This section is from "The Horticulturist, And Journal Of Rural Art And Rural Taste", by P. Barry, A. J. Downing, J. Jay Smith, Peter B. Mead, F. W. Woodward, Henry T. Williams. Also available from Amazon: Horticulturist and Journal of Rural Art and Rural Taste.
Large, black, fine flavored. Valuable.
Size - medium. Color - red. Lively flavor. Matures late.
Large and valuable Morello.
Very large. Pit - small. Flavor - good. Promises well. Not sufficiently tested.
Size - below medium. Form, color, and flavor, like Belle de Clioisy.
Size - medium or above. Form - conic-oblong. Semi-transparent, often opalescent. Color - delicate, blending of white, vermillion, and yellow. This and No. 5 are Heart cherries, though they resemble the Belle de Choisy. Valuable as table fruits, but too tender for market.
Very large. Yellow and white, blushed with red. Delicate and lively flavor. By many considered equal to the Gov. Wood.
Size - medium. Color - amber, or a blending of white and yellow blushed with red. Delicate and rich flavored. Ripens with the Early May. Prolific to a fault.
Large, amber colored. Delicate and lively flavor. Equally prolific with No. 8. Valuable.
Large, hard fleshed, not high flavored. Matures very late. Color - deep red, striped and blotched with still darker red or black. A curiosity.
Very large. Form - spherical. Color - same as No. 8. Equally productive. Flavor - delicious, sweet and rich. Best of all cherries.
Resembles Yellow Spanish in form, color, and flavor; more hardy, and less liable to premature decay; ripens two weeks later, and among the last of the sweet cherries.
Very large, nearly equalling the Black Tartarian. Flesh more firm and higher flavored. Color - brilliant and glossy black, like patent leather. Very prolific. Surpasses that variety as a market fruit.
Large, amber colored, very delicious. Varies in its qualities in different years, more than most of the other kinds.
Large, black, fine flavored. Valuable.
Size, color, and flavor, same as No. 15. Valuable.
Same as the two last in size, color, and flavor. Valuable. Named after a noble Saux chief who died at Cleveland eight years since, and to whose memory a monument was erected by several citizens.
Large, black, fine flavored. Valuable.
Same as No. 18 in size, color, and flavor. Valuable. Resembles Knight's Black Eagle; far more productive.
Nos. 15 to 19, inclusive, are all destined to rank high, both as table and market fruits.
Size and flavor medium. Liver-colored. Very prolific. Popular in our market.
Large, black, firm fleshed, not high flavored, rather coarse texture, but sells well in market. Resembles in color and form the Tradescant.
Size - larger than any other cherry I have ever seen. Color - yellow and white, slightly blushed with red. Flavor - rich and delicate. Flesh - firm. The original tree is large, leaves enormous. Has as yet fruited only sparingly. Requires further testing.
Figured and described by Mr. Elliott in Vol. 11 of the Horticulturist, after the tree had fruited two years. It was then accidentally destroyed, and I have not since seen the fruit.
The above named varieties, with the exception of Nos. 3, 4, and 22, were raised from the pits of the Yellow Spanish or Bigarreau, accidentally crossed, probably with the May Duke, Black Tartarian, and Black Mazzard. No. 22 sprung from a Yellow Spanish pit, produced by a tree remote from other kinds. Nos. 3 and 4 are the offspring of a Black Morrello tree standing in close contact with a Carnation.
Mr. Elliott and myself, while testing my numerous seedlings, adopted the American Heart as our standard, and no variety was allowed to pass inspection that did not, in our estimation, equal that standard - taking all their qualities into consideration. All of them equal it in size, except Nos. 5, 8, and perhaps 6; most of them exceed it, None of the Heart varieties fall short of it in point of flavor, unless it be Nos. 10, 21,. and perhaps 20. None of them were decided on until they had perfected fruit for two seasons. The correctness of our conclusions has now been sustained by the observations of from three to six years, and with the exception of a few of the kinds, they have improved in their qualities with the advancement of age. How they will bear the test of general cultivation, remains to be decided. My locality is peculiarly favorable, in its soil, climate, and exposure, for the production of the cherry, though I think the fruits do not attain quite as large size on the south shore of Lake Erie, as on the rich soils in the valley of the Connecticut river about Middletown, Conn.
Thirty years since, I discovered that while the pits of most of the fine varieties of the cherry were abortive, those of the Yellow Spanish were prolific. Endless new varieties may be produced from them. A small per centage will, however, prove to be equal to the parent stock, or to the standard adopted by Mr. Elliott and myself. The rejected are valuable as stocks, forming thrifty and healthy standards, superior to many of the Mazzards.
The cherry will not long survive if the roots are exposed to superfluous water, nor will the Heart varieties produce fine fruits with any certainty in wet and retentive soils. These impediments may in many instances be obviated by preparing large and deep holes, partially filling them with waste stones or bricks, and leading from the bottom of each one a descending underdrain.
 
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