Mezel seems to have made a stir in pomological circles in the middle of the Nineteenth Century by reason of the great size and beautiful appearance of the cherries. Though on the recommended list of the American Pomological Society and frequently spoken of in the pomological works of the day and offered by some nurserymen, we have not been able to find many trees of this variety now growing in New York. We glean from the literature that Mezel pleased the eye more than the palate and that the trees, while vigorous and healthy, were not productive. At any rate after a decade or two of much advertising and what would seem to have been a very thorough trial, Mezel failed to receive very general approbation from cherry-growers and has now almost passed from cultivation. Contrary to the general behavior of the variety in New York, the tree and fruit from which the accompanying description was made have so many merits that one can well wish that the variety will not wholly pass out of cultivation.

This variety was found at Mezel, Puy-de-Dôme, France, by M. Ligier sometime prior to 1846 when it was brought to notice. Even so, it had grown in a vineyard at that place for thirty years and was only made public after an excursion of several members of a horticultural society to the vineyard. It was immediately heralded as a coming variety and grafts were distributed. Great Bigarreau, which made its appearance a few years later, is here included as a synonym though many writers list it as a distinct sort. Bigarreau Monstrueux, first listed in the London Horticultural Society catalog for 1831, is held by many pomologists to be identical with Mezel which, if true, casts some doubt on the generally accepted history of the variety. Mezel appeared on the fruit list of the American Pomological Society in 1862 but was discarded in 1869; it was replaced in 1883 and is still on the list though it is scarcely known in any part of the United States.

MEZEL

Tree large, vigorous, upright-spreading, hardy, variable in productiveness; trunk stocky, nearly smooth; branches thick, smooth, reddish-brown partly overspread with dark ash-gray, with lenticels medium in number and size; branchlets of average thickness, variable in length, with internodes of medium length, brown partly covered with ash-gray, smooth, glabrous, with small, inconspicuous, raised lenticels medium in number.

Leaves numerous, five inches long, often two and one-half inches wide, long-oval, thin; upper surface dark green, strongly rugose giving a crumpled appearance; lower surface dull, light green, with slight pubescence; apex varies from abrupt to taper-pointed, base abrupt; margin glandular, coarsely serrate; petiole long, averaging one and one-half inches, slender, tinged with red, with from one to four reniform glands of medium size on the petiole.

Buds intermediate in size and length, plump, pointed, arranged singly as lateral buds or in clusters of various sizes on both long and short spurs; leaf-scars prominent; season of bloom intermediate; flowers one and seven-sixteenths inches across, well distributed in scattering clusters in twos and threes; pedicels one and one-eighth inches long, medium in thickness, glabrous, greenish; calyx-tube with a slight tinge of red, campanulate, glabrous; calyx-lobes long, medium in width, acute, slightly serrate, glabrous within and without; petals somewhat obovate, crenate, nearly sessile, with a very shallow notch at the apex; anthers yellow; filaments shorter than the petals; pistil glabrous, shorter than the stamens, often defective.

Fruit matures in mid-season; large, seven-eighths inch long, thirteen-sixteenths inch wide, cordate, compressed, the surface markedly irregular and broken into ridges; cavity very deep, wide, irregular, abrupt; suture variable, shallow to very deep and wide and at times double; apex blunt-pointed, usually not depressed; color attractive purplish-black; dots numerous, very small, somewhat russet, obscure; stem medium in thickness, long, averaging two and one-eighth inches, adheres well to the fruit; skin medium in thickness, rather tender but not inclined to crack, adheres slightly to the pulp; flesh purplish-red, with abundant dark red juice, tender, meaty, mild, very pleasant, sweet; very good to best in quality; stone clinging, large, strongly ovate, with slightly roughish surface.

MONTMORENCY

Prunus cerasus

Montmorency is the most popular Sour Cherry grown in America. No one questions its supremacy. Probably half of the cherry trees in New York, Sweet or Sour, are Montmorencies and at least three-fourths of all the trees of the Sour Cherry are of this variety. It leads in the demands for this fruit in the markets, for the cannery and for home use as a culinary cherry. Several characters give it first place. It is surpassed by no other Sour Cherry, in New York at least, in vigor, health and productiveness of tree. In the last character, in particular, it is supreme. Year in and year out, Montmorency trees are fruitful. Possibly, too, no other Sour Cherry is adapted to a greater diversity of soils than Montmorency, which, with capacity to stand heat and cold, makes the variety suitable to wide variations in environment. The cherries are in no way remarkable—not much above the average for an Amarelle in size, appearance or quality, in all of these characters being much inferior to Large Montmorency. The fruit has the advantage of being presentable in appearance and fit for culinary purposes several days before it is fully ripe and this adds to the value of the variety for the market. Brown-rot takes less toll from this cherry than of others of its kind probably because of relatively firm flesh and thick skin. These characters, also, make the fruit stand handling well in harvesting, shipping and on the markets. The preserved product, whether canned at home or commercially, is attractive in appearance and very good. Montmorency is not a dessert cherry but for those who like Sour Cherries it may be eaten out of hand with relish when it is fully matured. Some maintain that the variety falls short in the size of the tree, which is seldom more than medium, but the head is spreading and much-branched and the fruit is borne in clusters thickly scattered throughout the whole head so that the total yield from a tree is greater than would be thought from its size. For any and all purposes to which Sour Cherries are put Montmorency may be recommended as the best in its season.

Unfortunately several quite distinct cherries bear the name Montmorency and it has been most difficult to separate them in pomological literature. To make matters worse, all of them have been much confused with other varieties, Early Richmond in particular. The different Montmorencies and Early Richmond originated in the Montmorency Valley, France, several centuries ago, at least before the Seventeenth Century, probably as seedlings of Cerise Hâtive or of Cerise Commune. These Montmorency cherries differ from each other principally in their stems and fruit, one having long stems and moderate-sized, regular fruit; one shorter stems and larger fruit; and the third, very short, thick stems and oblate, irregular fruit showing a distinct suture. The first cherry has been generally known, particularly among the French, as Montmorency à Longue Queue or sometimes Cerise de Montmorency. This is the Montmorency of this sketch. Duhamel, in 1768, was the first writer to mention this cherry directly and according to his statement it was then esteemed around Paris, being superior in productiveness to the Large Montmorency.