horizontally, or slightly inclining upwards, and, when young and without their leaves, bearing a distant resemblance to gigantic candelabras, such as the geans, and many of the heart cherries; fastigiate trees of a smaller size, such as the dukes; and small trees with weak wood, and branches divergent and drooping, such as the Kentish or Flemish cherries, and the morellos. The leaves vary so much in the cultivated varieties, that it is impossible to characterise the sorts by them; but, in general, those of the large trees are largest, and the lightest in colour, and those of the slender-branched trees the smallest, and the darkest in colour; the flowers are also largest on the large trees. The fruits of all the sorts, with the exception of the Kentish and the morello cherries, are eagerly devoured by birds, from the stones dropped by which in the woods, all the varieties considered as wild have, probably, arisen. The distinction of two species, or races, is of very little use, with reference to cherries as fruit-bearing plants; but, as the wild sort is very distinct, when found in its native habitats, from the cherry cultivated in gardens, it seems worth while to keep them apart, with a view to arboriculture and ornamental planting. For this reason, also, we have kept Cérasus semperflòrens, C. Pseudo-Cérasus, C. serrulata, C. persicifòlia, and C. Chamacérasus apart, though we are convinced that they are nothing more than varieties of the same species as the fruit-bearing cherries. The wild cherry is much more common, as a timber tree, in Scotland, and in France and Germany, than it is in England. In Scotland and France, there are two sorts planted for their timber, the red-fruited and the black-fruited; and it has been observed, that the red-fruited variety has larger leaves, which are paler, and more deeply serrated than the black-fruited variety, and that it grows more rapidly and vigorously. Cook mentions that he measured a wild cherry tree in Cashiobury Wood, that was 85 ft. 5 in. high (Forest Trees, &c., 3d. edit., 1724, p. 92.); and the Rev. Dr. Walker describes one at the Holm, in Galloway, as being 50 ft. high, in 1763. In consequence of its rapid growth, the redfruited variety ought to be preferred where the object is timber, or where stocks are to be grown for fruit trees of large size. As a coppice-wood tree, the stools push freely and rapidly; and, as a timber tree, it will attain its full size, in ordinary situations, in 50 years; after which it should be cut down. Its rate of growth, in the first 10 years, will average, in ordinary circumstances, 18 in. a year.

Geography. The cherry, in a wild state, is indigenous in France and central Europe, including Italy, Spain, Portugal, Turkey, Greece, and the Mediterranean islands. It is also found in Russia, as far north as 55° or 56°. N. lat.; and it ripens fruit in Norway and East Bothnia, as far as 63° N. lat., though it is not indigenous. It is found in the north of Africa, and in the north and east of Asia. In England, it is met with in woods and hedges. It grows on mountains to the height of 1600 ft. in the north of England; and a dwarf variety abounds at Barandam, in the neighbourhood of Sleaford, in Lincolnshire. It is found apparently wild in Scotland and Ireland; and there is a dwarf variety indigenous to Ross-shire.

History. All the ancient authors who speak of the cherry agree in assigning to that tree an Asiatic origin. Pliny states that it did not exist in Italy till after the victory which Lucullus obtained over Mithridates, King of Pontus, 68 B. C. Some modern authors, however, have doubted this, and among these are Ray, Linnæus, and the Abbé Rosier. According to Rosier, Lucullus brought into Italy only two superior varieties of cherry; the species which were the origin of all those now in cultivation being, before his time, indigenous to Italy, and to the forests of France, though their fruit was neglected by the Romans. Loiseleur, in the Nouveau Du Hamel, combats this opinion; stating that, though the wild cherry is undoubtedly indigenous to France, yet that it does not appear to have been so to Italy; and that even in France, only the C. sylvéstris, or mérisier, is found in the forests; while the C. vulgàris, or cerisier, is never found in an apparently wild state in any country in Europe, except near human habitations. From this Loiseleur

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concludes that, though the mérisier existed in France, it had probably never attracted the notice of the cultivated Romans, as, even if they had discovered the tree, they would have set little value on its bitter, austere, and nearly juiceless fruit; and that, when Lucullus brought either C. vulgàris, or some improved variety of it, from the country near Cerasus, they considered the fruit as new. At all events, it does not appear to have been cultivated before the time of Lucullus, though afterwards it made such rapid progress, that Pliny, in his Natural History, tells us, " In 26 years after Lucullus planted the cherry tree in Italy, other lands had cherries, even as far as Britain, beyond the ocean." It is curious, that, in Pliny's enumeration of the sorts of cherry cultivated in his time (A. D. 70), he mentions C. durácina, and C. Juliàna, both varieties of C. sylvéstris. The former, he says, are much esteemed; and "the Julian cherries have a pleasant taste, but are so tender, that they must be eaten where they are gathered, as they will not endure carriage." Pliny enumerates six other kinds, among which was one with quite black fruit, which was called Actia; and another with very red fruit, which was called Apronia. As Pliny wrote above 100 years after the time of Lucullus, it is impossible now to ascertain whether all the cherries he mentions were introduced by that general, or originated by culture in Italy, &c. At all events, the tree appears to have rapidly become a universal favourite, and to have spread throughout all the Roman dominions. At present, it is extensively cultivated, as a fruit tree, throughout the temperate regions of the globe; but it does not thrive in tropical climates, and even attains a larger size in the middle and north of Europe than it does in the south.

