WILLIAM liitUEHT I'HIXCE State of New York Dep/Vrtmentt of Agriojlture Eighlpcnth Annual Report — Vol. 3 - Part II TI PLUMS OF NEW YORK BY U. P. HEDRICK ASSlSTiX) BY R. WELUNCTON O. M. TAYLOR LIBRaRV W. H. ALDERMAN ''^^ ^"'<'' Report of the New York A^icultural fCjtperiment Station for the Year 1910 II ALBANY J. B. LYCXM COMPANY. STATE I-RINTERS 1911 ,'P7 ^4455 C.3 NEW YORK A(}RICLLTUR.\L KXI'ERIMKNT STATION. Gknkva. N. v.. December 31. 19 10. To the Honorable Board of Control oj the A'ra- York Agriculiural Experi- ment Station: Gextlk.mkn:— I have the honor to transmit herewith Part II of the report of this institution for the year 1910, to be kno\\Ti as The Plunis oj Scu' York. This constitutes the third in the series of fruit publi- cations that is being prepared under your authority. The data embodied in the volume are the result of long-continued studies and observations at this institution as well as throughout the State, to which has been added a large amount of information that commercial plum-growers have ver>' kindly furnished. The attempt has been made to produce a monograph including all the cultivated plums, and it is hoped that the result will be recognized as a worthy advance in the literature of this class of fruits. W. n. JORDAN, Director. NEW YORK AGRICULTURAL EXPERIMENT STATION. GENEVA. N. Y. A Correction in "The Plunis of New York." * >n pa^o i.ji, i.\2 and 5.S1. ".Althaiu" should read Ahhann". Kindly note the correction in the book. (Signed) U. P. HKDKICK. HV455 CO n. NEW YORK A(}RICTLTLRAL EXPERIMENT STATION. Geneva, N. Y.. December 31. 1910. To lite Honorable Board 0} Control of the \'r.v York Agricultural Experi- ment Station: Gentlemen:— I have the honor to transmit hcrt-wiih Part II of the report of this institution for the year 1910, to be known as The Plums of Xew York. This constitutes the third in the scries of fruit publi- cations that is being prepared under your authority. The data embodied in the volume are the result of long-continued studies and obscr\-ations at this institution as well as throughout the State, to which has been added a large amount of information that commercial plum-growers have very kindly furnished. The attempt has been made to produce a monograph including all the cultivated plums, and it is hoped that the result will be recognized as a worthy ad\'ancc in the litcratvu-c of this class of fruits. W. H. JORDAN. Director. PREFACE The Plums of New York is the third monograph of the frtiits of this region pubUshed by the New York Agricultural Experiment Station. The aims of these books have been stated in full in The Grapes of New York, but it is considered best to re-state some of these briefly and to indicate some features in which the book on plums differs from the one on grapes. Broadly speaking, the aim has been to make The Plums of New York a record of our present knowledge of cultivated plums. The book has been written for New York but its contents are so general in character that the work applies to the whole country and more or less to the world. The first chapter is a historical account and a botanical classification of plums ; the second, a discussion of the present status of plum-growing in America; while the third and fourth are devoted to varieties of plums. The first and last two of these chapters contain the synonjony and biblio- graphy of the species and varieties of plums. In the foot-notes running through the book biographical sketches are given of the persons who have contributed most to plum culture in America; here may be fotmd also matters pertaining to plums not properly included in the text but necessary for its best understanding. Important varieties, so considered from various standpoints, with the bark and the flowers of several species, are illus- trated in colors. The Plums of New York is a horticultural and not a botanical work. But in a study of the fruit from a horticultural standpoint one must of necessity consider botanical relationships. It is hoped that in this en- forced systematic study of plums, however, something has been added to the botanical knowledge of this fruit. In classifying the varieties and species, to show their characters and relationships, the author has chosen to dispose of the groups in accordance with his own views though the arrangement adopted is, for most part, scarcely more than a modification of existing classifications. Attention must be called to the indefiniteness of species and varieties of plvuns due chiefly to the extreme responsiveness of the plants to environ- ment. On each side of the specific or varietal types there are wide ranges of variation. Since the relationships between types are often very close it is impossible to avoid some confusion in cliaracters, for outliers of the types cannot but overlap. It might be well said that these outliers are connecting links and that groups so connected should be combined, but this would make specific division of the genus and varietal division of the species almost impossible. The groups must, therefore, be sepa- rated along more or less arbitrary lines. But such arbitrary separation does not prevent natural gi'oups, if nature be broadly interpreted. The chief value of the work in hand lies in its discussion of varieties. In the descriptions the aim has been to give as tersely as possible an idea of all of the characters of the plums described. With very few exceptions the technical descriptions of varieties are original and were made by those who have taken active part in the preparation of this book. Nearly all of the varieties having full descriptions grow on the Station grounds but whenever possible specimens of each