What is Bing cherry?
[[Image:Bing Cherries.JPG|right|thumb|130px|Branch of a Bing cherry tree]] '''Bing''' is a [[cultivar]] (farmed type) of the wild or sweet [[cherry]] (''Prunus avium'') that started in the [[Pacific Northwest]], in [[Milwaukie, Oregon|Milwaukie]], [[Oregon]], [[United States]]. The Bing remains a major cultivar in [[Oregon]], [[Washington (U.S. state)|Washington]], and [[British Columbia]]. It is the most produced variety of [[sweet cherry]] in the United States.<ref name=OregonProgress/> == History == The cultivar was created as a [[Plant breeding|crossbred]] [[grafting|graft]] from the [[Republican cherry]] in 1875 by Oregon [[Horticulture|horticulturist]] [[Seth Lewelling]] and his [[Manchuria]]n Chinese foreman Ah Bing, for whom the cultivar is named.<ref name=OregonProgress>Peg Herring, [http://oregonprogress.oregonstate.edu/fall-2009/cherries Bing cherries are an American favorite. But who was Bing?] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110720030130/http://oregonprogress.oregonstate.edu/fall-2009/cherries |date=2011-07-20 }}, ''Oregon Progress'', Oregon State University Agricultural Experiment Station, Fall 2009.</ref> === Ah Bing === Ah Bing was reportedly born in China and [[immigration|immigrated]] to the U.S. in about 1855. He worked as a [[foreman]] in the Lewelling family fruit orchards in [[Milwaukie, Oregon|Milwaukie]] for about 35 years, supervising other workers and caring for trees. He went back to [[China]] in 1889 for a visit. Due to the restrictions of the [[Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882]] he never returned to the United States.<ref name=OregonProgress/><ref>[http://www.infoplease.com/ipa/A0900104.html Ah Bing], Infoplease.com, accessed September 23, 2010</ref> Some say Ah Bing developed the cultivar, others that it was developed by Lewelling and named in Bing's honour due to his long service as [[orchard]] foreman.<ref name=OregonProgress/><ref>{{Cite journal | last = King | first = Sally | title = A heritage of farming yields highly praised wines | journal = [[Napa Valle