Page:The American Cyclopædia (1879) Volume IV.djvu/388

330 CHEEKY by the most accurate census made for many years, numbered 13,566, and the latest estimates give them only 14,682 ; while in 1853 they num- bered 17,367, besides 710 in Haywood co., N. C. Affairs between the Cherokees and the United States were regulated by treaty July 19, 1866, in which protection was given to the Ridge party, some lands were given up to the gov- ernment, and others set apart for churches and schools. Their country, E. of Ion. 96 W. and south of lat. 37 N., now comprises about 6,000,000 acres, two thirds of it being unfit for cultivation. The Cherokee national, orphan, and school funds, held by the United States government, amount to $1,580,975 85. Their language comprises two dialects, calling each other Oonusta, and a third now lost was called Gidoowa, Although many works have ap- peared in Cherokee, there is no grammar or dictionary printed. There are some notes on the grammar in the u Cherokee Phoenix " and the ArchoEologia Americana. Under their present constitution they are governed by a national committee and council, elected for two years by the eight districts into which the territory is divided. The executive is called the "principal chief of the Cherokee nation," and is elected for four years. A bill in con- gress has proposed the erection of the Indian territory into a territorial government under the name of Oklahoma, giving access also to whites; but the Cherokees in 1873 joined the Creeks and Choctaws in an earnest protest against it. ( HKKK Y. The common cherry tree (prunu* ceratus, Linn. ; cerau vulgaru, Loud.) is of Asiatic origin, and is said by Pliny to have been introduced into Italy by Lucullus from ( V nisi is in Pontus during the Mithridatic war, about 70 B. C., and about 120 years afterward it was Common Cherry. introduced into Britain. It is extensively cul- tivated in the temperate regions of Europe and America. The Romans recognized eight va- rieties of it, and more than 300 varieties are now reckoned in catalogues. The branches are spreading, horizontal, or slightly inclining up.- ward in the larger trees, and drooping in the smaller ones ; the flowers are in subsessile um- bels, somewhat stalked ; the leaves are ovate- lanceolate, smooth, folded together, and of lightest color in the largest varieties ; and the fruit is round or heart-shaped, commonly red, but passes into all shades between that color and dark purple. The wood is of a reddish hue, hard and tough, and much used by the cabinetmaker ; the gum which exudes from the bark is edible ; and the fruit is eaten either fresh or dried, and is made into preserves. The cherry tree is best propagated by grafting ou seedlings of the wild cherry. The wild cherry tree (ce- rasus Virginiana, Loud., and prunm serotina, Ehrhart) is one of the largest American forest trees, sometimes attaining a height of 100 ft., with a trunk 3 or 4 ft. in diameter. It is found from Mexico to Hudson bay, and abounds in the Wild Cherry (Cerasus Virginiana). middle states, and in Kentucky and Ohio. Its wood is compact, fine-grained, and of a dull, light red tint, which deepens with age. It takes a brilliant polish, and is not likely to warp. It is employed by cabinetmakers for almost every species of furniture, and when selected near the ramification of the trunk it rivals mahogany in beauty. Where it abounds, it is used in ship building and for the fellies of wheels. The fruit is purplish black, slightly bitter, and is used for flavoring brandy. This tree is cultivated in Europe for ornament. The choke cherry (prunm Virginiana, Linn.) has often been confounded by botanists with the preceding. It is a tall shrub, seldom a tree, with greenish bark, oblong, sharply ser- rate teeth, and red fruit, turning to dark crim- son, and very astringent till perfectly ripe. It is common on river banks W. of the Allegha- nies, and along the Atlantic parts of America, especially northward. Its bark is known to physicians as a tonic. Its fruit affords nour-