variety from different localities have been compared with those growing here. A special effort has been made to give as exactly as possible the regions in which the species and varieties of plums grow. Such an effort is made under the belief that this knowledge is of great value in the study of the factors which govern the distribution of wild and domesticated plants. If the boundaries of the regions in which a few scores of varieties of the several fruits grow can be accurately established valuable generalizations can be drawn regarding life zones and plant distribution. The reader should know what considerations have governed the selection of varieties for color-plates and full descriptions. These are: (i) The known value of the variety for the commercial or amateur grower. (2) The probable value of new varieties. (3) To furnish data for the plum- breeder; to show combinations of species or varieties, or new characters, or the range in variation. (4) Some sorts have been described because of historical value — to better show what the trend of plum evolution has been. (5) To indicate the relationships of species and varieties. The varieties are divided into three groups according to their importance as gauged from the standpoints given above. In botanical nomenclattire the code adopted by the American botan- ists in Philadelphia in 1904 and modified by the International Botanical Congress at Vienna in 1905, has been used. For horticultural names, lacking a better code, the revised rules of the American Pomological Society have been followed, though in a few cases we have not seen fit to follow the rules of this society, as the changes required by their strict observance would have brought much confusion. Only those who have to work with a great number of varieties of fruit can know the chaotic conditions of our pomological nomenclature. One of the aims of the work in hand is to set straight in some degree the great confusion in plvim names. All synonyms of varieties have been given so far as they could be determined but it did not seem worth while to give all of the references to be fotmd even in standard plum literature. Fewer of these are listed for the leading varieties than in the books on apples or grapes which have preceded, only such being given as have been found of use by the writers or thought of possible use to future plum students. On the other hand some references have been given for all varieties, a task not attempted in The Grapes of New York. As in the preceding books the color-plates have been given much at- tention. Work and expense have not been spared to make the plates the best possible with the present knowledge of color-printing. Yet the illustrations are not exact reproductions. The colors are, at best, only approximations; for it is impossible by mechanical processes to reproduce Nature's delicate tints and shades. The camera does not take colors as the human eye sees them; and the maker of the copper plate can not quite reproduce all that the camera has taken. The colors then depend on the judgment of the printer, who by selecting and mingling colored inks, re- produces as nearly as his materials permit, the shades in his eye and mind; but no two persons see exactly the same colors in any object; so his con- ception may differ much from that of the horticulturist or artist who saw the original plum, as do theirs from each other. Still it is hoped that the color-plates will be of great service in illustrating the text. All of the plums from which the plates were made came from the Station grounds; the illustrations, with a few exceptions which are noted, are of life size, as gro\vn tmder the conditions existing at this place, and as far as possible all are from specimens of average size and color. Acknowledgments are due in particular to the plum-growers of Nev/ York who have furnished much information for The Plums of New York; to numerous institutions in all parts of the United States who have loaned botanical specimens; to Professor Charles Sprague Sargent for advice, information and the use of the Arnold Arboretum library and herbarium; to W. F. Wight of the United States Department of Agriculture, who has given most valuable assistance in describing the species of plums and in giving their range; to the Station Editor, F. H. Hall, who has had charge of the proof-reading; to Zeese-Wilkinson and Company, New York City, for their care and skill in making the color-plates ; and to the J. B. Lyon Company, Albany, New York, for their careful work in the mechanical construction of the book. U. P. HEDRICK, Horticulturist, New York Agricultural Experiment Station. TABLE OF CONTENTS PAGB Preface v Index to Illustrations ix Chapter I. — Edible Plums i Chapter II. — Plum Culture loo Chapter III. — Leading Varieties of Plums. 136 Chapter IV. — Minor Varieties of Plums 391 Bibliography, References and Abbpevi.