XXVIII. 3. THE BLACK CHERRY. 455 
trunk which is beneath the surface of the ground. It might be 
found as beautiful as the roots of the black and yellow birch. 
The cabinet-makers of France increase the beauty of an inferior 
wood of this genus, (the Mahaleb cherry tree,) by sawing out 
the boards obliquely across the trunk, instead of parallel to its 
length. ‘This brings out the silver grain to advantage. 
Little other use is made of the fruit than to communicate 
their peculiar and very agreeable flavor, by maceration, to rum 
or brandy, making, what is variously called cherry brandy, 
cherry rum, cherry bounce, or simply cherry. Many other uses 
might, doubtless, be made of them. The flavor is decidedly 
superior to that of the cherry, from varieties of which the 
Kirchwasser and Maraschino of Alsace and Dalmatia are 
made. I would certainly say nothing to encourage the increased 
manufacture of intoxicating liquors. But, if they are to be 
made, it would be better that some fruit, now useless, should be 
employed for that purpose, than that the staff of life should be, 
as it now is, converted into its bane. 
The bark is of a pleasant, aromatic bitter; leaving, when 
chewed, an agreeable taste in the mouth. An infusion of it, in 
boiling water, is sometimes drunk, in place of tea, for its tonic 
and presumed purifying effects. 
The fruit is a favorite food of many birds, and if the tree 
were planted along the borders of orchards and woods, would 
serve as a protection to other fruit. This is, also, more than 
almost any other fruit tree, subject to the ravages of caterpil- 
lars; it might thus be a further protection to cultivated trees by 
inviting the butterfly from them to itself. 
The wild black cherry* prefers a dry soil, but grows in every 
soil and in almost any situation. It may be raised from seed, 
in which case the fruit should be sown with the pulp as soon 
as it is ripe. It is, however, then subject to be destroyed by 
various animals. It may be kept in sand till spring, care being 
taken that it do not sprout. It may, then, be sown thin, and 
covered with a quarter of an inch of soil. Or it may be prop- 
agated by means of the sprouts which spring from about the 
trunk, near the root, taken off with a few radicles attached. 
* C. sylvéstris, the wild, Black-fruited Cherry of Europe. 
