doable-flowered varieties are splendid garden ornaments; more parti- 

 cularly the double French, which appears to grow to a timber size, and pro- 

 duces blossoms almost as large as roses. The pendulous shoots and blossoms 

 of the common double cherry are also eminently beautiful; and no lawn ought 

 to be without a tree of each sort. They are admirable trees for grouping with 

 the almond, the double-blossomed peach, the Chinese and other crab trees, 

 and the scarlet hawthorn. 



The pendulous-branched Cherries (of which there is one variety, Allcard's 

 morello, that attains a considerable size, and bears excellent fruit, which, 

 from its agreeable acidity, makes a most delicious jam), exclusive of C. sem- 

 perflorens and C. Chamaecerasus, which are pendulous when grafted standard 

 high, are most ornamental trees, planted singly. 



Poetical and legendary Allusions. The cherry has always been a favourite 

 tree with poets ; the brilliant red of the fruit, the whiteness and profusion of 

 the blossoms, and the vigorous growth of the tree, affording abundant similes : 

 but the instances where they occur are too numerous, and too well known, 

 to be suitable for quotation. In Cambridgeshire, at Ely, when the cherries 

 are ripe, numbers of people repair, on what they call Cherry Sunday, to the 

 cherry orchards in the neighbourhood ; where, on the payment of 6d. each, 

 they are allowed to eat as many cherries as they choose. A similar fete is 

 held at Montmorency. A festival is also celebrated annually at Hamburg, 

 called the Feast of the Cherries, during which troops of children parade 

 the street with green boughs, ornamented with cherries. The original of 

 this fete is said to be as follows: — In 1432, when the city of Hamburg 

 was besieged by the Hussites, one of the citizens named Wolf proposed 

 that all the children in the city, between seven and fourteen years of age, 

 should be clad in mourning, and sent as suppliants to the enemy. Pro- 

 copius Nasus, chief of the Hussites, was so much moved by this spectacle, 

 that he not only promised to spare the city, but regaled the young suppliants 

 with cherries and other fruits ; and the children returned crowned with leaves, 

 shouting " Victory !", and holding boughs laden with cherries in their hands. 



Soil and Situation. The cherry will grow in any soil not too wet, or not 

 entirely a strong clay. It will thrive better than most others in dry, calca- 

 reous, and sandy soils; attaining, even on chalk, with a thin layer of soil 

 over it, a very large size. In the District of Marne, in France, the road-side 

 trees are generally cherries; many of which have trunks from 2 ft. to 3 ft. in 

 diameter at a foot from the ground. Du Hamel found cherry trees succeed 

 on poor sandy soils, where other trees had altogether failed. Dr. Walker 

 mentions that the cherry tree always decays whenever its roots extend to 

 water. The cherry tree will grow on mountains and other elevations, as may 

 readily be supposed from its flourishing in high northern latitudes; but it does 

 not attain a timber-like size, except in plains, or on low hills. It stands 

 less in need of shelter than any other fruit-bearing tree whatever, and may 

 often be employed on the margins of orchards, and for surrounding kitchen- 

 gardens, to form a screen against high winds. Dr. Withering observes that 