\tions 573 Index 581 INDEX TO ILLUSTRATIONS Portrait of William Robert Prince Frontispiece FACING PAGE Abundance 135 Agen 138 America ^ao Ames 1^4 Apple i^_6 Arch Duke 148 Arctic 150 Arkansas 152 Autumn Compote 154 Bavay 156 Belle 158 Black Bullace 1 62 Bradshaw 1 66 Burbank 170 Chabot 172 Cheney 176 Climax 178 De Caradeuc 188 De Soto 190 Diamond 192 Downing 194 Drap d'Or 194 Duane 196 Englebert 204 Field 208 Forest Garden 210 Forest Rose 210 X INDEX TO ILLUSTRATIONS. PACING PAGE Freestone 212 French 214 Georgeson 218 German Prune 220 Giant 222 Golden 224 Golden Beauty 226 Golden Drop 228 Goliath 232 Grand Duke 234 GuEii 236 Hale 238 Hammer 238 Hand 240 Hawkeye 242 Hudson 244 Hungarian 246 Ickworth 248 Imperial Gage 252 Italian Prune 254 Jefferson 256 Juicy 258 Late Orleans 266 Lombard 268 Maquoketa 272 Marianna 274 McLaughlin 276 Middleburg 278 Monarch 286 Newman 292 New Ulm 294 October 298 Oren 300 INDEX TO ILLUSTRATIONS. xi FACING PAGE OULLINS 304 Pacific 306 Pearl 310 Peters 312 Pond 314 Pottawattamie 316 PrUNUS AMERICANA, BLOSSOMS OF 56 PrUNUS AMERICANA, BaRK OF 6 Pr UN US CERASIFERA, BLOSSOMS OF 46 Pr UN US CERASIFERA, BARK OF 6 Prunus domestica, Blossoms of 12 Pr UN us domestica, Bark of 6 Prunus hortulana. Blossoms of 64 Prunus hortulana, Bark of 6 Prunus hortulana mineri. Blossoms of 68 Pr UN us HORT ULA NA MINERI, BaRK OF 6 Pr UN us INSITITIA, Blossoms of 34 Pr UN us INSITITIA, Bark of 6 Prunus munsoniana. Blossoms of 88 Prunus munsoniana. Bark of 6 Pr UN us NIGRA, Blossoms of 70 Pr UN us NIGRA, Bark of 6 Prunus tri flora, Blossoms of 50 Pr UN us TRIFLORA, BARK OF 6 Quackenboss 320 Robinson 33° Satsuma 338 Shipper 342 Shiro 344 Shropshire 344 Smith Orleans 34^ Spaulding 350 Sugar 354 XH INDEX TO ILLUSTRATIONS., FACING PAGE Surprise 356 Tennant 358 Tragedy 360 Victoria 364 Voronesh 366 Washington '. 368 Wayland 370 White Bullace 374 WicKsoN 376 Wild Goose 378 Wolf 380 Wood 382 World Beater 384 Yellow Egg 386 THE PLUMS OF NEW YORK CHAPTER I EDIBLE PLUMS THE GENUS I'RUXUS The great genus Prunus includes plums, cherries, almonds, apricots, peaches, and the evergreen cherries or cherry laurels. Its widely distributed species number a hundred or more for the world, nearly all of which belong north of the equator. The species of the genus are widely distributed in both the eastern and western hemispheres, the flora of eastern America and of western Asia being especially rich in species and individuals. For most part the species of Prunus belong to the Temperate Zone, but several of the evergreen cherries, usually grouped in a section under Laurocerasus, are fotmd in the tropics and sub-tropics. The species cultivated for their edible fruits are found only in the Temperate Zone of the Northern Hemisphere. Of these the peach and the almond are believed to have come from eastern and southeastern Asia; the apricot is thought to be a native of northern China; the wild forms of the cultivated cherries are Eurasian plants, very generally dis- tributed in the regions to the northward where the two continents meet. The habitats of the cultivated plums are given in detail in the text that follows, as Asia, Europe and America. Presumably the genus had its origin in some of the above regions; but where the center is from which the species radiated can never be known. Indeed, with present knowledge it cannot be said in what region Prunus has most species, is most productive of individuals, or shows highest development and greatest variability, — facts which might give some evidence as to the origin of the genus. It is probable that the greatest number of combinations of the above evidences can be shown for Asia and more especially for the Eurasian region, where Europe and Asia meet; yet North America has two score or more indig- enous species about half of which are arborescent. The history of the genus Prunus is one of continual changes. Of the botanists who have done most toward classifying plants, Ray, Toumefort, Dillenius and Boerhaave, pre-Linnaean botanists, placed only the plum 2 TJIK I'LUMS OF NEW YORK. in Prunus. Linnaeus adopted the name used by his predecessors for the pkxm alone, for a genus in which he also placed plums and cherries. Adan- son and Jussieu returned to the pre-Linnaean classification but Gaertner followed the grouping of Linnaeus. Necker, DeCandolle, Roemer and Decaisne held that the plum alone belongs in Prunus. Bentham & Hooker, Gray and his co-workers in the several revisions of his botany, and Engler & Prantl, great authorities of the Nineteenth Century, extend the genus to include all of the stone-fruits. On the other hand, Britton and Brown, in their recent flora of northern United States and of Canada restrict the group to i^lums and cherries. Horticulturists have been less divided in their opinions than the botanists and have very generally placed all of the stone-frmts in one genus. The diversity of views as to what plants belong in Prunus, indicated above, suggests that the differences separating the several stone-fruits may not be many nor very distinct. This is true, and makes necessary a discussion of the characters which distingmsh these fruits. The flowers of true plums are borne on stems in fascicled umbels and appear either before the leaves or with or after them. Flowers of the cultivated cherries are similarly borne, though the fascicles are corymbose rather than umbelliferous. But apricot, peach and almond flowers are stemless or nearly so and solitary or borne in pairs appearing before the leaves. The fruits of plums and cherries are globular or oblong, fleshy, very juic>-, with smooth or slightly hairy skins. Peaches, apricots and almonds are more sulcate or grooved than plums and cherries and the first two have juicy flesh, but that of the almond is dry and hard or skin- like, splitting at maturity thereby liberating the stone ; these last three fruits are distinguished from plums and cherries by having very pubescent or velvety skins though rarely, as in the nectarine, a botanical variety of the peach, and in a few cultivated apricots, the skins are smooth. The stone of the plum is usually compressed, longer than broad, smooth or roughened, thickish and with an acute margin along the ventral suture and thinnish or grooved on the dorsal suture. The stone of the cherry is usually globular, always much thickened, smooth or a very little rough- ened, ridged and grooved on the ventral suture, with a thin, scarcely raised