ELKHORN

Prunus avium

Elkhorn has served its day and is now being rapidly superseded by other cherries of the Bigarreau group to which it belongs. It was valued by the old pomologists because of the large size of the fruit, the firm flesh, late ripening, rich flavor, and because it hangs well on the tree long after maturity. But it fails in competition with other Bigarreaus in bearing cherries quite variable in size, in the diminishing size of the fruit as the trees attain age and more than all else in being but moderately productive. The bark of the trunk and main branches is so heavily overspread with gray as to make this a distinguishing mark. The fruit, too, is distinct in appearance by reason of the irregular surface of the skin. The variety possesses no characters, as it usually grows, to make it worth planting either for home or market.

The history of this old cherry was almost hopelessly confused by the early horticulturists by the vast number of names they used for it, many of which belonged to other varieties. Elkhorn is supposed to have been raised by John Tradescant, gardener to Charles I of England, under the name Tradescant's Black Heart. Of this cherry, John Parkinson in 1629 says: "John Tradescantes Cherrie is most usually sold by our Nursery Gardiners, for the Archdukes cherrie, because they have more plenty thereof, and will better be increased, and because it is so faire and good a cherrie that it may be obtruded without much discontent: it is a reasonably good bearer, a faire great berrie, deepe coloured, and a little pointed." It is not known when or how Elkhorn got to America. The first cherry-grower in this country to mention it was William Prince, in 1832, who says that his father noticed the variety growing in a garden next to a hotel in Maryland about 1797 and brought cions of it to New York afterwards propagating and selling it under the name Elkhorn given to the cherry by the hotel proprietor. Elkhorn was at one time very popular and well disseminated throughout the United States and is sold now by a large number of nurserymen either under the name Tradescant's Black Heart or as Elkhorn. In 1862, the American Pomological Society listed in its fruit catalog Tradescant's Black Heart but dropped it in 1877. In 1899 this Society placed the variety in its catalog under the name Elkhorn and it still remains on its list of recommended fruits. From its history it is apparent that this cherry is rightly called Tradescant or Black Heart or by some combination of these terms but Elkhorn has been adopted by the American Pomological Society, is everywhere in common use on this continent and is so distinctive that we choose for this text the newer name.

Tree large, very vigorous, upright, open-topped, moderately productive; trunk stocky, smooth; branches stout, smooth, with numerous small lenticels, reddish-brown heavily overspread with ash-gray; branchlets thick.

Leaves numerous, three and three-fourths inches long, two and one-fourth inches wide, short-oval to obovate, thin; upper surface medium green, roughish; lower surface dull, light green, lightly pubescent; apex acute; margin coarsely serrate, glandular; petiole with from one to three raised glands of medium size, variable in shape, usually on the stalk.

Fruit matures in late mid-season; three-fourths of an inch in diameter, cordate to conical, slightly compressed; cavity deep, wide, flaring; suture indistinct; apex roundish or pointed, with a slight depression at the center; color purplish-black; dots numerous, small, dark russet, inconspicuous; stem one and three-eighths inches long, adhering to the fruit; skin thin, tender, adhering somewhat to the pulp; flesh a characteristically dark purplish-red, with very dark colored juice, meaty, firm, crisp, mild, sweet; of good quality; stone semi-free, ovate, flattened, slightly pointed, with smooth surfaces, tinged with red.