This variety, one of the oldest, has been called by a great number of
names by European writers. The cherry mentioned by Duhamel, in 1768, as
a late Guigne with red fruit, otherwise known as Guigne de Fer, can be
no other than Hildesheim. The exact origin of the variety has never been
known, though it is supposed to have sprung up in the neighborhood of
Hildesheim, Prussia. It was brought to America early in the Nineteenth
Century, probably by William Prince. With it came some of the numerous
foreign names. It seems certain that Late Red Guigne mentioned by Prince
was Hildesheim. Ripening late and being small and of rather undesirable
texture, Hildesheim did not meet with much favor in America, never being
widely disseminated, and has long since passed from cultivation. This
variety, under the name Belle Agathe, was propagated in Belgium by M.
Thiery about 1852 and for some time was supposed to be a separate sort.
The following description is compiled:
Tree very large, vigorous, upright, hardy, an annual bearer,
unproductive while young producing good crops later; branches
thick, large, long, straight; leaves numerous, of medium size,
oval or elongated-oval, acuminate; margin finely and regularly
serrate; petiole slender, rather short, tinged red, with large,
flattened glands; blooming season early.
Fruit matures very late, usually attached in fives but sometimes
in threes and fours; small to medium, roundish-cordate, flattened
on one side, somewhat irregular; color yellowish, mottled and
marbled with dark red; stem two inches long, slender, somewhat
curved; skin thick; flesh pale yellow, slightly tinged with red at
the pit, firm, somewhat stringy, rather dry, with uncolored juice,
pleasant flavored, sweet; quality good; stone medium to large,
with reddish surface, long, compressed.
IDA
_Prunus avium_
=1.= _Gard. Mon._ =20=:270, 271. 1878. =2.= Downing _Fr. Trees
Am._ 3rd App. 162. 1881. =3.= _Am. Pom. Soc. Cat._ 26. 1909.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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