Chapter I

.

DAWSON

_Prunus domestica_

_Dawson Seedling._ _American Prune._

Dawson is a prune-like plum characterized by an elongated neck, a peculiar putty-like color of flesh and by large size. The quality is very good and the trees in all characters are well up to the average of those of the plums on the Station grounds. The plum is worthy a more extensive trial than it has yet had. The following history of the variety is given by its originator: In 1884, P. P. Dawson of Payette, Idaho, planted a lot of Italian prune pits. In 1891 one of the seedlings produced fruit which was so distinct as to size that Mr. Dawson deemed it worthy of propagation. The variety was introduced by Mr. Dawson and A. F. Hitt, Weiser, Idaho, about 1898.

Tree above medium in size, vigorous, round and dense-topped, productive; branchlets thick, short, twiggy, marked with scarf-skin; leaf-scars prominent; leaves flattened, oval, two and one-quarter inches wide, four inches long, dark green, rugose; margin doubly crenate, eglandular or with small dark glands; petiole pubescent, glandless or with one or two small glands usually at the base of the leaf; blooming season late, short; flowers appearing with the leaves, white with yellowish tinge; petals fringed at the apex.

Fruit mid-season, ripening period short; medium in size, strongly obovate, distinctly necked, dark reddish-purple, overspread with medium thick bloom; flesh light but dull yellow, tinged red near the surface, dry, firm, medium sweet, mild but pleasant; of good quality; stone clinging, above medium in size, long-oval or ovate, flattened, distinctly necked, with roughened surfaces; ventral suture broad, blunt.

DECAISNE

_Prunus domestica_

=1.= _Gard. Chron._ =23=:461. 1863. =2.= Mas _Pom. Gen._ =2=:43. 1873. =3.= _Cat. Cong. Pom. France_ 411. 1887. =4.= _Guide Prat._ 159. 1895.

_Decaisnes Pflaume_ 2. Prune Decaisne 1, 2.

Though a supposed seedling of Golden Drop this variety has all of the ear-marks of one of the Reine Claude group. It is inferior to several other plums of the last named group and is not worth recommendation. Decaisne was originated about 1846 by Jamin and Durand, nurserymen, at Bourg la-Reine, near Paris, France, from seed of Golden Drop. In the United States, it has been mainly distributed by Ellwanger & Barry of Rochester, New York, and by the California Nursery Company of Niles, California.

Tree intermediate in size and vigor, upright-spreading, rather open-topped, productive; trunk rough; leaves two inches wide, four inches long, oval, thick, leathery; upper surface rugose; lower surface thinly pubescent; petiole with from two to three large, globose or reniform glands.

Fruit mid-season or later; one and seven-eighths inches by one and five-eighths inches in size, oblong-oval, greenish-yellow, overspread with thin bloom; skin sour; flesh greenish-yellow, tender, mild; good; stone clinging, one inch by seven-eighths inch in size, broad-oval, with pitted surfaces; ventral suture rather prominent, heavily grooved, with a short but distinct wing; dorsal suture wide, deep.

DE CARADEUC

[Illustration: DE CARADEUC]

_Prunus cerasifera_

=1.= _Am. Pom. Soc. Rpt._ 86. 1871. =2.= _Am. Pom. Soc. Cat._ 38. 1877. =3.= Barry _Fr. Garden_ 418. 1883. =4.= _Cornell Sta. Bul._ =38=:66, 71, 86. 1892. =5.= Bailey _Ev. Nat. Fruits_ 212. 1898. =6.= _Vt. Sta. An. Rpt._ =13=:369. 1900. =7.= Waugh _Plum Cult._ 230. 1901. =8.= Budd-Hansen _Am. Hort. Man._ 310. 1903. =9.= _Ga. Sta. Bul._ =67=:274. 1904. =10.= _Ga. Hort. Soc. Cat._ 13. 1905.

Caradeuc 1.

De Caradeuc is without value in this climate for its fruit and is described at length and illustrated in _The Plums of New York_ only because it is one of the few representatives of _Prunus cerasifera_ cultivated for its fruit. The plums are garnet-red, very attractive in appearance and are borne so much earlier than those of other species that the variety may be worth planting in home orchards to lengthen the season and for the sake of variety. This plum is grown rather commonly in the South where the fruits are said to keep well and not rot. The trees are handsome ornamentals bearing remarkably rich, green foliage and a profusion of white flowers which are followed by beautifully colored fruits. The variety can be recommended for lawn or park where a small, compact, flowering tree is wanted.

De Caradeuc originated with A. De Caradeuc, Aiken, South Carolina, between 1850 and 1854. Mr. De Caradeuc brought plum trees from France and planted them in the vicinity of several native plum trees. From the seed of the former he produced this variety. The originator believed his new plum to be a hybrid but practically all students of plum botany think that it is a pure offshoot of _Prunus cerasifera_. The variety was introduced by P. J. Berckmans of Augusta, Georgia. In 1877 De Caradeuc was placed on the American Pomological Society fruit catalog list where it is still maintained.

Tree very large, vigorous, spreading, open-topped, variable in productiveness; trunk rough; branches slender, roughish or smooth, dark ash-gray, with numerous, large, raised lenticels; branchlets very numerous, twiggy, slender, medium to long, with long internodes, tinged with red when young, changing to dull reddish-brown, glossy, glabrous, with few, small lenticels; leaf-buds very small and short, obtuse, appressed.

Leaves numerous on the branchlets, becoming scattering in the interior of the tree, folded upward, oval, one and one-eighth inches wide, two inches long, thin; upper surface dark green, sparingly pubescent, smooth, with broadly grooved midrib; lower surface pale green, pubescent; apex acute, base broadly cuneate, margin often in two series of fine serrations, without glands; petiole slender, one-half inch long, slightly pubescent, tinged red, eglandular or with one or two very small, globose, greenish glands usually at the base of the leaf.

Blooming season rather early, short; flowers appearing after the leaves, seven-eighths inch across, white; borne on lateral buds and spurs; pedicels eleven-sixteenths inch long, below medium in thickness, glabrous, green; calyx-tube reddish, campanulate, glabrous; calyx-lobes broad, obtuse, slightly glandular-serrate, pubescent, strongly reflexed; petals roundish or ovate, crenate, not clawed; anthers yellow; filaments one-quarter inch in length; pistil glabrous, longer than the stamens, somewhat defective.

Fruit very early, season short; one and one-quarter inches in diameter, roundish, halves usually equal; cavity shallow and narrow, abrupt, regular; suture a dark red line; apex roundish; color light or dark crimson-red over a yellow ground, overspread with thin bloom; dots few, light russet, clustered about the apex; stem slender, eleven-sixteenths inch in length, glabrous, adhering well to the fruit; skin thin, tough, parting readily; flesh medium yellow, very juicy, fibrous, tender and melting, slightly sweet, lacking in flavor; inferior in quality; stone clinging, five-eighths inch by one-half inch in size, roundish-oval, turgid, blunt, with somewhat pitted surfaces; ventral suture acute, furrowed; dorsal suture distinctly and broadly grooved.

DE SOTO

[Illustration: DE SOTO]

_Prunus americana_

=1.= _Ill. Hort. Soc. Rpt._ 225. 1877. =2.= _Ia. Hort. Soc. Rpt._ 356. 1879. =3.= _Ibid._ 159. 1880. =4.= _Ibid._ 237. 1882. =5.= _Am. Pom. Soc. Cat._ 42. 1883. =6.= _Ia. Hort. Soc. Rpt._ 366. 1883. =7.= _Ill. Hort. Soc. Rpt._ 63. 1890. =8.= _Cornell Sta. Bul._ =38=:37, 86. 1892. =9.= _Wis. Sta. Bul._ =63=:24, 35, 36, fig. 16. 1897. 10. Waugh _Plum Cult._ 147. 1901. 11. Budd-Hansen _Am. Hort. Man._ 295. 1903. =12.= _Can. Exp. Farm Bul._ =43=:30. 1903. =13.= _S. Dak. Sta. Bul._ =93=:15. 1905.

Traer 3. Trayer 4.

De Soto probably holds first place among the Americana plums in the favor of fruit-growers. The qualities which commend it are: A tree rather better suited to the orchard than other varieties of _Prunus americana_ having little of the waywardness of most sorts of its species and somewhat the manner of growth of the European plums. The trees, too, are enormously productive, so much so that in many cases their vitality is weakened by over-bearing unless thinned. The fruits of De Soto, while not as large nor as brilliantly colored as some of the Americanas, are not surpassed by any of the native plums in quality and keep and ship as well as any. The variety becomes, therefore, a market sort of value in some regions. The fruits are a little more subject to curculio than those of most of the native plums and the trees blight in the South somewhat and do not stand the drouths of the Mississippi Valley as well as some other varieties. Notwithstanding these defects, speaking generally, the De Soto may be recommended as one of the best of its species.

De Soto was found on the bank of the Mississippi River near De Soto, Wisconsin. The first settler to call attention to the plum was a Mr. Tupper who settled on the land where it was found in 1853 or 1854. The Trayer Brothers bought the place in 1855 and in clearing the farm they removed all the plum trees except a grove of what was at first called Trayer, afterwards De Soto. Later Stephen Heal came into possession of the property and in 1864 Elisha Hale, Lansing, Iowa, commenced to cultivate and disseminate the variety. De Soto was placed on the American Pomological Society fruit catalog list in 1883, dropped in 1891, and restored again in 1897.

Tree small, intermediate in vigor, spreading, open-topped, perfectly hardy, produces heavy crops annually, bears young; branches rough and shaggy, somewhat zigzag, thorny, dark ash-brown, with inconspicuous, small, raised, lenticels; branchlets numerous, long, green, changing to dull reddish-brown, pubescent at first, becoming glabrous late in the season, with conspicuous, large, raised lenticels; leaf-buds below medium in size, pointed, appressed.

Leaves falling early, folded upward, oval, one and three-quarters inches wide, four inches long; upper surface dark green changing to greenish-yellow, glossy, with scattering hairs and a narrow, grooved midrib; lower surface finely pubescent; apex taper-pointed, base somewhat abrupt, margin very coarsely and deeply doubly serrate, petiole five-eighths inch long, of medium thickness, pubescent, tinged red, glandless or with one or two globose, brownish glands on the stalk.

Blooming season medium to late and of average length; flowers appearing after the leaves, one and one-eighth inches across, white; borne in clusters on lateral buds and spurs, in twos and threes; pedicels eleven-sixteenths inch in length, below medium in thickness, covered with short, thick pubescence, greenish; calyx-tube green, campanulate, pubescent; calyx-lobes somewhat acute, eglandular, thickly pubescent on both surfaces, with a swollen ring at the base of the lobes, semi-reflexed; petals oblong or ovate, erose, tapering abruptly into long, narrow claws; anthers yellowish; filaments three-eighths inch in length; pistil glabrous, equal to or shorter than the stamens.

Fruit mid-season, ripening period short; one and one-half inches in diameter, roundish, varying to oval or ovate, compressed, often strongly truncate at the base; cavity shallow or medium, abrupt; suture very shallow or a line; apex roundish or somewhat pointed; color yellowish-red becoming a light or dark crimson over an orange-yellow ground, overspread with thin bloom; dots very numerous, small, light russet, inconspicuous; stem rather slender, three-quarters inch long, sparingly pubescent; skin thick, tough, very astringent, clinging to the pulp; flesh golden-yellow, very juicy, fibrous, tender and melting, of medium sweetness, mild; fair to good; stone nearly free, seven-eighths inch in size, oval, turgid, blunt-pointed, smooth; ventral suture bluntly acute and with slight furrows; dorsal suture acute, not furrowed.

DIAMOND

[Illustration: DIAMOND]

_Prunus domestica_

=1.= _Lond. Hort. Soc. Cat._ 146. 1831. =2.= Kenrick _Am. Orch._ 259. 1832. =3.= Downing _Fr. Trees Am._ 298. 1845. =4.= Lee _Gen. Farmer_ =6=:141. 1845. 5. _Am. Pom. Soc. Cat._ 222, 244. 1858. =6.= Hogg _Fruit Man._ 696. 1884. =7.= _Mich. Hort. Soc. Rpt._ 327. 1889. =8.= _Guide Prat._ 159, 355. 1895. =9.= _Mich. Hort. Soc. Rpt._ 382. 1895. =10.= _Cornell Sta. Bul._ =131=:183, fig. 40 VI. 1897. =11.= _Am. Pom. Soc. Cat._ 25. 1897. =12.= _Vt. Sta. An. Rpt._ =12=:214, 217. 1899. =13.= _Mich. Sta. Bul._ =169=:244. 1899. =14.= _W. N. Y. Hort. Soc. Rpt._ 92. 1899. =15.= _Garden_ =56=:168. 1899. =16.= _Can. Exp. Farm Bul._ =43=:33. 1903. =17.= _Can. Exp. Farms Rpt._ 423. 1903.

Black Diamond 9. _Black Diamond_ 11, 13. _Diamant_ 8. _Diamantpflaume_ 8. Dymond 15. Kentish Diamond 17. Kingston 14 incor. Smith’s Prune 7. _Smith Prune_ 14.

To judge Diamond by appearance would be a grievous error. It is a large, beautifully colored, well-formed plum, tempting the palate; but one taste out of hand is a sufficiency. The flesh is coarse and the flavor not at all pleasant to one accustomed to good plums. Hogg says, in the reference given, that Diamond is one of the best preserving and cooking plums but in this case we doubt Hogg’s judgment unless, as may be, Diamond is much better in England than in America. The firm flesh and tough skin of the variety commend it as a market plum and the trees are above the average in size, vigor, hardiness and productiveness—all characters excepting quality bespeaking the favor of plum-growers. It is planted largely for the markets where, of course, it sells upon its appearance.

According to Downing, this variety was raised from seed by an Englishman, in Kent, named Diamond. Kenrick and Hogg, however, state that it was raised in the nursery of a Mr. Hooker, in Kent. The London Horticultural Society briefly described this variety in its fruit catalog for 1831 so that its origin antedates that year. The American Pomological Society rejected Diamond for its catalog in 1858 but placed it in its fruit list in 1897.

Tree above average in size and vigor, upright-spreading, somewhat dense-topped, hardy, very productive; branches ash-gray, roughish, with numerous, small lenticels, the bark marked with transverse lines; branchlets of medium thickness and length, with long internodes, greenish-red changing to dark brownish-red, dull, somewhat pubescent, with numerous, small lenticels; leaf-buds large, long, pointed, appressed.

Leaves folded upward, obovate or oval, one and seven-eighths inches wide, three and one-quarter inches long; upper surface dark green, with few hairs and with a grooved midrib; lower surface pubescent; apex obtuse to acute, base acute, margin serrate, with small, brown glands; petiole five-eighths inch long, slender, pubescent, reddish, with from one to four small, globose or reniform, greenish-yellow glands on the stalk or base of the leaf.

Blooming season early or medium, short; flowers appearing after the leaves, one inch across, the buds yellow-tipped changing to white on expanding; borne on lateral spurs, in pairs; pedicels five-eighths inch long, somewhat slender, pubescent, green; calyx-tube greenish, campanulate, pubescent; calyx-lobes broad, obtuse, pubescent on both surfaces, glandular-serrate, reflexed; petals broadly oval or roundish, entire or slightly crenate, tapering to short, broad claws; anthers roundish, yellow; filaments five-sixteenths inch in length; pistil lightly pubescent at the base, longer than the stamens.

Fruit mid-season, ripening period short; one and seven-eighths inches by one and three-quarters inches in size, oval, slightly necked, swollen on the ventral side, compressed; cavity very narrow and abrupt; suture shallow, often a line; apex roundish or pointed; color deep reddish-purple changing to dark purplish-black at full maturity, with thick bloom; dots numerous, small, russet, inconspicuous; stem slender, one inch long, finely pubescent, adhering well to the fruit; skin thin, rather sour, separating readily; flesh pale or golden-yellow, sometimes with a faint red tinge next the skin, not juicy, coarse, firm but rather tender, mild subacid to nearly sweet, not high in flavor; of fair quality; stone with a trace of red, semi-clinging, one and one-eighth inches by five-eighths inch in size, long-oval, necked at the base, abruptly sharp-pointed at the apex, with pitted surfaces; ventral suture rather broad, lightly furrowed; dorsal suture widely grooved.

DOUBLE FLOWERING GAGE

_Prunus domestica_

=1.= Duhamel _Trait. Arb. Fr._ =2=:92. 1768. =2.= Knoop _Fructologie_ 57. 1771. =3.= Kraft _Pom. Aust._ =2=:32, Tab. 179 fig. 2. 1796. =4.= Prince _Pom. Man._ =2=:49. 1832. =5.= _Mag. Hort._ =9=:165. 1843. =6.= Downing _Fr. Trees Am._ 316. 1845. =7.= Poiteau _Pom. Franc._ =1=:1846. =8.= Mas _Pom. Gen._ =2=:47. 1873. =9.= _Guide Prat._ 163, 363. 1895.

Die grosse Königin Klaudia Pflaume mit halbgefullter Bluthe 3. _Dauphin à Fleurs semi-doubles_ 5. _Dauphin à Fleurs doubles_ 5. _Dauphin à fleurs semi-doubles_ 5. _Double-blossomed_ 5. Double-blossomed Plum 6. _Gelbe Reneclode Mit Gefullter Bluthe_ 8. _Prune à Fleurs Doubles_ 8. Prunier à fleurs semi-double 8. Prunier à fleur semi-double 1, 7. Prune à Fleurs Doubles 2. _Prunier à fleur semi-double_ 4. _Prune Semi-double_ 4. _Prune à fleurs semi-double_ 4. _Reine-Claude Semi-Double_ 8. _Reine-Claude à fleur semi-double_ 4. _Reine-Claude à Fleurs Semi-double_ 5, 9. _Reine-Claude mit Halbgefullter Bluthe_ 9. _Semi-double flowering Reine Claude_ 4.

This is an ornamental variety of the Reine Claude type first noted by Duhamel in 1768. It was probably well known in Europe at this time for a little later it was mentioned by Knoop of Holland and Kraft of Austria. Duhamel described two varieties; one with small fruit which was insipid when over-ripe, and the other large and of good flavor. In 1846, Poiteau thought the latter was probably identical with a variety growing at Luxembourg but he did not think the former was extant. In the third edition of the London Horticultural Society’s catalog, yellow and purple forms were mentioned, showing that the variety has been represented by more than one type. It is worthy of note that the double blossoms, except in strong soils, are apt to degenerate and become single. The following description is compiled.

Tree irregular and spreading, unproductive; branches brown on the shaded side and blood-red on the sunny side; flowers large, semi-double, with from twelve to eighteen petals; fruit mid-season; large, spherical; suture shallow, sometimes a line; flesh greenish-yellow, tender, soft, juicy, sweet, agreeably aromatic; clingstone.

DOWNING

[Illustration: DOWNING]

_Prunus munsoniana_

=1.= _Ia. Hort. Soc. Rpt._ 287, 1887. =2.= _Ibid._ 275, 448. 1893. =3.= _Ibid._ 334. 1894. =4.= _Wis. Sta. Bul._ =63=:24, 30. 1897. =5.= _Am. Pom. Soc. Cat._ 24. 1897. =6.= _Waugh Plum Cult._ 185. 1901. =7.= _Wis. Sta. Bul._ =87=:12. 1901. =8.= _Ia. Sta. Bul._ =46=:269. 1900. =9.= _Ia. Hort. Soc. Rpt._ 445. 1903. =10.= _Ohio Sta. Bul._ =162=:247 fig., 254, 255. 1905. =11.= _S. Dak. Sta. Bul._ =93=:15. 1905.

Charles Downing 1, 2, 3, 4, 7. _Charles Downing_ 5, 6, 8, 11.

Downing is one of the best varieties of its species. The trees are large, usually productive, not often sterile as are some of its near of kin sorts and for a southern plum the variety is remarkably hardy, never having suffered in Geneva from cold. The only fault that can be found with the tree is that the foliage is quite susceptible to the shot-hole fungus. The fruit is particularly attractive with its bright, solid, garnet-red skin, golden flesh and sweet, pleasant flavor. Unfortunately the flesh is a little too fibrous and clings too tenaciously to the stone for pleasant eating. Downing adds a pleasing variety to any collection of plums and in some regions ought to sell with profit to the grower for the markets.

H. A. Terry of Crescent, Iowa, grew Downing from seed of the Wild Goose, which the originator thinks was fertilized by some Americana variety. The Downing, however, shows no traces of Americana parentage. It is reported as originating in 1882 and first fruiting in 1885. The American Pomological Society placed this variety on its fruit catalog list in 1897.

Tree large, spreading, flat-topped, hardy in New York, variable in productiveness; branches rough, dark gray, with a few large lenticels; branchlets slender, with very short internodes, greenish-red changing to dull reddish-brown, glossy, somewhat pubescent, with numerous, small, slightly raised lenticels; leaf-buds small, short, obtuse, appressed.

Leaves folded upward, broadly lanceolate, peach-like, one and three-eighths inches wide, three inches long, thin; upper surface reddish late in the fall, smooth, glabrous, with deeply grooved midrib; lower surface glabrous except along the midrib and larger veins; apex taper-pointed, margin very finely serrate, eglandular or sometimes with small dark glands; petiole thirteen-sixteenths inch long, slender, tinged with red, pubescent along one side, glandless or with from one to five small, globose, yellowish-red glands usually on the stalk.

Blooming season medium to late, long; flowers appearing after the leaves, one and one-sixteenth inches across, the buds yellow-tipped changing to white when expanded, with a strong, disagreeable odor; borne in dense clusters on lateral buds and spurs, in threes; pedicels eleven-sixteenths inch in length, very slender, glabrous, greenish; calyx-tube green, obconic, glabrous; calyx-lobes below medium in width, acute, finely pubescent on the inner surface only, somewhat reflexed, glandular-serrate, the glands numerous and dark colored; petals oval, narrow, long, crenate, tapering beneath to long, narrow claws; anthers pale yellow, with a faint reddish tinge; filaments seven-sixteenths inch in length; pistil slender, glabrous, shorter than the stamens.

Fruit mid-season, ripening period short; about one and one-eighth inches in diameter, rather large for its class, roundish-ovate, not compressed, halves equal; cavity shallow, narrow, flaring; suture very shallow and obscure; apex roundish or slightly conical; color garnet-red, with thin bloom; dots numerous, variable in size, grayish-yellow, conspicuous, clustered around the apex; stem slender, about three-eighths inch in length, glabrous, parting readily from the fruit; skin thin, slightly astringent, adhering but little; flesh golden-yellow, juicy, coarse, fibrous, tender and somewhat melting, very sweet next the skin but tart toward the center, aromatic; good; stone clinging, three-quarters inch by one-half inch in size, oval, somewhat oblique, turgid, roughish; ventral suture narrow, strongly winged; dorsal suture acute, unfurrowed.

DRAP D’OR

[Illustration: DRAP D’OR]

_Prunus insititia_

=1.= Quintinye _Com. Gard._ =2=:69. 1699. =2.= Langley _Pomona_ 94, 97, Pl. 24 fig. 5. 1729. =3.= Duhamel _Trait. Arb. Fr._ =2=:96. 1768. =4.= Knoop _Fructologie_ 57. 1771. =5.= Coxe _Cult. Fr. Trees_ 233 fig. 2. 1817. =6.= _Lond. Hort. Soc. Cat._ 146. 1831. =7.= Prince _Pom. Man._ =2=:75. 1832. 8. Kenrick _Am. Orch._ 261. 1832. 9. _Mag. Hort._ =9=:163. 1843. 10. Downing _Fr. Trees Am._ 274. 1845. =11.= Poiteau _Pom. Franc._ =1=:1846. =12.= Floy-Lindley _Guide Orch. Gard._ 297, 383. 1846. =13.= Thompson _Gard. Ass’t_ 516. 1859. =14.= Hogg _Fruit Man._ 359, 371, 387. 1866. 15. _Pom. France_ =7=: No. 12. 1871. =16.= _Am. Pom. Soc. Cat._ 36. 1875. =17.= _Cat. Cong. Pom. France_ 350. 1887. =18.= Mathieu _Nom. Pom._ 428. 1889. =19.= _Guide Prat._ 153, 359. 1895. =20.= _Soc. Nat. Hort. France Pom._ 538 fig. 1904. =21.= Baltet _Cult. Fr._ 489, 503. 1908.

_Cloth of Gold_ 2, 5, 7, 12, 14, 18, 19. _Cloth of Gold Plum_ 15. _Damas Jaune_ 15, 18, 19. Doppelte Mirabelle 18. Drap d’Or 1, 2. _Drap d’Or Pflaume_ 15. _Drap d’Or_ 7, 15, 18, 19, 20, 21. _Double Drap d’Or_ 17. _Double Mirabelle_ 17. _Glauzende gelbe Mirabelle_ 15. _Glänzende Gelbe Mirabelle_ 18, 19. _Gold Pflaume_ 18. _Goldfarbige Pflaume_ 15, 18, 19. _Goldstoff_ 18. _Goldzeng_ 18. _Grosse Mirabelle_ ?7, 15, 18, 19, 21. Grosse Mirabelle 8, 21. _Grosse Mirabelle Drap d’Or_ 18, 19. _Mirabelle_ 15, 17. Mirabelle Double 19, 21. _Mirabelle Double_ 3, 5, 6, 7, 10, 12, 13, 14, 18. _Mirabelle Double de Metz_ 20. _Mirabelle de Nancy_ 19, 21. Mirabelle de Nancy 14, 18. _Mirabelle Drap d’Or_ 15, 18, 19. Mirabellen 15. _Mirabelle grosse double de Metz_ 15, 18, 19. _Mirabelle Grosse de Nancy_ 20. Mirabelle Grosse 15, 17, 20, 21. _Mirabelle la grosse_ 7, 15, 18, 19. _Mirabelle Grosse_ 6, ?7, 10, 13, 14, 15, 19. _Mirabelle Perlée_ 15, 18, 19. _Mirabelle von Metz_ 15. _Perdrigon Hâtif_ 15, 20, of some 17, 18, 19. _Perdrigon Jaune_ 20. Yellow Damask ?14. _Yellow Damask_ 14, 18. _Yellow Gage_ of some 5, 7. _Yellow Perdrigon_ 9, 10, 13, 14, 15, 18, 19.

Drap d’Or represents a type of the plum hardly known in America but very popular in continental Europe and most popular of all plums in France, the chief plum-growing country of the Old World. It is probable that the division of _Prunus insititia_ represented by Drap d’Or, the Mirabelle plums, will thrive in America as well as the commonly grown Damsons of the same species. These plums certainly deserve to be far more generally planted than they now are. It is certain from the behavior of the few trees of the Mirabelle group now growing in New York that they have very decided merit. Drap d’Or is probably not the best of the yellow, sweet Insititias but it is at least well worth trial.

According to _Pomologie De La France_, this variety was cited by Merlet in 1675 and is of old and uncertain origin. Merlet placed the Mirabelle and the Drap d’Or in the Damas class, but Poiteau thought that the latter was probably a cross between Reine Claude and Mirabelle since it resembled the former in quality and shape and the latter in color and size. Yellow Damask, Mirabelle de Nancy, Yellow Perdrigon, Gross Mirabelle and others have proved to be identical with the Drap d’Or as tested in Europe. Whether all of the other synonyms mentioned are the true Drap d’Or is a question; their number indicates that there are many variations in this type of the plum. The American Pomological Society placed Drap d’Or in its catalog list in 1875 and withdrew it in 1899.

Tree small, upright-spreading, dense-topped, hardy, productive; branches ash-gray, with a brownish tinge, smooth, with very few, small lenticels; branchlets of average thickness and length, greenish-red changing to brownish-red, dull, sparingly pubescent throughout the entire season, with few, obscure, small lenticels; leaf-buds of medium size and length, conical, appressed.

Leaves folded upward, oval, one and one-fourth inches wide, two and one-half inches long; upper surface slightly roughened, covered with numerous hairs, the midrib grooved; lower surface silvery-green, pubescent; apex pointed or acute, base abrupt, margin serrate or crenate, eglandular or with small dark glands; petiole one-half inch long, pubescent, tinged red, glandless or with from one to three globose, greenish-yellow glands usually on the stalk.

Flowers fifteen-sixteenths inch across, the buds creamy changing to white when expanded; borne in clusters on lateral spurs, usually in pairs; pedicels nine-sixteenths inch long, sparingly pubescent, greenish; calyx-tube green, campanulate, nearly glabrous; calyx-lobes obtuse, pubescent on both surfaces, glandular-serrate, somewhat reflexed; petals broadly oval, crenate or sometimes notched at the apex, tapering below to short, broad claws; anthers yellowish; filaments five-sixteenths inch long; pistil glabrous, equal to the stamens in length.

Fruit mid-season; one and one-eighth inches by one inch in size, roundish-oval, compressed, halves equal; cavity shallow, narrow, flaring; suture very shallow, often a line; apex roundish or depressed; color greenish-yellow changing to golden-yellow, somewhat mottled and blotched, occasionally with a faint bronze blush on the exposed cheek, overspread with thin bloom; dots numerous, small, whitish, inconspicuous; stem slender, sparingly pubescent, adhering well to the fruit; skin thin, separating readily; flesh light golden-yellow, moderately juicy, coarse, firm but tender, sweet, mild; of good quality; stone free, five-eighths inch by one-half inch in size, oval, flattened, nearly smooth, blunt at the base and apex; ventral suture wide, blunt, smooth; dorsal suture shallowly grooved.

DUANE

[Illustration: DUANE]

_Prunus domestica_

=1.= Prince _Treat. Hort._ 25. 1828. =2.= Kenrick _Am. Orch._ 260. 1832. =3.= Prince _Pom. Man._ =2=:100. 1832. =4.= Downing _Fr. Trees Am._ 297. 1845. =5.= _Horticulturist_ =1=:115, 116 fig. 36. 1846. =6.= Floy-Lindley _Guide Orch. Gard._ 419. 1846. =7.= Thomas _Am. Fruit Cult._ 343. 1849. =8.= Elliott _Fr. Book_ 418. 1854. =9.= _Horticulturist_ =10=:253. 1855. =10.= _Am. Pom. Soc. Rpt._ 191. 1856. =11.= Hooper _W. Fr. Book_ 244, 250. 1857. =12.= Bridgeman _Gard. Ass’t_ =3=:127. 1857. =13.= Downing _Fr. Trees Am._ 910. 1869. =14.= _Mich. Pom. Soc. Rpt._ 303, 1878. =15.= Mas _Le Verger_ =6=:77, fig. 39. 1866-73, =16.= _Mich. Sta. Bul._ =103=:32. 1894. =17.= _Cornell Sta. Bul._ =131=:184. 1897. =18.= _Ohio Sta. Bul._ =162=:254, 255. 1905. =19.= Waugh _Plum Cult._ 100, 102 fig. 1901.

_Apricot_ 5 incor. _Dame Aubert Violet_ 12. Duane’s Plum 5 incor. Duane’s Purple 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 13, 14, 16, 17. _Duane’s Purple_ 15, 19. Duane’s Purple French 1, 2, 3, 4. Duane’s French Purple 12. _Duane’s Large Purple_ 3. _Duane’s Large Orleans_ 3. _Duane’s Purple French_ 8, 9. _English Pond’s Seedling_ 8. Pourprée De Duane 15. _Pourprêe Duane_ 13. _Purple Magnum Bonum_ of some 12, 13. _Purple Egg_ of some 12. Red Magnum Bonum of some 9.

This handsome, purple plum, very well shown in the color-plate, is one of the half-dozen leading fruits of its kind grown in New York, favorably known the country over and in Europe as well. Its popularity is due to its large size, well-turned shape, royal purple color, and firm, golden flesh, characters which fit it admirably for the store and the stand. But appearance is the only asset of the fruit so far as the consumer is concerned—the flesh is dry, tough, sour and clings to the stone, making a plum unfit for dessert though it does very well for culinary purposes. The fruit ripens slowly and colors a week or more before ripe; it is at its best only when fully mature. The trees excel in size, vigor and productiveness and are usually hardy and bear their crops well distributed and not clustered as in most varieties of plums. In minor characters, the trees are distinguished by large leaves, pubescence on the under side and by grayish-drab shoots covered with dense pubescence. Duane is generally found to be a very profitable market plum and if it were only better in quality we could heartily join in recommending it.

Duane originated as a seedling in the garden of James Duane, Duanesburgh, New York, about 1820. For several years, the variety was distributed by the Prince nurseries under the name Duane’s Purple French. This error was caused by Judge Duane’s accidentally sending William Prince, of Flushing, grafts of this seedling instead of a French plum[210] which he had imported in 1820. When this mistake was discovered by Downing and Tomlinson about 1846, the word French was dropped and the plum became known as Duane’s Purple and later, according to the rules of the American Pomological Society, as Duane. In 1856, it was listed by the American Pomological Society as promising well and in 1862 it was placed on the list of the fruit catalog.