sharp margin on the dorsal suture. The stone of the apricot is similar to that of the plum though thicker walled, with a more conspicuous winged margin, and is sometimes pitted. The stone of the peach is compressed, usually with very thick walls, much roughened and deeply pitted. In THE PLUiMS OF NEW YORK. 3 tlic almond the stone resembles in general characters the peach-stone, but all almond shells are more or less porous and often fibrous on the inner surfaces. The stone is the part for which the almond is cultivated and is most variable, the chief differences being that some have thick hard shells and others thin soft shells. The leaves of plums arc convolute, or rolled up, in the bud. Cherry, peach and almond leaves are conduplicate, that is are folded lengthwise along the midrib in bud while the leaves of the apricot, like those of the plum, are convolute. The manner in which the leaves are packed in the bud is a fine mark of distinction in stone-fruits. In size and shape of leaves, as well as in the finer marks of these organs, the botanist and pomologist find much to aid in distinguishing species and varieties but little that holds in separating the sub-genera. The last statement holds true with the fioral organs also. The near affinity of the stone-fruits is further shown by the fact that plums and apricots, plums and cherries, and the several species of each of the distinct fruits inter-hybridize without much difficulty. It is a fact well-known that hybrids often surpass their parents in vigor of j)lant and in productiveness and this has proved true with most of the h>-l)rids in Prunus of which we have accounts, thereby giving promise of imj)r()ved forms of these plants through hybridizing. The great variation in wild and cultivated native plums is possibly due to more or less remote hybridity. Prunus is a most variable genus. This is indicated by the several sub-genera, the large number of species and the various arrangements of these groups by different authors. At their extremes sub-genera and species are very distinct, but outside of the normal types, and sometimes in sev- eral directions, there are often outstanding forms which establish well- graded connections with neighboring groups. For example, among the American plums there are but few species between which and some other there are not intermediate forms that make the two species difficult to distinguish under some conditions. There is also a wide range of variation within the species. The modifications within the species are oftentimes such as to change greatly the aspect of the plant; the trees may be dwarf or luxuriant, smooth or pubescent ; ma\- differ in branching habit, in leaf -form, in size and color of the flowers, in the time of opening of leaf and fliower-buds, in color, shape, size, flesh, flavor and time of ripen- ing of fruit, in the stone and in all such characters as climate and soil envir- onment would be liable to modifv. 4 THE PLUMS OF NEW YORK. This inherent variabilit}' is one of the strong assets of the genus as a cultivated group of plants, for it allows not only a great number of kinds of fruits and of species but a great number of varieties. Besides, it gives to the genus great adaptiveness to cultural environment, in accord- ance with climate, location, soil and the handling of the trees. The cul- tivator is able to modif}', too, the characters of members of the genus to a high degree in the production of new forms, but few, if any, groups of plants having prodticed as many cultivated varieties as Prunus. The genus Prunus is preeminent in horticulture, furnishing all of the so-called stone-fruit's, fruits which for variety, delicious flavor and beauty of appearance, probably surpass those of an\- other genus, and which, fresh or dried, are most valuable human foods. The seeds of one of the fruits belonging to Prunus, the almond, are commercially important, both for direct consumption and for the oil which is pressed from them; in India a similar oil is obtained from the seeds of peaches and apricots, while in Europe an oil from the seeds of the Mahaleb cherry is used in making perfumes. Various cordials are made from the fruits of the several species, as kirschwasser and maraschino from cherries, zwetschenwasser and raki from plums, and peach brandy from the peach; while fruits and seeds of the several species are soaked in spirits for food, drink and medicinal purposes. The bitter astringent bark and leaves are more or less used in medicine as is also the gum secreted from the trunks of nearly all the species and which, known as cerisin, is vised in various trades. The wood of all of the arborescent species is more or less valuable for lumber, for cabinet-making and other domestic purposes. Prunus is prolific also in ornamental plants, having in common to recommend them, rapidity of growth, ease of culture, comparative free- dom from pests, and great adaptability to soils and climates. The plants of this genus are valued as ornamentals both for their flowers and for their foliage. Man)- cultivated forms of several of the species have single or double flowers, or variegated, colored or otherwise abnormal leaves, while the genus is enlivened by the evergreen foliage of the cherry latirels. Nearly all of the plants of Prunus are spring-flowering but most of them are attractive later on in the foliage and many of them are very orna- mental in fruit. PLUMS. Of all the stone-fruits plums furnish the greatest diversity of kinds. Varieties to the number of two thousand, from fifteen species, are now THE PLUMS OI'- NEW YORK. 5 or have been under cultivation. These varieties give a greater range of