most naturally into one, two, or three genera—indeed have not been able to agree as to whether some species are plums or cherries, or others apricots or plums. Hybridization between the cultivated divisions of the genus—unquestionably it has taken place in nature as well—has added to the perplexities of classification. Accepting, then, for the present at least, the very artificial classification which, rather paradoxically, places in one genus a number of fruits commonly thought of as quite distinct, let us briefly note the characters which best distinguish cherries from their congeners.

The cherry is nearest of kin to the plum. These two are roughly separated from the other cultivated members of the genus to which they belong by bearing their fruits on stems in fascicles while the others are practically stemless and are solitary or borne in pairs. The fruits of plums and cherries are globular or oblong, succulent and smooth or nearly so. Peaches, apricots, nectarines and almonds are more sulcate than plums and cherries and the almond has a drier flesh, splitting at maturity to liberate the stone; and, with the exception of nectarines and a few varieties of apricots, all are very pubescent. The stones of cherries and plums are smooth, or nearly so, while those of the other fruits are sculptured and pitted, though those of the apricot are often somewhat plum-like.

Cherries are separated from plums by their smaller size and distinctive color of skin, juice and flesh; by the texture and distinct flavor of the flesh; by growth in corymbose rather than umbelliferous fascicles; by the more globular stone; and by the arrangement of the leaves in the bud. Leaves of the plum are usually convolute, or rolled up, in the bud, while those of the cherry are conduplicate, or folded lengthwise along the midrib.

We have been discussing the cherries of common cultivation—the Sweet Cherry and Sour Cherry of the orchards, the fascicled cherries to which the botanists give the group name, Cerasus. But there is another group, the Padus cherries, well worthy of brief mention. The most noteworthy representatives of Padus are the bird cherry (Prunus padus) of the Old World and the choke cherry (Prunus virginiana) of the New World. These Padus cherries are distinguished botanically in having their flowers borne in racemes, that is, in long clusters of which those nearest the base of the shoot open first—rather than in the short-clustered fascicles of the Cerasus group. The cherries are small and almost or quite black. The Padus cherries are but sparingly cultivated but undoubtedly they are capable of some improvement under more thorough cultivation.

DISTRIBUTION OF CULTIVATED CHERRIES

The cherry is one of the most commonly cultivated of all fruits and the many varieties of its several forms encircle the globe in the North Temperate Zone and are being rapidly disseminated throughout the temperate parts of the Southern Hemisphere. For centuries it has been, as we shall see in the history of the species, one of the most valuable fruit-producing trees of Europe and Asia—an inhabitant of nearly every orchard and garden as well as a common roadside tree in temperate climates in both continents. From Europe, as a center of distribution, the cherry has played an important part in the orcharding in temperate regions of other continents. In North America varieties of the cherry are grown from Newfoundland to Vancouver Island on the north, to the Gulf of California, Texas and Florida on the south, yielding fruit in a greater diversity of soils and climates in Canada and the States of the Union than any other tree-fruit.

The Sour Cherry is very cosmopolitan, thriving in many soils; is able to withstand heat, cold and great atmospheric dryness, if the soil contain moisture; and, though it responds to good care, it grows under neglect better than any other tree-fruit. The Sour Cherry, too, is rather less inviting to insects and fungi than most other stone-fruits, being practically immune to the dreaded San José scale. On the other hand the Sweet Cherry is very fastidious as to soils, is lacking in hardiness to both heat and cold and is prey to many insects and subject to all the ills to which stone-fruits are heir; it is grown at its best in but few and comparatively limited areas, though these are very widely distributed.

USES OF THE CHERRY

The cherry is a delectable early-summer fruit, especially grateful as a refreshing dessert and much valued in cookery, when fresh, canned, preserved or dried, for the making of pies, tarts, sauces and confections. During the last few years, in America at least, the consumption of cherries has been enormously increased by the fashion of adding preserved cherries, as much for ornament as to give flavor, to many drinks and ices. The great bulk of the cherry crop now grown in America for commercial purposes is canned, the industry being more or less specialized in a few fruit regions. The demand for cherries for canning seems to be increasing greatly but unfortunately it calls for but few varieties, the Montmorency being the sort sought for among the Sour Cherries, while the hard-fleshed varieties of the Bigarreau type are in greatest demand among the Sweet Cherries.

The cherry, while a very common fruit in nearly all agricultural regions of America, does not hold the place in American markets as a fresh fruit that it does in the towns and cities of Europe. The great abundance of strawberries, raspberries, currants, gooseberries, dewberries, blackberries, as well as early varieties of tree fruits, makes keener here than abroad the competition in the fruit markets during cherry time. The fact, too, that market fruits in America are shipped long distances, for which the cherry is not well adapted, helps to explain the relatively small regard in which this fruit has been held for commercial purposes in the fresh state. In recent years, however, both Sweet Cherries and Sour Cherries, the former in particular, have been sent to the markets in far greater abundance, the impetus to their market value being due to a better product—better varieties, hence greater demand—and to greatly improved facilities for shipping and holding for sale.

In Europe several liqueurs are very commonly made from cherries both for home and commercial uses. Such is not the case in America, where, except in very limited quantities in which unfermented cherry juices are used in the home, this fruit is not used in liqueur-making. In some of the countries of Europe, wine is made from the juice; a spirit, kirschwasser,1 is distilled from the fermented pulp as an article for both home and commerce; and ratafias and cordials are very generally flavored with cherries. In the Austrian province of Dalmatia a liqueur or cordial called maraschino2 is made by a secret process of fermentation and distillation. This liqueur is imported in America in considerable quantities to flavor preservatives in which the home-grown cherries are prepared for use in various drinks and confections. No attempts have been made to grow the Marasca cherry on a commercial scale in America but undoubtedly it could be grown and, with the process of making maraschino discovered, an important use would be developed for cherries—all the more to be desired since the foreign maraschino is now grossly adulterated and imitated in this country. Both the fruits and seeds of cherries, especially of the Mahaleb, are steeped in spirits for