Tree large, vigorous, round and dense-topped, hardy and productive; branches ash-gray, smooth except for the numerous small, raised lenticels; branchlets medium to thick, variable in length, with short internodes, greenish-red changing to dark brownish-drab, dull, thickly pubescent, with raised lenticels intermediate in number and size; leaf-buds of average size and length, conical or pointed, free.

Leaves folded backward, obovate or oval, one and one-half inches wide, three and one-half inches long; upper surface dark green, pubescent, rugose, with a narrow groove on the midrib; lower surface silvery-green, pubescent; apex acute, base cuneate, margin serrate, eglandular or with small amber glands; petiole one-half inch long, pubescent, tinged with red, eglandular or with one or two small, globose, greenish-brown glands on the stalk or base of the leaf.

Blooming season rather early, of average length; flowers appearing before the leaves, one inch across, white; developing from lateral buds, singly or in pairs; pedicels nine-sixteenths inch long, thick, pubescent, greenish; calyx-tube green, campanulate, pubescent; calyx-lobes broad, obtuse, pubescent on both surfaces, glandular-serrate, erect; petals roundish, entire, short-clawed; anthers yellowish; filaments one-quarter inch long; pistil pubescent on the ovary, longer than the stamens.

Fruit mid-season, ripening period of average length; one and three-quarters inches by one and five-eighths inches in size, broadly oblong-oval or obovate, compressed, halves unequal; cavity shallow, narrow, abrupt; suture variable in depth; apex roundish or depressed; color dark reddish-purple changing to purplish-black on the sunny side, overspread with thick bloom; dots numerous, light russet; stem three-quarters inch long, pubescent, adhering well to the fruit; skin below medium in thickness, tough, sour, separating readily; flesh pale yellow, lacking in juice, firm, sour unless fully ripe; of fair quality; stone adhering, seven-eighths inch by five-eighths inch in size, oval, with pitted surfaces, blunt at the base and apex; ventral suture wide, blunt; dorsal suture with a broad, deep groove.

EARLIEST OF ALL

_Prunus triflora_

=1.= _Gard. Mon._ 368. 1887. =2.= _Cornell Sta. Bul._ =62=:32, 1894. =3.= Normand _Cat._ =2.= 1895-96. =4.= Thomas _Am. Fruit Cult._ 516. 1897. =5.= _Cornell Sta. Bul._ =175=:130, fig. 24. 1899. =6.= Waugh _Plum Cult._ 135. 1901.

_Earliest of All_ 4. _Wasse Sumomo_ 5, 6. Wasse Sumomo 3. Yosobe 1. Yosete 4. _Yosebe_ 5, 6. _Yosobe_ 2. Yosebe 2.

Earliest of All was imported by H. H. Berger of San Francisco from Japan under the name Yosebe, which later became changed to Yosobe, and in 1897 L. H. Bailey gave the variety the name Earliest of All to avoid the confusion in the earlier nomenclature. The Wasse Sumomo introduced by J. L. Normand, Marksville, Louisiana, in 1895, is the Earliest of All. The variety may have some value because of its extreme earliness. It is, however, too small, too unattractive in color and too poor in quality ever to be other than a kitchen plum.

Tree intermediate in size and vigor, vasiform, unproductive; branchlets dark red, marked with thick scarf-skin; leaf-scars prominent; leaves reddish late in the season, narrow-obovate, one and one-half inches wide, three inches long; margin finely serrate, with small, reddish-black glands; petiole tinged red, glandless or with from one to seven glands usually on the stalk; blooming season early; flowers appearing before the leaves, white with a little pink; borne in threes and fours.

Fruit very early; one inch in diameter, roundish or roundish-oblong, light or dark pinkish-red, covered with thin bloom; flesh light yellow, rather dry, soft, inferior in flavor; of poor quality; stone clinging, five-eighths inch by three-eighths inch in size, flattened, oval.

EARLY ORLEANS

_Prunus domestica_

=1.= Duhamel _Trait. Arb. Fr._ =2=:80, Pl. XX fig. 1. 1768. =2.= Forsyth _Treat. Fr. Trees_ 21. 1803. =3.= _Lond. Hort. Soc. Cat._ 150, 151. 1831. =4.= Prince _Pom. Man._ =2=:62, 68. 1832. =5.= Kenrick _Am. Orch._ 260, 269. 1832. =6.= Downing _Fr. Trees Am._ 304. 1845. =7.= Floy-Lindley _Guide Orch. Gard._ 286, 289, 294, 382, 383. 1846. =8.= Poiteau _Pom. Franc._ =1=:1846. =9.= Thompson _Gard. Ass’t_ 516. 1859. =10.= Hogg _Fruit Man._ 360. 1866. =11.= _Pom. France_ =7=: No. 16. 1871. =12.= Mas _Le Verger_ =6=:85. 1866-73. =13.= Mathieu _Nom. Pom._ 430. 1882. =14.= _Traité Prat. Sech. Fruits_ 172. 1893. =15.= _Guide Prat._ 152, 360. 1895. =16.= _Soc. Nat. Hort. France Pom._ 542 fig. 1904.

_Altesse du Roi_ 16. _Damascena Dominicalis Praecox_ 13, 15. De Monsieur 16. _De Monsieur Hâtive_ 15. _Du Roi_ 15. _Early Monsieur_ 12. Early Monsieur 4, 5. _Early Orleans_ 11, 12, 13, 15. Frühe Herrnpflaume 13. _Frühe Herrnpflaume_ 11. _Frühe Herzogspflaume_ 11, 13, 15. _Frühe Hernnpflaume_ 12. _Frühe Herrnpflaume_ 15. _Grimwood Early Orleans_ 10, 13. _Grimwood’s Early Orleans_ 3, 6, 9, 11, 15. _Hampton Court_ 3, 6, 7, 9, 10, 11, 13, 15. _Königspflaume_ 11, ?13, ?15. _Monsieur_ 11, 13 & 15 incor. Monsieur Hâtif 1, 7, 11, 12, 15. _Monsieur Hâtif_ 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 9, 10, 12, 13, 16. _Monsieur Hâtive_ 4. _Monsieur Hâtif de Montmorency_ 3, 6, 9, 10, 11, 13, 14, 15. _New Early Orleans_ 3, 6, 9, 11, 13, 14, 15. _New Orleans_ 3, 6, 9, 10, 13, 15, 16. _New Orleans_ 11. _Orleans_ 3. _Prune de Monsieur Hâtif_ 13. Prune de Monsieur Hâtif 8. _Prune de Monsieur Hâtive_ 12. _Prunus damascena dominicalis praecox_ 11. Prune du Roi 14. _Prune du Roi_ 11, 13. _Red Orleans_ 11, 13, 15. Wilmot’s Early Orleans 4, 7. _Wilmot’s Early Orleans_ 3, 9, 10, 11, 13, 15. _Wilmot’s Large Orleans_ 3, 4, 6. _Wilmot’s Late Orleans_ ?7. Wilmot’s New Early Orleans 3, 5, 6. _Wilmot’s New Early Orleans_ 7. _Wilmot’s Orleans_ 3, 7, 10, 11, 13, 14, 15.

Early Orleans has been planted very little in America and then chiefly because of its reputation in Europe. While it appears to be a very good plum in most respects as it grows on the Station grounds, being attractive in appearance, of good flavor, a freestone and firm enough to ship well, it surpasses in none of these characters and the fruit is so small as to make it a poor competitor among the purple plums of its season. It does not deserve the reputation in America that pomologists have given it in Europe. In France the Early Orleans, under the name of Prune du Roi, is used in prune-making but it seems not to have been so used in America.

Early Orleans is old and of unknown origin. Duhamel in 1768 considered it a variety of the Orleans, differing only in the time of ripening but there are additional differences as can be seen in the descriptions of the two. It is true, however, that these two plums are very similar. According to Kenrick, Wilmot’s New Early Orleans was raised by John Wilmot, an Englishman. Though it may be of separate origin it is practically identical with the Early Orleans.

Tree small, upright-spreading, hardy, productive; branches ash-gray, smooth, with small, inconspicuous, oval lenticels; branchlets thick, with rather short internodes, covered with thin bloom and marked with scarf-skin, dull brownish-drab, pubescent, with a medium number of small, raised lenticels; leaf-buds intermediate in size and length, conical, free, plump; leaf-scars enlarged.

Leaves folded upward, two and one-quarter inches wide, four inches long, roundish-oval or obovate, thick; apex abruptly pointed, base acute, margin crenate and with small, dark glands; upper surface light green, sparingly pubescent and with a grooved midrib; lower surface silvery-green, pubescent; petiole three-quarters inch long, thick, pubescent, faintly tinged red, with from one to three large, globose glands mostly on the stalk.

Season of bloom intermediate in time and length; flowers appearing after the leaves, nearly one-half inch across, white, the buds yellow-tipped as they unfold; borne in clusters on short lateral spurs, in pairs; pedicels one-half inch long, thick, pubescent, green; calyx-tube greenish, campanulate, thinly pubescent; calyx-lobes broad, obtuse, glandular, pubescent on both surfaces, reflexed; petals roundish, entire, not clawed; filaments five-sixteenths inch long; pistil glabrous, equal to the stamens in length.

Fruit early, season short; one and one-quarter inches in diameter, roundish-oval, slightly truncate, halves equal; cavity shallow, narrow, abrupt; suture shallow or a line; apex roundish to flattened or sometimes depressed, often oblique; color dark reddish-purple, covered with thick bloom; dots numerous, small, russet, inconspicuous; stem of average thickness, five-eighths inch long, pubescent, adhering well to the fruit; skin thin, tough, not astringent, separating readily; flesh lemon-yellow, juicy, coarse, firm, sweet, mild but pleasant; very good; stone free, three-quarters inch by five-eighths inch in size, oval, slightly oblique, blunt-pointed, with rough and slightly honeycombed surfaces.

EARLY RIVERS

_Prunus domestica_

=1.= Downing _Fr. Trees Am._ 314, 1845. =2.= _Horticulturist_ =4=:40. 1849. =3.= Elliott _Fr. Book_ 419. 1854. =4.= Downing _Fr. Trees Am_. 912. 1869. =5.= _Am. Pom. Soc. Rpt._ 99. 1871. =6.= Mas _Pom. Gen._ =2=:117. 1873. =7.= _Jour. Hort._ =30=:273. 1876. =8.= Oberdieck _Deut. Obst. Sort._ 409, 411. 1881. =9.= Hogg _Fruit Man._ 699. 1884. =10.= Mathieu _Nom. Pom._ 447. 1889. =11.= Lucas _Vollst. Hand. Obst._ 470. 1894. =12.= _Guide Prat._ 152, 356. 1895. =13.= Rivers _Cat._ 35. 1898.

_Early Fruchtbare_ 12. Early Prolific 4. _Early Rivers_ 4, 10, 12. _Early Prolific_ 2, 3, 6, 10, 12, 13. _Fertile Précoce_ 10. Fertile Précoce 6, 12. _Frühe Fruchtbare_ 6. Frühe Fruchtbare 8. _Prolifique Hâtive_ 10, 12. _Rivers’ Early No. 2_ 1, 2, 3, 4, 10. Rivers’ Early Prolific Plum 2. _Rivers’ Early Prolific_ 4, 9, 10, 12. _Rivers’ Early_ 6. River’s Early 5. Rivers’ Blue Prolific 7. _Rivers’ No. 2_ 9, 10, 12. Rivers Frühpflaume 8, 11. Rivers’ Frühe Fruchtbare 10.

Early Rivers is widely known because of its earliness, productiveness, regularity of bearing and desirability for culinary purposes. In New York, however, the plums are so small and drop so badly as they ripen that the variety is worthless for commercial purposes. Hogg, in the reference given above, notes the following peculiarity of the trees of this variety: “The original tree throws up suckers, which, when removed and planted out, do not bloom for several years; but scions taken from the original tree and grafted, bloom the second year. A curious fact is that the grafted trees fruit abundantly, and the branches are so brittle they break off; in those raised from suckers the branches never break. The grafted trees in spring are full of bloom, sparing of shoots, and very few leaves; the suckers are more vigorous in growth, have no bloom, but an abundance of foliage, even when six years old.” This variety is a seedling of Early Tours raised by Thomas Rivers of Sawbridgeworth, England, about 1834. It was first disseminated under the names Early Prolific and Rivers’ Early No. 2 but, in 1866, Hogg with the permission of the originator, renamed it Early Rivers under which name it is now generally known.

Tree medium in size and vigor, round-topped, productive; branchlets thick, short, pubescent throughout the season; leaves roundish-oval or obovate, one and three-quarters inches wide, nearly three inches long, leathery; margin crenate or serrate, with few, small, dark glands; petiole pubescent, with from one to three small glands usually on the stalk; blooming season intermediate, short; flowers appearing after the leaves, seven-eighths inch across; borne on lateral buds and spurs, singly or in twos; petals roundish.

Fruit early, season short; one and one-quarter inches by one and one-eighth inches in size, roundish-oval or ovate, dark purplish-black, overspread with thick bloom; flesh dull yellow, firm, sweet, mild, pleasant; of good quality; stone semi-free, three-quarters inch by one-half inch in size, rather flat, oval, with rough and pitted surfaces.

EARLY ROYAL

_Prunus domestica_

=1.= _Lond. Hort. Soc. Cat._ 153. 1831. =2.= _Mag. Hort._ =6=:93. 1840. =3.= Downing _Fr. Trees Am._ 313. 1845. =4.= Thomas _Am. Fruit Cult._ 341, fig. 260. 1849. =5.= _Am. Pom. Soc. Cat._ 86. 1862. =6.= Mathieu _Nom. Pom._ 452. 1889. =7.= Thompson _Gard. Ass’t_ =4=:159. 1901.

_Early Royal_ 3, 4, 6. _Marian_ 6. _Mirian_ 3, 4. _Mivian_ 2. _Miviam_ 6. _Miriam_ 7. Royal Hâtive 1, 2, 5, 7. Royale Hâtive 3, 4. _Royale Hâtive_ 6. Violette Königspflaume 6.

While the fruits of Early Royal are not remarkably attractive in color, shape or size, the quality is high and its flesh is so firm that the variety should ship well. This sort is worthy of more extensive trial than it has yet had in America. Early Royal is a French variety introduced by M. Noisette of Paris, about 1830. Thompson made the first complete description of the variety in 1839 from the fruits of a tree in the gardens of the London Horticultural Society. Although recommended in the catalog of the American Pomological Society in 1862 it has not been extensively planted in this country.

Tree large, vigorous, spreading, rather open, productive; branches and trunk roughish; branchlets thickly pubescent; leaf-scars enlarged; leaves folded upward, oval or obovate, one and three-quarters inches wide, three and three-eighths inches long; margin serrate, with small, dark glands; petiole thickly pubescent, with one or two smallish glands; blooming season intermediate in time and length; flowers appearing with the leaves, one inch across, white, tinged yellow at the apex of the petals; borne on lateral buds and spurs, singly or in pairs.

Fruit mid-season, ripening period long; about one and three-eighths inches in diameter, roundish-ovate, dark reddish-purple, marked by irregular russet streaks, covered with thick bloom; dots conspicuous; stem thick, pubescent; flesh greenish-yellow, rather dry, firm, very sweet, mild, pleasant flavor; very good; stone nearly free, three-quarters inch by five-eighths inch in size, roundish-oval, blunt at the apex and base, with but slightly roughened surfaces; ventral suture prominent and with short wing; dorsal suture with a wide, shallow groove.

EARLY TOURS

_Prunus domestica_

=1.= Duhamel _Trait. Arb. Fr._ =2=:67, 69. 1768. =2.= Kraft _Pom. Aust._ =2=:31, Tab. 177 fig. 2. 1796. =3.= _Lond. Hort. Soc. Cat._ 151. 1831. =4.= Prince _Pom. Man._ =2=:64. 1832. =5.= Kenrick _Am. Orch._ 265. 1832. =6.= Poiteau _Pom. Franc._ =1=:1846. =7.= Floy-Lindley _Guide Orch. Gard._ 282, 283. 1846. =8.= Hogg _Fruit Man._ 376. 1866. =9.= Downing _Fr. Trees Am._ 937. 1869. =10.= Mas _Le Verger_ =6=:143. 1866-73. =11.= Mathieu _Nom. Pom._ 443. 1889. =12.= _Guide Prat._ 156, 361. 1895.

_Blue Perdrigon_ of some 3, 9, 11, 12. Die frühe Pflaume von Tours 2. _De Monsieur_ 12 incor. _Damas de Tours_ 8, 9, 11. _Early de Tours_ 5. _Early Tours_ 7, 9, 11. _Early Violet_ 3, 7, 9, 11, 12. Gros Damas de Tours 1. _Hâtive de Tours_ 12. _Madeleine_ 11, ?12. _Monsieur_ 11 incor. _Noire Hâtive_ 3, 8, 9, 11, 12. _Perdrigon Violet_ of some 3, 9, 11, 12. Précoce de Tours 1, 3, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12. _Précoce de Tours_ 2, 4. _Prune de la Madeleine_ 4, 9, 11. _Prune noire Hâtive_ 4. _Prune de Gaillon_ 8, 9, 11. _Prune de Monsieur_ 11 incor. _Saint Jean_ ?11, 12. _Violette de Tours_ 8, 11. _Violette Hâtive_ 9, 11. _Violet de Tours_ 9, 11, 12. _Violette Hâtive_ 7. _Violet_ 7.

Duhamel described this variety, Gros Damas de Tours and Gros Noire Hative in the same publication, his descriptions of the three varieties being nearly identical. Following Duhamel many horticultural authorities continued to separate the varieties, but Downing, Floy-Lindley and Mathieu give Damas de Tours as a synonym of Early Tours, and Thompson, Hogg, Downing, Mathieu and the _Guide Pratique_ give Noire Hative as a synonym, while Prince holds Prune Noire Hative to be synonymous.

With this great similarity in the names and descriptions, it seems doubtful if these are separate varieties, but not having the fruit of the three to compare, it has been thought best in _The Plums of New York_ to follow the nomenclature of the oldest authorities. Several writers have also named the Blue Perdrigon and the Perdrigon Violet as identical with Early Tours but neither can be, as all descriptions indicate that both are at least a month later in ripening than the variety under discussion.

Early Tours is considered in continental Europe one of the best early plums for dessert. It is said when fully ripened to be a veritable sweetmeat. As the variety grows in the Station collection it can hardly be lauded as highly as in Europe. Yet it is at least worthy of a place in a home orchard as a delicious early plum.

Tree intermediate in size, upright-spreading, rather open-topped, productive; branchlets thickish, pubescent; leaves falling early, folded upward, obovate or oval, one and seven-eighths inches wide, three and one-quarter inches long; margin crenate; petiole pubescent, glandless or with from one to three glands usually on the stalk; blooming season intermediate in time and length; flowers appearing after the leaves, one and one-eighth inches across; borne on lateral spurs or from lateral buds.

Fruit very early; one and one-quarter inches by one and one-eighth inches in size, slightly oval, dark purplish-black, covered with thick bloom; skin thick, tough, sour; flesh greenish-yellow, firm, sweet, pleasant flavored; good to very good; stone semi-free, three-quarters inch by one-half-inch in size, irregular oval.

EARLY YELLOW

_Prunus domestica_

=1.= Parkinson _Par. Ter._ 575, 576. 1629. =2.= Rea _Flora_ 206, 207. 1676. =3.= Ray _Hist. Plant._ =2=:1688. =4.= Quintinye _Com. Gard._ 70. 1699. =5.= Langley _Pomona_ 90, Pl. 20 fig. 1. 1729. =6.= Duhamel _Trait. Arb. Fr._ =2=:66. 1768. =7.= Forsyth _Treat. Fr. Trees_ 19. 1803. =8.= Floy-Lindley _Guide Orch. Gard._ 297, 382. 1846. =9.= Downing _Fr. Trees Am._ 925. 1869. =10.= _Country Gent._ =41=:518. 1876. =11.= Mathieu _Nom. Pom._ 424. 1889. =12.= _Guide Prat._ 152, 354. 1895.

Amber Primordian 1, 2. _Amber Primordian_ 3, 8, 9, 11, 12. _Avant Prune blanche_ 9, 11, 12. _Bilboa_ 9, 11. Catalonia 1, 2, 3, 12. Castellan 4. _Catalonian_ 8, 9, 10, 11, 12. _Cerisette Blanche_ 9, 11, 12. _Castelane_ 11, 12. _Catalane_ 11, 12. _Catalonische Pflaume_ 11, 12. _Catalonischer Spilling_ 12. Catalonischer Spilling 11. _Catalonische Kricke_ 11. _De Catalogne_ 6, 11. De Catalogne 12. _D’Avoine_ 9, 12. _Die gelbe frühzeitige Pflaume_ 12. _Early Yellow_ 9, 10, 11, 12. _Early John_ 9, 11. _Early White Plum_ 11, 12. _Gelbe Spindel Pflaume_ 11. _Gelber Kleiner Spilling_ 11. _Gelbe Frühzeitige_ 11. _Gelbe frühe Pflaume_ 11, 12. _Jaune précoce_ 11, 12. _Jaune de Catalogne_ 9, 11, 12. Jaune Hâtive 6, 8. _Jaune Hâtive_ 11, 12. Jaunhâtive 7. _Jean Hâtive_ 9. Jean-hâtive 5. _Jean White_ 11, 12. _Kleine gelbe Früh Pflaume_ 11, 12. _London Plumb_ 5. _London Plum_ 9, 11, 12. Monsieur Jaune 11 incor., 12. _Prune de Catalogne_ 8, 9, 11. _Prune de St. Barnabe_ 8, 9. _Prune d’Avoine_ 11. _Pickett’s July_ 9, 11, 12. _Prune Monsieur Jaune_ 9. _Prune d’Altesse blanche_ 9,? 11. Primordian 10, 11, 12. _Prunus Catalana_ 11, 12. _Prunus Catelana_ 11. _Prunus Catalonica_ 11, 12. _St. Barnabée_ 9. _Saint Barnabe_ 11, 12. _Siebenbürger Pflaume?_ 11, 12.

The Early Yellow goes back as far as the history of plum-growing in northwestern Europe is recorded. Because of its synonyms it is thought to have originated in Spain whence it was gradually taken northward, crossed the boundary and spread through the fertile valleys of France. Early in the Seventeenth Century it was firmly established in England and was described by Tradescant and Parkinson. From that time till the present it has kept a place in European and American horticulture, in spite of the introduction of hundreds of improved varieties. It is described as follows:

Tree hardy, moderately vigorous and productive; branches long, slender, upright until bent down with fruit; branchlets pubescent. Fruit very early, small, obovate; stem short, slender; color pale yellow, with thin bloom; flesh yellow, tender, sweet, moderately juicy, pleasant; good; freestone.

EMPIRE

_Prunus domestica_

=1.= _N. Y. Sta. An. Rpt._ =9=:347. 1890. =2.= _Cornell Sta. Bul._ =131=:184. 1897. =3.= _Ohio Sta. Bul._ =162=:241 fig., 254, 255. 1905. =4.= Rice Bros. _Cat._ 15. 1908.

Empire State 4. _Rood_ 1, 2.

It is possible that Empire deserves more attention from fruit-growers than it has had. It is attractive in appearance, pleasant in flavor and gives promise of shipping well. Wherever the variety proves productive, as it is to a fair degree on the grounds of the Station, this plum might well be grown. Empire was grown by Ezra Rood, Cortland, New York, about 1875, from seed purchased at the State Fair. In 1890, E. Smith & Sons of Geneva found this plum in Mr. Rood’s yard and procured cions of it, afterwards introducing the variety under the name Rood. The year that they made the discovery, John Hammond, also of Geneva, found the same variety at another place in Cortland and secured cions from which he subsequently disseminated the plum under the name Empire, by which it is now generally known.

Tree intermediate in size and vigor, spreading, open-topped, productive; branches covered with short, thick, fruit-spurs; branchlets short and stubby, pubescent throughout the season; leaf-scars prominent; leaves folded upward, oval or obovate, one and one-half inches wide, three and one-quarter inches long, thick, stiff; margin crenate, eglandular or with small dark glands; petiole thick, reddish, with a few large, globose or reniform glands; blooming season intermediate in time and length; flowers appearing after the leaves, over one inch across, yellowish-white; borne singly or in twos.

Fruit mid-season, ripening period very long; about one and five-eighths inches in diameter, round, dark reddish-purple, covered with medium thick bloom; dots numerous, conspicuous; stem thick, surrounded by a fleshy ring at the cavity; skin sour; flesh golden-yellow, dry, firm but tender, sweet, mild, pleasant in flavor; of good quality; stone nearly free, seven-eighths inch by three-quarters inch in size, oval, turgid, with roughened surfaces; ventral suture broad, with short but distinct wing; dorsal suture wide, deep.

ENGLEBERT

[Illustration: ENGLEBERT]

_Prunus domestica_

=1.= _Horticulturist_ =10=:71. 1855. =2.= Downing _Fr. Trees Am._ 392. 1857. 3. _Cultivator_ =6=:312 fig. 1858. =4.= Hogg _Fruit Man._ 376. 1866. =5.= Thomas _Am. Fruit Cult._ 344. 1867. =6.= _Am. Pom. Soc. Cat._ 24. 1871. =7.= Mas _Le Verger_ =6=:61. 1866-73. =8.= Barry _Fr. Garden_ 415. 1883. =9.= _Cat. Cong. Pom. France_ 357. 1887. =10.= Wickson _Cal. Fruits_ 354. 1891. =11.= _Guide Prat._ 154, 361. 1895. =12.= _Cornell Sta. Bul._ =131=:190. 1897. =13.= _N. Mex. Sta. Bul._ =27=:125. 1898. =14.= _Mich. Sta. Bul._ =169=:242, 244. 1899. =15.= Waugh _Plum Cult._ 101, 103 fig. 1901. =16.= _Va. Sta. Bul._ =134=:42. 1902.

_Englebert_ 9. Prince Englebert 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 11, 12. Prince Engelbert 10, 13. _Prince Englebert_ 15, 16. _Prinz Engelbert_ 11.

In common parlance Englebert is a prune, its origin, shape, color and firm golden-yellow flesh all marking it as such, but in prune-making regions it is usually marketed in the green state, if grown at all, and is little used in curing. It cannot be said to be much more popular as a plum than it is as a prune, chiefly because it is not of high quality, but also because it is none too attractive in color, size or shape, cutting a rather poor figure in comparison with a great number of other Domestica plums. The variety fails in tree as well as in fruit. The trees are variable in size, suffer from cold in exposed situations and while rather productive bear their crops in clusters hard to pick and well placed to insure infection from brown-rot when that disease is epidemic. For some reason the fruit of this variety shrivels at this Station not only after being picked, but while still on the tree. In New York, Englebert has been thoroughly tested, has been found wanting and is not now recommended.

This variety was obtained from a seed of the “Date Prune,” by M. Scheidweiler, Professor of Botany at Ghent, Belgium.[211] The date of origin has not been given, but it was probably produced about the middle of the last century since it was described as a new fruit in the _Horticulturist_ for 1855. Englebert was added to the American Pomological Society catalog fruit list in 1871 under the name Prince Englebert, but in 1897, according to the rules of the Society, the name was simplified to Englebert.

Tree variable in size, vasiform, dense-topped, hardy except in exposed locations, productive; branches ash-gray, smooth except for the numerous, long-oval, raised lenticels; branchlets thick, rather short, with internodes above medium in length, green changing to dark brownish-drab, dull, heavily pubescent throughout the season, with few, inconspicuous, small lenticels; leaf-buds small, short, obtuse, appressed.

Leaves folded upward, oval or obovate, one and seven-eighths inches wide, three and one-quarter inches long; upper surface covered with very fine hairs, with a shallow groove on the midrib; lower surface pale green, finely pubescent; apex roundish-pointed, base obtuse, margin finely crenate, eglandular or with small dark glands; petiole three-quarters inch long, pubescent, faintly tinged red, glandless or with one or two small, globose, greenish-yellow glands at the base of the leaf.

Blooming season early to medium, of average length; flowers appearing after the leaves, about one inch across, white except for a yellowish tinge near the apex of the petals; borne in clusters on lateral buds and spurs, usually in pairs; pedicels one-half inch long, below medium in thickness, pubescent, greenish; calyx-tube green, campanulate, pubescent; calyx-lobes obtuse, sparingly pubescent on both surfaces, glandular-serrate and with marginal hairs; petals broadly oval or roundish, crenate, abruptly tipped with short, broad claws; stamens often inclined to revert to petals; anthers yellowish; filaments five-sixteenths inch long; pistil glabrous, longer than the stamens.

Fruit mid-season, ripening period short; one and five-eighths inches by one and three-eighths inches in size; oval, swollen on the suture side, halves equal; cavity shallow, narrow, abrupt; suture a line; apex bluntly pointed or roundish; color dark purplish-black, overspread with thick bloom; dots numerous, russet; stem three-quarters inch long, pubescent, adhering well to the fruit; skin thin, sourish, separating readily; flesh golden-yellow, juicy, coarse, rather firm, sweet, pleasant-flavored, sprightly; good; stone one and one-eighth inches by five-eighths inch in size, oval or broadly ovate, strongly flattened, with roughened and deeply pitted surfaces, blunt at the base and apex; ventral suture narrow, strongly grooved, not prominent; dorsal suture acute, with a shallow, often indistinct groove.

ENGRE

_Prunus triflora_

=1.= Normand _Cat._ 1891. =2.= Kerr _Cat._ 1894-1900. =3.= Cornell _Sta. Bul._ =175=:131. 1899. =4.= _Tex. Sta. Bul._ =32=:488. 1899.

This variety is one of the earliest of the Triflora plums and although the flavor is not as agreeable as that of the best sorts of its species, as Burbank or Abundance, it is much better than that of Earliest of All, with which it competes in season. Almost nothing is known regarding the history and origin of Engre. It was first mentioned in 1890 in the catalog of J. L. Normand, Marksville, Louisiana, and in all probability is one of his numerous importations from Japan. The origin of the name is not known.

Tree of medium size, vasiform, dense-topped, productive; branches slightly thorny, with numerous fruit-spurs; branchlets very short and stubby, glabrous; leaf-buds plump; leaves reddish when young, oblanceolate, one and three-eighths inches wide, three inches long; margin doubly crenate, with small brownish glands; petiole tinged red, glandless or with one or two small, reniform glands on the stalk; blooming season early; flowers appearing with the leaves, five-eighths inch across; borne on lateral buds and spurs, in twos or in threes; calyx-lobes red at the margin; anthers pinkish.

Fruit very early; about one and one-quarter inches in diameter, roundish; cavity deep; color dark pinkish-red, covered with thin bloom; dots numerous, conspicuous; skin astringent; flesh yellowish, tender and melting, sweet near the surface, but sour next the pit, low in flavor; poor; stone clinging, five-eighths inch by one-half inch in size, roundish-oval, turgid; ventral suture broad, blunt.

ESPEREN

_Prunus domestica_

=1.= _Mag. Hort._ =15=:298. 1849. =2.= Downing _Fr. Trees Am._ 380. 1857. =3.= _Flor. & Pom._ 4, Pl. 1863. =4.= Downing _Fr. Trees Am._ 916. 1869. =5.= _Pom. France_ =7=: No. 1. 1871. =6.= Mas _Le Verger_ =6=:65. 1866-73. =7.= Lauche _Deut. Pom._ 12. 1882.

_Cloth of Gold Esperen_ 4. _Cloth of Gold_ 2, 7. Drap d’Or of Esperin 1, 2. _Drap d’Or d’Esperen_ 3, 6, 7. _Drap d’Or Esperen_ 4. Drap d’Or d’Esperen 5. _Drap d’Or of Esperen_ 6. Esperen’s Goldpflaume 7. _Golden Esperen_ 5, 7. Golden Esperen 4. Golden Esperen Plum 3.

Were there not so many handsome, well-flavored plums of the Reine Claude group, Esperen might well be recommended to the amateur at least, for it is first class in appearance and quality. But the fruits are small and the tree-characters are not such that the variety can compete with the standard Reine Claude plums. Esperen was produced from seed in 1830 by Major Esperen of Malines, Belgium; it was first fruited in 1844, and was introduced in 1847 by Louis Van Houtte of Ghent, Belgium. It obtained the designation Drap d’Or from its close resemblance to that variety.

Tree large, vigorous, upright-spreading, productive; trunk stocky, rough; branches rough, with numerous, large, raised lenticels; branchlets brash; leaves flattened, two and one-half inches wide, five inches long, obovate or oval; margin serrate; petiole thick, tinged red, pubescent, with from two to five large, globose glands.

