Page:The family kitchen gardener - containing plain and accurate descriptions of all the different species and varieties of culinary vegetables (IA familykitchengar56buis).pdf/174



species of the Cherry is native to every temperate climate. History records its culture before the Christian era. It is the earliest of our stone fruits, and comes into use about the 8th or 20th of June, according to the season. The tree is of great diversity of habit, size and shape. The fruit, too, possesses every variety of flavor, from the most tart to a honey sweet. In cookery and distillation it is compounded into endless forms. In ancient and modern times it is peculiarly a wayside tree—an avenue of Cherry trees characterizing the dwellings of the great in the 16th century. The medicinal properties of the fruit are rather vague, though it is considered wholesome. Its gum is supposed to be nearly equal to the gum arabic of commerce. The wood is extensively used in domestic cabinet work. There are nearly a hundred varieties, whose qualities may all be embraced in half a dozen sorts.

Bigarreau.—Color pale yellow, with red cheek, and when fully ripe, of a bright amber; large size, irregularly heart-shaped. Flesh firm, adhering to the stone; rich and high flavored. Stalk about two inches long; growth strong and upright. A great bearer; hangs long on the tree. Ripe about the 4th of July.

Black Tartarian, or Black Circassian.—Fruit very large; irregularly heart-shaped; of a shining black color when fully ripe; stalk an inch and a half long. Flesh dark purple, very rich and juicy; stone quite small. Ripe from the 20th to the end of June. The finest Black Cherry that is grown. A handsome tree, of rapid growth and large foliage.

Carnation.—Color a bright, shining, waxy, marbled red; fine round form; stalk short and stout. Flesh tender when fully ripe, of a rich sub-acid flavor. One of the best cooking