Kirtland was grown in 1842 by Professor J. P. Kirtland of Cleveland, Ohio, and ranks foremost in quality and appearance of all the seedlings raised by this well-known cherry-breeder. The American Pomological Society, in 1852, mentioned this sort as deserving of further trial and, in 1854, listed it among the varieties of promising fruits. Elliott, in his Fruit Book, noted this cherry under the name Kirtland's Mary, in honor of Professor Kirtland's daughter, and classed it as a variety worthy of general cultivation. Hogg, in 1866, dropped the name Kirtland and listed it as Mary, while in the American Pomological Society's Special Report for 1905 it is called Kirtland. According to the rules of pomological nomenclature, Hogg was correct in holding the name Mary but, since there is another Mary and no worthy sort bearing the name of so eminent a horticulturist as Professor Kirtland, this Station follows the American Pomological Society in the use of Kirtland.
KIRTLAND
Tree small, rather weak, upright-spreading, open-topped, productive; trunk and branches slender, smooth; branches reddish-brown partly overspread with ash-gray, with numerous lenticels; branchlets thick, brown almost entirely overspread with ash-gray, smooth except for the longitudinal, conspicuous, raised lenticels.
Leaves five inches long, two and one-fourth inches wide, folded upward, elliptical to obovate, thin; upper surface medium green, somewhat glossy, smooth; lower surface light green, thinly pubescent; apex acute, base abrupt; margin doubly serrate, with small, dark glands; petiole one and three-fourths inches long, slender, tinged with red, lightly pubescent along the upper side, with two or three reniform, reddish glands on the stalk.
Buds pointed, plump, free, arranged singly as lateral buds or on numerous, very short spurs in clusters variable in size; leaf-scars prominent; blooming in mid-season; flowers white, one and one-fourth inches across; borne in dense clusters; pedicels one inch long, pubescent, reddish-green; calyx-tube tinged with red, light green within, campanulate, glabrous; calyx-lobes reddish, obtuse, glabrous within and without, reflexed; petals roundish-oval, entire, with short, broad claws and a notched apex; filaments in four series, the longest one-half inch; pistil glabrous, shorter than the stamens.
Fruit matures in mid-season; three-fourths of an inch in diameter, cordate, compressed; cavity wide, flaring; suture a more or less distinct line; apex roundish or pointed, with a small depression at the center; color amber overspread with bright red; dots numerous, small, grayish, conspicuous; stem one and three-fourths inches long, adhering to the fruit; skin tough; flesh whitish, with colorless juice, tender, meaty, with a pleasant and refreshing flavor; very good to best in quality; stone free, small, roundish-ovate, with smooth surfaces; ridged along the ventral suture.
KNIGHT
Prunus avium
- 1. Am. Pom. Soc. Cat. 26. 1909.
- Knight's Early Black. 2. Lond. Hort. Soc. Cat. 52. 1831. 3. Prince Pom. Man. 2:120. 1832. 4. Proc. Nat. Con. Fr. Gr. 52. 1848. 5. Dochnahl Führ. Obstkunde. 3:19. 1858. 6. Mortillet Le Cerisier 2:83. 1866. 7. Mas Pom. Gen. 11:85, 86, fig. 43. 1882.
- Knights Frühe Herzkirsche. 8. Ill. Handb. 3 fig., 4. 1867.
This old English variety has long been popular in America, where it is generally known as Knight's Early Black, this name having been shortened by the American Pomological Society to Knight. Possibly Knight is to be found in dooryards and home gardens in Eastern United States as often as any other Sweet Cherry with the exception of Black Tartarian. The characters which give it popularity are excellent quality, handsome appearance because of its glossy, dark purple color and uniformity in color, shape and size, and its earliness, it being the earliest good Sweet Cherry. Unfortunately, even in the best soil and under the most painstaking treatment, the cherries run small, a defect for American markets. The small size also leads to comparatively low yields even though the fruits are often borne in prodigious numbers. Knight, in size, color and flavor, is much like Black Tartarian but the cherries are smaller and ripen earlier. As the trees grow on the grounds of this Station they are about all that could be desired in a Sweet Cherry. The trees are characteristically marked by smooth bark which is dotted with large lenticels. There are now better sweet varieties than Knight for most purposes but still this old variety has too many merits, especially for home grounds, to be wholly forgotten.
Knight comes from a seed of May Duke crossed with Yellow Spanish by T. A. Knight, Downton Castle, Wiltshire, England, about 1810. The new variety sprang into prominence almost immediately, being mentioned by French, German and English writers. Knight is still one of the well-recognized sorts in Europe and America and has appeared continuously on the fruit list of the American Pomological Society since 1848. Mathieu has included several synonyms under this head which we question as we believe they belong to the Guigne Noir Hâtive, a distinct variety though very similar.