Fruit mid-season; about one and one-half inches in diameter, roundish-oval; cavity shallow, narrow, often lipped; color yellow streaked and mottled with green, overspread with thin bloom; skin thin, tender, rather sour; flesh yellow, tender, sweet, aromatic; of good quality; stone free, one inch by five-eighths inch in size, oval, with pitted surfaces; ventral suture blunt; dorsal suture wide, deep.

EXCELSIOR

_Prunus triflora_ × _Prunus munsoniana_

=1.= _Glen St. Mary Cat._ 1891-2. =2.= _Am. Pom. Soc. Cat_. 26. 1897. =3.= _Vt. Sta. Bul._ =67=:11. 1898. =4.= _Ga. Sta. Bul._ =68=:9, 36. 1905.

Excelsior has not fruited on the Station grounds and is placed in the list of leading varieties because of the prominence given it in the above references. The variety was originated by G. L. Tabor, Glen Saint Mary, Florida, in 1887, from seed of Kelsey supposed to have been pollinated by Wild Goose, although some authorities believe De Caradeuc to have been the male parent. It seems to be a promising variety and was mentioned in the last three catalogs of the American Pomological Society.

Tree vigorous, vasiform; branches slender; leaves of medium size, narrow; margin finely crenulate, glandular; petiole short, with from one to three small glands; flowers small, scattered; fruit early; of medium size, roundish, dark red with heavy bloom; skin tough; flesh firm, yellowish with red tinge towards the center; quality good; stone of medium size, compressed, clinging.

FIELD

[Illustration: FIELD]

_Prunus domestica_

=1.= _Mich. Hort. Soc. Rpt._ 288. 1889. =2.= _Am. Gard._ =14=:50, 395. 1893. =3.= _Rural N. Y_. =55=:622. 1896. =4.= _Cornell Sta. Bul._ =131=:184. 1897. =5.= _Mich. Sta. Bul._ =169=:244. 1899. =9.= _Ibid._ =187=:77, 78. 1901. =7.= Waugh _Plum Cult._ 101, 104 fig. 1901. =8.= _Ohio Sta. Bul._ =162=:239, 240 fig., 254, 255. 1905.

_Early Bradshaw_ 2.

This offspring of Bradshaw resembles its parent in tree, and in size, color and shape of fruit, though not so closely as to be readily mistaken for the older variety. Differences which distinguish the fruits of the two are: The Field is a trifle smaller, the fruit is more nearly round, lacking the prolonged neck of Bradshaw and is more plump at the base, the parent plum being markedly obovate; Field is earlier than Bradshaw, the latter difference accounting for the synonym, “Early Bradshaw.” The quality is not such as to commend either of these plums, but of the two Field is slightly the better. In tree-characters, Bradshaw excels in having a larger tree and in being more productive. The foliage of Field is very good, it ripens its wood well and begins to bear while young, but it is inclined to a biennial bearing habit which makes the average in quantity of fruit a little too low for a market plum which Field is, if worth planting at all. A good quality of this variety is that it withstands the brown-rot very well. It is doubtful if Field is worthy of a place in the fruit-growing regions of New York, unless, perhaps, where a plum of the Bradshaw type, but a little earlier, is wanted. Like Bradshaw, Field is comparatively little attacked by San José scale.

Field is a seedling of Bradshaw grown in Schoharie County, New York. It was first noted by S. D. Willard of Geneva, New York, in 1889, as “a variety worthy of cultivation.”

Tree of medium size and vigor, upright-spreading, dense-topped, hardy, productive; branches ash-gray, smooth except for the numerous, small, raised lenticels; branchlets slender, short, with internodes of medium length, greenish-red changing to brownish-drab, with a trace of red, dull, pubescent becoming slightly less so at maturity, with numerous, inconspicuous, small lenticels; leaf-buds below medium in size, short, obtuse, appressed.

Leaves folded backward, obovate, two and one-sixteenth inches wide, four and three-eighths inches long; upper surface dark green, nearly glabrous, with shallowly grooved midrib; lower surface sparingly pubescent; apex abruptly pointed, base acute, margin serrate, with a few, smallish, black glands; petiole seven-eighths inch long, thick, tinged with red, sparingly pubescent.

Season of bloom intermediate, short; flowers appearing after the leaves, one inch across, white, with a yellowish tinge at the apex of the petals; scattered on lateral buds and spurs, singly or in pairs; pedicels five-eighths inch long, thick, with few, short, scattering hairs, greenish; calyx-tube green, campanulate, glabrous; calyx-lobes above medium in width, obtuse, slightly pubescent on both surfaces, glandular-serrate, somewhat reflexed; petals broadly oval, entire, tapering below to short, broad claws; anthers yellowish; filaments three-eighths inch long; pistil glabrous, shorter than the stamens.

Fruit mid-season, period of ripening short; one and seven-eighths inches by one and five-eighths inches in size, oblong-oval, compressed, halves equal; cavity shallow, narrow, abrupt; suture shallow, broad; apex roundish; color dark purplish-red, overspread with very thick bloom; dots numerous, small, russet, clustered about the apex; stem three-quarters inch long, sparingly pubescent, adhering well to the fruit; skin thin, slightly sour, separating readily; flesh greenish-yellow, medium juicy, sweetish, mild; of fair quality; stone clinging, one inch by five-eighths inch in size, ovate with roughened and deeply pitted surfaces, blunt at the apex and base; ventral suture broad, distinctly furrowed; dorsal suture acute.

FOREST GARDEN

[Illustration: FOREST GARDEN]

_Prunus hortulana mineri_

=1.= _Minn. Hort. Soc. Rpt._ 81. 1882. =2.= _Am. Pom. Soc. Cat._ 42. 1883. =3.= _Minn. Hort. Soc. Rpt._ 412. 1889. =4.= _Ia. Hort. Soc. Rpt._ 55. 1890. =5.= _Cornell Sta. Bul._ =38=:37, 86. 1892. =6.= _Mich. Sta. Bul._ =118=:53. 1895. =7.= _Wis. Sta. Bul._ =63=:24, 37. 1897. =8.= _Wis. Hort. Soc. Rpt._ 136. 1899. =9.= Waugh _Plum Cult._ 148. 1901. =10.= _Can. Exp. Farm Bul._ =43=:30. 1903. =11.= _Ohio Sta. Bul._ =162=:254, 255. 1905. =12.= _S. Dak. Sta. Bul._ =93=:17, 49 & 54 Pl. 1905.

Forest Garden is placed by most horticulturists in _Prunus americana_, but the trees growing on the Geneva Station grounds belong to the Miner group of _Prunus hortulana_ and the herbarium specimens of foliage and flowers sent from other stations make it probable if not certain that the trees here are true to name. This variety is little grown in the East, but it is widely distributed in the central West where both in tree and fruit-characters it seems adapted to the needs of the climate and soil. It is one of the latest of its group, maturing at a good time for shipping, for which it is further adapted by its tough skin and firm flesh. While Forest Garden is not preeminently a dessert plum, it has a spicy flavor that makes it pleasant eating and it is admirably adapted for culinary purposes, especially for preserving.

This variety is from a wild plum found in the woods bordering on the Cedar River, near Cedar Rapids, Iowa, by Thomas Hare, and introduced by H. C. Raymond, of the Forest Garden Nurseries, Council Bluffs, Iowa, about 1862. The American Pomological Society placed the variety on its fruit catalog list in 1883, dropped it in 1891, and replaced it in 1897.

Tree medium to large, often very vigorous, spreading, with sprawling habit, inclined to be flat-topped, perfectly hardy, variable in productiveness, bearing young, somewhat susceptible to shot-hole fungus; trunk small in proportion to the size of the tree, shaggy; branches rather rough, zigzag and inclined to split, thorny, dark ash-brown, with numerous, small lenticels; branchlets thick, long, willowy, with short internodes, greenish changing to dark chestnut-red, glossy, with thin pubescence when young, which disappears in autumn, with conspicuous, numerous raised lenticels; leaf-buds small, short, obtuse, plump, appressed.

Leaves falling early, folded upward, elongated-oval, or obovate, peach-like, one and three-quarters inches wide, four and one-quarter inches long, thin and leathery; upper surface smooth, with a shallow, grooved midrib; lower surface silvery-green, pubescent; apex taper-pointed, base somewhat abrupt, margin doubly crenate, glandular; petiole three-quarters inch long, sparingly pubescent, faintly tinged with red, usually with two conspicuous, globose, brownish glands below the base of the leaf.

Blooming season late and long; flowers appearing with the leaves; seven-eighths inch across, white, with a strong, disagreeable odor; borne in dense but scattering clusters on lateral buds and spurs, in threes or in fours; pedicels nine-sixteenths inch in length, slender, glabrous, greenish; calyx-tube green, narrowly campanulate or obconic, glabrous; calyx-lobes narrow, obtuse, slightly pubescent, margined with few hairs and with dark-colored glands, slightly reflexed; petals oval, erose, tapering to long claws of medium width; anthers yellowish; filaments seven-sixteenths inch in length; pistil glabrous, shorter than the stamens.

Fruit variable in season which is usually late and short; about one and one-eighth inches in diameter, rather large, roundish-ovate or nearly oval, slightly compressed, halves equal; cavity shallow, wide, flaring; suture a line; apex roundish or somewhat pointed; color light or dark red, with thin bloom; dots numerous, russet, conspicuous; stem slender, five-eighths inch long, glabrous, detaching from the fruit at maturity; skin thick, tough, slightly astringent, adhering; flesh dark golden-yellow, juicy, coarse, fibrous, melting, sweetish next the skin but rather sour toward the center, with a strong and peculiar flavor, aromatic; fair to good; stone clinging, three-quarters inch by five-eighths inch in size, oval, turgid, blunt and slightly flattened at the base, ending in an abrupt but sharp point at the apex, nearly smooth; ventral suture narrow, faintly ridged; dorsal suture acute.

FOREST ROSE

[Illustration: FOREST ROSE]

_Prunus hortulana mineri_

=1.= _Mich. Pom. Soc. Rpt._ 290. 1889. =2.= _Ia. Hort. Soc. Rpt._ 55. 1890. =3.= _Cornell Sta. Bul._ =38=:55, 86. 1892. =4.= _Mich. Sta. Bul._ =123=:19. 1895. =5.= _Ia. Sta. Bul._ =31=:346. 1895. =6.= _Colo. Sta. Bul._ =50=:36. 1898. =7.= _Ohio Sta. Bul._ =113=:154. 1899. =8.= Waugh _Plum Cult._ 173. 1901. =9.= Budd-Hansen _Am. Hort. Man._ 296. 1903.

Forest Rose, like Forest Garden, belongs to _Prunus hortulana mineri_, the two being similar in many respects. Forest Rose, however, is not as attractive in color as the other variety, the difference not being well brought out in the color-plates, is smaller and does not keep nor ship quite as well. The variety under discussion is better in quality than Forest Garden and better adapted than the last named variety for the home orchard at least. While somewhat variable in productiveness, in most localities it bears annually and abundantly. The trees are rather more thorny than most of its species.

This variety is said by H. A. Terry of Crescent, Iowa, to be a seedling of Miner, grown by Scott & Company, a Missouri nursery firm, and introduced by William Stark, Louisiana, Missouri, in 1878. Terry offers no evidence to show that this plum is a seedling of Miner and there is a question as to whether more is really known of its parentage other than that it came from Missouri.

Tree medium to large, intermediate in vigor, upright-spreading, open-topped, hardy, variable in productiveness somewhat susceptible to attacks of shot-hole fungus; trunk very rough and shaggy; branches rough, thorny, dark ash-gray, with numerous lenticels; branchlets numerous, slender, variable in length, with internodes of medium length, green changing to dull reddish-brown, glossy, glabrous, with numerous, small, raised lenticels; leaf-buds small, short, obtuse, appressed.

Leaves falling early, folded upward, elongated-oval or obovate, one and one-half inches wide, four inches long, thin; upper surface dull red in the fall, rugose, glabrous, with the midrib and larger veins deeply grooved; lower surface light green, somewhat pubescent along the midrib; apex acuminate, base acute, margin crenate or serrate, with small, dark glands; petiole slender, five-eighths inch in length, sparsely pubescent along one side, tinged with red, glandless or with from one to three small, globose or oval, greenish-brown glands on the stalk.

Flowers seven-eighths inch across, white, with a disagreeable odor; borne in dense clusters on lateral buds and spurs, in pairs or in threes; pedicels five-eighths inch long, below medium in thickness, glabrous, greenish: calyx-tube green, narrowly campanulate, glabrous; calyx-lobes short and narrow, acute, serrate, somewhat reflexed, glabrous on the outer surface, but more or less pubescent on the inner surface and along the margin, which is strewn with red glands; petals oval, dentate, tapering below into narrow, lightly pubescent claws of medium length; anthers light yellow; filaments one-half inch in length; pistil glabrous, shorter than the stamens.

Fruit late, season short; one and one-eighth inches by one inch in size, roundish-oval; cavity shallow, narrow, flaring; suture a line; apex roundish; color dull crimson overspread with thin bloom; dots very numerous, small, gray, conspicuous; stem slender, three-quarters inch long, smooth, not adhering to the fruit; skin thick, tough, astringent, inclined to crack under unfavorable conditions, adhering; flesh dull apricot-yellow, juicy, fibrous, tender and melting, sweet next to the skin but tart toward the center, aromatic; fair to good; stone clinging, five-eighths inch by one-half inch in size, oval, acute at the apex, with pitted surfaces; ventral suture somewhat blunt.

FOTHERINGHAM

_Prunus domestica_

1. Rea _Flora_ 208. 1676. 2. Langley _Pomona_ 91. 1729. 3. Miller _Gard. Dict_. =3=:1754. 4. Forsyth _Treat. Fr. Trees_ 19. 1803. 5. Downing _Fr. Trees Am._ 299. 1845. Floy-Lindley _Guide Orch. Gard._ 286, 383. 1846. 7. Thompson _Gard. Ass’t_ 517. 1859. 8. Hogg _Fruit Man._ 701. 1884. 9. Waugh _Plum Cult._ 102. 1901.

Foderingham 1. Fotheringay 8. Foderingham Plum 2. _Grove House Purple_ 5, 7, 8. _Red Fotheringham_ 8. _Sheen_ 2, 5, 6, 7, 8.

Fotheringham is probably one of the oldest varieties of plums now cultivated. Although but little if at all grown in this country, it has maintained its place among standard English varieties for at least two and a half centuries. The exact time of its origin is not certain, but it was undoubtedly during the first half of the Seventeenth Century as Hogg records a reference made to it by Rea in 1665. It was first grown extensively at Sheen, in Surrey, England, about 1700 by Sir William Temple, who gave it the name Sheen. The variety is described as follows:

Tree hardy, vigorous, productive. Fruit matures just before Reine Claude; of medium size, obovate; suture distinct; stem one inch long; color reddish-purple with thin bloom; flesh greenish-yellow, sweet, sprightly; good; freestone.

FREEMAN

_Prunus domestica_

As this variety grows in the Station orchard it is a remarkably fine plum. The fruits are attractive, of high quality and the tree-characters are for most part very good. It is certainly a desirable plum for any home plantation, and if it proves as productive elsewhere as about Geneva, it may well be worth growing in commercial orchards.

Freeman is a chance seedling found in the yard of a Mr. Freeman of Cortland, New York, about 1890 and shortly afterwards introduced by E. Smith & Sons of Geneva, New York, but is as yet hardly known by plum-growers.

Tree intermediate in size and vigor, upright-spreading, productive; branchlets slender, pubescent; leaves oval, one and one-half inches wide, two and three-quarters inches long; margin serrate or almost crenate, eglandular or with small dark glands; petiole reddish, glandless or with from one to four globose glands; blooming season intermediate, short; flowers appearing after the leaves, creamy-white, usually in scattering clusters at the ends of lateral spurs; borne singly or in twos.

Fruit mid-season, ripening period short; about one and one-half inches in diameter, roundish or roundish-oval; cavity very shallow, small, often lipped; color golden-yellow, blushed and mottled with red on the exposed cheek, covered with thin bloom; flesh light golden-yellow, firm but tender, sweet, pleasant flavor; very good to best; stone dark colored, free, seven-eighths inch by five-eighths inch in size, irregular-oval, somewhat flattened, abruptly contracted at the base, with surfaces roughened; ventral suture prominent.

FREESTONE

[Illustration: FREESTONE]

_Prunus insititia_

1. _Am. Gard._ =14=:148. 1893. 2. Waugh _Plum Cult._ 129. 1901.

Freestone Damson 2.

Freestone is a Damson separated from other Damsons chiefly in being sweeter and more free of stone. It is so inferior to varieties of its species in several particulars as to have little value for commercial planting. The fruits are smaller and the pits larger in proportion to the amount of flesh than with several better known Damsons and the trees do not bear as large crops as plums of this species should; these faults of fruit and tree condemn the plum. To offset the defects in the tree, freedom from black-knot and immunity to leaf-blight may be mentioned as compensating somewhat. Still Freestone is hardly to be mentioned as worth planting in either home or commercial orchard. The origin of this Damson is unknown. Stark Brothers, Louisiana, Missouri, who introduced the variety about 1889, describe it as “a selected sort which is very hardy, free from insects, and productive.”

Tree of medium size and vigor, upright-spreading, vasiform, hardy, not always productive; branches dark ash-gray, thorny; leaves folded upward, oval, one and one-quarter inches wide, two and one-quarter inches long; upper surface dark green, rugose; lower surface silvery-green, pubescent; margin finely serrate, eglandular or with small, brownish glands; petiole five-eighths inch long, glandless or with one or two small glands; blooming season late and of medium length; flowers appearing after the leaves, seven-eighths inch across, the buds creamy, changing to white when expanded; borne in clusters on lateral buds and spurs, usually in pairs; anthers reddish; filaments five-sixteenths inch long; pistil shorter than the stamens.

Fruit late, season long; seven-eighths inch in diameter, roundish-oval; cavity very shallow and narrow; flesh yellowish-green, juicy, tender, sweet, mild; fair in quality; stone free, tinged red, five-eighths inch by one-half inch in size, oval, turgid, with roughened surfaces, acute at the base, blunt at the apex; ventral suture broad, blunt; dorsal suture with a broad, shallow groove.

FRENCH

[Illustration: FRENCH]

_Prunus insititia_

=1.= _Mich. Hort. Soc. Rpt._ 289. 1889. =2.= _Ibid._ 64. 1891. =3.= _Cornell Sta. Bul._ =131=:184 fig. 40 I. 1897. =4.= _Mich. Sta. Bul._ =169=:245. 1899. =5.= _Waugh Plum Cult._ 129. 1901.

_French Damson_ 4. French Damson 1, 2, 3.

Far better than the Freestone just discussed is the French Damson, which in some respects surpasses all other plums in its group. Thus it is the largest of the Damsons, so large, indeed, as to lead many to believe that it may be a hybrid with some Domestica plum, the size of the trees, blossoms and foliage also leading to such a supposition. This excellent Damson is largely grown for the market in western New York, good quality as well as size and appearance aiding in selling the product. The fruits have but one defect, the pit is large for the amount of flesh. Curiously enough in some seasons the stone clings and in others is perfectly free. It is in tree-characters that the French plum best shows its superiority over other Damsons. The trees are large, the largest of the Damsons in New York, hardy, bear abundantly and annually and carry their foliage so well that fruit and wood usually ripen perfectly even when the trees are not sprayed. The season is a little after that of the more commonly grown Shropshire, which in most years is an advantage. French, while becoming popular, is still too little known in New York, where its behavior warrants quite general planting.

S. D. Willard, a nurseryman of Geneva, New York, probably introduced French in this country; at least it was brought to notice mainly through his recommendation. The origin is unknown, but it is probably an introduction from France and may be an old variety renamed. The figure of Prune Petit Damas Violet given by Poiteau is so very similar as to suggest that French may be identical with that sort.

Tree large, vigorous, spreading, dense-topped, hardy, productive; branches numerous, ash-gray, roughish, thorny, with lenticels variable in size; branchlets inclined to develop spurs at the base, rather slender, short, with short internodes, greenish-red changing to dark brownish-drab, dull, somewhat zigzag, thickly pubescent, with inconspicuous, small lenticels; leaf-buds intermediate in size and length, pointed, free.

Leaves folded upward, long-oval, one and one-quarter inches wide, three inches long; upper surface dark green, covered with fine hairs, with a grooved midrib; lower surface pubescent; apex abruptly pointed, base abrupt, margin serrate or nearly crenate, with a few, small, dark glands; petiole eleven-sixteenths inch long, rather slender, pubescent, faintly tinged with red, usually having two very small, globose, greenish-brown glands on the stalk or base of the leaf.

Blooming season intermediate in time and length; flowers appearing after the leaves, one and five-sixteenths inches across, white; borne on lateral spurs, usually in pairs; pedicels five-eighths inch long, slender, covered with short pubescence, greenish; calyx-tube green, campanulate, glabrous; calyx-lobes narrow, obtuse, glabrous on the outer surface, thinly pubescent along the margin and at the base of the inner surface, glandular-serrate, reflexed; petals oval, dentate or fringed, tapering below to short, broad claws; anthers distinctly reddish; filaments seven-sixteenths inch in length; pistil glabrous, equal to the stamens in length.

Fruit late; one and one-half inches by one and one-eighth inches in diameter, ovate, halves equal; cavity very shallow, narrow, flaring; suture a line; apex roundish; color dull black, overspread with thick bloom; dots numerous, small, brownish, inconspicuous; stem slender, three-quarters inch long, sparingly pubescent, adhering well to the fruit; skin thin, tough, separating readily; flesh greenish, juicy, fibrous, tender, sweet, pleasant and sprightly; good; stone variable in adhesion, seven-eighths inch by one-half inch in size, oval, roughened, acute at the base, blunt at the apex; ventral suture rather narrow, heavily furrowed and somewhat winged; dorsal suture with a shallow groove of medium width.

FROGMORE

_Prunus insititia_

=1.= _Flor. & Pom._ 265, Pl. 1876. =2.= _Mich. Hort. Soc. Rpt._ 289. 1889. =3.= _Can. Exp. Farm Bul._ 2nd Ser. =3=:51. 1900. =4.= Waugh _Plum Cult._ 130. 1901.

Frogmore Damson 1, 2. Frogmore Prolific Damson 3.

Frogmore may be considered among the best of the Damsons in quality for the culinary purposes to which this fruit is commonly put. The flesh is tender, sweet and good, but adheres rather too tightly to the stone. The tree of Frogmore is all that could be desired in productiveness and quite equals most other Damsons in general and probably surpasses them all, at least on the grounds at this Station, in length of time that the fruit hangs on the tree. The habit of growth of this variety varies from that of _Prunus insititia_ as commonly found, the leaves being larger, the tops more spreading and the branches less thorny. The variety has hardly been tried enough in New York to warrant either recommending or condemning it. According to the _Florist and Pomologist_, published in 1876, this variety originated a few years previous to the date of publication in the Royal Gardens at Frogmore, England.

Tree inferior in size and vigor, round-topped, open, hardy, very productive; branches thorny, the bark on the older branches splitting transversely to the direction of growth, making grooves or rings about three inches apart and two inches or more in length; branchlets slender, almost glabrous throughout the season, covered with light bloom; leaves bright red on first opening, somewhat folded backward, obovate, one and three-eighths inches wide, three and one-half inches long; upper surface dark green, rugose; lower surface silvery-green, pubescent, margin eglandular; petiole five-eighths inch long, slender, greenish, glandless or with one or two small, globose, yellowish-green glands usually at the base of the leaf; blooming season intermediate in time and length; flowers appearing after the leaves, one inch across, white, in scattered clusters on lateral spurs; borne singly or in pairs; anthers yellow with tinge of red; filaments five-sixteenths inch long; pistil glabrous, equal to the stamens in length.

Fruit late, season of medium length; one and one-eighth inches by one inch in size, roundish-oval, compressed, purplish-black, overspread with thick bloom; flesh golden-yellow, juicy, tender, sweet; good; stone clinging, three-quarters inch by one-half inch in size, oval, smooth, somewhat acute at the base and apex; ventral suture blunt or with a short, narrow wing; dorsal suture with a narrow, shallow groove.

FROST GAGE

_Prunus domestica_

=1.= Prince _Pom. Man._ =2=:52. 1832. =2.= _Mag. Hort._ =4=:45. 1838. =3.= Hoffy _Orch. Comp._ =2=:1842, =4.= Downing _Fr. Trees Am._ 300. 1845. =5.= _Horticulturist_ =3=:446. 1848. =6.= Cole _Am. Fr. Book_ 219. 1849. =7.= _Am. Pom. Soc. Rpt._ 54. 1852. =8.= Hogg _Fruit Mun._ 362. 1866.

_American Damson_ 8. _Frost Plum_ 4, 6, 8. _October Gage_ 3.

Frost Gage is too small for market purposes and moreover the fruit withers rather quickly after picking; the quality is above the average. The plum is not a Gage, only green fruits being entitled to this name. At one time this was one of the most popular commercial varieties in the Hudson Valley, but because of its susceptibility to black-knot it has lost favor with growers. Downing in 1838 traced the history of this variety to a tree standing on the farm of a Mr. Duboise, Dutchess County, New York, Mr. Duboise stating that the original had been planted by his father. It is doubtful if this is the first tree, however, for in 1849 Charles Hamilton of Canterbury, Orange County, reported trees of Frost Gage thirty to forty years old on his place.

Tree of medium size, upright, very productive; branchlets thick; leaves flattened, oval or obovate, one and one-half inches wide, two and three-quarters inches long; margin crenate or serrate, with few, small, black glands; petiole short, usually with one or two glands; blooming season intermediate, short; flowers appearing after the leaves, white, with a little yellowish tinge; borne on lateral buds and spurs, singly or in twos.

Fruit late; about one and one-eighth inches in diameter, roundish, dark purplish-black, covered with thick bloom; stem slender, persistent; skin tough, sour; flesh greenish-yellow, juicy, firm, sweet, mild; fair to good; stone clinging, small, irregular-ovate, somewhat oblique.

FURST

_Prunus domestica_

=1.= Mas _Le Verger_ =6=:45. 1873. =2.= Lange _Allgem. Garten._ =2=:421. 1879. =3.= Oberdieck _Deut. Obst. Sort._ 413. 1881. =4.= Lauche _Deut. Pom._ 8, Pl. 1882. =5.= _Guide Prat._ 159, 363. 1895.

_Eugen Fürsts Frühzwetsche_ 4, 5. Fürst’s Frühzwetsche 2, 3, 4. _Fürst’s Frühzwetsche_ 1, 4, 5. Quetsche Précoce de Fürst 1, 5.

Furst would undoubtedly be well worthy of very general cultivation in plum orchards were it not for the fact that it is very similar to the Italian Prune. The two fruits differ only in season, the Furst being a few days earlier, and in the tendency of the variety under discussion to shrivel about the neck. It may be that Furst will succeed in some localities where the Italian Prune is not a success.

Furst was propagated by the Baron of Trauttenberg, Prague, Bohemia, who had received it from Professor Pater Hackl, Leitmeritz, Bohemia, under the name Furst, given in honor of Eugene Furst, son of the founder of the School of Horticulture of Frauendorf, Bavaria. Furst Damson has been confused with this variety, but it is a different plum. Its fruits are distinctly necked and much inferior in quality, and its shoots are glabrous, while in this variety they are not. The United States Department of Agriculture introduced Furst in 1901 and through them this Station received cions for testing.

Tree of medium size, round-topped, productive; branchlets thick, marked with slight scarf-skin; leaf-scars very prominent; leaves folded upward, obovate, two and one-half inches wide, four and one-half inches long; margin doubly serrate or almost crenate, eglandular or with small dark glands; petiole thick, pubescent, glandless or with from one to three globose glands usually on the stalk; blooming season late; flowers one and one-eighth inches across, white, the opening buds tipped with yellow; borne on lateral buds and spurs, singly or in twos.

Fruit late; one and seven-eighths inches by one and one-half inches in size, oval, slightly necked, purplish-black, covered with thick bloom; dots numerous, reddish, conspicuous; stem thick; flesh greenish-yellow, juicy, very fibrous, firm, sweet, mild, with pleasant aroma; good to very good; stone one and one-eighths inches by five-eighths inch in size, free, irregular-oval, with rather long, tapering, oblique apex, the surfaces heavily pitted; ventral suture prominent, often winged; dorsal suture wide.

GEORGESON

[Illustration: GEORGESON]

_Prunus triflora_

=1.= _Ga. Hort. Soc. Rpt._ 52, 99. 1889. =2.= _Am. Gard._ =12=:308, 501, 574. 1891. =3.= _Ibid._ =13=:700. 1892. =4.= _Cornell Sta. Bul._ =62=:23, 27. 1894. =5.= _Tex. Sta. Bul._ =32=:488, 489. 1894. =6.= _Ga. Hart. Soc. Rpt._ 94. 1895. =7.= _Cornell Sta. Bul._ =106=:51, 58. 1896. =8.= _Ibid._ =139=:40, 44. 1897. =9.= _Am. Pom. Soc. Cat._ 26. 1897. =10.= _Cornell Sta. Bul._ =175=:145. 1899. =11.= Waugh _Plum Cult._ 136. 1901. =12.= _Ga. Hort. Soc. Rpt._ 13. 1904. =13.= _Mass. Sta. An. Rpt._ =17=:160. 1905. =14.= _Ohio Sta. Bul._ =162=:250, 254, 255, 256, 257. 1905. =15.= _Ga. Sta. Bul._ =68=:10, 30, 32, 35. 1905.

_Hattonkin No. 1._ 3, 4, 7. _Hattankin No. 1._ 5. _Hattonkin_ 7, 11. _Hattankio_ 7. Hattankio ?1. _Hattankio No. 1._ 6, 9, 12, 15. Hattonkin No. 1. 2. _Mikado_ 10, 11, 12, 15. Normand 4, 5, 7, 8, 14. Normand Yellow 2, 3. Normand Japan 3. _Normand’s Japan_ 4, 5. _Normand Yellow_ 4, 5, 7. _Normand_ ?15. _White Kelsey_ 10, 11, 15. _Yeddo_ 10, 11, 15.

Georgeson is not worth the trouble it has caused pomologists in straightening out its nomenclature; and Professor Georgeson deserves to have his name attached to a far better plum. The rich yellow color of the fruit makes this a particularly handsome plum, but here praises end. The flesh is so astringent and clings so tenaciously to the stone as to unfit the variety for either dessert or culinary use. Moreover, the fruits are exceedingly variable in color, size and shape, in the last character ranging from flattish to round, with sometimes round and sometimes pointed apex. The tree has too much of the sprawling habit of Burbank to make it a good orchard plant. This plum, and those that have been confused with it, can be spared without great loss to American pomology.

Georgeson was imported by H. H. Berger & Company, San Francisco, California, and brought to notice chiefly by J. L. Normand, Marksville, Louisiana, who named it for Professor C. C. Georgeson, then of Manhattan, Kansas, a student of Japanese fruits. In the Georgia Horticultural Society Report for 1889, L. A. Berckmans mentions two types of Hattankio, one of which may be this variety. Normand, in 1891, said that he received two varieties of Hattonkin from different sources and in order to separate them he numbered the earlier, No. 1, the later No. 2. Bailey and Kerr, however, in 1894, published Hattonkin No. 1 as a synonym of Georgeson and Hattonkin No. 2, the later, as a synonym of the Kerr. The Georgia Horticultural Society accepted this latter nomenclature in their report published in 1895. The Mikado, White Kelsey and Yeddo as tested by this Station have proved to be identical with Georgeson, but as tested by Kerr,[212] the Mikado alone is the same. Normand, which is said to have been imported and introduced in 1891 by J. L. Normand, is also indistinguishable from this variety. In 1897, Georgeson was placed on the American Pomological Society fruit catalog list.

Tree medium in size and vigor, upright-spreading or broad-vasiform, not always hardy, productive; branches roughish, slightly thorny, often with bark cracked longitudinally, zigzag, dark ash-gray; branchlets glabrous, with characteristic raised lenticels; leaf-scars enlarged; leaves folded upward, broadly oblanceolate or obovate, one and three-eighths inches wide, three and three-quarters inches long, thin; margin crenate or serrate, with small, amber glands; petiole five-eighths inch long, reddish, with from one to ten brownish-red glands usually on the stalk; blooming season early to medium, of average length; flowers appearing before the leaves; borne in clusters on lateral spurs, in pairs or in threes; petals pinkish at the base; anthers reddish; pistil longer than the stamens.

Fruit early, ripening period short; one and five-eighths inches in diameter, roundish-cordate; cavity deep, wide, usually with concentric, russet lines; color greenish-yellow changing to deep yellow as the fruit reaches full maturity, with thin bloom; flesh golden-yellow, fibrous, firm, sweetish except near the center; fair to good; stone clinging, five-eighths inch by one-half inch in size, oval, turgid, with pitted surfaces; ventral suture broad, slightly ribbed; dorsal suture acute.