flavor, aroma, texture, color, form and size, the qualities which gratify the senses and make fruits desirable, than any other of our orchard fruits. The trees, too, are diverse in structure, some of the plums being shrub- like plants with slender branches, while others are true trees with stout trunks and sturdy branches; some species have thin, delicate leaves and others coarse, heavy foliage. In geographical distribution both the wild and the cultivated plum encircle the globe in the North Temperate Zone, and the cultivated varieties are common inhabitants of the southern tem- perate region, the various plums being adapted to great differences in temperature, moisture and soil in the two zones. The great variety of plums and the variability of the kinds, seemingly plastic in all characters, the general distribution of the fruit throughout the zone in which is carried on the greatest part of the world's agriculture, and the adaptation of the several species and the many varieties, to topo- graphical, soil and climatic changes, make this fruit not only one of much present importance but also one of great capacity for further development. Of the plums of the Old World the Domesticas, Insititias and probably the Trifloras have been cultivated for two thousand years or more, while the work of domesticating the wild species of America was only begun in the middle of the last century. There are about fifteen hundred vari- eties of the Old World plums listed in this work, and since the New World plums are quite as variable, as great a variety or greater, since there are more species, may be expected in America. An attempt is made in The Plums of New York to review the plum flora of this continent, but the species considered fall far short of being all of the promising indigenous plums; not only are there more to be de- scribed, but it is probable that species here described will in some cases be sub-divided. The development of the pomological plum-wealth of North America is but begun. Not nearly as much has been done to develop the possibilities of the European plums in America as in the case of the other tree-fruits. Probably a greater percentage of the varieties of Old World plums commonly cultivated came from across the sea. than of the varieties of any other of the orchard -fruits which have been introduced- Much remains to be done in securing greater adaptability of foreign plums to American conditions. Native and foreign plums are also being hybridized with very great advantage to pomology. The Plums of New York is written largely with the aim of furthering the development of plums in America, the possibilities of which are in- 6 THE PLUMS OF NEW YORK. dicated in the preceding paragraph. With this end in view the first task is to name and discuss briefly the characters of plums whereby species and varieties are distinguished, with a statement, so far as present knowl- edge permits, of the variability of the different characters. It is absolutely essential that the plum-grower have knowledge, especially if he aspires to improve the fruit by breeding, of the characters of the plants with which he is to work. These are in the main as follows; All species and some horticultural varieties have more or less charac- teristic trees. Making due allowance for environment — food, moisture and light — many plum groups can be readily distinguished by the general aspect of the plant. Of the gross characters of trees, size is usually most characteristic. A species, for example, is either shrubby or tree-like. Yet under varying environment, size of plant and of the parts of the plant, are probably the first to change. Habit of growth is nearly as important as size and varies but little under changing conditions. A species or variety may be upright, spreading, drooping or round-topped in growth; head open or dense; the tree rapid or slow -growing. Hardiness is a very important diagnostic character, plums being either hardy, half-hardy or tender. Both species and varieties respond in high degree to the test of hardiness, the range for varieties, of course, falling within that of the species. Productiveness, regularity of bearing, susceptibility to diseases and insects, and longevity of tree are all characters having value for species and varieties and with the exception of the first named, are little subject to variation. The thickness, smoothness, color and manner of exfoliation of the outer bark and the color of the inner bark have considerable value in deter- mining species but are little used in determining horticultural groups. It is well recognized that all plums have lighter colored bark in the South than in the North. The branches are very characteristic in several species. The length, thickness and rigidity of the branch and the length of its intemodes should be considered, while the direction of the branch, whether straight or zigzag, are very valuable determining characters and relatively stable ones, seeming to change for most part only through long ranges of climatic conditions. So, too, the arming of a branch with spines or spurs and the structure of such organs are important. The color, smooth- ness, amount of pubescence, direction, length, thickness and the appear- ance of the lenticels, the presence of excrescences on the branchlets of the first and second year's growth and the branching angle, are all worthy 1. p. HORTVLANA MlSEItl 2. P. AMERICANA ?,. P. CERASIFERA P. DOMESTICA P. IXSITITIA /». IIOllTI I..i\ 1 •. /'. »/r.v.s«.v/.i.v.4 <. I'. M<;itA !». /'. rnirroRA THE PLUMS OF NEW YORK. 7 of consideration though quite too much has been made of these char- acters, especial!