EAGLE

Tree large, vigorous, upright-spreading, dense, unproductive at first but improving with age; trunk and branches thick, smooth; branches reddish-brown partly covered with ash-gray, with numerous small lenticels; branchlets thick, brownish partly covered with light ash-gray, the surface slightly ribbed and with small, raised, inconspicuous lenticels.

Leaves numerous, five inches long, two and one-half inches wide, folded upward, long, obovate to elliptical, thin; upper surface dark green, rugose; lower surface light green, thinly pubescent; apex variable in shape; margin coarsely and doubly serrate, with dark glands; petiole nearly two inches long, tinged with red, with a few hairs, with from two to four reniform, brownish glands usually on the stalk.

Buds large, conical or pointed, plump, free, arranged singly as lateral buds and in clusters on spurs of medium length; leaf-scars prominent; season of bloom medium; flowers white, one and one-eighth inches across; borne in scattered clusters in twos and threes; pedicels one inch long, slender, glabrous, greenish; calyx-tube green faintly tinged with red, campanulate; calyx-lobes with a trace of red, obtuse, glabrous within and without, reflexed; petals irregular-oval, crenate, with short, blunt claws and with a crenate apex; anthers yellowish; filaments one-fourth inch long; pistil glabrous, equal to the stamens in length.

Fruit matures in mid-season; nearly one inch in diameter, oblate, somewhat cordate, compressed; cavity regular, flaring; suture a faint groove; apex pointed or slightly depressed; color dark red almost black; dots small, russet, medium in number, obscure; stem slender, two inches long; skin thin, tender; flesh dark red, with wine-colored juice, meaty, tender, crisp, pleasant flavored, mild, sweet; very good to best in quality; stone free except along the ventral suture, rather small, ovate, slightly flattened, blunt, with smooth surfaces; ridged along the ventral suture.

EARLY MAY

Prunus fruticosa

As the only cultivated representative of the European Dwarf Cherry, Early May should be of especial interest to cherry-growers. It is a true dwarf variety, the trees seldom attaining a height of more than six or seven feet. Both tree and branches are very flexible so that Early May is well adapted to the wall-training of European countries. It has further value in its earliness, being the earliest of all cherries. It is doubtful whether the variety can now be obtained in America but it ought to be reintroduced both for the fruit and because it is a handsome ornamental. Early May has several characters to recommend it to plant-breeders. The description herewith given is compiled from European fruit-books.

Pliny in his Natural History mentions the Macedonian and the Chamaecerasus cherries, both of which we now believe to have been Prunus fruticosa, the European Dwarf Cherry. Early May, according to European botanists, is a variety of this dwarf species and may be the identical cherry that Pliny described. Following Pliny it was mentioned by Estienne, a Frenchman, in 1540, by Knoop, the Dutch pomologist, in 1771, by Parkinson, the English herbalist, in 1629, and, as the references show, by most pomologists since. The names May and Early May have been applied to several varieties, and especially in the West to the Early Richmond but all are distinct and ought not to be confused with this, the true variety.

Tree very small, rather weak; branches numerous, slender, somewhat curved, flexible, branchlets slender, pendant; leaves abundant, very small, obovate or oblong, acuminate; margin irregularly and deeply serrate; petiole short, slender, without glands; blooming season very early; flowers small; petals oval.

Fruit matures very early, usually attached in pairs; small, roundish, slightly flattened; suture indistinct; color bright red becoming dark red at full maturity; stem one inch long, slender, set in a small, regular cavity; skin thin; flesh yellowish-white, sometimes tinged red under the skin, tender, juicy, brisk but pleasant subacid; quality fair; stone very small, roundish.

EARLY MORELLO

Prunus cerasus