GERMAN PRUNE

[Illustration: GERMAN PRUNE]

_Prunus domestica_

=1.= Knoop _Fructologie_ =2=:53, 61. 1771. 2. Coxe _Cult. Fr. Trees_ 235, fig. 7. 1817. =3.= _Lond. Hort. Soc. Cat._ 152. 1831. =4.= Prince _Pom. Man._ =2=:77, 78. 1832. =5.= Downing _Fr. Trees Am._ 310. 1845. =6.= Floy-Lindley _Guide Orch. Gard._ 286, 383. 1846. =7.= Poiteau _Pom. Franc._ =1=:1846. =8.= Thomas _Am. Fruit Cult._ 335. 1849. =9.= _Am. Pom. Soc. Cat._ 214. 1856. =10.= Hooper _W. Fr. Book_ 245. 1857. =11.= Thompson _Gard. Ass’t_ 519. 1859. =12.= Hogg _Fruit Man._ 378. 1866. =13.= _Pom. France_ =7=: No. 17. 1871. =14.= Mas _Pom. Gen._ =2=:171. 1873. =15.= Lange _Allgem. Garten._ =2=:418. 1879. =16.= Lauche _Deut. Pom._ =1=:1882. =17.= Mathieu _Nom. Pom._ 434. 1889. =18.= Wickson _Cal. Fruits_ 355. 1891. =19.= _Guide Prat._ 155, 362. 1895. =20.= _Cornell Sta. Bul._ =131=:185, fig. 43. 1897. =21.= _Oregon Sta. Bul._ =45=:29 fig. 1897. =22.= Waugh _Plum Cult._ 102. 1901. =23.= _Ohio Sta. Bul._ =162=: 254, 255. 1905.

_Altesse ordinaire_ 13, 17, 19. _Backpflaume_ 17, 19. _Bauernpflaume_ 17, 19. _Common Quetsche_ 3, 5, 11, 17, 18, 19. _Couetsche_ 4, 19. _Couetche_ 17. _Couetch_ 13, 19. _Couetsche Ordinaire_ 17, 19. _Covetche_ 5. _Covetsche_ 17. _Damas Gros_ 3, 5, 11, 17, 19. _Damask_ 3, 5, 11, 17, 19. _Damas Long_ 1. _Damas Violet_ of some 3, 11, 17, 19. _Damas Violet Gros_ of some 3, 5, 11, 17, 19. _Deutsche Blaue Herbstzwetsche_ 17, 19. _Die Hauszwetsche_ 19. _D’Allemagne_ 19. Die Hauszwetsche 16. _Dutch Prune_ 10. _Early Russian_ 11, 12, 13, 17, 19. _Enkelde Backspruim_ 17. _Enkelde Blackpruim_ 19. _Fellemberg_ 13, 17 incor., 19. _Gemeine Zwetsche_ 13, 14, 17, 19. _Gemeine Hauszwetsche_ 14. German Plum 4, 14. _German Prune_ 3, 5, 11, 12, 13, 14, 17, 19. _German Quetsche_ 12, 13, 17, 19. _Grosse German Prune_ 3. _Grosse Hauspflaume_ 17, 19. Hauszwetsche 15. _Hauszwetsche_ 13, 14, 16. _Hauspflaume_ 14, 17. _Imperatrice Violette Grosse_ of some 3, 5, 11, 17, 19. _Imperatrice Violette_ of some 3, 5, 11, 13, 17, 19. _Koetsche_ 13, 17, 19. _Large German Prune_ 4, 17. _Leipzig_ 3, 12, 13, 17, 19. _Leipzic_ 5. _Leipziger Zwetsche_ 16, 17, 19. Monsieur tardif? 19. _Monsieur Tardif_ 17. _Prune d’Allemagne la commune_ 4. _Prune d’Allemagne_ 3, 5, 11, 12, 13, 16, 17. _Prune d’Altesse_ 1. Prune Imperatrice Violette 7. Prune Plum? 2. _Prune Allemand_ 4. _Prunier Allemand_ 4. _Prune Plum_ 4. Prune Quetsch 7. _Prunus Oeconomica_ 17. _Prune Zwetschen_ 14. _Quastche_ 7. _Quetsch_ 7, 13, 19. _Quetsche_ 4, 6, 8, 14, 17, 19. Quetsche? 1, 3, 5, 6, 11, 12. _Quetsch Allemande_ 1. _Quetsch Hongroise_ 1. _Quetschen_ 4. _Quetsche Commune_ 4, 13, 14, 16, 17. Quetsch Longue? 1. _Quetsche d’Allemagne Grosse_ 3, 5, 11, 17, 19. Quetsche Commune 19. _Quetsche d’Allemagne_ 3, 17, 19. Quetsche D’Allemagne 13. _Quetsche des Allemands_ 7. _Quetsche Grosse_ 3, 5, 17, 19. _Quetsche de Lorraine_ 13, 14, 17, 19. _Quetsche de Metz_ 13, 16, 17, 19. Quetsche Domestique 14. _Quetsche de Malogne_ 13, 17, 19. Quetzen 6, 17. _Sweet Prune_ 5, 11, 12, 13, 17, 19. _Teutsche blaue Zwetsche_ 16, 17, 19. _Wahre Zwetsche_ 16. _Wetschen_ 13, 17, 19. _True Large German Prune_ 4, 5, 17, 19. _Turkish Quetsche_ 5, 11, 12, 13, 17, 19. _Zwespe_ 17, 19. _Zwetsche_ 3, 5, 7, 11, 12, 13, 14, 17, 19. _Zwetschen_ 4. _Zwetschke_ 3, 11, 17, 19.

Although one of the oldest plums under cultivation, probably the oldest of the prune type, the German Prune is still as largely grown, the world over, as any; and is seemingly more widely disseminated than any other plum. It is a little difficult, in America at least, to see why this fruit holds its popularity so long, for it is surpassed by other plums in many horticultural characters, and when all of its characters, most of which are very good, are combined there are still plums which it does not excel. In most of the attributes which gratify the senses, color, size, shape, taste and smell, it falls below expectations for a plum so universally planted. Undoubtedly the wide distribution of this plum is due somewhat to its many variations. The fruit comes almost true to seed and is often propagated by planting pits, a practice which has given many slightly different strains of this variety, each with somewhat different adaptations.

In the Old World the number of strains of this plum, especially in Germany, is legion, so many that it is probably impossible to segregate them at this late date. In America, while there are a number of these more or less distinct strains it is yet possible to distinguish the chief ones. In New York, the most commonly grown German Prune is the Rochester strain and since it agrees most closely with the fruit described in the best works on pomology, it is the strain described and illustrated in this work. The trees from which this description was made came from Ellwanger and Barry, Rochester, New York, who have long maintained a stock tree of this strain. Another German Prune, fruit of which we have not been able to obtain, is the Dansville strain grown in the nurseries of Dansville, New York. Still another of these plums is the Weedsport German Prune[213] so like the Rochester type as to be hardly worth distinguishing. The Latz German Prune is a very distinct strain; it is larger, thicker and broader than the type here described and is more of a clingstone. In some respects this is the best of the German Prunes. All accounts agree that this plum was introduced into America from Prussia by a Mr. Latz about 1850.

All of these German Prunes are characterized by large, hardy, vigorous, healthy, productive trees, characters so marked that one can say at once that it is the tree that gives the German Prune its great value. The fruit is excellent for all culinary purposes, especially for canning, and cures into a small but very good, tart, meaty, freestone, elastic prune. The chief objection to the plum for these purposes is that the fruits run small. The plums are too tart to have much value as dessert fruits. This variety is likely to remain a standard for some time in New York but will eventually be superseded by a larger fruit.

The origin of this plum is uncertain. German writers very generally hold that it came from Asia whence it was carried during the Crusades to Europe. Lauche, a German authority, says, “In the Sixteenth Century, the first dried prunes were introduced into Italy, Switzerland and Germany from Hungary. The tree on the contrary is said not to have been introduced by us until the end of the Seventeenth Century.” A Prune Plum was noted in America by Coxe in 1817, but it is impossible to say whether he meant the German Prune. Prince, however, in 1832, described the variety under its present name. In 1856, the American Pomological Society placed the German Prune on the list of the varieties promising well and six years later added it to its fruit catalog. The German Prune is used only in the fresh state in New York, but on the Pacific Coast, in some one of its several types, it is one of the half-dozen leading sorts for curing.

Tree medium to large, vigorous, round and dense-topped, hardy, usually very productive; branches ash-gray, somewhat rough, with lenticels variable in size; branchlets slender, short, with internodes of medium length, green changing to brownish-red, dull, glabrous, with numerous, small, obscure lenticels; leaf-buds intermediate in size and length, conical, free.

Leaves falling early, oval or obovate, one and one-half inches wide, three inches long, thinnish, velvety; upper surface pubescent, slightly rugose, with a shallow groove on the midrib; lower surface yellowish-green, heavily pubescent; apex abruptly pointed or acute, base acute, margin finely serrate, with small glands; petiole one-half inch long, pubescent, tinged with red, glandless or with one or two small, globose glands usually at the base of the leaf.

Blooming season intermediate in time and length; flowers appearing after the leaves, nearly one inch across, inconspicuous on account of their greenish-yellow color, which characterizes the variety; borne on lateral spurs, singly or in pairs; pedicels five-eighths inch long; below medium in thickness, pubescent, greenish; calyx-tube green, campanulate, lightly pubescent at the base; calyx-lobes long, narrow, acute, thinly pubescent on both surfaces, glandular-serrate, erect; petals narrow, long-oval or obovate, erose, tapering to broad claws of medium length; anthers yellowish; filaments seven-sixteenths inch long; pistil very pubescent at the base, equal to the stamens in length.

Fruit late, ripening period very long; one and five-eighths inches by one inch in size, oval, slightly swollen on the ventral side, halves unequal; cavity very shallow, narrow, flaring; suture a faint line; apex pointed; color purplish-black, overspread with thick bloom; dots numerous, small, brown, inconspicuous, clustered about the base; stem below medium in thickness, five-eighths inch long, adhering well to the fruit; skin tough, separating readily; flesh yellowish-green, medium juicy, firm, sweetish, mild, pleasant flavor; good to very good; stone free, seven-eighths inch by one-half inch in size, the cavity larger than the pit, flattened, obliquely long-oval, pointed at the apex and base, with rough and pitted surfaces; ventral suture narrow, conspicuously winged; dorsal suture narrowly and shallowly grooved.

GIANT

[Illustration: GIANT]

_Prunus domestica_

=1.= _Gard. & For._ =7=:420. 1894. =2.= Burbank _Cat._ 5, fig. 1895. =3.= _Cal. State Board Hort._ 47. 1897-98. =4.= _Cornell Sta. Bul._ =131=:185. 1897. =5.= _Mich. Sta. Bul._ =169=:245. 1899. =6.= _Am. Pom. Soc. Cat._ 39. 1899. =7.= _Am. Gard._ =21=:36. 1900. =8.= _Mich. Sta. Bul._ =187=:77, 78. 1901.

Giant Prune 4, 7, 8. _Giant Prune_ 5, 6.

Giant is distinguished for its large size and attractive color. The accompanying color-plate shows the color and shape very well, but the fruit is a little too small. Unfortunately Giant is somewhat inferior in quality, a disappointment to all, as with Agen for a parent high quality was to be expected. In quality, as in all fruit-characters, the variety resembles the male parent, Pond. The flesh is coarse, fibrous, lacking in juice, clings more or less to the stone and rots quickly under unfavorable conditions. The trees, too, lack somewhat in both vigor and productiveness. Introduced as a prune, it was supposed that this variety would prove a great boon to prune-makers, but it does not cure well and is now hardly used for drying. Giant is proving to be one of the very best shipping plums, as would be expected because of its firm, dry flesh. It is unfortunate that so attractive a plum cannot be unqualifiedly recommended, but it is doubtful if it is worth planting on a commercial scale in New York.

Giant was grown by Luther Burbank, Santa Rosa, California, from a seed of Agen fertilized by Pond, the Hungarian Prune of the Pacific Coast. The stock of this variety was offered for sale to nurserymen in 1893 and 1894, but not to fruit-growers until 1895, and then by the originator. The American Pomological Society placed it on their fruit catalog list in 1899 as a promising variety for this region and southern California.

Tree medium in size and vigor, round and dense-topped, hardy, usually productive; branches short, stocky, dark ash-gray, with large lenticels; branchlets short, with internodes of medium length, greenish-red changing to dark brownish-red, dull, thinly pubescent, heavily marked with scarf-skin and with few, small, inconspicuous lenticels; leaf-buds small to medium, short, conical, appressed.

Leaves folded backward, obovate or oval, two and one-quarter inches wide, three and three-quarters inches long; upper surface pubescent only along the midrib; lower surface pale green, lightly pubescent on the midrib and larger veins; apex abruptly pointed or acute, margin serrate or crenate, usually with small, dark glands; petiole three-quarters inch long, tinged red along one side, sparingly pubescent, glandless or with from one to four greenish-brown glands usually on the stalk.

Blooming season intermediate in time and length; flowers appearing after the leaves, one and three-sixteenths inches across, creamy in the buds, changing to white on opening, borne in scattering clusters on short, lateral buds and spurs, singly or in pairs; pedicels three-eighths inch long, thick, glabrous, greenish; calyx-tube green, campanulate, glabrous or lightly pubescent; calyx-lobes broad, obtuse, pubescent on both surfaces, glandular-serrate, reflexed; petals oval, somewhat erose, with short, broad claws; anthers yellowish; filaments five-sixteenths inch long; pistil glabrous, longer than the stamens.

Fruit mid-season, period of ripening short; two inches by one and one-half inches in size, obovate, slightly necked, compressed, halves unequal; cavity shallow, narrow, abrupt; suture shallow; apex roundish or depressed; color light to dark purplish-red, overspread with bloom of medium thickness; dots numerous, smallish, russet, inconspicuous; stem seven-eighths inch long, thinly pubescent, adhering well to the fruit; skin of medium thickness and toughness, adhering but slightly to the pulp; flesh light golden-yellow, variable in juiciness, coarse, somewhat fibrous, firm, rather sweet, mild fair in quality; stone semi-clinging or clinging, one and one-eighth inches by five-eighths inch in size, long-oval, flattened, with rough and pitted surfaces; ventral suture strongly furrowed; dorsal suture with a shallow groove.

GLASS

_Prunus domestica_

=1.= Downing _Fr. Trees Am._ 3rd App. 181. 1881. =2.= _Am. Pom. Soc. Cat._ 39. 1899. =3.= _Mich. Sta. Bul._ =169=:245. 1899. =4.= Waugh _Plum Cult._ 104. 1901. =5.= _Can. Exp. Farm Bul._ =43=:34. 1903. =6.= _Am. Pom. Soc. Rpt._ 57. 1907.

Glass Seedling 2. _Glass Seedling_ 4, 5, 6.

Although found in some collections in the United States, Glass has never attained commercial importance in this country, probably because its place is taken by the Quackenboss, which it very closely resembles. The fruit is large and attractive in color and shape, but it is not high in quality and it must be rated among Domestica plums as only a mediocre fruit. The tree is said generally to give better satisfaction than the fruit. This variety originated with Alexander Glass, Guelph, Ontario, and has been cultivated extensively by Canadian growers to whom its productivity and hardiness recommend it.

Tree large, vigorous, upright-spreading, open, productive, hardy; branches rough, stocky; branchlets rather slender, pubescent; leaves folded backward, obovate or oval, one and three-quarters inches wide, three and one-half inches long; margin finely serrate; petiole reddish, pubescent, with from one to three smallish, globose glands usually at the base of the leaf.

Fruit mid-season; one and one-half inches by one and three-eighths inches in size, oblong-oval, purplish-black, overspread with thick bloom; stem adhering firmly to the fruit; skin thin, tender, rather sour; flesh light yellow, juicy, firm, sweet, mild; of fair quality; stone clinging, one inch by five-eighths inch in size, irregular-oval, with oblique apex, the surfaces rough and pitted; ventral suture prominent, winged.

GOLDEN

[Illustration: GOLDEN]

_Prunus munsoniana × Prunus triflora_

=1.= _U. S. D. A. Rpt._ 263. 1892. =2.= Burbank _Cat._ 17. 1893. =3.= _Am. Pom. Soc. Rpt._ 74. 1895. =4.= _Am. Gard._ =18=:715. 1897. =5.= _Cal. State Board Hort._ 53. 1897-98. =6.= _Vt. Sta. Bul._ =67=:12. 1898. =7.= _Ohio Sta. Bul._ =113=:161. 1899. =8.= _Am. Gard._ =21=:36. 1900. =9.= _Vt. Sta. An. Rpt._ =14=:274. 1901. =10.= _Mich. Sta. Sp. Bul._ =30=:18 1905. =11.= _Mass. Sta. An. Rpt._ =17=:161. 1905. =12.= _Ga. Sta. Bul._ =68=:8, 36. 1905. =13.= _U. S. D. A. Yearbook_ 500. 1905.

Gold 3, 4, 7, 8, 10, 11. _Gold_ 6, 9, 13. _Late Klondike_ 5.

It would be hard to name another plum as showy as Golden. Large for its group, beautifully turned, it presents a most striking appearance long before it is ripe, with its bright yellow skin and crimson cheek, the whole plum turning to a brilliant currant-red with a delicate bloom at maturity. But the plum is little more than showy. The flavor is not good, the flesh is fibrous, excessively juicy and adheres to the stone, the skin is tough and astringent. In spite of the juiciness the plum ships well, owing to the tough skin, but the fruits are much attacked by brown-rot and the skin cracks badly under unfavorable conditions. The trees are rather small, uncertain in bearing, often enormously productive but do not hold the crop well, and the plums ripen unevenly. Strange to say, considering the parentage, the variety is hardy, according to Waugh standing the winters at Burlington, Vermont, almost perfectly. In tree and fruit the variety is more like its American parent than the Asiatic one. Golden can never be a money-maker in New York, but it is worth having in a home orchard for its handsome appearance.

The original tree of this variety was grown in 1887 or 1888 by Luther Burbank, Santa Rosa, California, from a seed of Robinson fertilized by pollen of Abundance. In 1892, the variety was erroneously described in the United States Department of Agriculture Report as a seedling of Kelsey fertilized by Burbank. The same year it was named Golden by Burbank and in 1893 it was offered for sale in his catalog, _New Creations in Fruits and Flowers_. Soon after, the original tree and the right of introduction were purchased by Stark Brothers Nurseries and Orchards Company, Louisiana, Missouri, and in 1894 the variety was catalogued and disseminated under the name Gold. This name was registered as a trade-mark in the United States Patent Office in 1905, but as the prior application and publication of Golden entitles it to precedence according to the nomenclature of the American Pomological Society, the name Gold has generally been dropped by pomologists. The confusion as to the origin and nomenclature of this variety has been increased by its parentage being published[214] as a cross of Robinson and Kelsey and by the California shippers labeling it Late Klondike.

Tree variable in size and vigor, usually small, somewhat vasiform, medium dense, hardy in all but the coldest localities, an uncertain bearer unless grown under favorable conditions, when it becomes very productive, susceptible to attacks of shot-hole fungus; trunk shaggy, sometimes gnarly; branches strong, unusually rough, grayish-brown, with longitudinal cracks in the bark, with very numerous, small, raised lenticels; branchlets willowy, numerous, long, with short internodes, green changing to dull reddish-brown, marked with gray scarf-skin, glossy, glabrous, with numerous, conspicuous, large, raised lenticels; leaf-buds small, short, conical, free.

Leaves usually flattened, broadly lanceolate, peach-like, one inch wide by three and one-half inches long, thin, somewhat rigid; upper surface light green, smooth, glabrous, with deeply grooved midrib; lower surface pale green, thinly pubescent; apex taper-pointed, base acute, margin serrate or crenate, with numerous, small, dark red glands; petiole slender, three-eighths inch in length, tinged red, sparingly pubescent along one side, glandless or with from one to seven small, globose, yellowish-green glands usually on the stalk.

Blooming season long; flowers appearing after the leaves, three-quarters inch across, white; borne in clusters on short lateral spurs and buds, in pairs or in threes; pedicels seven-sixteenths inch long, slender, glabrous, green; calyx-tube greenish, campanulate, glabrous; calyx-lobes narrow, acute, sparingly glandular-serrate and pubescent, with scattering marginal hairs, erect; petals oval, entire, clawed; anthers yellowish; filaments one-quarter inch long; pistil glabrous, longer than the stamens.

Fruit mid-season, ripening period very long; medium to sometimes large, roundish-oblate, halves equal; cavity deep, flaring, regular; suture a line; apex roundish or pointed; color golden-yellow blushed or overspread with bright red, with thin bloom; dots numerous, very small, whitish, inconspicuous, thickly sprinkled around the apex; stem five-eighths inch long, glabrous, adhering fairly well to the fruit; skin rather tough, astringent, inclined to crack under unfavorable conditions, separating readily; flesh golden-yellow, unusually juicy and fibrous, tender and melting, sprightly, sweet next the skin but tart near the center; fair in quality; stone adhering, three-quarters inch by one-half inch in size, oval, turgid, flattened at the base, abruptly sharp-pointed at the apex, with pitted surfaces; ventral suture slightly winged; dorsal suture broadly grooved.

GOLDEN BEAUTY

[Illustration: GOLDEN BEAUTY]

_Prunus hortulana_

=1.= _Am. Pom. Soc. Rpt._ 162. 1881. =2.= _Rural N. Y._ =43=:53. 1884. =3.= _Popular Gard._ =4=:38. 1888. =4.= _Am. Gard._ =10=:175. 1889. =5.= _Cornell Sta. Bul._ =38=:48, 49, 86. 1892. =6.= Kerr _Cat._ 3. 1894. =7.= _Mich. Sta. Bul._ =118=:53. 1895. =8.= _W. N. Y. Hort. Soc. Rpt._ =41=:55. 1896. =9.= _Am. Pom. Soc. Cat._ 26. 1897. =10.= _Wis. Sta. Bul._ =63=:39, 42, 48. 1897. =11.= _Vt. Sta. An. Rpt._ =11=:284. 1898. =12.= _Colo. Sta. Bul._ =50=:42. 1898. =13.= _Ohio Sta. Bul._ =113=:155. 1899. =14.= _Ibid._ =162=:247, 254, 255. 1905.

Honey Drop 8, 10, 14. _Honey Drop_ 5, 11. Missouri Apricot 5, 6, 8, 10, 11, 12, 13.

From the fruit-grower’s standpoint, Golden Beauty is of little interest. The plums are so small and the quality so poor that the variety is not worth planting either for the home or for money-making. It is true that the firm, juicy fruits are very good for table use, in jellies in particular, and that they may be shipped long distances, but these characters cannot offset the handicap of small size and poor quality. The variety is of interest to botanists because it seems to be a wanderer out of the range of the species to which it belongs. As the history which follows seems to show, Golden Beauty was found in a part of Texas where _Prunus hortulana_ does not grow (see the discussion of this species) and quite as remarkable if it really comes from so warm a part of Texas is the fact that it should be perfectly hardy here and even farther north. There is a mystery yet to be cleared up about this plum. The variety is very ornamental in flower, foliage and fruit.

According to current account, Golden Beauty was found wild by a German on the Colorado River in western Texas during the Civil War. After the war, the German planted his new plum in a yard in Victoria County, Texas, where it attracted the attention of Gilbert Onderdonk, Mission Valley, southern Texas. Onderdonk, noting its merits, propagated and introduced it in 1874. In 1886, Stark Brothers, of Missouri, introduced the Missouri Apricot, the Honey Drop of some, which they claimed was found wild in Missouri. Several pomologists have noted the close similarity of this variety to Golden Beauty and as tested at this Station they are identical in all respects and are therefore placed under the older name. In 1897 the American Pomological Society placed this plum on its fruit catalog list.

Tree above medium in size, vigorous, somewhat irregular in habit, usually spreading, low, dense and flat-topped, hardy, variable in productiveness, somewhat subject to attacks of shot-hole fungus; trunk rough, shaggy; branches roughish, thorny, zigzag, dark ash-gray, with numerous lenticels of medium size; branchlets long, slender, twiggy, with short internodes, green changing to greenish-brown, shining, glabrous, with numerous, conspicuous, large, raised lenticels; leaf-buds small, very short, obtuse, plump, appressed.

Leaves folded upward, narrowly oval, one and seven-eighths inches wide, four inches long, thin; upper surface smooth, glabrous, with a grooved midrib; lower surface light green, sparingly pubescent along the midrib and larger veins; apex acuminate, base abrupt, margin irregularly and doubly crenate, with small, dark brown glands; petiole seven-eighths inch long, slender, green, thinly pubescent along one side, glandless or with from one to eight very small, globose, blackish glands scattered mostly below the base of the leaf.

Blooming season late and of medium length; flowers appearing after the leaves, seven-eighths inch across, white; borne in clusters on lateral buds and spurs, with from four to six flowers in each umbel; pedicels nine-sixteenths inch in length, slender, glabrous, greenish; calyx-tube green, obconic, glabrous; calyx-lobes acute, erect, thinly pubescent within, glandular-serrate, the glands reddish; petals ovate or roundish-oval, erose, tapering below into long, narrow, pubescent claws; anthers light yellow; filaments five-sixteenths inch in length; pistil glabrous, shorter than the stamens.

Fruit very late, season of medium length; one inch in diameter, roundish to roundish-oval, somewhat compressed, halves equal; cavity shallow, narrow, slightly flaring; suture very shallow or a line; apex roundish or pointed; color orange-yellow, mottled, overspread with thin bloom; dots characteristic, numerous, large and small, yellowish, decidedly conspicuous producing a somewhat mottled appearance, clustered about the apex; stem very slender, five-eighths inch in length, glabrous, adhering poorly to the fruit; skin thick, tough, adhering to the pulp; flesh golden-yellow, juicy, coarse, fibrous, tender, mildly sweet, with a faint apricot flavor, somewhat acid when cooked; fair in quality; stone adhering, five-eighths inch by one-half inch in size, turgid, oval, abruptly pointed at the base and apex, smooth and with a coating of yellowish-brown, cottony substance; ventral suture broad, lightly furrowed; dorsal suture acute or with a shallow furrow.

GOLDEN CHERRY

_Prunus cerasifera_

=1.= Hoffy _Orch. Com._ =2=:1842. =2.= Downing _Fr. Trees Am._ 295. 1845. =3.= _N. Y. Sta. Rpt._ =15=:293. 1896. =4.= Bailey _Ev. Nat. Fruits_ 212. 1898. =5.= _Can. Exp. Farms Rpt._ 401. 1898.

Golden Cherry Plum 2. Market Plum 1. Youngken Golden 3. _Youngken’s Golden Cherry_ 4. Yunkin Golden 5.

This plum is one of the few cultivated representatives of _Prunus cerasifera_. It offers some attractions because of real merit and because it adds variety to the list of plums for fruit-growers. Some of its qualities are strongly marked and the variety might prove of value in plant-breeding. Golden Cherry originated with Samuel Reeves, Salem, New Jersey, as a seedling of Myrobalan, in the early part of the last century.

Tree large, vigorous, spreading, dense-topped, unproductive; branches slender, sparingly thorny; branchlets twiggy; leaves oval, one inch wide, one and seven-eighths inches long; margin finely serrate, with few small glands; petiole reddish, eglandular; blooming season early, of medium length; flowers appearing before the leaves, well distributed on lateral buds and spurs.

Fruit very early; one and one-quarter inches in diameter, greenish-yellow changing to pale yellow with a tinge of red, overspread with thin bloom; flesh pale yellow, very juicy, melting, sweet next to the skin but rather tart at the pit, aromatic; good; stone clinging, five-eighths inch by one-half inch in size, oval, with a nearly smooth surface.

GOLDEN DROP

[Illustration: GOLDEN DROP]

_Prunus domestica_

=1.= _Pom. Mag._ =2=:57, Pl. 1829. =2.= _Lond. Hort. Soc. Cat._ 144. 1831. =3.= Kenrick _Am. Orch._ 256. 1832. =4.= Downing _Fr. Trees Am._ 273. 1845. =5.= Floy-Lindley _Guide Orch. Gard._ 295, 383. 1846. =6.= Thomas _Am. Fruit Cult._ 332, fig. 258. 1849. =7.= _Mag. Hort._ =15=:486, 487 fig. 42. 1849. =8.= Hovey _Fr. Am._ =1=:81. 1851. =9.= _Am. Pom. Soc. Cat._ 54. 1852. =10.= Elliott _Fr. Book_ 410. 1854. =11.= _Ann. Pom. Belge_ 43, Pl. 1855. =12.= Thompson _Gard. Ass’t_ 515. 1859. =13.= Mas _Le Verger_ =6=:29, fig. 15. 1866-73. =14.= Hogg _Fruit Man._ 691, 729. 1884. =15.= Mathieu _Nom. Pom._ 425. 1889. =16.= _Guide Prat._ 155, 357. 1895. =17.= _Oregon Sta. Bul._ =45=:26 fig. 1897. =18.= _Colo. Sta. Bul._ =50=:34. 1898. =19.= _Am. Pom. Soc. Rpt._ 211. 1899. =20.= _Ohio Sta. Bul._ =113=:158, Pl. XV. 1899. =21.= _Mich. Sta. Bul._ =169=:242, 244. 1899. =22.= Waugh _Plum Cult._ 104 fig. 1901. =23.= _Va. Sta. Bul._ =134=:42. 1902. =24.= _Ohio Sta. Bul._ =162=:242, 254, 255. 1905.

_Bury Seedling_ 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 7, 8, 10, 11, 12, 14, 15, 16. Coe 16, 21. _Coe’s_ 1, 2, 7, 8, 14, 15, 16. _Coe Golden Drop_ 16, 23. Coe Golden Drop 21. Coe’s Golden Drop Plum 1, 5, 11. _Coe’s Golden Drop_ 5, 8, 13, 15, 16, 17, 22, 24. Coe’s Golden Drop 2, 3, 4, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 12, 14, 18, 20. _Coe’s Golden Drop Plum_ 13. _Coe’s Plum_ 12, 13, 16. _Coe_ (_Pride_) 15. _Coe’s Imperial_ 1, 2, 4, 5, 7, 8, 10, 11, 12, 14, 15, 16. _Coe’s Rothgefleckte Pflaume_ 13, 16. Coe’s Rotgefleckte Pflaume 15. Coe’s Plum 5. _Cooper’s Large_ 15, 16 incor. _Coe’s Seedling_ 3. _De Coe_ 16. _Fair’s Golden_ 15, 16. _Fair’s Golden Drop_ 2, 4, 5, 7, 8, 10, 11, 14, 15, 16. _Golden Drop_ 1, 2, 7, 8, 12, 14, 15, 16. _Golden Drop Plum_ 16. _Golden Gage_ 2, 4, 7, 8, 10, 11, 12, 14, 15, 16. _Goutte d’Or_ 13. Goutte d’Or 13, 16. _Goutte d’Or de Coe_ 15, 16. _King of Plums_ 8. _New Golden Drop_ 1, 2, 4, 5, 7, 8, 10, 11, 12, 15 16. _Nouvelle Goutte d’Or_ 15, 16. _Parmentier?_ 15, 16. _Prune Goutte d’Or De Coé_ 11. _Semis de Bury_ 15, 16. Silver Prune 17, 19. _Silver Prune_ 22. The Coe’s Plum 1. Waterloo of some 7, 8,? 14, 15.

Unfortunately this fine old plum, the largest, handsomest and best of the yellow plums, is fit only for the amateur in New York and in the hands even of the most careful of amateurs it does not reach the perfection in either appearance or quality that is expected of it in Europe or on the Pacific Coast of America. In spite of special efforts to obtain specimens for illustration which would do this variety justice, the color-plate of Golden Drop is far from satisfactory as regards either size or color of the fruit. In this region trees of Golden Drop lack constitution and while hardy in tree, the fruit-buds are often caught by the cold. From lack of vigor and from injury by freezing, the variety is not productive. The trees, too, are slow in growth and the fruit needs a long season to reach perfect maturity, often failing to ripen in parts of New York where other plums mature well. Again, the trees are subject to nearly all the ills to which plums are heir and have a somewhat precarious existence because of insects and diseases though the fruit is not as subject to brown-rot as is that of the Yellow Egg with which this variety is usually compared. Golden Drop is seemingly fit for all purposes to which plums are put—for dessert, cooking, canning, preserving and prune-making. For the last named purpose it is unsurpassed for a light colored prune of large size, readily selling at a fancy price in delicatessen stores. The fruit when carefully picked and handled keeps for a month or more, shrivelling somewhat but retaining its flavor and pleasing flesh-characters. A task for the plant-breeder is to breed a plum, of which one of the parents should be Golden Drop, which will give to this region a plum as good as the Golden Drop in regions where it is at its best. With all of its defects in the North and East, it is yet worth growing for the home and often for the late market.