}' of pubescence, in determining species, for they are all extremely variable. The size, shape and color of leaf -buds and of their outer and inner scales and the margins of the scales differ in different species. Possibly the most evident, and therefore readiest means of identifying species, at least, is by the leaves. It is true that leaves are very variable but always within limits, and either individually or collectively in giving the general aspect to a tree they are characteristic. Modifications of leaves most often occur in very young plants, those growing in bright sunshine or deep shade and on sprouts or suckers, but none of these are usually sufficient to mis- lead as to species. Leaf -size and leaf -form are the first characters to be noted in determining a plum but these are closely followed in value by leaf -color, leaf -surface, leaf -thickness and leaf -margin. Leaf -size is variable, depending much upon the conditions noted above but leaf -form varies but little in the several species. So, too, the color of leaves is very constant throughout a species, for both surfaces, though impossible to describe accu- rately in words and very difficult to reproduce in color-printing. There is a marked difference in autumnal tints not only of species but of varieties but these are not very constant in any one location and must vary greatly under different environments. The thickness of the leaves of the several species is a distinctive character. Species of plums have very different leaf -surfaces as regards reticulation, rugoseness, pubescence and coriaceous- ness, all of these characters being quite constant, though it is to be noted that roughness of leaves and pubescence are increased by exposure to the sun and by the influence of some soils. There is, indeed, considerable variation in the pubescence of the leaves of all species of plums in different parts of the country and probably too much has been made of pubescence as a determining character. The margins of leaves are very characteristic of species and scarcely vary under normal conditions if the teeth at the middle of the sides be taken rather than those toward the base or apex, these very often being crowded, reduced or wanting. The presence of glands, their position, size, shape and color, help to characterize several species and seem to be fairly con- stant guides. Some species and a great number of varieties have the distinguishing marks of gland-like prickles tipping the serrations in the leaf -margins. Length, thickness, rigidity and pubescence of petiole have some taxonomic value. Stipules usually offer no distinguishing marks other than those mentioned under leaves. 8 THIC I'LU.MS OF XliW YORK. The blossoms of plums arc very characteristic, giving in flowering time a distinctive aspect to all species and distinguishing some horticul- tural varieties. The flowers of all the species are borne in clusters, differing in number of individuals, according to the species; so, too, the flowers in the different species vary in size, color, in length of their j^eduncles, and in pubescence, especially of the calyx. Flower-characters are constant, taking them as a whole, yet there are some variations that must be noted. One of the most marked of these is in the time of appearance of the flowers; in the South they appear before the leaves but in the North with the leaves. On the grounds of this Station there are notable exceptions to the latter statement, with varieties of species showing considerable variation in this regard. There are some remarkable variations within species as regards size and color of the corolla and glands and pubescence of the calyx, depend- ing upon the environment of the plant ; but on the whole these characters are very constant. The fragrance of the flowers of plums varies from a delicate, agreeable odor to one that is quite disagreeable in some species as in Americana; the odor seems to be a constant character. Of all structures of the plum the fruit is most variable, yet fruits are sufficiently distinct and constant, especially within species, to make their characters ver}- valuable in classification. Species, whether wild or cul- tivated, may be distinguished in greater or less degree by the period of ripening of the fruits, though in this regard the cultivated varieties of the several species vary greatly and in the wild state trees of native plums in the same locality, even in the same clump, may vary in ripening as much as from two to four weeks. Species are distinguished by size, shape, color, flesh, flavor and pit among the grosser characters of the structure and by amoimt of bloom, stem, cavity, apex, suture and skin among the minor characters. The fruit is usually the first part of the plant to respond to changed conditions. Characters derived from seed structures are generally accounted of much value by botanists in determining species. Such is the case w4th plums. This Station has a collection of stones of over three htmdred cultivated varieties of plums and some specimens of nearly all the different species. The stones illustrated in the color-plates in this book show that this structure is quite variable in size, shape, in the ends, surfaces, grooves and ridges, even within a species; nevertheless in describing the several hundred forms of plums for The Plums of New York the stone has been quite as satisfactory, if not the most satisfactory, of any of the organs of this plant for distinguishing the various species and varieties. THE PLUMS OF NEW YORK. 9 The reproductive organs of plums afford several characters and would seem to ofifer means of distinguishing botanical and horticultural groups, but they are so