Cherry, a species of the Pru-nus, L. or plum-tree, a genus of plants, comprising fifteen species, originally natives of persia; whence they were introduced into Italy, as well as other parts of Europe and are supposed to have been brought from Flanders into England, in the reign of Henry the Eighth. - The principal species, growing in cur climate are the following;

I. The Pedus, or bird cherry, or wild cluster cherry, a shrub which flourishes wild, on almost any soil, if not wet (Withering); and is found chiefly in hedges and woods. It bears lopping, and does not stifle, the growth of grass. Sheep, goats, and swine eat the leaves, but they are not relished by cows, and refused by horses. Its fruit is nauseous ; but, when bruised, and in-fused in wine, or brandy, it imparts an agreeable flavour. Its smooth and tough wood is made into handles for knives and whips. The inner bark is said to afford a fine green colour, on boiling it with alum.

Bechstein observes, that this dwarf tree, when transplanted into a rich soil, attains the height of forty feet, and two feet in diameter ; and that it thrives most luxuriantly near hedges and waters. As its abundant white blossoms, in May, present a pictureseque view, it deserves to be cultivated on the borders of parks and gar dens. - Holmberger, a Swedish author, remarks that the dried kernels of this cherry are equal in taste and flavour to almonds, and yield, on expression, a line and plentiful oil. - A decoction of the berries Is sometimes successfully given in the dysentery.

2. The Cerasus, or common wild cherry tree, which is frequently found in woods and hedges, but is probably produced from the stones of the garden- varieties, dro ped by birds. It delights in a dy soil, and and elevated situation, and often grows from fit'; to thirty feet in height, but is dom more man nine inches in diameter. It flow month of May ; its sour a by country people. fresh or dried, and is frequent in brandy, on account of its aro-matic flavour.

Cherry-trees require to be planted from twenty to thirty feet distant, and to be set deeper in the earth than apple-trees; with the management of which in othe respefts, they correspond. Their , growth is said to be uncommonly promoted, by laying a composition of lime and night-soil on their young stems, with a brush, which operation has a similar effect on apple-trees.

The best method of raising cherry-trees is, to plant them among hops, in alternate rows with apples, and with two rows of filberts between each; by which means they arrive very speedily at perfection, and thus amply repay the expence and labour bestowed on them at first. The proportion (in the county of Kent, where tins species is. principally cultivated) is usually, to an "acre, 800 hop-hil!s, 200 fil-berts, and 40 cherry and apple, trees. The hops will stand about twelve years, and the filberts about thirty, by which time the cherry and apple-trees will occupy the whole, land.

This species of the Prunus is, according to LiNN'.Eus, the parent-stock, from which many of the cultivated varieties are derived : there are many different-sorts, which are known under the names of Black-heart, White-heart, Flemish, or early Kentish, Courone, and Hertfordshire black, Cherries. All these have been raised originally from stones, and afterwards preserved by budding, and grafting on stocks of the wild black and red cherry, reared for this purpose. In order to ensure a luxuriant vegetation, and a delicious flavour, to these varieties, the stones of the black cherries should be set, or sown, in autumn, to raise stocks; and planted out, the second year after they come up, in lines at the distance of about two feet.

Cherry-trees prosper best when grafted; and, exclusive of their delicious fruit, afford, by their plentiful leaves, an excellent article of food for fattening hogs. - They also exude a gum in every respect equal to gum-arabic; and which is so extremely nutritive, that, according to HasselQuist, above 100 men were kept alive, during a siege, for nearly two mouths, with no other sustenance than that produced by gradually dissolving a little of this gum in the mouth.— The wood is hard and tough; it is used by turners in the manufacture of chairs, and stained to imitate mahogany.

From the ripe black cherries of the second species, the Swiss distill a very agreeable liqueur, or ardent spirit, by the sale of which, to the French and Germans, they annually derive considerable profit. For preserving this fruit during the winter, we communicate the following recipe, inserted in Hoc heimer's German work on Domestic Economy. — Take, in the proportion of two pounds of sour cherries, half a pound of fine loaf sugar, and a pint of white wine vinegar ; boil the two last, and skim off the impurities from the top ; then let the liquor stand, till it become lukewarm. Meanwhile, prepare a coarse powder, consisting of two drams of cinnamon, and one of cloves ; break the stalks of the cherries in the middle, so as to leave half of their length for the jar, into which they must be carefully put in layers, strewing a little of the spice between each stratum, pouring the liquor above-mentioned on the top, and securing the whole from the access of air. With respect to their ph.

cherries may be divided into sweet, sub-acid, and pulpy. The first kind, though the most palatable, are the least wholesome, as they readily ferment, and produce flatulency in weak stomachs ; the second are the most antiseptic ; and the third, the most nourishing, but digested with some difficult v. Hence we would preferably recommend the sub-acid cherries, as an excellent article of domestic medicine in the true scurvy, in putrid fevers, and the dysentery; as likewise to those persons, who are liable to obstructions in the alimentary canal. With this intention they may be eaten in considerable quantities, and frequently from half a pound to a pound each time, but particularly on an empty stomach. Nor will they be found less salutary to constitutions whose bile is vitiated, whose stomach is troubled with foul eructations, and who are afflicted with an offensive breath : all such persons should eat them . For similar reasons, dried cherries form an excellent article of diet, in acute or inflammatory disorders : where they should be used both in substance, and in decoctions, which are equally cooling and antiseptic.