In Britain, the testimony of most authors confirms the statement of Pliny, that the tree, or, at least, the cultivated cherry, was introduced by the Romans; and tradition says that the first cherry orchards were planted in Kent; a circumstance which seems confirmed by the celebrity which has been long maintained by that county for its cherries. Some writers assert that the cherries introduced by the Romans were lost during the period that the country was under the dominion of the Saxons, till they were reintroduced by Richard Harris, gardener to Henry VIII., who brought them from Flanders, and planted them at Sittingbourne, in Kent. The incorrectness of this story is, however, proved by the fact that Lydgate, who wrote in 1415 (during the reign of Henry V.), speaks of cherries being exposed for sale in the London market. Gerard, in his Herbal, published in 1597, figures a double and semidouble variety of cherry; and, of the fruit-bearing kinds, says that there were numerous varieties. Among others, he particularly mentions the black wild cherry, the fruit of which was unwholesome, and had "an harsh and unpleasant taste;' " and "the Flanders, or Kentish, cherries," of which he says, that, when they are thoroughly ripe, they "have a better juice, but watery, cold, and moist." Gerard also speaks of the morello, or morel, which he calls a French cherry. In the survey and valuation, made in 1649, of the manor and mansion belonging to Henrietta Maria, Queen of Charles I., at Wimbledon, in Surrey, previously to its sale during the Commonwealth, it appears that there were upwards of 200 cherry trees in the gardens. (Archeologia, vol. x. p. 399.) From this period to the present day, cherries have been in great request, both as shrubbery and orchard trees.

In France, the cherry is highly prized, as supplying food to the poor; and a law was passed, so long ago as 1669, commanding the preservation of all cherry trees in the royal forests. The consequence of this was, that the forests became so full of fruit trees, that there was no longer room for the underwood; when, as usual, going to the other extreme, all the fruit trees were cut down, except such young ones as were included among the number of standard saplings required by the law to be left to secure a supply of timber. This measure, Bosc remarks, was a great calamity for the poor, who, during several months of the year, lived, either directly or indirectly, on the produce of the mérisier. Soup made of the fruit, with a little bread, and a little butter, was the common nourishment of the woodcutters and the charcoal-burners

of the forest during the winter. At present, he says (writing in 1819), the fruit is wanting, and they have nothing to supply its place. The few cherries which they can gather from the remaining trees are eaten on the spot, or sold to make liqueurs.

Properties and Uses. The fruit of the cherry is a favourite with almost every body, and especially with children. The hard-fleshed kinds are considered rather indigestible when eaten in large quantities; but the soft-fleshed sorts, such as the morellos, are esteemed so wholesome as to be given in fevers, where there is a tendency to putridity. In France, the fruit, more especially of the soft-fleshed kinds, is dried by exposing it on boards to the sun, or in an oven moderately heated. It is also preserved in the same manner in Germany and in Russia. Ripe cherries are used for making cherry brandy; and preserves, marmalades, lozenges, and various other kinds of confectionery, are manufactured from them. An oil is drawn from the kernels, which is occasionally used for emulsions, and to mix in creams, sugar-plums, &c., to give the flavour of bitter almonds. The distillers of liqueurs make great use of ripe cherries: the spirit known as kirschewasser is distilled from them after fermentation; and both a wine and a vinegar are made by bruising the fruit and the kernels, and allowing the mass to undergo the vinous fermentation. The ratafia of Grenoble is a celebrated liqueur, which is made from a large black gean; from which, also, the best kirschewasser is made. Vinegar is also made from cherries.

Kirschwasser. The method of making this celebrated spirit is, to take bruised cherries, in which the greatest part of the kernels have also been broken, and to let them remain in a mass till the vinous fermentation is fairly established; after which the process of distillation is commenced, and continued as long as the liquor comes over clear; or till about a pint of liquor has been obtained from every 20 pints of fermented pulp. The kirschwasser comes from the still as clear as the purest water; and, in order that it may not receive any tinge which would lessen its value, it is always kept in stone vessels or bottles. More detailed methods of making it will be found in the Gardener's Magazine, vol. iv. p. 179.; and in the same work, vol. viii. p. 182. The best kirschwasser is made in Alsace in France, in Wirtemberg in Germany, and at Berne and Basle in Switzerland. Any cherry will produce it, but, as before observed, the wild black gean is greatly preferred.

