PROMISIXG WILD FRUITS— HI. 



713 



Adair of Kentucky, however, discovered many years ago 

 a spontaneous variety of the black cherry, with fruit 

 three times as large as the average, entirely devoid of 

 all bitterness and astringency, and which he considered 

 equal in flavor to the best cultivated cherries. Enough, 

 at least, is known of this cherry, so well adapted to a 

 large portion of the continent, to render it well worthy 

 the attention of the cultivator, especially when we re- 

 member the results which have been obtained from the 

 bitter mazzard of Europe. 



Red Cherry ( Pi Jinus Pennsylvanica). This is a small 

 tree, confined mainly to rocky woods in the northern 



crops of fruit, which is considered quite excellent for 

 culinary use. " 



Sand Cherry [Priunis piimila). This is a dwarf trail- 

 ing shrub, seldom over two feet high, found in greatest 

 abundance on the sandy plains east of the Rocky Moun- 

 tains, but occurring in favorable situations eastward to 

 the Atlantic. It is found southward to Texas and north- 

 ward to Lake Superior and Lake Champlain. In 1849 

 W. D. Whitney speaks of its occurrence in the Lake 

 Superior region as follows : It "abounds on the light 

 sands of the southern shore — a mere bush two or three 

 feet high, heavily loaded in September with dark fruit, 



Fig. I. The Pawpaw. (Asiinina triloba.^ }^ natural size. (See page 714.) 



portion of the United States, and extending far into 

 British America. Its leaves are long and narrow, like 

 those of the peach, and its light red fruit is borne in 

 small sessile clusters, like that of cultivated cherries. 

 In size, the fruit does not exceed that of the black 

 cherry, and its flavor is usually sour and scarcely eatable. 



The tree is now sometimes used as a hardy stock 

 upon which to graft our cultivated cherries, and its chief 

 value for fruit, should it become impioved, will doubt- 

 less be for the extreme north. 



"It exhibits in its seedlings, " says Professor J. L, 

 Budd, " a marked capacity for variation and improve- 

 ment. A variety is in common cultivation in the south 

 part of Benton county, Iowa, which bears heavy annual 



nearly as large and rich looking as that of the garden 

 cherry, but unfortunately quite tasteless and insipid." 



Farther south it appears to be of better quality, 

 and C. F. "Wheeler speaks of its quality on the pine 

 plains of Lower Michigan as "by no means unpleasant 

 when fully ripe, " and states that the fruit is used by the 

 lumbermen as a welcome substitute for other and un- 

 obtainable fruit for sauce. Professor L. H. Bailey, who 

 has studied this cherry in the same region, considers it 

 surprising that even in its present state, it has not been 

 introduced b}- the settlers into cultivation. 



On the sand ridges at the southern extremity of Lake 

 Michigan, Professor W. J. Beal and others have found 

 this cherry growing to the height of eight or ten feet. 