variable in both cultivated and wild plants as to be very misleading. Not only do these organs dififer very often in structure but also in ability to perform their functions. Bailey ' has called attention to the remarkable self-sterility of some varieties of the native species of plums, due to the impotency of the pollen upon flowers of the same variety. C. W. H. Heideman' made some very interesting observations on what he considers distinct forms of the flowers of the Americana plums, de- scribing for this species all of the six possible variations of flowers entime- rated by Darwin in his Different Forms of Flowers in Plants of the Same Species. Heideman thinks that other species of Prunus exhibit similar variations. Waugh' made the pollination of plums a subject of careful and extended study and found much variation in the ])istils of plants of the same species, insufficient pollen in some plants, pollen impotent on the stigma of the same flower, and considerable difference in the time of maturity of pollen and stigma in some plums, especially the Americana plums. These variations, most important to the plum-grower, are of more or less use in identifying plums. After the discussion of the characters of plums we may pass to a de- tailed description and discussion of the species of plums which now con- tribute or may contribute cultivated forms to the pomology of the country- cither for their fruits or as stocks upon which to grow other plums. The following conspectus shows as well as may be the relations of the species of plums to each other. CONSPECTUS OF SPECIES OF PLUMS. A. Flowers in clusters of i or 2. (Three in P. triflora.) Old World plums B. Leaves drooping. C. Shoots and pedicels pubescent. D. Flowers mostly in twos. E. Fruits large, more than i inch in diameter, variable in shape, often compressed ; tree large; stamens about 30 i- P- domestica. E.E. Fruit small, less than i inch in diameter, uniformly oval or ovoid; stamens about 25; tree small, compact 2- P- insititia. ' Bailey, L. H. Cornell Sta. Bui. 38:43. 1892. 'Heideman, C. W'. H. Minn. Ilort. Soc. Rpl. 187. 1895. •'Waugh, F. A. Vt. Sta. But. 53. 1896. lO THE PLUMS OF NEW YORK. D.D. Flowers mostly single. E. Leaves small, less than 2 inches in length; sometimes a tree; very thomy 3. P. spinosa. E.E. Leaves large, more than zj inches in length ; a shrub ; thorns few 4. P. curdica. C.C. Shoots glabrous or soon becoming so, pedicels glabrous. D. Pedicels shorter than the calyx-cup; leaves glabrous or sparsely pubescent on the under side along the rib ; flowers in pairs 5. P. cccomilia. D.D. Pedicels more than twice as long as the calyx-cup. E. Flowers mostly single; leaves hairy along the midrib on the under side; petiole ^ as long as the leaf-blade ; a tree 6. P. cerasifera. E.E. Flowers in threes; leaves glabrous, petiole shining, leaf-margins finely and closely serrate, teeth glandular-pointed; stamens about 25 ... . 7. P. monticola. E.E.E. Flowers in threes; leaves glabrous, often shining, leaf-margins finely and closely serrate, teeth glandular-pointed; stamens about 25. . . 8. P. friflora. B.B. Leaves upright, peach-like, glabrous, veins very conspicuous, under side barbate at axils of veins; separated from all other plums by the leaf-characters and by the large, flattened, brick-red fruits 9. P. simonii. A.A. Flowers in clusters of 3 or more, rarely 2. American plums. B. Plants trees. (P. angustifolia rarely a tree.) C. Leaves broad, mostly ovate or obovate. D. Leaves long-ovate or long-obovate. E. Flowers white. F. Leaf-serrations glandless, acute; petiole usually glandless; calyx-lobes entire, glabrous on the outer, pubescent on the inner surface; stamens about 30; stone turgid, large, pointed at the apex 10. P. americana. F.F. Leaf-serrations glandular, wavy-cre- nate; petioles glandular; calyx-lobes glandular-serrate, pubescent on the inner surface; stamens about 20; stone turgid, small, prolonged at the ends.. 11. P. hortulana. E.E. Flowers fading to pink. F. Leaf-serrations coarse, rounded, glan- dular only when young; petioles bi- glandular; calyx-lobes glandular-serrate, not pubescent on the inner surface; stamens about 30; fruit red; bloom light; stone flat 12. P. nigra. F.F. Leaf-serrations fine, acute, glandu- lar-pointed; petioles biglandular; calyx- lobes entire, pubescent on the outer, tomentose on the inner surface; fruits dark purple; bloom heavy; stone turgid, acute at the ends 13- P- alleghaniensis. THE PLUMS OF NEW YORK. D.D. Leaves round-ovate, obtusely, sometimes doubly serrate; petioles glandless; calyx-lobes pubescent on both surfaces; fruit dark red or purplish; stone turgid, pointed at both ends 14. P. subcordata. C.C. Leaves narrow, lanceolate-ovate. D. Leaves flat. E. Leaves glabrous; fruits globukr, usually pur- ple at maturity but sometimes red or orange- red; bloom thin; stone turgid, cherry-like 15. P. umbellata. E.E. Leaves pubescent. F. Stone acute at both ends; fruit pur]ile.i6. P. mitis. F.F. Stone rounded at base; fruits vari- ously colored 17. P. tarda. D.D. Leaves more or less folded upward. E. Fruits small, J inch in diameter, cherry-like; leaves lanceolate, upper surface glabrous, lustrous, lower surface pubescent in axils of veins, marginal teeth glandless; petioles bi- glandular; stone small, ovoid, turgid, cherry- like; rarely a tree; tender in New York i8. P. angustifolia. E.E. Fruits large, an inch in diameter, plum- like; leaves lanceolate, peach-like, upper sur- face glabrous, lower surface pubescent along the midrib; petioles with from i to 6 glands; stone compressed and pointed at both ends; usually a tree; hardy in New York 19. P. munsoniana Plants shrubs. C. Fruits