Jervaise Coe, a market gardener, at Bury St. Edmunds, Suffolk, England, raised Golden Drop from a seed about 1809. Lindley (References, 5) says, “He [the originator] informed me it was from the stone of Green Gage, the blossom of which, he supposed, had been fertilized by the White Magnum Bonum, the two trees of which grew nearly in contact with each other in his garden.” From a study of the fruit-characters this supposition is very probable. C. M. Hovey in discussing the synonyms of this variety writes, “The French have disseminated it considerably under the name of Waterloo; trees received under that name have fruited in our collection this year, and proved to be the Golden Drop.” Robert Hogg, in his _Fruit Manual_, published in 1884, described Waterloo as a separate variety, found at Waterloo, Belgium, and introduced by Dr. Van Mons; the descriptions of the two are practically identical. The Silver Prune, well known on the Pacific Coast, at one time supposed to be a new variety, turned out upon investigation to be Golden Drop, though the growers there continue to call it by the new name they have given it. The variety under discussion came to America in 1823, when Knight, of England, sent a tree of it to John Lowell of Massachusetts. In 1852, the American Pomological Society valued it sufficiently to place it on the list of the fruits worthy of general cultivation.

Tree medium to large, vigorous, spreading or roundish, open-topped, hardy, productive; branches ash-gray, roughish, with few, large lenticels; branchlets short, stout, with internodes variable in length, greenish-red changing to dull brownish-red becoming drab on the older wood, glabrous early in the season but becoming pubescent at maturity, with numerous, small lenticels; leaf-buds large, long, pointed, free.

Leaves folded upward, oval or obovate, one and three-eighths inches wide, two and three-quarters inches long, thickish; upper surface dark green, slightly rugose, pubescent, with the midrib but faintly grooved; lower surface silvery-green, pubescent; apex abruptly pointed or acute, base acute, margin serrate, eglandular or with small, dark glands; petiole one-half inch long, pubescent, tinged red, with from two to three globose, greenish-yellow glands usually at the base of the leaf.

Season of bloom medium, short; flowers appearing after the leaves, one inch across, white, borne in clusters on lateral spurs, singly or in pairs; pedicels five-eighths inch long, lightly pubescent, greenish; calyx-tube green, narrowly campanulate, pubescent; calyx-lobes obtuse, sparingly pubescent on both surfaces, glandular-serrate, reflexed; petals oval, dentate, tapering to short, broad claws; anthers yellowish; filaments five-sixteenths inch long; pistil glabrous, equal to the stamens in length.

Fruit very late, season of average length; two inches by one and one-half inches in size, oval, tapering at the base to a short neck, slightly compressed, halves equal; cavity very shallow and narrow, abrupt; suture shallow and wide; apex depressed; color golden-yellow, occasionally with a faint bronze blush, showing greenish streaks and splashes before full maturity, overspread with thin bloom; dots numerous, small, russet, conspicuous; stem three-quarters inch long, thinly pubescent, adhering well to the fruit; skin tough, rather adherent; flesh light golden-yellow, juicy, intermediate in firmness and tenderness, rather sweet, mild, pleasant flavor; good to very good; stone free, one and three-eighths inches by three-quarters inch in size, oval or ovate, slightly flattened, irregularly ridged and roughened, acute at the base and apex; ventral suture wide, often conspicuously winged; dorsal suture widely and deeply grooved.

GOLIATH

_Prunus domestica_

=1.= Prince _Treat. Hort._ 26. 1828. =2.= _Lond. Hort. Soc. Cat._ 147, 153. 1831. =3.= Kenrick _Am. Orch._ 260. 1832. =4.= _Mag. Hort._ =9=:164. 1843. =5.= Downing _Fr. Trees Am._ 300. 1845. =6.= Floy-Lindley _Guide Orch. Gard._ 287, 383. 1846. =7.= Thomas _Am. Fruit Cult._ 343. 1849. =8.= McIntosh _Bk. Gard._ =2=:531. 1855. =9.= Hooper _W. Fr. Book_ 245. 1857. =10.= _Cultivator_ =8=:25 fig. 1860. =11.= _Am. Pom. Soc. Cat._ 86. 1862. =12.= Hogg _Fruit Man._ 363. 1866. =13.= Mas _Pom. Gen._ =2=:15, fig. 8. 1873. =14.= Mathieu _Nom. Pom._ 432. 1889. =15.= Waugh _Plum Cult._ 105 fig. 1901.

_Caledonian_ 1, 2, of some 5 & 8, 11, 12, 13, 14. Emperor 9. Goliath 1, 3. _Goliath_ 9, 13. _Nectarine_ 1, of some 2 & 8, 11 & 14 incor. _Pfirschenpflaume_ 14. Prune-Pêche? 14. _Saint Cloud_ 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 8, 12, 13, 14. Steer’s Emperor 2. _Steers’ Emperor_ 4, 5, 8, 12, 13, 14. _Wahre Caledonian_ 13, 14. _Wilmot’s Late Orleans_ 2, 5, 8, 12, 13, 14.

This old English plum has never been popular in America and is now scarcely known on this continent. It is a large, handsome, purple plum, as the illustration well shows, but seldom fit for dessert. “Seldom fit” because it is quite variable in quality in some seasons and under some conditions. It is an excellent culinary plum and its firm, thick, meaty flesh fits it well for shipping. On the grounds of this Station the trees behave very well in all respects and usually bear very full crops of plums that would tempt purchasers in any market. It has all of the characters usually ascribed to a money-maker variety of any fruit and why not more grown in commercial orchards cannot be said.

Nothing is known of the origin of this plum except that it is English. William Prince, in 1828, wrote: “This plum is of very large size, and has attracted much notice in England; but it is only recently introduced to this country, where it has not yet produced fruit that I am aware of.” The Nectarine plum was confused with the Goliath in the early part of the Nineteenth Century, but Robert Thompson,[215] the English horticulturist, separated them so satisfactorily that they have ever since remained distinct in plum literature. He found that this variety had pubescent shoots and fruit-stalks, while the same parts of the Nectarine were glabrous, and that the season of Goliath is considerably later. The American Pomological Society placed Goliath on its fruit list in 1862, but dropped it in 1871.

Tree large, vigorous, round-topped, dense, hardy, very productive; branches stocky, with fruit-spurs numerous, ash-gray, smooth except for the large, raised lenticels; branchlets somewhat thick, short, with internodes of medium length, green changing to dull brownish-drab, heavily pubescent throughout the season, with few, inconspicuous, small lenticels; leaf-buds of average size and length, conical, free.

Leaves somewhat flattened, obovate, two inches wide, three and five-eighths inches long; upper surface dark green, nearly glabrous, with a grooved midrib; lower surface heavily pubescent; apex obtuse or acute, base acute, margin finely serrate, eglandular or with few, small dark glands; petiole one-half inch long, thick, heavily pubescent, with a faint red tinge, glandless or with from one to three large, globose, greenish-yellow glands usually at the base of the leaf.

Blooming season early to medium, short; flowers appearing after the leaves, one inch across, white; borne on lateral spurs, singly or in pairs; pedicels nine-sixteenths inch long, pubescent, greenish; calyx-tube green, campanulate, lightly pubescent; calyx-lobes, broad, obtuse, somewhat pubescent, glandular-serrate, erect; petals unusually large, roundish, finely crenate, not clawed; anthers yellowish; filaments five-sixteenths inch long; pistil glabrous, longer than the stamens, with a large style and stigma.

Fruit mid-season, ripening period short; one and five-eighths inches by one and one-half inches in size, roundish-oblong, somewhat oblique, truncate, compressed, halves unequal; cavity narrow, abrupt, usually russeted; suture a line; apex flattened or depressed; color dark purplish-red, lighter colored on the shaded side, overspread with thick bloom; dots characteristic, numerous, large, russet, conspicuous, clustered about the apex; stem thick, three-quarters inch long, thickly pubescent, adhering well to the fruit; skin thin, sour, separating readily; flesh golden-yellow, rather dry, firm, sweet, of mild, pleasant flavor; fair to good; stone free, seven-eighths inch by three-quarters inch in size, roundish-oval, somewhat flattened, blunt at the base and apex, roughened and irregularly furrowed; ventral suture wide, winged, heavily furrowed; dorsal suture with a wide groove variable in depth.

GONZALES

[Illustration: GOLIATH]

_Prunus triflora_ ×

=1.= Kerr _Cat._ 1899-1900. =2.= _Vt. Sta. Bul._ =67=:13. 1898. =3.= _Ohio Sta. Bul._ =162=:252. 1905. =4.= _Penin. Hort. Soc. Rpt._ 36. 1905. =5.= Stark Bros. _Cat._ 1906.

_Gonzales_ 5. _Red Gold_ 4. Red Gold 5.

Judging from the several published descriptions, Gonzales is a very promising plum, for the South at least. The writers have not seen the variety in the North, but there appear to be no reasons why it should not succeed in some northern soils and climates. It is a chance seedling found in Gonzales, Texas, about 1894, and was introduced by F. T. Ramsey, Austin, Texas, in 1897. About all that can be determined regarding its parentage is that it is the product of some Japanese variety pollinated by a native. In 1901, Waugh used this variety to typify a new species, _Prunus hortulana robusta_, composed of a number of hybrids between _Prunus triflora_ and native species. The following description is compiled:

Tree vigorous, upright-spreading, open; leaves narrow, oval, tapering at both ends; upper surface glabrous; margin minutely glandular, finely crenulate; petiole short and slender, with two glands.

Fruit mid-season; resembles Burbank in size and shape; skin toughish; color bright red, sometimes striped and splashed with dark red; flesh yellow, tinged red, firm, sweet; good; stone of medium size, oval, clinging.

GRAND DUKE

[Illustration: GRAND DUKE]

_Prunus domestica_

=1.= Hogg _Fruit Man._ 703. 1884. =2.= Mathieu _Nom. Pom._ 432, 434. 1889. =3.= _W. N. Y. Hort. Soc. Rpt._ =39=:100. 1894. =4.= _Can. Hort._ =18=:117, Pl. 1895. =5.= _Cornell Sta. Bul._ =131=:186, fig. 40 IV. 1896. =6.= _W. N. Y. Hort. Soc. Rpt._ =42=:83. 1897. =7.= _Am. Pom. Soc. Cat._ 25. 1897. =8.= _Mich. Sta. Bul._ =169=:245. 1899. =9.= _Ohio Sta. Bul._ =113=:159, Pl. XVI. 1899. =10.= _Can. Exp. Farm Bul._ 2nd Ser. =3=:52. 1900. =11.= _Waugh Plum Cult._ 106 fig. 1901. _12._ _Ohio Sta. Bul._ =162=:243 fig., 244, 254, 255. 1905.

Grossherzog’s Pflaume 2. _Grand-Duc_ 2. _Grand Duke_ 2.

Grand Duke, now probably the favorite late shipping plum in this region, is, as stated in the history given below, a comparatively new plum in America. Its great popularity, gained in less than a quarter of a century, is due to much advertising by nurserymen coupled with such intrinsic qualities as large size, the true prune shape which seems most pleasing in some markets, handsome plum-purple and more than all else a firm, meaty flesh which fits the variety excellently for shipping. The flavor, as seems most often to be the case with these large blue plums, is not pleasant and the plum is not more than a second rate dessert fruit though it is very good in whatever way cooked for the table. The trees grow poorly in the nursery and even in the orchard are seldom large and vigorous enough to be called first class, though usually hardy. Some years ago plum-growers were advised to top-work this and other weak-growing plums on stronger stocks, but those who have tried such top-working usually condemn it because it is expensive and ineffective and because it so often gives a malformed tree. The trees come in bearing slowly but bear regularly and abundantly and hold the crop well, the plums being unusually free from rot and hanging in good condition a long time. Grand Duke deserves its popularity as a market plum and probably no better variety can be selected in New York for the last of the season.

Grand Duke is another of the many valuable plums produced by Thomas Rivers, of Sawbridgeworth, England. It was grown from an Autumn Compote stone and was sent out in 1876. When it was first introduced into America is not known, but in 1888 cions of it were distributed by Ellwanger and Barry[216] of Rochester, New York. In 1897, the American Pomological Society added this variety to its fruit catalog list and recommended it for this State and neighboring regions with similar climatic conditions.

Tree above medium in size, moderately vigorous, upright to slightly spreading, usually hardy, productive; branches ash-gray, with small, numerous lenticels; branchlets slender, short, with internodes of medium length, greenish-red changing to brownish-red, many twigs retaining a tinge of green, shining, glabrous, with numerous, small lenticels; leaf-buds large, long, pointed, strongly appressed; leaf-scars large.

Leaves nearly flat, obovate, one and one-half inches wide, three inches long, thick; upper surface shining, slightly rugose, pubescent only along the grooved midrib; lower surface yellowish-green, lightly pubescent; apex taper-pointed, base acute, margin serrate, eglandular or with small, dark glands; petiole three-quarters inch long, nearly glabrous, slightly tinged red along one side, glandless or with from one to three globose yellowish glands on the stalk and base of the leaf.

Blooming season intermediate, short; flowers appearing after the leaves, one inch across, white; borne in clusters on short lateral spurs and buds, singly or in pairs; pedicels one-half inch long, slender, glabrous, greenish; calyx-tube green, campanulate, glabrous; calyx-lobes lightly pubescent, glandular-ciliate, slightly reflexed; petals obovate, entire, short-clawed; anthers yellowish; filaments one-quarter inch long; pistil pubescent at the base, longer than the stamens.

Fruit late, season medium; unusually large when well grown, two and one-eighth inches by two inches in size, elongated-oval or slightly obovate, halves unequal; cavity shallow, narrow, abrupt; suture wide, variable in depth; apex flattened, somewhat depressed or occasionally with a short, blunt tip; color dark reddish-purple or purplish-black, overspread with thick bloom; dots numerous, small, brownish, inconspicuous; stem three-quarters inch long, adhering well to the fruit; skin variable in toughness, somewhat astringent, separating readily; flesh golden-yellow, juicy, firm, sweet, mild, not high in flavor; good; stone clinging, sometimes tinged red, one and one-eighth inches by seven-eighths inch in size, irregularly oval, slightly flattened, roughish, acute at the base and apex; ventral suture broad, slightly winged; dorsal suture with a broad, shallow groove.

GUEII

[Illustration: GUEII]

_Prunus domestica_

=1.= Downing _Fr. Trees Am._ 3rd App. 181. 1881. =2.= _Can. Hort._ =14=:293, Pl. 1891. =3.= _Mich. Sta. Bul._ =103=:34, fig. 6. 1894. =4.= _Cornell Sta. Bul._ =131=:187. 1897. =5.= _Ont. Fr. Exp. Sta. Rpt._ 120. 1898. =6.= _Mich. Sta. Bul._ =169=:242, 245. 1899. =7.= _Ohio Sta. Bul._ =113=:159. 1899. =8.= _Am. Pom. Soc. Cat._ 39. 1899. =9.= Waugh _Plum Cult._ 107. 1901. =10.= _Va. Sta. Bul._ =134=:42, 43 fig. 14. 1902.

_Big Blue_ 1. _Blue Magnum Bonum_ 1, 9. _Bradshaw_ 1 incor. Geuii 3. _Gueii_ 1. Guii 1, 6. _Gweii_ 1.

Gueii is one of the standard plums of its season in New York, ranking among the first half-dozen in number of trees growing in the State, with many growers holding that it is the best general purpose plum of all Domesticas. The popularity of Gueii is due to its being a money-maker, as few would care to grow it for home consumption. The quality of Gueii is poor, especially for dessert, and it cannot even be called a particularly good-looking plum, though the illustration scarcely does the plum justice, especially in size. But the variety bears early and abundantly; the trees are large, vigorous, healthy and hardy and the plums are hardly surpassed for shipping, especially at the time at which the crop comes upon the market, about mid-season, the best shipping plums maturing a little later. The fruit is quite subject to brown-rot, a matter of more moment in other regions than in New York, and yet in some seasons very important in this State. The stone, curiously enough, sometimes clings rather tightly and under other conditions is wholly free. It could be wished that so popular a market plum were better in quality, but since high quality is seldom correlated in plums with fitness to ship well, it would be unfair to condemn Gueii for a market fruit because it cannot be eaten with relish out of hand.

This plum, according to all accounts, originated with a Mr. Hagaman, Lansingburgh, New York, about 1830. It was brought to notice by John Goeway (Gueii) and was soon called by his name. For years it was not much grown and it was not until 1899 that it was placed on the fruit catalog list of the American Pomological Society.

Tree large, vigorous, spreading, open-topped, hardy, very productive; branches ash-gray, roughened by longitudinal cracks and by numerous, conspicuous, raised lenticels of various sizes; branchlets thick, of medium length, with short internodes, green changing to dark brownish-drab, dull, thickly pubescent throughout the season, with numerous, inconspicuous, small lenticels; leaf-buds short, conical, free.

Leaves obovate or oval, one and seven-eighths inches wide, four inches long, thick; upper surface dark green, with scattering fine hairs and with a grooved midrib; lower surface silvery-green, thickly pubescent; apex abruptly pointed or acute, base variable but usually acute, margin doubly crenate, with small black glands; petiole five-eighths inch long, thick, pubescent, tinged red.

Blooming season short; flowers appearing after the leaves, one and one-eighth inches across, whitish; borne in clusters at the ends of spurs, singly or in pairs; pedicels thirteen-sixteenths inch long, pubescent, greenish; calyx-tube green, campanulate, pubescent towards the base; calyx-lobes broad, obtuse, pubescent on both surfaces, glandular-serrate, reflexed; petals roundish, entire, with very short, blunt claws; anthers yellow; filaments three-eighths inch long; pistil glabrous, equal to the stamens in length.

Fruit intermediate in time and length of ripening season; medium to above in size, somewhat ovate, halves equal; cavity below medium in depth and width, abrupt, rarely sutured; apex bluntly pointed; color dark purplish-black, overspread with thick bloom; dots numerous, small, russet, inconspicuous, clustered about the apex; stem medium in thickness and length, pubescent, adhering well to the fruit; skin thin, tender, slightly astringent, separating readily; flesh greenish-yellow changing to light golden-yellow, dry, firm but tender, sweet, mild, somewhat astringent towards the center; fair in quality; stone variable in adhesion but usually clinging, large, ovate or oval, blunt at the base and apex, strongly roughened and pitted; ventral suture faintly winged; dorsal suture acute or lightly grooved.

GUTHRIE LATE

_Prunus domestica_

=1.= McIntosh _Bk. Gard._ =2=:532. 1855. =2.= Downing _Fr. Trees Am._ 919. 1869. =3.= Hogg _Fruit Man._ 705. 1884. =4.= Mathieu _Nom. Pom._ 434. 1889. =5.= Rivers _Cat._ 1898. =6.= _Am. Gard. Mag._ =21=:173. 1900.

Guthrie’s Minette 1. _Guthrie’s Late Green_ 6. Guthrie Green 6. Guthrie’s Late Green 2, 3, 4. _Minette_ 2, 3, 4. _Verte Tardive de Guthrie_ 4.

Guthrie Late has never attained commercial importance in the United States, being found only in collections; but in England, according to Hogg, it is a very fine dessert plum, rivalling the Reine Claude in quality and ripening a month later. On the grounds of this institution it has failed because the fruits are small, dull in color and do not keep well. Of the several varieties produced from seed of Reine Claude by Charles Guthrie, Taybank, Dundee, Scotland, about the middle of the last century, Guthrie Late is the best known.

Tree large, vigorous, round-topped, dense, productive; branches stocky; branchlets pubescent; leaf-buds large, short, with a peculiar brush-like apex; leaves folded upward, oval, one and seven-eighths inches wide, three and one-half inches long, thick, rugose; margin crenate, eglandular or with small, dark glands; petiole thick, glandless or with from one to four globose glands; blooming season short; flowers appearing after the leaves, one inch across, white tinged with yellow at the apex of the petals; borne on lateral buds and spurs, singly or in pairs.

Fruit mid-season, ripening period long; of medium size, roundish-truncate, dull greenish-yellow, often irregularly splashed and striped with green, overspread with thin bloom; skin thin, slightly astringent; flesh light golden-yellow, rather dry, fibrous, somewhat tender, sweet, pleasant in flavor; of good quality; stone free, seven-eighths inch by five-eighths inch in size, ovate or oval, medium turgid, with rough surfaces.

HALE

[Illustration: HALE]

_Prunus triflora_

=1.= Burbank _Cat._ 19. 1893. =2.= _Ibid._ 1894. =3.= _Cornell Sta. Bul._ =106=:52. 1896. =4.= _Ga. Hort. Soc. Rpt._ XI. 1897. =5.= _Am. Pom. Soc. Cat._ 41. 1899. =6.= _Cornell Sta. Bul._ =175=:147, 148, fig. 37. 1899. =7.= _Am. Gard._ =21=:36 1900. =8.= Waugh _Plum Cult._ 136. 1901. =9.= _Mich. Sta. Bul._ =187=:77, 79. 1901. =10.= _W. N. Y. Hort. Soc. Rpt._ 89. 1902. =11.= _Ohio. Sta. Bul._ =162=:254, 255. 1905. =12.= _Ga. Sta. Bul._ =68=:10, 30. 1905. =13.= _Mass. Sta. An. Rpt._ =17=:160. 1905.

J 1. _J_ 3. Prolific 2. _Prolific_ 3, 8, 12.

It is doubtful if the average person who grows the Hale would recognize it as shown in _The Plums of New York_, as it is supposed to be a yellow plum; nevertheless the illustration is a good one so far as the fruits go at least. When mature on the trees the fruits are yellow with a faint blush, but in storage the color quickly changes into a pale red, becoming, when the plum is at its best in appearance and quality, a light currant-red. Hale, though large and handsome of fruit, is of questionable value, failing both in fruit and tree. The flavor of this plum is good in the judgment of most fruit connoisseurs, but others find it a little too sweet and somewhat mawkish near the skin and close about the pit. All agree, however, that the flesh clings too tightly to the stone for pleasant eating and that the texture is too tender for good shipping. But it is the tree that fails most markedly. Even on the grounds of this Station, where the peach is practically hardy, Hale is but semi-hardy, failing most often because with the best of care the wood does not ripen properly. The habit of growth is not particularly good, the trees are slow in coming in bearing, are not regularly productive and are readily infected by brown-rot and the fruits much infested by curculio. On the whole, it is to be regretted that Mr. Hale did not choose a better plum to bear a name so distinguished in horticulture.

Luther Burbank offered this plum, a cross between Kelsey and Satsuma, for sale under the name J, in 1893, and the following year as Prolific. J. H. Hale, South Glastonbury, Connecticut, purchased the variety in 1894, and introduced it as the Hale in 1896. In 1899, the American Pomological Society considered it worthy a place on its fruit catalog list.

Tree above medium in size, vigorous, vasiform, open-topped, semi-hardy, variable in productiveness; branches smooth except for the numerous, small, raised lenticels, somewhat thorny, dark ash-gray, the fruit spurs numerous; branchlets willowy, of medium thickness and length, with short internodes, greenish-red changing to light brown, shining, glabrous; lenticels numerous, small; leaf-buds small, short, obtuse, plump, free.

Leaves sparse, folded upward, oblanceolate or narrowly obovate, one and three-quarters inches wide, three and one-half inches long, thin; upper surface glabrous except for scattering hairs, with a grooved midrib; lower surface light green, glabrous except along the midrib and larger veins; apex acute or abruptly pointed, base acute, margin finely serrate or crenate, eglandular; petiole nine-sixteenths inch long, slender, tinged red, glandless or with from one to four globose or reniform, greenish-yellow glands on the stalk.

Blooming season early and of medium length; flowers appearing before the leaves, white; borne in thin clusters on lateral buds and spurs, singly or in pairs; pedicels long, glabrous, greenish; calyx-tube green, campanulate, glabrous; calyx-lobes obtuse, with numerous hair-like glands, nearly glabrous, erect; petals roundish-ovate, entire, not clawed; anthers yellowish; filaments short; pistil glabrous except at the base, much longer than the stamens.

Fruit early, season short; one and three-quarters inches in diameter, roundish, halves equal; cavity of medium depth and width, abrupt, regular; suture a line; apex roundish; color light or greenish-yellow, more or less blushed with red on one side, becoming red at maturity, mottled, with thin bloom; dots numerous, small, whitish, conspicuous only where the skin is blushed; stem slender, five-eighths inch long, glabrous, detaching easily from the fruit; skin thin, tough, adhering; flesh yellowish, very juicy, fibrous, tender, melting next the skin but firmer at the center, sweet except near the pit; good in quality; stone adhering, three-quarters inch by five-eighths inch in size, roundish-oval, flattened, blunt but with a small, sharp tip, rough; ventral suture narrow and rather conspicuously winged; dorsal suture grooved.

HAMMER

[Illustration: HAMMER]

_Prunus hortulana mineri_ × _Prunus americana_

=1.= _Cornell Sta. Bul._ =38=:79. 1892. =2.= _Ia. Hort. Soc. Rpt._ 275, 448. 1893. =3.= _Ibid._ 334. 1894. =4.= _Wis. Sta. Bul._ =63=:24, 39. 1897. =5.= _Colo. Sta. Bul._ =50=:36. 1898. =6.= _Ia. Sta. Bul._ =46=:274. 1900. =7.= _Waugh Plum Cult._ 150. 1901. =8.= _Ont. Fr. Gr. Assoc._ 144. 1901. =9.= _Ga. Sta. Bul._ =67=:274. 1904. =10.= _S. Dak. Sta. Bul._ =93=:18. 1905. =11.= _Ohio Sta. Bul._ =162=:254, 255. 1905.

Hammer is one of the best native plums. On the Station grounds the trees of this variety make the best orchard plants of any of the native varieties, being large, vigorous, shapely and hardy, falling short only in being a little uncertain in bearing. The fruits are good in quality, handsome in appearance and keep and ship well, but crack badly in unfavorable weather and, according to some writers, are quite subject to brown-rot. Hammer extends the season of the Americana plums considerably, for though a hybrid, it may best be ranked with the Americanas, and is well worth planting in home orchards in New York, where the native plums are too seldom found; in particular, this variety can be recommended for the colder parts of this State where Domestica and Insititia plums are not hardy.

Hammer is one of H. A. Terry’s numerous productions and was grown from a seed of the Miner evidently fertilized by an Americana. The blood of the latter is shown by its hardiness and its broad, Americana-like foliage. The variety first fruited in 1888 and was sent out in 1892.

Tree very large, vigorous, round-topped, widely spreading, hardy at Geneva, an uncertain bearer; trunk and larger limbs shaggy; branches long, rough, brash, thorny, dark ash-gray, with many, large lenticels; branchlets thick, very long, with long internodes, green changing to dull reddish-brown, glabrous, with raised lenticels of medium number and size; leaf-buds small, short, obtuse, plump, free.

Leaves folded upward, oval or slightly obovate, two and one-eighth inches wide, four inches long, thin; upper surface somewhat rugose; lower surface pale green, very lightly pubescent along the midrib; apex taper-pointed, base obtuse, often unsymmetrical, margin coarsely and doubly serrate, eglandular; petiole three-quarters inch long, sparingly pubescent along one side, tinged red, glandless or with from one to four small, globose, greenish-brown glands on the stalk.

Blooming season medium to late, long; flowers appearing after the leaves, fifteen-sixteenths inch across, white, with a disagreeable odor; borne in clusters on lateral buds and spurs, in twos or in threes; pedicels five-eighths inch in length, slender, glabrous, greenish; calyx-tube green, campanulate, glabrous; calyx-lobes narrow, obtuse, thinly pubescent within, glandular-serrate and with marginal hairs, somewhat reflexed; petals ovate or oval, irregularly crenate, tapering below into claws of medium length and breadth; anthers yellowish; filaments seven-sixteenths inch in length; pistil glabrous, equal to or shorter than the stamens in length.

Fruit mid-season, ripening period of average length; one and one-quarter inches in diameter, roundish-oval, slightly compressed, halves equal; cavity very shallow, narrow, flaring; suture an indistinct line; apex roundish; color crimson overspread with thick bloom; dots numerous, very small, light russet, inconspicuous; stem slender, five-eighths inch long, glabrous, not adhering to the fruit; skin thick, tough, inclined to crack under unfavorable conditions, separating readily; flesh golden-yellow, juicy, fibrous, tender and melting, sweet, strongly aromatic; good; stone semi-free, three-quarters inch by five-eighths inch in size, flattened, roundish-oval, somewhat compressed at the base, abruptly pointed at the apex, rough; ventral suture rather narrow, faintly ridged; dorsal suture with a narrow, shallow groove.

HAND

[Illustration: HAND]

_Prunus domestica_

=1.= _Horticulturist_ =2=:436. 1847. =2.= _Ibid._ =6=:21 fig., 187, 294. 1851. =3.= _Am. Pom. Soc. Rpt._ 190, 214. 1856. =4.= Downing _Fr. Trees Am._ 382. 1857. =5.= _Hogg Fruit Man._ 362. 1866. =6.= Mas _Pom. Gen._ =2=:19, fig. 10. 1873. =7.= _Ont. Fr. Exp. Sta. Rpt._ 120. 1896. =8.= _Cornell Sta. Bul._ =131=:185. 1897. =9.= _Waugh Plum Cult._ 108 fig. 1901. =10.= Budd-Hansen _Am. Hort. Man._ 314, 315 fig. 1903. =11.= _Mass. Sta. An. Rpt._ =17=:159. 1905.

Gen. Hand 1, 2. General Hand 2, 3, 5, 6, 7, 8. Genl. Hand 4. _General Hand_ 9, 10. _Montgomery_ 3 incor.

Unproductiveness and uncertainty in bearing keep this magnificent yellow dessert plum from being one of the most commonly grown of all plums in America. Even with these handicaps, it has maintained its popularity for a century, is grown in all collections and shown in all exhibitions of note. It is the largest of the Reine Claude plums, well molded, a golden-yellow and when allowed to become fully ripe is most excellent in flavor and pleasing in all the flesh attributes of a good dessert plum. It is not as high in quality as some other of the Reine Claude plums, as, for example the Washington, with which it is often compared, for it is a little coarser in flesh and not as sprightly, but it is better than is commonly thought, because it is seldom allowed to reach its best flavor by full maturity. The trees on the Station grounds are all that could be asked for even in bearing; and elsewhere size, vigor and hardiness are usually satisfactory but productiveness is a weak point. The amateur should always plant this variety and it would seem as if it were more often worth planting in commercial orchards.

The history of this variety is well known. The original tree grew on the place of General Hand, on the Conestoga River, about a mile from Lancaster, Pennsylvania, and first fruited about 1790. Thirty years later a Mr. Miller procured grafts and succeeded in growing them. The variety was brought to the notice of fruit-growers by E. W. Carpenter, a nurseryman of Lancaster, Pennsylvania, who sent grafts to his brother, S. Carpenter, of Lancaster, Ohio, and Robert Sinclair, Baltimore, Maryland. To the latter the introduction of the Hand has been incorrectly attributed. In 1856, Hand was listed in the fruit catalog of the American Pomological Society.

Tree large, vigorous, spreading, dense-topped, hardy, variable in productiveness; branches dark ash-gray, rough, with small lenticels; branchlets of medium thickness and length, with long internodes, green changing to brownish-red, pubescent early in the season, becoming less so at maturity, with few, inconspicuous, small lenticels; leaf-buds large, long, obtuse, appressed; leaf-scars large.

Leaves folded backward, obovate or oval, two and three-eighths inches wide, four and one-half inches long; upper surface dark green, rugose, slightly hairy, with a shallow, grooved midrib; lower surface pale green, pubescent; apex and base acute, margin finely and doubly serrate; petiole three-quarters inch long, thickish, pubescent, tinged red, with from one to four small, globose, greenish-brown glands on the stalk or base of the leaf.

Blooming season intermediate in time, short; flowers appearing after the leaves, one and one-quarter inches across, white; borne sparsely on lateral buds and spurs; pedicels seven-eighths inch long, very pubescent, greenish; calyx-tube green, campanulate, pubescent; calyx-lobes broad, obtuse, pubescent on both surfaces, glandular-serrate, reflexed; petals roundish or obovate, slightly crenate, with short, broad claws; anthers yellowish; filaments three-eighths inch long; pistil lightly pubescent at the base, equal to the stamens in length.

