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 Britannia even. The cherry, as we have already stated,2005 in spite of every care, it has been found impossible to rear in Egypt. Of this fruit, that known as the “Apronian”2006 is the reddest variety, the Lutatian2007 being the blackest, and the Cæcilian2008 perfectly round. The Junian2009 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 duracinus2010 variety, known in Campania as the “Plinian”2011 cherry, and in Belgica to the Lusitanian2012 cherry, as also to one that grows on the banks of the Rhenus. This last kind has a third colour, being a mixture2013 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 graft2014 upon the laurel. The Macedonian cherry grows on a tree that is very small,2015 and rarely exceeds three cubits in height; while the chamæcerasus2016 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.2017 The fruit are sometimes dried in the sun, and preserved, like olives, in casks.