Maraschino is also made from the cherry, much in the same manner as kirschwasser. The kind of cherry preferred for this purpose is a small acid fruit, called marasca, which abounds in the north of Italy, at Trieste, and in Dalmatia. That of Zara, in Dalmatia, is considered the best. All the fruit employed in making the Dalmatian maraschino is cultivated within 20 miles of this city, at the foot of the mountain Clyssa, between Spalatro and Almissa, on the side of a hill planted with vines. The chief difference between the preparation of this liqueur and kirschwasser consists in mixing the mass of bruised cherries with honey; and honey or fine sugar is added to the spirit after it is distilled. The genuine maraschino is as difficult to be met with as genuine Tokay; the greater part of that which is sold as such, being nothing more than kirschwasser mixed with water and honey, or water and sugar. The marasca cherry has been cultivated in France with a view to the manufacture of this liqueur in that country; and it has been said that it may be made just as good from the common wild black cherry. It is also said, that, in Dalmatia, the leaves of the tree are made use of in order to give the peculiar aroma which is so much esteemed in the maraschino; and that this perfume may be increased to any extent desired, by mixing the leaves of Cerasus Mahaleb, the perfumed cherry, with the fruit of the marasca, or even the common gean, before distillation.

Medicinally, the fruit of the cherry, more especially of the soft-fleshed varieties, is said to be cephalic and aperient. A water distilled from the fruit, without fermenting it, and which, consequently, contains no spirit, is employed as antispasmodic; and a ptisan from dried cherries boiled in water is very

useful in catarrhs. An infusion of the fruit in water is said to be very diuretic, and to have been applied with success in the dropsy.

The gum is said to have the same properties as gum Arabic, though it differs from it, in not dissolving readily in water. According to Hasselquist, a hundred men were kept alive during a siege, for nearly two months, without any other sustenance than a little of this gum taken occasionally into the mouth, and suffered to remain there till it was dissolved.

The bark of the cherry is composed of four layers, of which the outer three are formed of spiral fibres, in a transverse direction; while the fourth is composed of longitudinal fibres. The first and the second of these layers are hard and coriaceous; and the third and the fourth spongy. The two last are said to afford a fine yellow dye, and, in medicine, to serve as a substitute for the cinchona.

The leaves are said to be greedily eaten by animals of every description; and, as they contain hydrocyanic acid, they are used, like those of the peach, for flavouring liqueurs, custards, &c.

The wood of the wild cherry (C. sylvéstris) is firm, strong, close-grained, and of a reddish colour. It weighs, when green, 61 lb. 13 oz. per cubic foot; and when dry, 54 lb. 15 oz.; and it loses in the process of drying about a 16th part of its bulk. The wood is soft, easily worked, and it takes a fine polish. It is much sought after by cabinetmakers, turners, and musical instrument makers, more particularly in France, where mahogany is much less common than in Britain. In order to bring out its colour, and increase its depth of tone, it is steeped from 24 to 36 hours in lime-water, and polished immediately after being taken out. This process prevents the colour from fading when exposed to the action of the sun; and the wood, when so treated, may readily be mistaken for the commoner kinds of mahogany. In some parts of France, where the tree abounds in the forests, it is used for common carpentry purposes; and in others, casks for wine are made of it, which are said to improve the flavour of the wine kept in them. Where the tree is treated as coppice, it is found to throw up strong straight shoots, which, in a few years, make excellent hop-poles, props for vines, and hoops for casks. As firewood, like that of many other fruit trees, it will burn well as soon as it is cut down; but, if it is kept for two or three years, and then used as fuel, it will, when laid on the fire, consume away like tinder, without producing either flame or heat.

As a tree, the wild cherry is not only valuable for its timber, but for the food which it supplies to birds, by increasing the number of which, the insects which attack trees of every kind are materially kept under. This is one reason why cherry trees are generally encouraged in the forests of France and Belgium: an additional reason, in Britain, is the nourishment which they afford to singing birds, particularly to the blackbird and thrush. In all ornamental plantations, cherry trees are desirable on this account, and also on account of the great beauty of their blossoms, which are produced in the greatest profusion in most seasons. The morello and the Kentish cherries are desirable on account of the beauty of their fruit; which, being produced in immense quantities, and not being eaten by birds, remains on the tree till winter, and has an effect which is singularly rich and ornamental. On the Continent, and more especially in Germany and Switzerland, the cherry is much used as a road-side tree; particularly in the northern parts of Germany, where the apple and the pear will not thrive. In some countries, the road passes for many miles together through an avenue of cherry trees. In Moravia, the road from Brunn to Olmutz passes through such an avenue, extending upwards of sixty miles in length; and, in the autumn of 1828, as we have stated in the Gardener's Magazine, vol. iv., we travelled for several days through almost one continuous avenue of cherry trees, from Strasburg by a circuitous route to Munich. These avenues, in Germany, are planted by the desire of the respective governments, not only for shading the traveller, but in order that the poor pedestrian may obtain refreshment on his journey. All

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 double-flowered varieties are splendid garden ornaments; more particularly the double French, which appears to grow to a timber size, and produces 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. semperflorens and C. Chamacerasus, 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 fête 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 fête 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. Procopius 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, calcareous, 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 kitchengardens, to form a screen against high winds. Dr. Withering observes that