LARGE MONTMORENCY

Prunus cerasus

As its synonyms show, Large Montmorency has been grown under various names in Europe and America—a testimony to its merits. Were it not that the true Montmorency is so much more fruitful than this larger-fruited offshoot of the same race of Amarelle cherries, Large Montmorency would be a leading commercial Sour Cherry, for it is equal to the smaller-fruited strain in all other characters with the advantage of size. The relationship between this and the other Montmorencies is apparent but Large Montmorency is easily distinguished by several marked characters from the common Montmorency, known by all, with which it is most often confused. Its fruits are more often borne singly, are larger, have a shorter, thicker stem, are more oblate and ripen a little earlier. The trees are more upright, with stouter branches and are far less fruitful. The flesh-characters of the two kinds are much the same—excellent in both, the flavor being particularly refreshing to those who like the acidity of the Sour Cherry. Large Montmorency has been tried and found so wanting in productiveness that it can rarely be recommended as a commercial variety but it is much too good a fruit to be wholly lost and should be grown by connoisseurs who want a large, finely flavored Sour Cherry.

This variety has been much confused with other cherries, particularly Montmorency, Early Richmond and Short Stem Montmorency. Bradley, in 1739, mentioned a Flemish cherry which undoubtedly was the Large Montmorency of today, for the name Flemish has rather commonly been applied to this sort since Bradley's time. There is no doubt but that Large Montmorency sprang up about the same time as the true Montmorency, in the Montmorency Valley in France. It may have been a seedling of the Cerise Hâtive, afterwards known as Early Richmond, though some writers are of the opinion that the Montmorencies and Cerise Hâtive were all seedlings of the old Cerise Commune. At any rate, there have come to be at least three distinct types of Montmorency: the true Montmorency with long stems and moderate-sized fruit, called Montmorency à Longue Queue or, in America, Montmorency Ordinaire; the Large Montmorency with its large fruit and shorter, thicker stems, commonly known by the French and German writers as Montmorency à Gros Fruit, Gros Gobet, Grosse Glaskirsche von Montmorency and sometimes as Montmorency à Courte Queue; and the Short-Stem Montmorency, often called Montmorency à Courte Queue and sometimes Gros Gobet. Large Montmorency has often been sold for Montmorency, or for Early Richmond, hence the three varieties are more or less confused. Large Montmorency probably came to America about the same time as Montmorency and Early Richmond, early in the Nineteenth Century. In 1875, Ellwanger & Barry, Rochester, New York, disseminated this sort quite extensively but later it proved too unproductive for commercial use. It was soon replaced by the true Montmorency but often the names were interchanged and large forms of the Montmorency were thought to be this variety. The unproductiveness of this cherry has been consistently mentioned by nearly every writer from Duhamel's time to the present. Large Montmorency was added to the American Pomological Society's catalog list of fruits in 1885 as Montmorency Large but in 1899 this name was changed to Large Montmorency.

LARGE MONTMORENCY

Tree rather large, vigorous, upright, vasiform, unproductive; trunk thick, roughened; branches stocky, nearly smooth, reddish-brown overspread with dark ash-gray, with numerous large, raised, conspicuous lenticels; branchlets thick, short, brown tinged with bronze, smooth except for the large, numerous yellowish, conspicuous, raised lenticels.

Leaves numerous, three and one-half inches long, one and three-fourths inches wide, folded upward, broad-oval to obovate, thick, stiff; upper surface dark green, slightly rugose; apex acute, base variable in shape; margin serrate, glandular; petiole one inch long, tinged with dull red, glandless or with from one to three globose, yellow or brownish glands, usually at the base of the blade.

Buds usually pointed, plump, free, arranged singly as lateral buds and in small clusters on short spurs; leaf-scars prominent; season of bloom intermediate; flowers white, one inch across; borne in scattering clusters, usually in threes; pedicels five-eighths inch long, glabrous, green; calyx-tube tinged with red, obconic, glabrous; calyx-lobes with a trace of red, long, broad, acute, serrate, glabrous within and without, reflexed; petals obovate, entire or slightly crenate, sessile, with a crenate apex; filaments one-fourth inch long; pistil glabrous, equal to or longer than the stamens, often defective.

Fruit matures in mid-season; three-fourths of an inch in diameter, oblate, compressed; cavity wide, flaring; suture shallow; apex flattened or depressed; color dark red; dots numerous, small, russet, somewhat conspicuous; stem thick, one inch long, adhering fairly well to the fruit; skin thick, separating from the pulp; flesh whitish, showing distinctly the fibers in the pulp, with abundant colorless or slightly tinged juice, tender and melting, sprightly, pleasant flavored, tart; of very good quality; stone free, roundish, plump, with smooth surfaces, tinged with red.