Fruit mid-season, ripening period long; one and three-quarters inches in diameter, roundish-truncate or oblate, halves equal; cavity deep, flaring; suture shallow, distinct; apex flattened or depressed; color yellow, obscurely striped and mottled with green, overspread with thin bloom; dots numerous, whitish, inconspicuous, clustered about the apex; stem unusually long, averaging one and five-sixteenths inches in length, very pubescent, adhering strongly to the fruit; skin thick, tough, slightly astringent, separating readily; flesh golden-yellow, juicy, somewhat fibrous, firm, sweet, with pleasant, mild flavor; very good; stone semi-free or free, the cavity larger than the pit, seven-eighths inch by three-quarters inch in size, broadly oval, turgid, blunt at the base and apex, slightly roughened; ventral suture broad, sometimes winged; dorsal suture broadly and deeply grooved.

HARRIET

_Prunus domestica_

=1.= _Gard. Chron._ =18=:441. 1882. =2.= Hogg _Fruit Man._ 705. 1884.

Harriet is little known in America, but as the variety grows on our grounds it appears to be somewhat desirable. The type is that of Reine Claude, the fruit being slightly yellower; the quality is very good and the tree-characters are good. It is doubtful, however, in spite of these attributes to recommend it, whether, with the multiplicity of plums of this type, the variety in question can make headway in the United States. Harriet was originated by Thomas Rivers, Sawbridgeworth, England, about 1870. While considerably grown in England, it can hardly be said to be one of the leading varieties in that country.

Tree medium in size and vigor, spreading, open, productive; branchlets thick, very short, pubescent throughout the season; leaf-buds large, long, tipped brush-like at the apex; leaves folded upward, oval, one and one-half inches wide, two and three-quarters inches long, the young leaves bright red when opening; margin serrate or almost crenate; petiole tinged red, glandless or with one or two glands usually at the base of the leaf; blooming season intermediate, short; flowers appearing after the leaves, one inch across; borne on lateral buds and spurs, singly or in pairs.

Fruit mid-season, ripening period long; about one and three-eighths inches in diameter, roundish-oblate, somewhat oblique, golden-yellow, sometimes mottled with red, overspread with thin bloom; flesh golden-yellow, firm, sweet, pleasant in flavor; of very good quality; stone clinging, five-eighths inch by one-half inch in size, oval, turgid, with slightly roughened surfaces.

HAWKEYE

[Illustration: HAWKEYE]

_Prunus americana_

=1.= _Ia. Hort. Soc. Rpt._ 287. 1887. =2.= _U. S. D. A. Rpt._ 441. 1889. =3.= _Ia. Hort. Soc. Rpt._ 55, 85. 1890. =4.= _Cornell Sta. Bul._ =38=:38, 86. 1892. =5.= _Wis. Sta. Bul._ =63=:40, 41. 1897. =6.= _Am. Pom. Soc. Cat._ 24. 1897. =7.= _Colo. Sta. Bul._ =50=:37. 1898. =8.= _Ia. Sta. Bul._ =46=:274. 1900. =9.= Waugh _Plum Cult._ 151. 1901. =10.= _Ont. Fr. Gr. Assoc._ 144. 1901. =11.= _Wis. Sta. Bul._ =87=:13. 1901. =12.= _S. Dak. Sta. Bul._ =93=:19. 1905. =13.= _Ohio Sta. Bul._ =162=:254, 255. 1905.

This variety is a very satisfactory and widely planted Americana. It is typical of its species; and its foliage, fruit and pit in the color-plate herewith presented all represent _Prunus americana_ very well. The fruit of Hawkeye is more satisfactory than the tree, being both attractive in appearance and pleasant to eat either out of hand or cooked; the chief fault of the fruit is that it seems to be easily infected with brown-rot. The trees are crooked in body and quite too straggling and at the same time too dense in growth to make good orchard plants. It requires very careful pruning and training to keep the trees at all manageable. In some of the references given above it is stated that Hawkeye on its own roots is a better tree than otherwise propagated. This variety belongs in the middle west but it might be grown for home use in northern New York where it is too cold for the European plums.

Hawkeye is a seedling of Quaker grown by H. A. Terry,[217] Crescent, Iowa. It first fruited in 1882 and the following year was introduced by the originator. In the Iowa Horticultural Society Report for 1887, Mr. Terry stated that the original tree had borne five crops in succession and he believed it to be the most valuable variety in cultivation for the West and Northwest. The American Pomological Society placed this plum on its fruit catalog list in 1897.

Tree large, vigorous, rather upright at first, becoming spreading, low-headed, hardy, usually productive, but variable in some locations, susceptible to attacks of shot-hole fungus; branches numerous, dark brown, rough, thorny, with numerous, large lenticels; branchlets long, willowy, with internodes of medium length, green, changing to dull reddish-brown, shining, glabrous, with numerous large, raised lenticels; leaf-buds small, short, pointed, appressed.

Leaves tinged red late in the season, nearly flat, oval or slightly obovate, two inches wide, four inches long, rather thin; upper surface dark green, smooth, glabrous, with midrib and larger veins deeply grooved; lower surface light green, lightly pubescent along the midrib and larger veins; apex taper-pointed, base very abrupt, margin coarsely and doubly serrate, the serrations often becoming spiny, eglandular; petiole rather slender, nine-sixteenths inch in length, tinged with pink, sparingly pubescent along one side, glandless or with one or two globose, greenish-brown glands.

Blooming season intermediate in time and length; flowers appearing with the leaves, showy on account of the numerous, pure white, flat petals, with a somewhat disagreeable odor; borne in clusters on lateral buds and spurs, in pairs; pedicels seven-sixteenths inch in length, glabrous, green with a distinct reddish tinge on one side; calyx-tube red, broadly obconic, glabrous; calyx-lobes short, obtuse, pubescent on both surfaces, eglandular, with a hairy, serrate margin, somewhat reflexed; petals ovate, crenate, but somewhat fringed, long and narrowly clawed; anthers yellowish; filaments five-sixteenths inch long; pistil glabrous, shorter than the stamens.

Fruit mid-season, ripening period of medium length; about one and one-eighth inches in diameter, roundish-oval or ovate, not compressed, halves equal; cavity unusually shallow, very narrow; suture an indistinct line; apex roundish; color dull carmine, covered with thin bloom; dots numerous, gray or reddish, nearly obscure, with almost none around the base; stem slender, below medium in length; skin thick, tough, astringent, adhering; flesh pale, dull yellow, very juicy, slightly fibrous, watery and melting, sweet at first with a tart and somewhat astringent after-taste; good; stone adhering to the pulp, seven-eighths inch by five-eighths inch in size, roundish-oval, flattened, smooth, blunt at the base and apex, conspicuously winged on the ventral suture, with a deep but narrow groove on the dorsal suture.

HUDSON

[Illustration: HUDSON]

_Prunus domestica_

=1.= _Mich. Hort. Soc. Rpt._ 289. 1889. =2.= _Mich. Sta. Bul._ =103=:35 1894. =3.= _Ohio Hort. Soc. Rpt._ =30=:168. 1896-97. =4.= _Cornell Sta. Bul._ =131=:181 fig. 40 III, 187. 1897. =5.= _Am. Pom. Soc. Cat._ 25. 1897. =6.= _Can. Exp. Farm Bul._ 2nd Ser. =3=:52. 1900. =7.= Waugh _Plum Cult._ 109. 1901.

Hudson River Purple 6. Hudson River Purple Egg 1, 3, 4. _Hudson River Purple Egg_ 2, 5, 7. Purple Egg 2.

Hudson is limited in cultivation, belonging almost wholly to the Hudson River Valley where it has long been somewhat of a favorite for both home and market planting. The variety has few qualities of fruit to commend it especially outside of the region where it is now grown and even here its value is probably overrated. The fruits are of only medium size, not markedly attractive in appearance and the quality is below the average among standard plums. The trees are for most part very good in constitution and habit of growth and in particular bear very well; they have the faults of not bearing early and of being subject to black-knot. The variety, and perhaps it is well, is being less planted than formerly.

Nothing is known of the origin of the Hudson except that it has been grown in the Hudson River Valley for a good many years. About 1870 it attracted the attention of S. D. Willard of Geneva, New York, who, thinking it a valuable acquisition, commenced its propagation. In 1897, it was listed by the American Pomological Society as a successful variety for this region. J. R. Cornell, a well informed fruit-grower of Newburgh, New York, in a letter written February 21, 1910, says, “I recall Hudson very distinctly as it was grown when I was a small boy over fifty years ago. I would not be surprised, if the facts could be obtained, to learn that the variety came from Europe, in fact, I incline to that opinion.”

Tree large, vigorous, spreading, very productive, hardy; branches ash-gray, smooth except for the small, raised lenticels; branchlets slender, with long internodes, greenish-red changing to brownish-red, dull, glabrous early in the season becoming lightly pubescent at maturity, with small, inconspicuous lenticels; leaf-buds below medium in size and length, conical, strongly appressed.

Leaves flattened, obovate or oval, two inches wide, three and three-quarters inches long; upper surface dark green, smooth, sparsely hairy along the grooved midrib; lower surface silvery-green, faintly pubescent; apex acute, base abrupt, margin serrate, eglandular or with small dark glands; petiole five-eighths inch long, thick, lightly pubescent, glandless or with from one to three greenish-yellow glands.

Blooming season short; flowers appearing after the leaves, one and one-eighth inches across, white; borne in scattering clusters on lateral spurs, singly or in pairs; pedicels nine-sixteenths inch long, glabrous except for a few scattering hairs; calyx-tube green, campanulate, pubescent at the base; calyx-lobes obtuse, lightly pubescent on both surfaces, glandular-serrate, reflexed; petals obovate, crenate, tapering to short, broad claws; anthers yellowish; filaments three-eighths inch long; pistil glabrous, longer than the stamens.

Fruit late, season of medium length; one and five-eighths inches by one and one-eighth inches in size, long-oval, halves unequal; cavity shallow, narrow, abrupt, regular; suture shallow; apex slightly pointed; color dark reddish-purple changing to purplish-black, overspread with thick bloom; dots numerous, small, russet, inconspicuous; stem slender, one inch long, sparingly pubescent; skin thin, tender, sour, separating readily; flesh golden-yellow, juicy, rather tender, sweet next the skin but sour towards the center, aromatic; good; stone one and one-eighth inches by five-eighths inch in size, sometimes reddish, ovate, roughened and faintly pitted, acute at the base and apex; ventral suture wide, with numerous ridges; dorsal suture with a wide, shallow groove.

HULINGS

_Prunus domestica_

=1.= Prince _Treat. Hort._ 23. 1828. =2.= Kenrick _Am. Orch._ 261. 1832. =3.= Downing _Fr. Trees Am._ 277. 1845. =4.= _Horticulturist_ =1=:166. 1846. =5.= _Am. Pom. Soc. Cat._ 86. 1862. =6.= Hogg _Fruit Man._ 705. 1884. =7.= Mathieu _Nom. Pom._ 435. 1885. =8.= _Guide Prat._ 158, 366. 1895.

_Gloire de New York_, 6, 7, 8. _Huling’s Superb_ 7, 8. Huling’s Superb 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6. Huling’s Treffliche 7. _Keiser_ 2. _Keyser’s Plum_ 3, 6, 7, 8. Superbe de Huling 8.

Hulings is one of the largest of the Reine Claude group of plums and a remarkably fine fruit in every respect. It is particularly agreeable to the taste because of its sprightliness, which so many plums of its type lack. As this variety grows in New York it has much to recommend it for commercial plantations. Its lack of popularity among planters is due somewhat to the wholesale substitution by nurserymen of spurious varieties for it. Hulings originated early in the last century with a Mr. Keyser of Pennsylvania who grew it from seed, but Dr. W. E. Hulings of the same state brought it to public notice.

Tree large, vigorous, upright-spreading, dense-topped, productive; branchlets brash, thick, pubescent; leaves unusually large, obovate, three inches wide, six and one-half inches long, thick, leathery, rugose; margin crenate or serrate; petiole thick, tinged red, pubescent, with from one to three globose glands.

Fruit maturing in mid-season; about one and seven-eighths inches in diameter, roundish, dull greenish-yellow, overspread with thin bloom; skin thin, somewhat sour; flesh greenish, firm but tender, sprightly; good to very good; stone clinging, one and one-eighth inches by three-quarters inch in size, broad-oval, medium turgid, with short, thick, slightly oblique apex; ventral suture often winged; dorsal suture wide, deep.

HUNGARIAN

[Illustration: HUNGARIAN]

_Prunus domestica_

=1.= Knoop _Fructologie_ =2=:61. 1771. =2.= Willichs _Dom. Enc._ =4=:190. 1803. =3.= _Lond. Hort. Soc. Cat._ 143, 148. 1831. =4.= Downing _Fr. Trees Am._ 2nd App. 156. 1876. =5.= Oberdieck _Deut. Obst. Sort._ 404. 1881. =6.= Mas _Le Verger_ =6=:51, fig. 26. 1866-73. =7.= Koch _Deut. Obst._ 568. 1876. =8.= Mathieu _Nom. Pom._ 452. 1889. =9.= _Cal. State Board_ Hort. 111 fig. 11. 1891. =10.= Lucas _Vollst. Hand. Obst._ 474. 1894. =11.= Lange _Allgem. Garten._ =2=:421. 1897. =12.= _Mich. Hort. Soc. Rpt._ 465. 1893. =13.= _Oregon Sta. Bul._ =45=:33. 1897. =14.= Waugh _Plum Cult._ 109. 1901.

_Autriche Violette_ (_Pr. de_) 8. _Blaue Dattel Pflaume_ 8. Blue Egg-Plum? 2. Datte de Hungrie 13. _Dattelzwetsche_ 6. _Datte Violette_ 8. _Date de Hongrie_ 14. _Datte de Hongrie_ 4, 14. _Date Plum_ 7. D’Autriche 3. Frühe Dattelzwetsche 10. _Grosse u. Lange Früh Zwetsche_ 8. _Grosse Früh Zwetsche_ 8. Hungarian Date 9. _Hungarian Prune?_ 3, 14. Hungarica 7. Hungarian Prune 4, 11, 12. _Hungarian Plum_ 2. _Lange Violette Dattel Zwetsche_ 8. _Osterreichische Pflaume_ 8. _Prune-Datte_ 3, 6. _Prune Datte Violette_ 3. _Prune d’Autriche_ 6, 8. _Quetsche de Hongrie_ 8. _Quetsche Datte Violette_ 8. _Quetsche Datte_ 6, 8. Quetsche-Datte Violette 6. _Quetsche Hongroise_ 1. _Quetsche de Hongrie_ 6. _Sabel Pflaume_ 8. _Späte Dattel Pflaume_ 8. _Ungarische Pflaume_ 8. Ungarische Dattelzwetsche 5. _Ungarishe Sabel Pflaume_ 8. _Violette Dattelzwetsche_ 6. Violette Dattelzwetsche 8. _Türkische Zwetsche_ 8. _Ungarische Zwetsche_ 8. _Virginische Ludwig’s Pflaume_ 8.

This plum, representing a type hardly known in America, may be a descendant of a species distinct from _Prunus domestica_, and if not, must at least be considered a well-marked division of the species named. It differs but little from typical Domestica varieties in habit of growth but the leaves are smaller, distinctly folded, and droop, giving an aspect to the tree distinct from the Domesticas in general. But it is the fruit that differs most. Fruit and stone are more elongated than in other varieties of its supposed species and the stone is larger, flatter, more pitted and more pointed at the base and apex. The stem, too, is longer than in the average Domestica. These differences in leaf, fruit and pit may be well seen if the color-plate of this variety be compared with those of well-recognized Domesticas. It is doubtful if Hungarian is worth cultivating in New York though it is larger than the commonly grown German Prune, with which it must be compared, and is fully equal if not better in quality but its type is unknown and consumers hesitate to buy the unknown. It is well worth a place in private collections.

Nothing is known of the history of this plum other than that it has been long under cultivation and that, as its name suggests, it came from Hungary. As in the case of many of the varieties which came from Hungary there are several strains of this plum. The variety that is known in America as Hungarian was reported by Downing in 1876, as originating in Belgium, a mistake, as this is known to have been widely spread for a long time in Europe and European authorities trace it back to Hungary. The Ungarish of Budd, the Hungarian Prune of the Pacific Coast which is Pond Seedling, and the Date Plum, a yellow plum of Downing, all passing under the name “Hungarian,” are distinct varieties.

Tree large, vigorous, upright-spreading, dense-topped, hardy, productive; branches ash-gray, smooth, with few, small lenticels; branchlets thick, long, with internodes of average length, greenish-red changing to brownish-red, dull, sparsely pubescent, with few, small, inconspicuous lenticels; leaf-buds of medium size and length, conical, appressed.

Leaves drooping, folded upward, oval or obovate, one and five-eighths inches wide, three and one-quarter inches long, thick; upper surface dark green, rough, hairy, with a deeply, narrowly grooved midrib; lower surface pale green, pubescent; apex and base acute, margin serrate, eglandular or with small brown glands; petiole nine-sixteenths inch long, pubescent, tinged red, glandless or with one or two globose, greenish-yellow glands usually at the base of the leaf.

Blooming season intermediate in time and length; flowers appearing after the leaves, seven-eighths inch across, the buds tinged yellow, changing to white on opening, not clustered but distributed on lateral spurs, singly or in pairs; pedicels seven-eighths inch long, very slender, pubescent, greenish; calyx-tube green, campanulate, pubescent; calyx-lobes narrow, acuminate, thickly pubescent on both surfaces, glandular-serrate, reflexed; petals narrowly ovate, serrate, converging at the base into narrow claws; anthers yellowish; filaments seven-sixteenths inch long; pistil glabrous, equal to the stamens in length, small, slender.

Fruit late, season short; one and five-eighths inches by one inch in size, distinctly oblong, somewhat necked, swollen on the suture side, compressed, halves unequal; cavity very shallow and narrow, abrupt; suture shallow; apex pointed; color dark reddish-purple, overspread with thick bloom; dots numerous, small, russet, inconspicuous; stem slender, one and one-eighth inches long, pubescent, adhering well to the fruit; skin thin, tough, slightly sour, separating readily; flesh yellowish-green, juicy, firm but tender, sweet, mild; good to very good; stone semi-free to free, one and one-eighth inches by one-half inch in size, irregular long-oval, flattened, necked at the base, acute at the apex, with thickly pitted surfaces; ventral suture wide, blunt; dorsal suture with a wide, deep groove.

ICKWORTH

[Illustration: ICKWORTH]

_Prunus domestica_

=1.= _Gard. Chron._ =1=:734. 1841. =2.= _Ibid._ =2=:176. 1842. =3.= Downing _Fr. Trees Am._ 302. 1845. =4.= Thomas _Am. Fruit Cult._ 345. 1849. =5.= Elliott _Fr. Book._ 420. 1854. =6.= Thompson _Gard. Ass’t_ 517. 1859. =7.= Mas _Le Verger_ =6=:57, Pl. 29. 1866-73. =8.= Barry _Fr. Garden_ 413. 1883. =9.= Hogg _Fruit Man._ 706. 1884. =10.= Mathieu _Nom. Pom._ 435. 1889. =11.= Wickson _Cal. Fruits_ 358. 1891. =12.= _Cornell Sta. Bul._ =131=:187. 1897. =13.= Waugh _Plum Cult._ 110. 1901.

Ickworth Imperatrice 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12. _Ickworth Imperatrice_ 13. _Imperatrice Ickworth_ 10. Imperatrice Jckworth 7. _Jckworth Imperatrice_ 7. _Knight’s No. 6._ 3, 5, 9, 10.

Ickworth is hardly known in America though in England it is a favorite late plum noted as being one of the best of all plums for late keeping. In New York the plums of this variety are too small for the market and are not high enough in quality for a home plum; moreover, the plums do not always ripen in this latitude. In California Ickworth has been found to make a very good prune and to ship very well in the green state but here again small size debars it from great commercial value. The habits of growth of Ickworth are very good and so markedly so that when considered with the late keeping qualities of the fruit, one wishes that this variety might be bred with a larger plum of better quality with the hope of an offspring from the union of especial value as a late plum.

Knight, the noted English pomologist, raised this plum from the Imperatrice fertilized by Golden Drop and named it after Ickworth Park, near Bury St. Edmunds. Knight aimed in raising this and other plums to produce a fruit containing sufficient sugar to keep well and not shrivel. In Ickworth he succeeded to a high degree.

Tree large, rather vigorous, upright-spreading, hardy, productive; branches dark ash-gray, roughened by the numerous, large, raised lenticels; branchlets of medium thickness and length, with internodes of average length, green changing to brownish-drab, dull, lightly pubescent, with numerous, inconspicuous, small lenticels, leaf-buds small, short, conical, appressed.

Leaves folded upward, obovate or oval, one and three-eighths inches wide, three inches long, thick, leathery; upper surface dark green, shining, pubescent only along the grooved midrib; lower surface silvery-green, sparingly pubescent; apex abruptly pointed or acute, base acute, margin crenate, with small dark glands; petiole one-half inch long, thick, greenish, pubescent along one side, glandless or with from one to four large, reniform or globose, yellowish-brown glands usually on the stalk.

Season of bloom intermediate, long; flowers appearing after the leaves, one inch across, white; borne in thin clusters on lateral buds and spurs, singly or in pairs; pedicels seven-sixteenths inch long, below medium in thickness, glabrous, greenish; calyx-tube green, campanulate, glabrous; calyx-lobes broad, obtuse, lightly pubescent, with few glands and marginal hairs, erect; petals roundish or roundish-oval, finely crenate, tapering below to short, broad claws; anthers yellowish; filaments one-quarter inch long; pistil glabrous, longer than the stamens.

Fruit very late, season long; one and three-eighth inches by one and one-quarter inches in size, oval or roundish-oval, sometimes slightly compressed, halves unequal; cavity shallow, narrow, abrupt; suture shallow, wide; apex one-sided, roundish or depressed; color purplish-red changing to purplish-black, mottled, overspread with thick bloom, dots numerous, very small, inconspicuous, scattered between irregular flecks and nettings; stem thirteen-sixteenths inch long, lightly pubescent, adhering well to the fruit; skin thick, tender, adhering; flesh dull yellowish, juicy, sweet, mild, pleasant; good; stone usually clinging, seven-eighths inch by one-half inch in size, irregularly oval, flattened, faintly pitted, acute at the base, blunt at the apex; ventral suture wide, heavily furrowed, swollen; dorsal suture widely and shallowly grooved.

IMPERATRICE

_Prunus domestica_

=1.= Quintinye _Com. Gard._ 67, 69. 1699. =2.= Langley _Pomona_ 95, Pl. XXV fig. III. 1729. =3.= Duhamel _Trait. Arb. Fr._ 105, Pl. XVIII. 1768. =4.= Kraft _Pom. Aust._ =2=:45, Tab. 200 fig. 2. 1796. =5.= Miller _Gard. Dict._ 3. 1807. =6.= Forsyth _Treat. Fr. Trees_ 20. 1803. =7.= _Pom. Mag._ =1=:33. 1828. =8.= _Lond. Hort. Soc. Cat._ 148. 1831. =9.= Prince _Pom. Man._ =2=:60. 1832. =10.= Downing _Fr. Trees Am._ 290. 1845. =11.= Floy-Lindley _Guide Orch. Gard._ 287, 383. 1846. =12.= Thomas _Am. Fruit Cult._ 344. 1849. =13.= Elliott _Fr. Book_ 416. 1854. =14.= McIntosh _Bk. Gard._ =2=:529. 1855. =15.= Thompson _Gard. Ass’t_ 515. 1859. =16.= Mas _Pom. Gen._ =2=:101. 1873. =17.= _Am. Pom. Soc. Cat._ 36. 1877. =18.= Hogg _Fruit Man._ 687. 1884. =19.= Mathieu _Nom. Pom._ 423, 452. 1889. =20.= _Guide Prat._ 161, 358. 1895.

Blue Perdrigon, of some 2. Blaue Kaiserin 19. Blue Imperatrice 9, 10, 12, 13, 14, 15, 17, 18. _Blue Imperatrice_ 16, 19. Die Veischenfarbige Kaiserinnpflaume 4. Empress I. _Empress_ 5, 6, 9, 18, 19. _Fürsten Zwetsche_ 19. _Fürstenzwetsche_ 20. _Hoheitspflaume_ 19, 20. Imperatrice Blue 8. _Imperatrice_ 7, 8, 9, 10, 12, 13, 14, 15, 18, 19. Imperatrice Violette 3, 16, 20. _Imperatrice Violette_ 4, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 13, 14, 15, 18, 19. _Late Red Imperial_ 9. _Late Violet_, of some 2. _Prinzessin Pflaume_ 19. Prune d’Altesse? 9. _Red Magnum Bonum_ 9. _Red Imperial_ 9. Smith’s large October? 9. The Imperatrice Plum 7. _Veritable Imperatrice_ 8, 10, 13, 14, 15, 19. _Violette_ 8, 10, 13, 14, 15, 19. Violette Kaiserin 19. _Violette Kaiserin_ 16, 20, _Violet Empress_ 9, 19.

Imperatrice has been long known and widely grown but the variety has no especial cultural value in the United States, the fruit being too small and too poor in quality. If it has any merit, it is keeping quality, the fruit hanging well on the tree and keeping well, even improving after picking.

This is an old variety, well known in Austria, France and England during the Seventeenth and Eighteenth Centuries. Like most long-known varieties its nomenclature is badly confused. Writers have confounded it with Semiana, the Perdrigons, German Prune and other plums of similar appearance. Duhamel regarded this variety as Perdrigon Late, holding that the true Imperatrice is nearly round. Calvel, also, describes a roundish plum under this name in his _Traite Complet sur les Pepinieres_. It is probable, however, that both Duhamel and Calvel were mistaken as all other authors describe an obovate plum. This variety was introduced into America early in the last century but has never become popular. It is of interest, nevertheless, since it has been a leading European variety, is a parent of a number of other varieties and its name is given to a group of plums. The American Pomological Society added it to its fruit catalog list in 1877, but dropped it in 1883.

Tree large, vigorous, upright-spreading, productive; leaves obovate or oval, two and one-quarter inches wide, four and one-quarter inches long, slightly rugose; margin crenate; petiole one inch long, thick, tinged red, pubescent, glandless, or with one or two small glands usually at the base of the leaf.

Fruit late; one and one-half inches by one and three-eighths inches in size, roundish or ovate, purplish-black, overspread with medium thick bloom; flesh golden-yellow, rather dry, firm but tender, sweet; of fair quality; stone free, one inch by three-quarters inch in size, roundish-ovate, the surfaces often granular and with a reddish tinge.

IMPERIAL EPINEUSE

_Prunus domestica_

=1.= _Cal. State Bd. Hort._ 48, 50. 1897-98. =2.= _U. S. D. A. Div. Pom. Bul._ =7=:316. 1898. =3.= _Can. Exp. Farm Bul._ 2nd Ser. =3=:53 1900. =4.= Bailey _Cyc. Hort._ 1378. 1901. =5.= Wickson _Cal. Fruits_ 221, 224. 1908.

_Clairac Mammoth_ 1, 5. Imperial Epineux 3.

Imperial Epineuse is well worthy a trial in New York. It is not surpassed in quality by any other plum of its color. It is one of the largest plums in the Prune group and is made further attractive by a handsome reddish-purple color which is lighter or darker according to the exposure of the plums to the sun. As grown in two orchards near Geneva the tree-characters are exceptionally good; the crop is so borne on the main limbs as to be protected from the sun and the tree is particularly large and vigorous, its strong upright growth being a striking characteristic of the variety. If the variety proves to be as valuable elsewhere in the State in all characters as it is here it cannot but make a very desirable plum for the market.

The Imperial Epineuse was found growing as a chance seedling about 1870 in an abandoned monastery near Clairac, in the Valley of Lot, the great prune district of France. It was first brought to the United States by Felix Gillett of Nevada City, California, who received the variety with several others in 1883, three years previous to a similar importation made by John Rock of Niles, California. After testing the variety Mr. Gillett mentioned it, without a name, in his catalog in 1888 but owing to the scarcity of the trees was unable to introduce it to the trade until 1893 when it was sent out under the name “Clairac Mammoth,” from the name of its place of origin. In 1895 E. Smith & Sons of Geneva, New York, received this variety from Gillett and grew it under the name “Clarice Mammoth”.

Tree large, vigorous, spreading, fairly productive; branches numerous, covered with many fruit-spurs; branchlets twiggy, marked with scarf-skin; leaf-buds large, very free, broad at the base; leaves folded backward, obovate, one and three-quarters inches wide, three and one-half inches long, thick, rugose, glabrous except along the deeply and widely grooved midrib; petiole one inch long, tinged red, glandless or with from one to three globose glands; blooming season intermediate in time and length; flowers appearing after the leaves, one inch across, singly or in threes.

Fruit rather late, season short to medium in length; large, slightly obovate, purplish-red, darker on the sunny side, mottled, overspread with thick bloom; flesh greenish-yellow, fibrous, rather tender, sweet, agreeable in flavor; good to very good; stone clinging, one inch by five-eighths inch in size, irregular-oval, flattened, obliquely but bluntly contracted at the base, with pitted surfaces; ventral suture narrow, prominent, often distinctly winged.

IMPERIAL GAGE

[Illustration: IMPERIAL GAGE]

_Prunus domestica_

=1.= _Am. Gard. Cal._ 588. 1806. =2.= Prince _Treat. Hort._ 25, 26. 1828. =3.= _Lond. Hort. Soc. Cat._ 147, 148. 1831. =4.= Prince _Pom. Man._ =2=:56. 1832. =5.= Kenrick _Am. Orch._ 209. 1835. =6.= _Mag. Hort._ =6=:123. 1840. =7.= _Cultivator_ =10=:167 fig. 1843. =8.= Downing _Fr. Trees Am._ 278 fig. 107. 1845. =9.= Floy-Lindley _Guide Orch. Gard._ 302, 383. 1846. =10.= _N. Y. Agr. Soc. Rpt._ 343 fig. 1847. =11.= Thomas _Am. Fruit Cult._ 325, 326 fig. 254. 1849. =12.= _Mag. Hort._ =16=:454. 1850. =13.= _Am. Pom. Soc. Cat._ 54. 1852. =14.= Elliott _Fr. Book_ 411. 1854. =15.= _U. S. Pat. Off. Rpt._ 148, Pl. 5 fig. 1. 1864. =16.= Barry _Fr. Garden_ 413. 1883. =17.= Mathieu _Nom. Pom._ 443. 1889. =18.= Wickson _Cal. Fruits_ 355. 1891. =19.= _Mich. Sta. Bul._ =103=:34. 1894. =20.= _Guide Prat._ 154, 364. 1895. =21.= _Cornell Sta. Bul._ =131=:187. 1897. =22.= _Va. Sta. Bul._ =134=:42. 1902. =23.= _Ohio Sta. Bul._ =162=:239, 254, 255. 1905.

_Flushing Gage_ 7, 8, 11, 12, 14, 15, 17, 20. Flushing Gage 3, 9. Harper 22. _Imperial Gage_ 17, 20. _Imperial Green Gage_ 7. _Jenkinson’s Imperial_ 6, 14, 15. _Prince’s Gage_ 4, 12, 17. Prince’s Imperial Gage 4, 5, 6, 10. _Prinzens Kaiser Reine Claude_ 20. Prince’s Kaiser Reine-Claude 17. _Prince’s Imperial Gage_ 8, 11, 14, 15, 17, 20. _Prince’s White Gage_ 4, 12, 17. _Reine-Claude de Flushings_ 20. Reine-Claude Imperiale 20. _Reine-Claude Imperiale_ 17. _Reine-Claude Verte Imperiale_ 17. _Reine-Claude Imperiale de Prince_ 17, 20. _Reine-Claude Blanche de Boston_ 17, 20. _Reine-Claude Verte Superieure_ 20. _Superior Gage_ 9. _Superior Green Gage_ 12, 14, 15, 17, 20. Superior Green Gage? 3. _Superiour Green Gage_ 8. White Gage? 1, 2, 20. _White Gage_ 14, 15. _White Gage of Boston_ 7, 8, 11, 17.

Probably there is more contradictory evidence as to the value of Imperial Gage than of any other American grown plum. It is down in some of the fruit books as being the largest of all the Reine Claude plums and in others as being too small to be desirable; in some, as being of highest quality and in others as being quite too insipid to be called a dessert fruit. These contradictions have arisen because the variety grows quite differently in different soils. The Imperial Gage is best adapted to light sandy soils, growing largest and being best in quality on such soils and making the poorest show of all on heavy clay. The illustration in _The Plums of New York_ shows it as it grows on an unsuitable soil—small, poorly colored, worthless for a money-crop and not very desirable for home use. The technical description is also based on trees grown and fruit produced on soil to which it is illy-adapted. The trees from which these fruits came are nearly perfect in habits of growth, vigorous, hardy, healthy and bearing large crops of plums—such as they are. On suitable soils the variety possesses all the qualities that constitute a fine plum, the product being adapted alike for dessert, canning, home and market. It has an especially agreeable flavor in all the various culinary preparations in which it can be used. Its capriciousness does not warrant its being largely planted but for selected locations it will prove a most valuable fruit.

