Olivet is a large, globular, deep red, glossy cherry with a rich,
vinous, subacid flavor. Some writers call Olivet a Duke while others
place it with the Morellos. The fruit, on the grounds of this Station,
shows many characteristics of the Morellos while the tree appears to be
a Duke, suggesting that it is a hybrid between trees of the two groups.
The fruit, eaten out of hand, would be rated as a very good Morello or a
subacid and somewhat mediocre Duke, a fruit hardly good enough for
dessert and not as good as some of the sourer cherries for culinary
purposes. It is one of the earliest of the Morello-like cherries and
this may give it a place in the cherry flora of the country. The trees
are large and vigorous and their much-branched, round tops would seem to
give the maximum amount of bearing surface, but, unfortunately, the
cherries do not set abundantly. On the grounds of this Station the
variety is not fruitful, this being its chief defect. In other parts of
the country, however, it is reported to be either very productive or
moderately so. The descriptions of this cherry as given by American
experiment stations and nurserymen show plainly that there are several
distinct sorts passing under the name Olivet in this country.
Olivet, of comparatively recent origin, was found at Olivet, Loire,
France. American nurserymen introduced this variety sometime previous to
1877, for in that year the _Gardener's Monthly_ mentioned the cherry as
being "a valuable Duke sort filling an unoccupied place among the list
of early cherries in central New York." Olivet was entered on the
American Pomological Society's catalog list of fruits in 1881 where it
is still retained.
[Illustration: OLIVET]
Tree large, vigorous, upright-spreading, round-topped,
unproductive; trunk thickish, rather rough; branches thick,
smooth, reddish-brown partly overspread with ash-gray, with
numerous small lenticels; branchlets short, brown partly
overspread with ash-gray, smooth, with numerous raised lenticels.
Leaves numerous, three and one-half inches long, one and
three-fourths inches wide, folded upward, obovate to oval, thin;
upper surface dark green, smooth; lower surface light green,
glossy, with a few scattering hairs; apex acute; margin doubly
serrate, glandular; petiole one and one-fourth inches long,
greenish, glandless or with one or two globose, brownish glands
variable in position.
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