Latin Texts & Translations

The cherry did not exist in Italy before the period of the victory gained over Mithridates by L. Lucullus, in the year of the City 680. He was the first to introduce this tree from Pontus, and now, in the course of one hundred and twenty years, it has travelled beyond the Ocean, and arrived in Bri- tannia even. The cherry, as we have already stated, ^[Note] in spite of every care, it has been found impossible to rear in Egypt. Of this fruit, that known as the "Apronian ^[Note] is the reddest variety, the Lutatian ^[Note] being the blackest, and the Cæcilian ^[Note] perfectly round. The Junian ^[Note] cherry has an agreeable flavour, but only, so to say, when eaten beneath the tree, as they are so remarkably delicate that they will not bear carrying. The highest rank, however, has been awarded to the duracinus ^[Note] variety, known in Campania as the "Plinian" ^[Note] cherry, and in Belgica to the Lusitanian ^[Note] cherry, as also to one that grows on the banks of the Rhenus. This last kind has a third colour, being a mixture ^[Note] of black, red, and green, and has always the appearance of being just on the turn to ripening. It is less than five years since the kind known as the "laurel- cherry" was introduced, of a bitter but not unpleasant flavour,

the produce of a graft ^[Note] upon the laurel. The Macedonian cherry grows on a tree that is very small, ^[Note] and rarely exceeds three cubits in height; while the chamæcerasus ^[Note] is still smaller, being but a mere shrub. The cherry is one of the first trees to recompense the cultivator with its yearly growth; it loves cold localities and a site exposed to the north. ^[Note] The fruit are sometimes dried in the sun, and preserved, like olives, in casks.