The Princes in their nursery at Flushing, Long Island, New York, about the year 1790, planted the pits of twenty-five quarts of the Green Gage plum and from these produced, among others, a plum which they called the White Gage. William R. Prince, in order to distinguish this variety from the other Gage plums, changed the name to Prince’s Imperial Gage, now shortened to Imperial Gage. In 1852, the American Pomological Society placed it on its catalog list of recommended fruits.

Tree large, vigorous, upright-spreading, open-topped, hardy, very productive; branches ash-gray, smooth, with conspicuous, transverse cracks in the bark, with lenticels of medium size; branchlets slender, short, with internodes above medium in length, greenish-red changing to dark brownish-red, dull, sparingly pubescent throughout the season, with small, inconspicuous lenticels; leaf-buds medium in size and length, conical, appressed.

Leaves folded upward, oval or slightly obovate, one and seven-eighths inches wide, three and one-quarter inches long, thick; upper surface dark green, rugose, pubescent, with a shallow groove on the midrib; lower surface yellowish-green, pubescent; apex abruptly pointed, base acute, margin crenate, with small dark glands; petiole one-half inch long, thick, pubescent, purplish-red along one side, glandless or with one or two small, globose, yellowish-green glands usually on the stalk.

Blooming season short; flowers one and one-eighth inches across, white; borne on lateral buds and spurs, singly or in pairs; pedicels three-quarters inch long, pubescent, greenish; calyx-tube green, campanulate, pubescent, with a swollen ring at the base; calyx-lobes above medium in width, obtuse, pubescent on both surfaces, glandular-serrate, slightly reflexed; petals broadly obovate, crenate, tapering below to short, broad claws; anthers yellowish; filaments three-eighths inch long; pistil glabrous, longer than the stamens; stigma large.

Fruit intermediate in time and length of ripening season; one and nine-sixteenths inches in diameter, oval or slightly ovate, compressed, halves equal; cavity very shallow and narrow, abrupt; suture shallow, often a line; apex roundish or depressed; color dull greenish-yellow, with obscure green streaks, mottled and sometimes faintly tinged red on the sunny side, overspread with thick bloom; dots numerous, small, grayish, obscure, clustered about the apex; stem three-quarters inch long, pubescent, adhering well to the fruit; skin thin, tender, separating readily; flesh golden-yellow, juicy, firm but tender, sweet, mild; good to very good; stone nearly free, one inch by five-eighths inch in size, oval, flattened, with pitted surfaces; rather blunt at the base becoming acute in the largest fruits, very blunt at the apex; ventral suture wide, ridged; dorsal suture widely and deeply grooved.

ITALIAN PRUNE

[Illustration: ITALIAN PRUNE]

_Prunus domestica_

=1.= _Lond. Hort. Soc. Cat._ 152. 1831. =2.= Prince _Pom. Man._ =2=:78. 1832. =3.= Kenrick _Am. Orch._ 262. 1832. =4.= Manning _Book of Fruits_ 106. 1838. =5.= _Am. Pom. Soc. Cat._ 214, 220. 1836. =6.= Downing _Fr. Trees Am._ 381. 1857. =7.= _Cultivator_ =8=:52 fig. 1860. =8.= Hogg _Fruit Man._ 366. 1866. =9.= Downing _Fr. Trees Am._ 924. 1869. =10.= _Pom. France_ =7=: No. 22, fig. 1871. =11.= Mas _Le Verger_ =6=:69, fig. 35. 1866-73. =12.= Oberdieck _Deut. Obst. Sort._ 442. 1881. =13.= Lauche _Deut. Pom._ No. 2, Pl. 4, 22. 1882. =14.= Barry _Fr. Garden_ 412. 1883. =15.= _Cat. Cong. Pom. France_ 360. 1887. =16.= Mathieu _Nom. Pom._ 436. 1889. =17.= Wickson _Cal. Fruits_ 358. 1891. =18.= _Guide Prat._ 155, 362. 1895. =19.= _Oregon Sta. Bul._ =45=:23 fig. 1897. =20.= _Cornell Sta. Bul._ =131=:187, fig. 44. 1897. =21.= _Wash. Sta. Bul._ =38=:7, 8. 1899. =22.= _W. N. Y. Hort. Soc. Rpt._ =44=:92. 1899. =23.= Waugh _Plum Cult._ 111 fig. 1901. =24.= _U. S. D. A. Div. Pom. Bul._ =10=:6. 1901. =25.= _Mass. Sta. An. Rpt._ =17=:158. 1905.

_Altesse Double_ 8, 9, 10, 15, 18. _August Zwetsche_ 16. _Auguste Zwetsche_ 10, 18. _Blaue Riesenzwetsche_ 16, 18. _Bleue d’Italie_ 15. _Couetsche d’Italie_ 18. _Couetsche Fellenberg_ 10, 18. _D’Italie_ 18. _Double Blackpruim_ 16, 18. _Fausse Altesse_ 16, 18. Fellemberg 14. _Fellemberg_ 8, 16, 18. _Fellenberg_ 5, 9, 11, 16, 18, 19, 20, 23. _Fellenburg_ 22. Fellenberg 5, 6, 7, 9, 17. Fellenburg 25. _Feltemberg_ 10, 18. _Fellenberg Quetsche_ 16, 18. _Fellenberger Zwetsche_ 12, 13, 16, 18. _Grosse Früh Zwetsche?_ 16. _German Prune_ 19, 22. _Italienische Blaue Zwetsche_ 11, 16. _Italianische blaue zwetsche_ 18. _Italian Guetsche_ 10, 18. _Italian Prune_ 6, 7, 10, 11, 16, 17, 18, 25. _Italian Quetsche_ 8, 9, 15, 16. _Italianische Zwetsche_ 18. _Italienische Pflaumen Zwetsche_ 16. _Italienische Zwetsche_ 11, 13. _Italianische Zwetsche_ 10. _Italianische blanc Zwetsche_ 10. Italienische Zwetsche 12, 13, 16. _Large German Prune_ 17. _Prune d’Italie_ 8, 9, 10, 16. _Pflaume mit dem Pfirschenblatt_ 18. _Pflaume Mit dem Pfirsichblatt_ 16. _Prune Suisse_ 6. _Quetsche_ 18. _Quetsche Bleue d’Italie_ 10, 11, 16, 18. Quetsche d’Italie 1, 10, 11, 15, 18. _Quetsche d’Italie_ 3, 8, 9, 11, 16. _Schweizer Zwetsche_ 12, 13, 16. _Schweizerzwetsche_ 18. _Swiss Prune_ 17, 19, 22. _Semiana_ 8, 10, 16, 18. _Turkish Prune_ 22. _Zwetsche von Dätlikon_ 16, 18.

The Italian Prune is one of the most widely grown of all plums. Its home is Italy and it is grown in all of the plum regions of continental Europe; is well known in England; is third or fourth in popularity in the Atlantic States of America; is by long odds the leading plum in the Pacific Northwest where it is chiefly used in prune-making and is grown somewhat for prunes and for shipping green in California. There are several reasons why this plum is so popular. To begin with, it is finely flavored whether eaten out of hand, stewed or otherwise prepared for the table or cured as a prune. The fruit is a little too tart to be ranked as a first-rate dessert plum and yet it is one of the best of the prunes for this purpose, though it must be fully ripe to be fit for dessert; in cooking it changes to a dark, wine color, very attractive in appearance, with a most pleasant, sprightly flavor; as a cured prune the flesh is firm and meaty, yet elastic, of good color and a perfect freestone, making when cooked the same attractive looking, fine-flavored, sprightly sauce to be had from the green fruits; the prunes from this variety, too, are noted for long-keeping. In the uncured state the variety keeps and ships well. The trees are usually large, hardy, productive, well formed and bear regularly; yet they are not ideal and the variety fails chiefly in tree-characters. The trees are often capricious to soil and climate, do not always bear well, seem to be susceptible to diseases, are preyed upon by insects and suffer in particular from dry or hot weather. Were all of these troubles of the tree to befall the variety at one time it would of necessity give way to better sorts, but happily they are to be found for most part in illy-adapted conditions or in certain seasons; the Italian Prune well cared for in locations to which it is suited must long remain one of the leading plums despite the faults of the trees.

The Italian Prune originated in Italy at least a century ago and has long been common in northern Italy, especially in the vicinity of Milan. The London Horticultural Society catalog for 1831 first mentions it in England and the following year it was described in America by Prince as an excellent prune recently introduced from Europe. The American Pomological Society recommended it in 1856 as worthy of further testing and in 1862 it was added to the fruit catalog list of this society. The origin of the name Fellenberg, a very common synonym, is explained by Lauche[218] who says: “It came to Germany through a Mr. Fellenberg and is therefore spread under his name and also under the names Schweizerzwetsche and Fellenberger Zwetsche.” He further adds that the variety “is still not known in Germany as it deserves, considering its quality, size and productiveness.”

Tree of medium size, rather vigorous, spreading or upright, low-topped, hardy, usually productive; branches ash-gray, smooth, with small, raised lenticels; branchlets short, with internodes of medium length, greenish-red changing to brownish-drab, pubescent, with small lenticels; leaf-buds of medium size and length, conical, appressed; leaf-scars large.

Leaves folded upward, obovate or oval, two inches wide, four and one-half inches long; upper surface dark green, pubescent; lower surface silvery-green, heavily pubescent; apex and base acute, margin doubly crenate, with small, dark glands; petiole five-eighths inch long, above medium thickness, pubescent, tinged red, with from one to three globose, greenish-brown glands usually on the stalk.

Season of bloom intermediate and short; flowers appearing after the leaves, one and three-sixteenths inches across, in the buds tinged yellow, changing to white when expanded; borne on lateral spurs, rarely on lateral buds, singly or in pairs; pedicels three-quarters inch long, thick, pubescent, greenish; calyx-tube green, campanulate, pubescent at the base; calyx-lobes long and narrow, acute or narrowly obtuse, pubescent on both surfaces and along the glandular-serrate margin, reflexed, inclined to curl at the tips; petals oval or obovate, dentate, tapering to broad claws of medium length; anthers yellowish; filaments seven-sixteenths inch long; pistil pubescent at the base, equal to the stamens in length.

Fruit late, season short; one and seven-eighths inches by one and one-half inches in size, long-oval, enlarged on the suture side, slightly compressed, halves unequal; cavity very shallow and narrow, abrupt; suture shallow to medium; apex bluntly pointed; color purplish-black, overspread with very thick bloom; dots numerous, small, light brown, somewhat conspicuous; stem inserted at one side of the base, one inch in length, pubescent, adhering well to the fruit; skin thin, somewhat tough, separating readily; flesh greenish-yellow changing to yellow, juicy, firm, subacid, slightly aromatic; very good to best; stone free, smaller than the cavity, one inch by five-eighths inch in size, irregular-oval, flattened, roughened and pitted, necked at the base, abruptly tipped at the apex; ventral suture prominent, heavily ridged, sometimes strongly winged; dorsal suture widely and deeply grooved.

JAPEX

_Triflora_ ×

=1.= _N. Y. Exp. Sta. Rpt._ =12=:611. 1893.

Japanese Seedling X. 1.

This plum, parentage unknown, was received from Burbank by the New York Experiment Station in 1893 for testing, under the name Japanese Seedling X. While in no way wonderfully remarkable, its earliness, attractive color, good quality and productiveness have been such that it has been retained, the cumbersome name having been changed to Japex. The majority of the characters of the variety are plainly those of Triflora, yet the fruits in appearance would lead one to call it a Domestica.

Tree very large, vigorous, vasiform, very productive; branches slender, sparingly thorny; leaf-scars thick; leaf-buds unusually short; leaves obovate or ovate, two and one-quarter inches wide, four inches long; margin finely serrate varying to crenate, with few dark glands; blooming season short; flowers appearing before the leaves; borne in clusters on lateral buds and spurs, singly or in pairs.

Fruit very early, season short; one and one-eighth inches in diameter, roundish, dark purplish-red or purplish-black, covered with medium thick bloom; flesh light yellow, very juicy, somewhat melting, sweet next to the skin, but tart near the pit, aromatic; good; stone clinging, three-quarters inch by one-half inch in size, oval.

JEFFERSON

[Illustration: JEFFERSON]

_Prunus domestica_

=1.= Downing _Fr. Trees Am._ 279, 280 fig. 108. 1845, =2.= _Horticulturist_ =1=:11, 93. 1846. =3.= Floy-Lindley _Guide Orch. Gard._ 420. 1846. =4.= Thomas _Am. Fruit Cult._ 325, 326, fig. 251. 1849. =5.= _Mag. Hort._ =16=:453 fig. 25. 1850. =6.= Hovey _Fr. Am._ =2=:1, Pl. 1851. =7.= _Am. Pom. Soc. Cat._ 54. 1852. =8.= Elliott _Fr. Book_ 411. 1854. =9.= Thompson _Gard. Ass’t_ 518, Pl. 1. 1859. =10.= Mas _Le Verger_ =6=:17, Pl. 9. 1866-73. =11.= _Pom. France_ =7=: No. 28. 1871. =12.= Hogg _Fruit Man._ 707. 1884. =13.= Gaucher _Pom. Prak. Obst._ No. 95, Col. Pl. 1894. =14.= _Cornell Sta. Bul._ =131=:188. 1897.

_Bingham_ incor. 2, 8. Prune Jefferson 11.

Jefferson has long been popular in America and is highly spoken of by English, French and German pomologists as well, possibly ranking highest in the Old World of all Domesticas which have had their origin in America. The popularity of the variety is waning, however, chiefly because it is lacking in the essentials demanded in a market fruit. There can be no question as to the standing of Jefferson as to quality—it is one of the best of all dessert plums. Grown under favorable conditions and when fully ripe, it is a golden-yellow with a delicate blush and bloom, large for a plum in the Reine Claude group, a well-turned oval in shape, withal one of the handsomest plums. The color-plate maker did not do it justice. It fails as a market variety because the trees are late in coming in bearing, not always certain in bearing, a little particular as to soils and not quite hardy though one of the hardiest of all Reine Claudes. Both tree and fruit are too delicate for the market-grower and the market-men. As to its value for private places and fruit connoisseurs there can be no doubt—it is one of the choicest. It would seem that there should be a place for Jefferson for the fancy trade in the markets, as it would grace the show-window of any delicatessen store; but unfortunately there are few fruit-growers in America to cater to such a trade.

Jefferson was raised by a Judge Buel, Albany, New York, about 1825. The originator presented a tree of this variety to the Massachusetts Horticultural Society in 1829, and in 1841 trees were given to the London Horticultural Society which fruited in 1845. The parentage of the variety is unknown; Floy thought it was a seedling of Washington; Elliott suggested that it was “from a seed of Coe’s Golden Drop, which in growth and wood, it closely resembles.” In 1852, the American Pomological Society placed this variety on its catalog list of fruits worthy of general cultivation.

Tree medium to large, vigorous, spreading, open-topped, hardy at Geneva, productive; branches ash-gray, smooth, with small, numerous, lenticels; branchlets slender, short, with long internodes, greenish-red changing to dark brownish-red, dull, lightly pubescent, with inconspicuous, small lenticels; leaf-buds large, long, pointed, appressed.

Leaves folded upward, obovate, one and three-quarters inches wide, three and three-quarters inches long, thick; upper surface sparingly pubescent, with a grooved midrib; lower surface yellowish-green, pubescent; apex and base acute, margin serrate, with small, dark glands; petiole three-quarters inch long, tinged purplish-red along one side, glandless or with from one to three small, globose, yellowish glands usually on the stalk.

Season of bloom medium, short; flowers appearing after the leaves, one and one-eighth inches across, white; borne on lateral spurs, singly or in pairs; pedicels three-quarters inch long, pubescent, greenish; calyx-tube green, campanulate, glabrous, with a swollen ring at the base; calyx-lobes obtuse, pubescent on both surfaces, glandular-serrate and with fine marginal hairs, erect; petals roundish or obovate, dentate, tapering to very short and broad claws; anthers yellowish; filaments five-sixteenths inch long; pistil pubescent at the base, equal to the stamens in length.

Fruit mid-season, ripening period long; one and five-eighths inches by one and one-half inches in size, roundish-oval, not compressed, halves equal; cavity shallow, narrow, abrupt; suture very shallow, indistinct; apex roundish; color greenish-yellow, changing to bronze-yellow, sometimes with faint pink blush on the exposed cheek, often indistinctly streaked and mottled with green before full maturity; dots numerous, very small, gray or reddish, inconspicuous; stem seven-eighths inch long, thinly pubescent, adhering well to the fruit; skin thin, tough, slightly adhering; flesh deep yellow, juicy, firm but tender, sweet, mild, pleasant; very good; stone semi-free, one inch by three-quarters inch in size, flattened, broadly oval, abruptly tipped, with a short neck at the base, blunt at the apex, with rough and pitted surfaces; ventral suture heavily furrowed, winged; dorsal suture with a wide, deep groove.

JUICY

[Illustration: JUICY]

_Prunus munsoniana_ × _Prunus triflora_

=1.= Burbank _Cat._ 20. 1893. =2.= _Cal. State Bd. Hort._ 53. 1897. =3.= _Vt. Sta. Bul._ =67=:15. 1898. =4.= _Ohio Sta. Bul._ =113=:161. 1899. =5.= _Conn. Pom. Soc. Rpt._ 155. 1900. =6.= _Ohio Sta. Bul._ =162=:256. 257. 1905. =7.= _Mass. Sta. An. Rpt._ =17=:161. 1905.

Juicy has been widely tested and in general is considered of very little cultural importance, failing chiefly because of the inferior quality of the plums. The variety is an interesting cross, however, and has given a tree so much more vigorous and so much better adapted to orchard purposes than its native parent, quite equalling the Triflora parent in tree-characters, as to suggest the value of this cross for improving the trees of our native plums. This plum, like Golden, was grown by Luther Burbank from a seed of Robinson fertilized by pollen of Abundance. In 1893 the originator sold the new variety to John Lewis Childs, Floral Park, New York, who introduced it the following year. The variety has not escaped without some confusion as to its origin for its parentage has been published as a cross between Robinson and Kelsey.[219]

Tree very large, vigorous, spreading, open-topped, productive; branches sparingly thorny; leaves broadly oblanceolate or oval, one and one-quarter inches wide, three inches long; margin finely serrate or sometimes crenate, with dark reddish-glands; petiole short, slender, with from two to five globose glands on the stalk; blooming season of medium length; flowers appearing after the leaves, three-quarters inch across; borne in dense clusters on lateral buds and spurs, in threes or fours; anthers so numerous as to give a yellowish color to the flower-clusters.

Fruit mid-season, period of ripening long; one and three-quarters inches by one and three-eighths inches in size, nearly round, dark golden-yellow with bright red blush, covered with thin bloom; flesh golden-yellow, very juicy, melting, sweet next to the skin, but tart at the pit, aromatic; of fair quality; stone clinging, five-eighths inch by one-half inch in size, oval, turgid, with slightly pitted surfaces.

KELSEY

_Prunus triflora_

=1.= _Gard. Mon._ =24=:339. 1882. =2.= _U. S. D. A. Rpt._ 272. 1886. =3.= _Gard. Mon._ =29=:305, 335-367. 1887. =4.= _U. S. D. A. Rpt._ 635, 652. 1887. =5.= _Am. Pom. Soc. Rpt._ 95, 126. 1887. =6.= _Ga. Hort. Soc. Rpt._ 35. 1888. =7.= _Ibid._ 51, 99. 1889. =8.= _Rev. Hort._ 502, 542. 1890. =9.= _Am. Pom. Soc. Rpt._ 105, 106, 125. 1891. =10.= _Am. Gard._ =13=:700. 1892. =11.= _Cornell Sta. Bul._ =62=:3, 24. 1894. =12.= _Tex. Sta. Bul._ =32=:488 fig., 489. 1894. =13.= _Cornell Sta. Bul._ =106=:53. 1896. =14.= _Ala. Col. Sta. Bul._ =85=:447. 1897. =15.= _Am. Pom. Soc. Cat._ 41. 1899. =16.= Waugh _Plum Cult._ 137. 1901. =17.= _N. C. Sta. Bul._ =184=:120. 1903. =18.= _Ga. Sta. Bul._ =68=:15, 31. 1905.

_Botankin_ 7. Botankin 3. _Hattankio_ 7. Kelsey’s Japan 2, 3, 5. _Sinomo_ 7. _Togari_ 7.

Kelsey is distinguished as the largest, the latest and the tenderest to cold of all Triflora plums in America. The variety is not much hardier than the fig and cannot be safely planted north of Washington and Baltimore. The tree is vigorous, well formed and productive, having for its worst fault susceptibility to shot-hole fungus. The plums are large, very attractive in color and the flesh is firm, the plums being well fitted for shipping, with a rich, pleasant, aromatic flavor making the fruit very good in quality. In the South both curculio and brown-rot attack the fruits rather badly. It is unfortunate that this plum cannot be grown in this latitude.

Kelsey, the first of the Triflora plums introduced into America, was brought into the country by a Mr. Hough of Vacaville, California, in 1870, through the United States consul in Japan. John Kelsey of Berkeley, California, obtained trees from Hough and propagated it in his nursery to a limited extent. The first fruit was shown by Kelsey in 1877, though fruit is said to have been produced in 1876. In 1883, W. P. Hammon and Company, Oakland, California, secured stock of this plum from the heirs of Mr. Kelsey and the following year extensive sales were made. The plum was named in honor of the man who did most to bring it before the public. The American Pomological Society added the Kelsey to its fruit catalog list in 1889. The following description is compiled.

Tree vigorous, upright, vasiform, tender, productive, an early and regular bearer; leaves somewhat scant, small, lanceolate, narrow; blooming season early; fruit very late, season long; keeps and ships unusually well; large, cordate, conical, halves unequal; suture variable in depth; apex pointed; color rather unattractive yellow, tinged and splashed with red, often overspread with purple, with attractive bloom, more or less marked with conspicuous dots; stem sometimes adhering poorly to the fruit; skin tender; flesh delicate yellow, juicy, firm and meaty, rich, pleasant, aromatic; good to very good; stone clinging unless well ripened, small, in an irregular cavity larger than the pit.

KERR

_Prunus triflora_

=1.= _Ga. Hort. Soc. Rpt._ 52. 1889. =2.= _Am. Gard._ =12=:307, 501. 1891. =3.= _Ibid._ =13=:700. 1892. =4.= Kerr _Cat._ 1894. =5.= _Cornell Sta. Bul._ =62=:25. 1894. =6.= _Ga. Hort. Soc. Rpt._ 95. 1895. =7.= _Ala. Sta. Bul._ =85=:443. 1897. =8.= _Am. Pom. Soc. Cat._ 41. 1899. =9.= _Cornell Sta. Bul._ =175=:136. 1899. =10.= Waugh _Plum Cult._ 137. 1901. =11.= _Ga. Hort. Soc. Rpt._ XIII. 1904. =12.= _Ohio Sta. Bul._ =162=:256, 257. 1905.

Hattankio 1. _Hattankio_ 7. Hattankin No. 2. 2, 3. _Hattonkin No._ 2. 4, 5, 10. _Hattonkin_ 9. _Hattankio No._ 2. 6, 11. _Hattankio Oblong_ 9, 11. Hattankio 10. _Hattan_ 10. _Hytankio_ 10. _Hytan-Kayo_ 10.

Kerr is about the best of the yellow Trifloras and is one of the best of all early plums of its species. It is very productive, sometimes over-bearing, and should always be thinned. The quality of the plums is good and the fruits are attractive in appearance. The faults of the variety are that the fruits drop as they ripen, though they color if picked green, and in some localities the tree-characters are poor. This variety was imported from Japan by Frost and Burgess, Riverside, California, and was distributed under the group name Hattankio No. 2 or Hattonkin No. 2. As Georgeson was also distributed under the same name, though under a different number, confusion resulted. To better distinguish between the two, L. H. Bailey, in 1894, named Hattonkin No. 2 Kerr, in honor of J. W. Kerr, the noted plum specialist, of Denton, Maryland. In 1899 the variety was placed on the fruit catalog list of the American Pomological Society. The following description is compiled.

Tree large, vigorous, upright, very productive; leaves large, thick; blooming season late. Fruit early; of medium size unless thinned, when it becomes large, variable in form, but usually heart-shaped, yellow with thin bloom; skin thick; flesh yellow, firm, subacid, sweet; fair to good; stone clinging, of medium size, oval, turgid.

KING DAMSON

_Prunus insititia_

=1.= Watkins _Nur. Cat._ 48. 1892?. =2.= _Am. Gard._ =14=:146, 147. 1893. =3.= _Garden_ =53=:265. 1898. =4.= _Can. Exp. Farm Bul._ 2nd Ser. =3=:51. 1900. =5.= Thompson _Gard. Ass’t_ =4=:161. 1901.

Bradley’s King 5. Bradley’s King of Damsons 3. King of Damsons 1, 2.

The fruit of King Damson runs large for a Damson and the flavor is agreeable, so agreeable that the variety is really a very good dessert fruit late in the season. This Damson is little grown in America and deserves much wider cultivation. A peculiarity of the plum is that there is always more or less doubling of the petals. Very little is known regarding the history of this excellent variety, but it seems probable that it originated in Kent, England, where it is much grown.

Tree small, lacking in vigor, upright-spreading, dense-topped, usually productive; branchlets slender, pubescent; leaves folded upward, oval or slightly obovate, one inch wide, two and three-quarters inches long; margin serrate, usually with small dark glands; petiole with one or two glands on the stalk; blooming season intermediate, short; flowers appearing after the leaves, usually with more than five petals, one inch across, white with a yellow tinge at the apex; borne on lateral spurs or from lateral buds, singly or in pairs.

Fruit late, season long; one and one-eighth inches by seven-eighths inch in size, oval, slightly necked, black, with thick bloom; flesh greenish-yellow, juicy, firm, sprightly, becoming sweet late in the season; of good quality; stone clinging, five-eighths inch by three-eighths inch in size, irregular-ovate, slightly necked.

KIRKE

_Prunus domestica_

=1.= _Pom. Mag._ =3=:111, Pl. 1830. =2.= _Lond. Hort. Soc. Cat._ 149. 1831. =3.= Kenrick _Am. Orch._ 263. 1832. =4.= Downing _Fr. Trees Am._ 306. 1845. =5.= Floy-Lindley _Guide Orch. Gard._ 281, 382. 1846. =6.= _Mag. Hort._ =15=:488 fig. 43. 1849. =7.= Thompson _Gard. Ass’t_ 518, Pl. 1. 1859. =8.= Mas _Le Verger_ =6=:15, fig. 8. 1866-73. =9.= _Am. Pom. Soc. Cat._ 36. 1875. =10.= _Pom. France_ =7=: No. 26. 1871. =11.= _Flor. & Pom._ 47. 1876. =12.= Oberdieck _Deut. Obst. Sort._ 430. 1881. =13.= Lauche _Deut. Pom._ 16, Pl. IV. 1882. =14.= Hogg _Fruit Man._ 708. 1884. =15.= _Guide Prat._ 154, 358. 1895. =16.= _Gard. Chron._ =24=:19. 1898. =17.= Gaucher _Pom. Prak. Obst._ No. 96, Col. Pl. 1894. =18.= _Rev. Hort._ 500. 1898. =19.= _Soc. Nat. Hort. France Pom._ 536. 1904.

_De Kirke_ 15. Kirke’s 2, 4, 6, 7, 9, 14, 17. _Kirke’s_ 8, 10, 15, 17. Kirke’s Pflaume 12, 13. _Kirke’s Pflaume_ 8, 10, 15, 17. Kirke’s Plum 1, 5, 8, 10, 11, 16, 18. Kirk’s Plum 3, 5. _Kirke_ 17. _Kirke’s Plum_ 15, 17, 19. Prune de Kirke 18. _Prune de Kirke_ 8, 10, 17. _Prune Kirke_ 19.

All English descriptions of this variety rank it very high both as a dessert and a culinary plum. The variety stands well among the purple plums growing on the grounds of this Station, but since it has been grown in America eighty years, attaining a reputation only of being mediocre in most characters, it is probably not worth planting largely. It has many more worthy competitors in its class and season. Hogg, in the reference given, says the variety was introduced by Joseph Kirke, a nurseryman at Brompton, near London, who, he says, “told me he first saw it on a fruit stall near the Royal Exchange, and that he afterwards found the trees producing the fruit were in Norfolk, whence he obtained grafts and propagated it. But its true origin was in the grounds of Mr. Poupart, a market gardener at Brompton, on the spot now occupied by the lower end of Queen’s Gate and where it sprung up as a sucker from a tree which had been planted to screen an outbuilding. It was given to Mr. Kirke to be propagated and he sold it under the name it now bears.” The variety was introduced into America between 1830 and 1840. The American Pomological Society placed Kirke upon its list of rejected fruits in 1858, added it to the recommended list in 1875, and displaced it in 1899.

Tree large, vigorous, upright-spreading, hardy, productive; branchlets with long internodes, dull, marked with yellowish-brown scarf-skin; leaf-buds large, long, pointed, free; leaves flattened, obovate or oval, one and three-quarters inches wide, three and five-eighths inches long, thick, dark green; margin crenate, eglandular or with small, dark glands; petiole one inch long, tinged red, glandless or with from one to four small, yellowish-green glands; blooming season intermediate, short; flowers appearing after the leaves, one inch across; borne on lateral spurs, singly or in pairs; filaments seven-sixteenths inch long; pistil glabrous, shorter than the stamens.

Fruit mid-season, ripening period long; about one and five-eighths inches in diameter, roundish-ovate, dark purplish-black, overspread with thick bloom; flesh greenish-yellow, fibrous, firm, sweet, mild and pleasant; good to very good; stone nearly free, one inch by three-quarters inch in size, ovate or oval, flattened, roughened and deeply pitted, tapering abruptly to a short, pointed apex; ventral suture narrow, with a short but distinct wing; dorsal suture with a wide groove.

LAFAYETTE

_Prunus domestica_

=1.= Prince _Pom. Man._ =2=:96. 1832. =2.= Tucker’s _Gen. Farmer_ =3=:153. 1839. =3.= Elliott _Fr. Book_ 427. 1854. =4.= _Am. Pom. Soc. Rpt._ 222, 244. 1858. =5.= Hogg _Fruit Man._ 368. 1866. =6.= Downing _Fr. Trees Am._ 916. 1869. =7.= _Guide Prat._ 160, 359. 1895.

Gifford’s Lafayette 1, 4, 6. Gifford’s La Fayette 2, 3.

Lafayette originated in New York sometime in the first quarter of the last century with a Mr. Gifford from a stone of the Orleans. It did not become popular and was rejected by the American Pomological Society in 1858, but just why it failed is not apparent, judging either from the descriptions given in the above references or by its behavior in the orchard at this Station. The fruit is good, though not remarkable for the richness of its flavor, its size is large and the color attractive. Moreover it is so late as to stand almost alone in its season. A retrial of this old sort commercially might be worth while. The tree is interesting because of a marked tendency in the flowers to develop petals from the stamens.

Tree of medium size, round-topped, productive; branchlets stocky, with long internodes; leaf-scars large; leaves folded upward, oval or obovate, two inches wide, four inches long, rugose; margin crenate, with small, dark glands; petiole pubescent, tinged red, having at the most three small glands usually on the stalk; blooming season intermediate in time and length; flowers appearing after the leaves, one and one-quarter inches wide, creamy-white; borne in pairs; calyx-lobes long and slender.

Fruit very late, season long; one and one-half inches by one and three-eighths inches in size, oval, purplish-black, overspread with very thick bloom; flesh greenish-yellow, medium juicy, tender, sweet, mild and pleasant; of good quality; stone free or nearly so, one inch by five-eighths inch in size, irregular-oval, flattened, with an acute and slightly oblique apex.

LAIRE

_Prunus orthosepala?_

Laire is cultivated locally in Rooks and neighboring counties in Kansas and is highly spoken of by those who grow it. The description of the variety is made from information sent from the United States Department of Agriculture. For a further account of this plum the reader is referred to the discussion of _Prunus orthosepala_, page 97. The name is derived from that of the man who first brought the plums under cultivation some twenty or twenty-five years ago.

Tree dwarfish, dense-topped, not very productive; branches spiny, zigzag; branchlets thick, reddish-brown changing to dark brown; leaves oblong-ovate, light green, acuminate, with margins closely serrate and seldom with glandular teeth; petiole slender, one-half inch long, with two glands at the apex; flowers white or tinged with pink, appearing after the leaves; borne in threes or in fours; pedicels thick, one-half inch long; petals narrowly clawed; stamens orange.

