324 
THE COTTAGE GARDENER. 
August 7. 
variety was found at an ancient dwelling of his, called 
“Le Convent des Cannes,” at Vilvorde, and “was 
cultivated for sale by him about 1826; that is to say, 
ten or twelve years before it had been cultivated in 
France under the name of Reine Hortense. Which of 
the two accounts is the correct one we have not been 
able to discover; but M. Larose’s account of its pedigree 
appears to be correct, for it evidently belongs to that 
division of the Duke family with yellow flesh, of which 
the Carnation is one. 
We have already remarked upon the number of sy- 
nonymes which we have given at the top of this article, 
and which are all derived from the most authentic 
sources. Through the kindness of Mr. Rivers, of Saw- 
bridgeworth, who has afforded us every facility for exa¬ 
mining his large collection, we detected it under the 
various names of Grosse de Wagnelee, Belle de Prapeau, 
Seize u la livre, Belle de Bavay, Belle de petit Brie, and 
Fisbach. Under the latter name, wo ourselves had 
it from Cadolzburg, in southern Germany; from M. 
Papeleu, of Wetteren, as Belle Audiyeoise, and from 
M. M. Baumann, of Bolwiller, as Lemercier; but Mr. 
Rivers has a tree of Lemercier, which appears to be 
very distinct in habit from Reine Hortense, being of 
upright growth, like the Mayduke or the Royal Duke, 
and the fruit, though similar to the Reine Hortense, is 
much later, and before it is quite ripe is considerably 
more acid than that variety; it is also a very much 
better bearer. It may be that there are several seminal 
varieties of this, and that Lemercier is one of them. 
It is very probable that the Cheeky was known to the 
Jews, for it grows wild in Asia; and according to Bera- 
choeth, a good authority, its fruit is mentioned in the 
Talmud, under the name of Gadgadaneeyoeth. How¬ 
ever, that this is uncertain is sufficiently shown by the 
fact, that some learned Hebraists think this lengthy 
word means Coriander-seed; whilst others consider that 
it intended a herb relished by camels! 
It is doubtful if even the Greeks, in the time of 
Theophrastus, were acquainted with improved kinds of 
Cherries; for his description of the Kerasos hardly 
agrees with our Cherry-tree. 
Theophrastus died about 288 years before the birth of 
Christ, and we have no decided information relative to 
this fruit until Pliny wrote his “ Natural History,” about 
the year 79, or nearly eighteen hundred years ago. He 
then wrote thus of the Cherry:— 
“ Cherries were not introduced into Italy before the 
victory of L. Lucullus over Mithridates. Lucullus con¬ 
veyed them thither from Pontus, in the year of the 
City 680 (or about 73 years before the birth of Christ), 
and in 120 years the fruit had been carried across the 
sea until it reached even Britain. Yet no cultivation 
could induce it to flourish in iEgypt. Of Cherries, the 
Apronian are the most red, as the Action are the blackest, 
and, like the Cacilian, round. The flavour of the t Julian 
is agreeable, but scarcely elsewhere than under the tree 
which bore them; for they are so tender-fleshed that they 
will not endure the carrying away. Among the Duracine 
Cherries, that called, in Campania, th ePlinian is the most 
superior, and in Belgica, the Portuguese.” (Nat. His., xv. 
c. 25.) It is not difficult to identify some of the species, 
or sub-species, of Cherries now known to us with those 
thus enumerated by Pliny. Eor instance, the Action, or 
black Cherry of the Romans, we believe to be the small, 
black Cherry so common all over southern England, 
and especially along the valley of the Colne, a river of 
Essex, so called from the numerous Roman colonies in 
its vicinity. These small, black Cherries are very com¬ 
monly known in England as Meries, a name for which 
we could never satisfactorily suggest a derivation until 
we met with the following passage in Lyte’s “ Herbal 
“ The common sower Cherries is of the later writers 
taken to be a kinde of Cerasus, and, therefore, the fruite 
is lykewise called Cerasa, of some Merendce, or Moreno:. 
Platina writeth of one medicine ex mcrendis, and Cordus 
writeth of a compounde named Diet marenatum, and 
both of these are made of Cherries.” These Merendce, 
we believe, are the origin of the name and identical 
with our Meries, and the Merise of the French. 
We have seen that Pliny records that Cherries were 
brought into England about a.d. 47, and we may next 
add a few notes relative to the earliest history of the 
fruit in this country, and it is to be regretted that such 
history is but very scanty. 
That Cherries in the early part of the 13th century 
had become a commonly cultivated fruit is evident from 
the note made by Matthew Paris in his Chronicle of 
the year 1257. He says—“ Apples were scarce ; Pears 
still scarcer; but Cherries, Plums, Figs, and all kinds of 
fruits included in shells were almost quite destroyed.” 
Passing on to the 16th century, we find Gerarde then 
stating—“ Myselfe with divers others have sundry sorts 
in our gardens; one called the Hart Cherry, the greater 
and the lesser; one of a great bignesse and most 
pleasant in taste, which we call Luke Wards's Cherry, 
because he was the first that brought the same out of 
Italy ;* another we have called the Naples Cherry, 
because it was first brought into these parts from 
Naples. We have another that bringeth forth Cherries 
also very great, bigger than any Flanders Cherry, of 
the colour of jet, or burnished home, and of a pleasant 
taste, as witnesseth Mr. Bull, the Queen’s Majesty’s 
Clockmaker, who did taste of the fruit, the tree bearing 
only one Cherry, which he did eate (greedy, selfish Mr. 
Bull!) but myself did never taste it.” Poor Gerarde was 
evidently in great dudgeon at not having a bite of the 
Cherry; so after mentioning one or two other varieties, 
lie adds, “many more sorts we have in our London 
gardens, whereof to particularize would greatly enlarge 
our volume, and to small purpose.” 
Parkinson, a few years later, writes of them more 
fully, giving a list and description of more than forty 
varieties, among which are the following still known 
to us. 
The Morello, said to be so called from the colour of 
its juice being like that of the Mulberry ( Morus). 
* This is still known as LuUeward’s Heart. See Hort. Society’s 
Catalogue. 