Fruit mid-season; one and one-eighth inches in diameter, roundish, greenish-yellow overlaid with deep red, covered with thick bloom; skin thick; flesh yellow, meaty, juicy, mild subacid; good to very good; stone clinging, five-eighths inch by nine-sixteenths inch in size, flattened, oval, with rugose surfaces; grooved on the dorsal and ridged on the ventral suture.

LARGE ENGLISH

_Prunus domestica_

=1.= Oberdieck _Deut. Obst. Sort._ 443. 1881. =2.= Mathieu _Nom. Pom._ 429, 433. 1889.

Englische Zwetsche 2. _Grosse Englische Zwetsche_ 2. Grosse Englische Zwetsche 1, 2. _Grosse Englische Pflaumen Zwetsche_ 2. _Grosse Zwetsche?_ 2. _Schweizer Zwetsche_ 2 incor.

This appears to be a most excellent plum closely resembling the Italian Prune and surpassing that well-known variety in some respects. As compared with Italian Prune, the fruit of Large English runs larger, is slightly more conical, having the ventral swelling near the base, thus giving it more of a shoulder. The flavor is sweeter and richer than that of the Italian Prune. There appear to be practically no differences between the trees, the foliage and the flowers of the two kinds. Wherever the Italian is successfully grown it may be well worth while to try the Large English. The relation the word English has to this prune is unknown. Oberdieck, in 1881, wrote that this variety resembled the Italian Prune in fruit, but differed in that it had a noticeably broader leaf; he adds “it has been incorrectly called the Swiss Prune and is much spread in Germany under the name of Italian Prune.” E. R. Lake, of the United States Department of Agriculture, brought it to America, in 1901, from the Pomological Institute, Reutlingen, Wurtemburg, Germany. Lake’s stock was tested at this Station and the variety agrees with Oberdieck’s description.

Tree of average size, vigorous, upright-spreading, dense-topped, productive; branchlets with, long internodes; leaf-scars enlarged; leaves folded upward, oval or obovate, nearly one and three-quarters inches wide, three and one-half inches long, thick, rugose; margin crenate or almost serrate, eglandular or with small dark glands; petiole pubescent, tinged red, with from two to four globose glands; blooming season intermediate in time, short; flowers appearing after the leaves, one inch across; petals long, narrow, white, in the buds tipped with yellow; borne singly or in pairs; stamens tend to become petals.

Fruit late, season of medium length; one and three-quarters inches by one and one-half inches in size, long-ovate, purplish-black, with thick bloom; dots numerous, conspicuous; flesh yellowish with a trace of red at full maturity at both skin and stone, juicy, very sweet, aromatic, with a pleasant flavor; very good to best; stone free, the cavity larger than the pit, often brownish-red, one inch by five-eighths inch in size, irregular-oval, flattened, with an oblique apex; ventral suture prominent, usually with a distinct wing; dorsal suture with a wide, deep groove.

LATE MIRABELLE

_Prunus insititia_

=1.= _Lond. Hort. Soc. Cat._ 150. 1831. =2.= Barry _Fr. Garden_ 339. 1851. =3.= Downing _Fr. Trees Am._ 388. 1857. =4.= Hogg _Fruit Man._ 353. 1866. =5.= Downing _Fr. Trees. Am._ 901. 1869. =6.= _Pom. France_ =7=: No. 20. 1871. =7.= Mas _Le Verger_ =6=:7. 1866-73. =8.= _Cat. Cong. Pom. France_ 352. 1887. =9.= Mathieu _Nom. Pom._ 442, 449. 1889. =10.= _Guide Prat._ 162, 360. 1895. =11.= Baltet _Cult. Fr._ 493. 1908.

_Bricette_ 9. Bricetta 5. _Bricet_ 5, 9. _Bricette_ 6, 8, 10. _Brisette_ 6, 7, 10. Bricette 4. _Die Brisette_ 9. _Kleine Brisette_ 9. _La Bricette_ 9. Mirabelle Tardive 1, 3, 6, 7, 8, 10, 11. _Mirabelle Tardive_ 4, 5, 6, 9. Mirabelle d’Octobre 2. _Mirabelle d’Octobre_ 4, 5, 6, 8, 9, 10. October Mirabelle 9. _Petit Bricette_ 5, 9. _Petite Bricette_ 4, 6, 10. Runde Brisette 9. _Späte Mirabelle_ 6, 8, 9, 10.

In France, where all of the Mirabelles are highly esteemed, the Late Mirabelle is much grown because of its season. The variety is practically unknown in America, but, judging from its behavior at Geneva, well deserves widespread trial, as do all the Mirabelles. The history of this variety is unknown other than that it is an old sort, having been mentioned in the London Horticultural Society catalog as long ago as 1831. In 1851, Barry, of Rochester, New York, described the Mirabelle d’Octobre, which is identical with Late Mirabelle, and said that it had been recently introduced from France.

Tree medium in size and vigor, very hardy, productive; branches smooth; leaves small, oval, one and one-quarter inches wide, two inches long; margin finely serrate, with few, dark glands; petiole slender, glandless or with one or two glands at the base of the leaf.

Fruit late; small, roundish-oval, greenish-yellow, often with a light blush on the sunny side, covered with thin bloom; stem short, slender; flesh yellow, very juicy, aromatic, sweet; good; stone semi-free.

LATE MUSCATELLE

_Prunus domestica_

=1.= Lucas _Vollst. Hand. Obst._ 470. 1894. =2.= _Can. Exp. Farm Bul._ 2nd Ser. =3=:53. 1900. =3.= _U. S. D. A. Div. Pom. Bul._ =10=:22. 1901.

Late Muscatel 2. Späte Muskateller 3. Späte Muskatellerpflaume 1.

This variety was obtained by the United States Department of Agriculture from the Pomological Institute at Reutlingen, Germany, in 1900, and was soon after sent to this Station to test. In some respects, in fruit-characters in particular, the variety is promising, but not sufficiently so to recommend it to fruit-growers, even for trial.

Tree of medium size and vigor, upright-spreading, productive; branchlets thick; with short internodes, pubescent; leaf-scars prominent; leaves drooping, folded upward, obovate, one and five-eighths inches wide, three and three-eighths inches long, leathery; margin crenate, eglandular or with few, small, dark glands; petiole thick, pubescent, glandless or with from one to three glands; blooming season intermediate in time; and length; flowers appearing after the leaves, one inch across; borne in scattering clusters, singly or in pairs; petals white, creamy-white as they open; anthers tinged red.

Fruit late, season short; medium in size, roundish, slightly truncate, purplish-brown, splashed and mottled with russet about the base, overspread with thick bloom; flesh greenish-yellow, sweet; good to very good; stone often reddish, clinging, three-quarters inch by one-half inch in size, somewhat flat, irregular-oval, with slightly pitted surfaces.

LATE ORLEANS

[Illustration: LATE ORLEANS]

_Prunus domestica_

=1.= _Lond. Hort. Soc. Cat._ 151. 1831. =2.= _Mag. Hort._ 164. 1843. =3.= _Jour. Hort._ N. S. =15=:301. 1868. =4.= Downing _Fr. Trees Am._ 927. 1869. =5.= _Guide Prat._ 161, 360. 1895. =6.= _Garden_ =49=:268. 1896. =7.= Rivers _Cat._ 33. 1898.

_Black Orleans_ 1, 2, 5. Late Black Orleans 3, 4. _Late Black Orleans_ 5. _Late Orleans_ 5. Monsieur Noir Tardif 5. _Orleans Late Black_ 5.

This is another variety having only a European reputation to recommend it in America. The fruits of Late Orleans are handsome in color and shape, but are not large enough to enable them to compete in the markets with other late purple plums and are so poor in quality as to be worthless as dessert fruits. In Europe the variety is rated high for culinary purposes and fruit-growers there like it because it hangs well to the tree and keeps and ships well. The trees are very satisfactory in practically all respects. It is doubtful if the variety is worth further trial in America.

Late Orleans was mentioned in the catalog of the Horticultural Society of London in 1831, but was not described. No account seems to have ever been published of its origin, but it is probably related to or descended from the Orleans since they are very similar in tree and shape of fruit, differing only in size and color of fruit.

Tree large, vigorous, round-topped, hardy, very productive; branches smooth, dark ash-gray, with numerous, small lenticels; branchlets medium to slender, with long internodes, greenish-red changing to dull reddish-brown, dull, pubescent, marked with gray scarf-skin and with small lenticels; leaf-buds intermediate in size and length, conical, appressed.

Leaves flattened, oval or obovate, one and one-quarter inches wide, two and one-quarter inches long; upper surface sparingly pubescent, with a deeply grooved midrib; lower surface heavily pubescent along the midrib; apex abruptly pointed, base broadly cuneate, margin finely crenate, with small, dark glands; petiole one-half inch long, slender, pubescent, faintly tinged with red, glandless or with from one to four small, globose, yellowish glands usually on the stalk.

Flowers appearing after the leaves, one inch across, white; borne on lateral buds and spurs, singly or in pairs; pedicels one-half inch long, glabrous, greenish; calyx-tube, green, obconic, glabrous; calyx-lobes obtuse, pubescent, glandular-serrate and with marginal hairs, erect; petals roundish or broadly ovate, entire, short-clawed; anthers yellow with a reddish tinge; filaments five-sixteenths inch long; pistil glabrous, equal to the stamens in length.

Fruit late, season long; about one and one-half inches in diameter, roundish, slightly compressed, halves equal; cavity shallow, narrow, flaring; suture a line; apex roundish; color dark purple, overspread with thick bloom; dots few, reddish-brown; stem three-quarters inch long, pubescent at the base, adhering well to the fruit; skin toughish, slightly astringent, separating readily; flesh golden-yellow, dry, tender, sweet, mild; fair in quality; stone clinging, one inch by five-eighths inch in size, oval, flattened, slightly roughened, blunt at the base and apex; ventral suture rather narrow, blunt; dorsal suture widely and deeply grooved.

LAWRENCE

_Prunus domestica_

=1.= _Cultivator_ =10=:167. 1843. =2.= _Am. Pom. Soc. Cat._ 54. 1852. =3.= Elliott _Fr. Book_ 412. 1854. =4.= Downing _Fr. Trees Am._ 928. 1869. =5.= _Pom. France_ =7=: No. 29. 1871. =6.= Mas _Le Verger_ =6=:75. 1866-73. =7.= Hogg _Fruit Man._ 710. 1884. =8.= _Cat. Cong. Pom. France_ 349. 1887. =9.= _Guide Prat._ 364. 1895. =10.= Waugh _Plum Cult._ 112. 1901.

_Favorite de Lawrence_ 6, 9. _Lawrence Favorite_ 5. _Lawrences Reine Claude_ 9. Lawrence’s Favorite 1, 2, 3, 4, 7. _Lawrence’s Gage_ 1, 3, 4, 6, 7, 9. _Lawrence’s Favorite_ 6, 8, 9, 10. Lawrence Gage 8. Prune Lawrence Gage 5. Reine-Claude de Lawrence 6, 9. _Reine-Claude de Lawrence_ 4, 5, 8.

This variety is surpassed in the quality of its fruits by few plums. The trees bear young and abundantly and the fruit hangs well on the tree; unfortunately, the plums do not ship nor keep well and the variety thus fails as a market sort. It is, however, a delicious dessert fruit, deserving to be grown in every plum connoisseur’s garden. Lawrence is a seedling of Reine Claude, and was grown by L. V. Lawrence of Hudson, New York, some time during the second quarter of the last century. As its large size and superior quality became known its popularity increased, until it was cultivated not only in America, but to some extent throughout western Europe. During the last twenty-five years, however, it has waned in popularity, having been superseded by better commercial varieties, though it still ranks high as a dessert plum. The American Pomological Society placed Lawrence in its catalog in 1852, and retained it there until 1899.

Tree large, vigorous, upright-spreading, productive; trunk and branches rough, with large lenticels; branchlets brash, dark reddish-brown, pubescent; leaves folded upward, oval, two inches wide, three and three-quarters inches long, thick, leathery, rugose; margin doubly serrate, with small glands; petiole pubescent, usually with two small glands.

Fruit medium early; one and three-eighths inches in diameter, roundish, greenish-yellow, covered with thin bloom; skin thin, tender, slightly astringent; flesh yellowish, fibrous, tender, sweet, aromatic; very good; stone free, seven-eighths inch by five-eighths inch in size, oval, turgid, nearly smooth.

LINCOLN

_Prunus domestica_

=1.= Lovett _Cat._ fig. 44. 1890-1900. =2.= _Rural N. Y._ =56=:595 fig. 253, 598. 1897. =3.= _Mich. Sta. Bul._ =169=:242, 246. 1899. =4.= _Ohio Sta. Bul._ =113=:159. 1899. =5.= _Can. Exp. Farm Bul._ 2d Ser. =3=:53. 1900. =6.= Waugh _Plum Cult._ 114. 1901. =7.= Budd-Hansen _Am. Hort. Man._ 317, 318 fig. 1903. =8.= _Am. Pom. Soc. Rpt._ 254. 1903. =9.= _Ohio Sta. Bul._ =162=:236, 238 fig., 256, 257. 1905. =10.= _Mass. Sta. An. Rpt._ =17=:159. 1905.

Lincoln has never been popular in New York, but in Pennsylvania and New Jersey it is well thought of for home use and the markets. The trees in this State grow slowly and when fully grown are rather inferior. This is one of the sorts recommended to be top-worked on better growing varieties but, as has been said before in these notes, top-working in New York is far more often a failure than a success with plums. The fruit of this variety is unusually attractive in size and color and for quality it may be named among the best of the red plums. Unfortunately, the variety is readily infected by the brown-rot which when epidemic cannot be controlled. Lincoln has been so well tested in New York without becoming popular with plum-growers that it is hardly worth recommending for further trial, though the fruits in particular have much merit.

This plum originated in York County, Pennsylvania, about forty-five years ago, supposedly from seed of the Reine Claude, and was named after Abraham Lincoln. If it be a Reine Claude seedling it comes from a cross with some other variety, since it shows many characters not in Reine Claude. Lincoln was introduced by J. T. Lovett and Company, Little Silver, New Jersey.

Tree of medium size, vigorous, upright-spreading, but somewhat variable in habit, dense-topped, hardy, productive; branches ash-gray, rough; branchlets somewhat slender, short, with long internodes, greenish-red changing to brownish-red, dull, sparingly pubescent throughout the season, overspread with thin bloom, with small, inconspicuous lenticels; leaf-buds large, long, pointed, free; leaf-scars prominent.

Leaves somewhat folded backward, oval or obovate, two inches wide, four inches long, rather stiff; upper surface slightly rugose, pubescent only in the shallow, grooved midrib; lower surface silvery-green, pubescent; apex abruptly pointed, base acute, margin doubly crenate, with small, dark glands; petiole nearly one inch long, pubescent, reddish, with from one to four rather large, globose or reniform, yellowish glands variable in position.

Season of bloom medium; flowers appearing after the leaves, over one inch across, white; borne on lateral spurs and buds, singly or in pairs; pedicels about seven-eighths inch long, slender, pubescent, greenish; calyx-tube green, campanulate, thinly pubescent; calyx-lobes broad, acute, somewhat pubescent on both surfaces, glandular-serrate, with marginal hairs, reflexed; petals oval, crenate, with claws of medium width; anthers yellow; filaments three-eighths inch or more in length; pistil glabrous, shorter than the stamens.

Fruit early, season short; somewhat variable but averaging about two inches by one and five-eighths inches in size, oblong-oval, slightly necked, halves usually equal; cavity very shallow, narrow, abrupt; suture shallow; apex roundish or depressed; color light or dark red over a yellow ground, overspread with thin bloom; dots numerous, small, light russet; stem one inch long, lightly pubescent, adhering poorly to the fruit; skin thick, rather sour, separating readily; flesh greenish-yellow, juicy, coarse and fibrous, firm but tender, sweet, mild, pleasant; good to very good; stone nearly free, one and one-eighth inches by five-eighths inch in size, long-oval, flattened, necked at the base, blunt at the apex, with markedly rough and deeply pitted surfaces; ventral suture narrow, distinctly furrowed, with a short wing; dorsal suture with a narrow groove of medium depth.

LOMBARD

[Illustration: LOMBARD]

_Prunus domestica_

=1.= Kenrick _Am. Orch._ 268. 1832. =2.= _Ibid._ 224. 1841. =3.= Downing _Fr. Trees Am._ 303 fig. 124. 1845. =4.= Thomas _Am. Fruit Cult._ 345 fig. 265. 1849. =5.= Goodrich _N. Fr. Cult._ 84. 1849. =6.= Elliott _Fr. Book_ 412. 1854. =7.= _Am. Pom. Soc. Rpt._ 190, 210. 1856. =8.= Downing _Fr. Trees Am._ 929 fig. 1869. =9.= Mas _Le Verger_ =6=:151, fig. 76. 1866-73. =10.= _Country Gent._ =48=:981. 1883. =11.= Mathieu _Nom. Pom._ 423. 1889. =12.= _Guide Prat._ 160, 359. 1895. =13.= _Mich. Sta. Bul._ =169=:242, 246. 1899. =14.= _Ia. Sta. Bul._ =46=:279. 1900. =15.= Waugh _Plum Cult._ 114 fig. 1901. =16.= _Can. Exp. Farm Bul._ =43=:34. 1903. =17.= _Ohio Sta. Bul._ =162=:240, 256, 257. 1905.

_Beekman’s Scarlet_ 3, 6, 8, 11, 12. _Bleecker’s Scarlet_ 3, 4, 6, 8, 12. _Bleeker’s Scarlet_ 11. Bleeker’s Rotepflaume 11. _Bleekers Rothe Pflaume_ 12. _Bleeckers Rothe Pflaume_ 9. _Lombard_ 11. _Lombard Plum_ 1. _Montgomery Prune_ 8, 11. _Prune Rouge De Bleeker_ 9, 11. _Rouge de Bleecker_ 12. _Spanish King?_ 14, 15. Variegated Plum 1.

The Lombard plum is known by all. It is not as largely planted in New York as a few other varieties, but it is probably more widely grown than any other plum if the whole continent be considered. The preeminently meritorious characters which enable it to take first place in American plum-growing are: The elasticity of its constitution whereby it adapts itself to widely different soils and climates; the robustness, healthiness, productiveness and regularity in bearing of its trees; the fact that the fruits are comparatively free from the scourge of the crescent sign, plum-curculio; and, lastly, its showy fruits tempting to the eye and readily salable. The tree-characters of Lombard are all good, making so superior a tree that it, more than any other variety, is recommended as a stock upon which to graft weak-growing plums. It is a virile variety and from it have come a considerable number of offspring mostly from self-fertilized seeds which have given us several nearly related varieties and strains. There are also a few very good cross-bred plums of which Lombard was one parent. Lombard would be preeminently the plum “for the millions” were it not for a fatal fault—it is very poor in quality. Canned, cooked, preserved or spiced, it does very well, but as a dessert fruit it falls in a category with the Ben Davis apple and Kieffer pear, “good-looking but poor.” The variety ripens so early as to come in direct competition with the peach and this hurts it not a little as a market plum. To be at its best the crop should be thinned and should be allowed to ripen fully on the trees. Lombard is now much used in the canneries in New York and is also planted in home orchards where only hardy plums stand the climate. In the markets it is usually a low-priced plum.

Lombard was raised by Judge Platt, Whitesboro, New York, from seed received from Amsterdam (References, 2). Another writer (References, 10) reports that the trees were brought over from Holland by some of the earliest Dutch settlers of Utica and Whitesboro. The name was given to the plum about 1830 by the Massachusetts Horticultural Society in honor of Daniel Lombard of Springfield, who was the first to propagate the variety in that state. It was previously well known in New York as Bleecker’s Scarlet (References, 3), but was never formally described under that name which must, therefore, though the older, be discarded. In 1856, it was placed on the recommended list by the American Pomological Society. Several varieties, as Communia, Tatge, Spanish King and Odell, are very similar, if not identical to the Lombard and, consequently, have caused much confusion in the nomenclature of the variety. This similarity is probably explained by the fact that the Lombard produces seedlings very nearly true to type. Professor J. L. Budd, in a letter written in 1898 to this Station, says, “The fruit of Communia is much like that of Lombard, but this can be said of a hundred or more east European varieties.” Professor Budd had traveled much in Europe and knew plums very well. His statement, therefore, is entitled to credence and indicates, together with other circumstances, that Lombard is one of an old group of plums the varieties of which are very similar.

Tree of medium size, round-topped, very hardy, productive; branches stocky, dark ash-gray, smooth, with few, small lenticels; branchlets thick, medium to long, with long internodes, greenish-red changing to dull brownish-red, marked with gray scarf-skin, glabrous early in the season, becoming pubescent at maturity, with a few, inconspicuous, small lenticels; leaf-buds of medium size and length, conical, appressed; leaf-scars prominent.

Leaves long-oval or long-obovate, one and five-eighths inches wide, three and one-half inches long, medium to thick; upper surface dark green, thinly pubescent, with a grooved midrib; lower surface silvery-green, lightly pubescent; apex acute, base somewhat tapering, margin often doubly serrate, eglandular or with small, dark glands; petiole one-half inch long, thick, tinged red, pubescent, glandless or with one or two globose, yellowish-green glands usually at the base of the leaf.

Blooming season short; flowers appearing after the leaves, one inch across, the buds creamy-yellow, changing to white on expanding; borne in clusters on short, lateral spurs, singly or in pairs; pedicels nine-sixteenths inch long, slender, nearly glabrous; calyx-tube greenish, campanulate, pubescent only at the base; calyx-lobes obtuse, pubescent on both surfaces, glandular-serrate, strongly reflexed; petals oval, entire or occasionally notched at the apex, short-clawed; anthers yellow; filaments five-sixteenths inch long; pistil pubescent only on the ovary, longer than the stamens.

Fruit mid-season, ripening period long; one and three-quarters inches by one and five-eighths inches in size, oval or roundish-oval, slightly compressed, halves unequal; cavity narrow, abrupt, roundish; suture usually a line; apex roundish or flattened; color light to dark purplish-red, overspread with thick bloom; dots numerous, small, light russet; stem slender, three-quarters inch long, adhering well to the fruit; skin thin, tender, separating readily; flesh yellowish, juicy, slightly fibrous, firm and sweet, mild; inferior in quality; stone semi-free to free, one inch by five-eighths inch in size, dark colored, oval, flattened, roughened; base and apex acute; ventral suture slightly furrowed, acute; dorsal suture widely and rather deeply grooved.

LONG FRUIT

_Prunus triflora_

=1.= Wild Bros. _Cat._ 27. 1892. =2.= _Cornell Sta. Bul._ =62=:26. 1894. =3.= _Am. Pom. Soc. Cat._ 26. 1897-99. =4.= Waugh _Plum Cult._ 138. 1901.

Long Fruited 1.

Long Fruit is noted among the leading varieties of plums in _The Plums of New York_ chiefly to condemn it. On the grounds of this Station and elsewhere in New York where tested, the trees are unproductive, the crop drops badly and the fruits are small and poor in quality. The variety was imported from Japan in 1885 by Luther Burbank.

Tree large, vigorous, vasiform to spreading, unproductive; branches roughened by numerous raised lenticels; branchlets slender, with short internodes, glabrous, marked by scarf-skin; leaves oblanceolate, somewhat peach-like, one inch wide, two and one-half inches long, thin; margin finely crenate, with small, amber glands; petiole slender, tinged with red, glandless or with from one to five small glands usually on the stalk; blooming season early; flowers appearing after the leaves, seven-eighths inch across; borne singly or in pairs; calyx-tube much swollen at the base.

Fruit early; one inch by one and one-eighth inches in size, roundish-oblate; cavity deep; color dark red over a yellow ground, covered with thin bloom; stem slender, adhering poorly to the fruit; skin thick, somewhat astringent; flesh greenish-yellow or pale yellow, tender, sweet, mild; poor in quality; stone semi-clinging, small, one-half inch by three-eighths inch in size, roundish-oval, turgid, blunt at the base, the apex terminating abruptly in a small, sharp point, with smooth surfaces.

LUCOMBE

_Prunus domestica_

=1.= _Pom. Mag._ =3=:99. 1830. =2.= Downing _Fr. Trees Am._ 281. 1845. =3.= Floy-Lindley _Guide Orch. Gard._ 284, 383. 1846. =4.= _Am. Pom. Soc. Cat._ 222. 1858. =5.= Hogg _Fruit Man._ 711. 1884. =6.= _Guide Prat._ 163, 358. 1895. =7.= Waugh _Plum Cult._ 117. 1901. =8.= Budd-Hansen _Am. Hort. Man._ 320. 1903.

Incomparable de Lucombe 6. Lucombe’s Nonesuch 2, 3, 5. Lucombe’s Nonsuch 1, 4. _Lucombe’s Nonsuch_ 6, 7. _Lucombe’s Unvergleichliche_ 6. _Lucombe’s Nonesuch_ 8. Luccombe’s Nonesuch 3. Nonsuch 7. Nonesuch 8.

This old plum has a reputation of high excellence and is well entitled to it. Despite the fact that it must compete for favor with such estimable plums as Reine Claude, Washington and Hand, belonging to the same group with these, it is still much grown in England and is well thought of for home use in America. Hardly in accordance with its reputation, it was rejected by the American Pomological Society in 1858 for a place in its list of fruits. Lucombe originated as a seedling about 1825 with a Mr. Lucombe of Lucombe, Prince and Company, nurserymen, at Exeter, England, and was first described by Lindley in 1830 in the _Pomological Magazine_.

Tree large, of medium vigor, upright-spreading, productive; branches covered with numerous fruit-spurs; twigs very short, with heavy pubescence; leaves one and three-quarters inches wide, three and one-quarter inches long, dark green; margin finely serrate or crenate, with small, dark glands; petiole pubescent, glandless or with one or two small glands usually at the base of the leaf; blooming season intermediate, short; flowers appearing after the leaves; petals with a yellowish tinge as the buds unfold; borne on long naked spurs with tufts of leaves and flowers at the ends, singly or in pairs.

Fruit mid-season, period of ripening long; one and three-eighths inches by one and one-half inches in size, roundish-oblate or roundish-obovate, greenish-yellow, becoming golden-yellow, indistinctly splashed and streaked with green, covered with thin bloom; flesh golden-yellow, firm, sweet, pleasant, mild; very good; stone free, three-quarters inch by five-eighths inch in size, roundish, slightly necked, with pitted surfaces.

MAQUOKETA

[Illustration: MAQUOKETA]

_Prunus hortulana mineri_

=1.= _Mich. Pom. Soc. Rpt._ 290. 1889. =2.= _Ia. Hort. Soc. Rpt._ 55, 85. 1890. =3.= _Cornell Sta. Bul._ =38=:40. 1892. =4.= _Mich. Sta. Bul._ =118=:53. 1895. =5.= _Ibid._ =123=:20. 1895. =6.= _Ia. Sta. Bul._ =31=:346. 1895. =7.= _Wis. Sta. Bul._ =63=:46. 1897. =8.= Budd-Hansen _Am. Hort. Man._ 298. 1903. =9.= _Ga. Sta. Bul._ =67=:277. 1904. =10.= _Ohio Sta. Bul._ =162=:256, 257. 1905.

Maquoketa is distinguished as one of the best of the native plums for culinary purposes. Nearly all of the plums brought in from the wild in America have so much astringency, most of it coming from the skins, that they are impalatable to some. Now and then a variety is nearly free from this disagreeable taste and Maquoketa is one of these. The quality, as a dessert fruit, is very good for a native and the fruits keep and ship well. In the South the plums are subject to both curculio and brown-rot. The trees, like those of nearly all of the Miner-like plums, are rather better formed and more adaptable to orchard conditions than those of other species. After the Americana and Nigra plums, Maquoketa is one of the hardiest of our native varieties, growing even in Minnesota. The variety belongs in the South and Middle West and there are few, if any, places in New York where it is worth growing.

The origin of this plum is uncertain. It is reported in the references given as a native found on the banks of the Maquoketa River in eastern Iowa and also as a Miner seedling grown under cultivation. It has been known to fruit-growers since about 1889.

Tree of medium size and vigor, spreading, low-topped, open, hardy, variable in productiveness, susceptible to attacks of shot-hole fungus, the trunk shaggy; branches slender, rough, zigzag, with few thorns, dark, dull ash-gray, with numerous lenticels; branchlets slender, long, with internodes of medium length, green, changing to dull reddish-brown, glabrous, with numerous, conspicuous, small, slightly raised lenticels; leaf-buds very small, short, obtuse, appressed.

Leaves falling early, folded upward, broadly lanceolate, peach-like, one and three-quarters inches wide, four and one-half inches long; upper surface light green, changing to a dull red late in the fall, glossy, glabrous, with a narrowly grooved midrib and veins; lower surface silvery-green, thinly pubescent; apex taper-pointed, base rather abrupt; margin with serrations in two series, with very small, black glands; petiole five-eighths inch long, tinged with dull red, hairy, with from one to four globose, rather large, dark brownish-yellow glands.

Blooming season late and of medium length; flowers appearing after the leaves, one inch across, yellowish as the buds begin to open, changing to white, with a disagreeable odor; borne in clusters on lateral spurs and buds, varying from two to four flowers in a cluster; pedicels five-eighths inch long, slender, glabrous, greenish; calyx-tube green, narrowly campanulate, glabrous; calyx-lobes narrow, slightly obtuse, nearly glabrous on the outer surface, but pubescent within, serrate, with dark colored glands and marginal hairs, reflexed; petals oval or ovate, with long, tapering claws of medium width, sparingly hairy at the base; anthers yellowish; filaments seven-sixteenths inch in length; pistil glabrous, slender, shorter than the stamens.

Fruit late, ripening period short; below medium in size, ovate or roundish-ovate, halves equal; cavity shallow, rather wide, rounded, flaring; suture a distinct line; apex roundish or slightly pointed; colors some time before fully ripe becoming dark carmine, covered with thin bloom; dots numerous, small to medium, light brown, clustered about the apex; stem rather slender, glabrous, parting readily; skin thick, tough, astringent, semi-adherent, removing a thin layer of pulp when detached; flesh deep yellow, juicy, coarse, fibrous, nearly melting next to the skin, becoming firmer toward the center, sweet at first but astringent near the pit, with a strong flavor; inferior in quality; stone adhering, of medium size, oval, turgid, bluntly pointed at the base and apex, with slightly roughened surfaces; ventral suture acute, ridged; dorsal suture a narrow, shallow groove.

MARIANNA

[Illustration: MARIANNA]

_Prunus cerasifera_ × ?

=1.= _Ga. Hort. Soc. Rpt._ 28. 1886. =2.= _Gard. Mon._ =29=:148. 1887. =3.= _Am. Pom. Soc. Cat._ 38. 1889. =4.= _Neb. Hort. Soc. Rpt._ 56. 1889. =5.= _Ill. Hort. Soc. Rpt._ 63. 1890. =6.= _Cornell Sta. Bul._ =38=:66, fig., 71, 83, 86. 1892. =7.= _Tex. Sta. Bul._ =32=:479, 480 fig. 1894. =8.= _Rev. Hort._ 278. 1894. =9.= _Rural N. Y._ =54=:600. 1895. =10.= _Mich. Sta. Bul._ =152=:210. 1898. =11.= Bailey _Ev. Nat. Fruits_ 208, 213. 1898. =12.= _Vt. Sta. An. Rpt._ =13=:336-369. 1900. =13.= Waugh _Plum Cult._ 36, 232. 1901. =14.= _Ga. Sta. Bul._ =67=:277. 1904. =15.= _S. Dak. Sta. Bul._ =93=:67. 1905.

Marianna has little or no value for its fruit. It is illustrated and discussed at length in _The Plums of New York_ for two reasons. First, because it has long been an enigma which has baffled both horticulturists and botanists; second, because it is extensively used as a stock upon which other kinds of plums are propagated. In 1884, a plum of unknown species was introduced to the trade. Some said the new variety belonged to _Prunus cerasifera_ and others that it was an offspring of some native species. The characters of the first named species are so apparent in Marianna that all are now agreed that this variety is from either a self or a cross-fertilized seed of _Prunus cerasifera_; if the latter the other parent must have been some native species, the particular variety possibly being Wild Goose, one of the Munsoniana plums. Its behavior on these grounds, its robustness and semi-sterility and its not fitting exactly into any known species, mark it as a hybrid. A curious character peculiar to this variety is that it grows very readily from cuttings and for this reason it is a cheap stock for plums of all kinds and is used even for peaches and apricots. Besides rooting readily, the Marianna does not sprout and may be budded as late or later than the peach. It is chiefly used in propagation in the South, but, for reasons stated in the discussion of stocks in