dark puqile. D. Leaves ovate, acute, finely serrated ; shoots becoming glabrous; stones pointed at both ends 20. P. maritima. D.D. Leaves oval-orbicular, crenate-serrate ; shoots usually pubescent; stone pointed only at the base. .21. P. gravesii. C.C. Fruits red or orange, sometimes yellow but never deep purple. D. Fruits large, i inch in diameter; leaves oblong- ovate, long-pointed, margin serrate with incurved sometimes glandular teeth, upper surface glabrous, lower surface pilose; petiole with i or 2 glands; stone oval, flattened 22. P. orthosepela. D.D. Fruits small, J inch in diameter. E. Leaves small, ovate-lanceolate or oval, mar- gins finely and evenly serrate, upper surface glabrous, lower surface soft pubescent; petioles short and stout; fruits variable in color, mostly red; stone turgid, pointed at both ends 23. P. gracilis. E.E. Leaves oblong-ovate, margins coarsely or doubly serrate, glabrous above and sparingly pubescent below; petiole glandular; fruits cherry-red M- P- rivularis. THE PLUMS OF NEW YORK. PRUNUS DOMESTICA Linnaeus I. Linnaeus Sp. PI. 475- '753- 2- Duhamel Traits des Arb. 2:93, 95, 96. 1768. 3. Seringe DC. Prodr. 2:533. 1825. 4. Hooker Brit. Fl. 220. 1830. 5. London Arb. Fr. Brit. 1844. 6. De Candolle Or. Cull. PL 212. 1885. 7. Schwarz Forst. Bot. 338. 1892. 8. Koch, W. Syn. Dent, und Schw. Fl. 1:727. 1892. 9. Dippel Handb. Laiibh. 3:636. 1893. *<>• Lucas Handb. Obst. 429. 1893. II. Waugh Bo/. Cac. 26:417-27. 1898. 12. Bailey Cyc. ^m. Hort. 1448. 1901. 13. Waugh Plum Cult. 14. 1901. 14. Schneider Handb. Laubh. 1:630. 1906. P. communis doincstica. 1$. Hudson Fl. Anglic. 212. 1778. 16. Bentham Haiidb. Brit. Fl. 1:236. 1865. P. (xconomica (in part) and P. italica (in part). 17. Borkhausen Handb. Forstb. 2:1401, 1409. 1803. 18. Koch, K. Dend. 1:94, 96. 1869. 19. Koehne Deut. Deiid. 316. 1893. Tree reaching a height of 30 or 40 feet, vigorous, open-headed, round-topped; trunk attaining a foot or more in diameter; bark thick, ashy-gray with a tinge of red, nearly smooth or roughened with transverse lines; branches upright or spreading, straight, stout and rigid, usually spineless; branchlets usually pubescent, light red the first year, becoming much darker or drab; lenticels small, raised, conspicuous, orange. Winter-buds large, conical, pointed, pubescent, free or appressed; leaves large, ovate or obovate, elliptical or oblong-elliptical, thick and firm in texture; upper surface dull green, rugose, glabrous or nearly so, the lower one paler with little or much tomentum, much reticulated; margins coarsely and irregularly crenate or serrate, often doubly so, teeth usually glandular; petioles a half-inch or more in length, stoutish, pubescent, tinged with red; glands usually two, often lacking, sometimes several, globose, greenish- yellow; stipules very small, less than a half-inch, lanceolate, narrow, serrate, early caducous. Flowers appearing after or sometimes with the leaves, showy, an inch or more across, greenish- white to creamy-white; borne on lateral spurs or sometimes from lateral buds on one-year-old wood, i or 2 from a bud in a more or less fascicled umbel; pedicels a half-inch or more in length, stout, green; calyx-tube campanulate, glabrous or pubescent, green; calyx-lobes broadly oblong, obtuse, pubescent on both surfaces, glandular-serrate, usually reflexed; petals white or creamy in the bud, oval to obovate, crenate, notched or entire, claw short and broad; stamens about 30, equal to or shorter than the petals; anthers yellow, sometimes tinged with red; pistils about as long as the stamens, glabrous or pubescent. Fruit of various shapes, mostly globular or sulcatc, often necked, blue, red or yellow; stem a half-inch or more long, stout, pubescent; cavity shallow and narrow; apex variable, usually rounded; suture prominent or sometimes but a line or indistinct; skin variable; dots small, numerous, inconspicuous; flesh yellowish, firm, meaty, sweet or acid and of many flavors; stone free or clinging, large, oval, flattened, blunt, pointed or necked, slightly roughened or pitted; walls thick; one suture ridged — the other grooved. Beside the comparatively well-kno^\^l groups of Domestica varieties, there are in Europe, with an occasional representative in America, espe- cially in herbaria, numerous other groups either a part of Prunus dcnnesttca PBVNVS VOMESTICA THE PLUMS OF NEW YORK. I3 or possibly, in a few cases at least, hybrids between it and other species. European botanists place some of these in distinct species or sub-species; but few, however, even of the recent writers on the botany of the plum, agree at all closely as to the disposition of these edible and ornamental plums which may be doubtfully referred to Prunus doniestica. With this disagreement between the best European authorities where these plums have long been known, where some of them have originated, and all may be found in orchards, botanic gardens and herbaria, it does not seem wise at this distance to attempt a discussion of such doubtful forms. It is cer- tain, however, that Borkhausen's Primus italica and Prunus ceconomica, as given in the synonymy, are but parts of Prunus doniestica, the first in- cluding the Reine Claude plums and the latter the various prunes. So, too, a wild form named by Borkhausen, Prunus sylvestris, is probably a part of Prunus domes tica. Bechstein' gave specific names to a number of plums which Schneider' holds are all cultivated forms of Prunus doniestica. These names are not infrequently found in botanical and pomological literature, to the great confusion of plum nomenclature. The following are Bechstein 's species: — Prunus exigua, Prunus rubella, Prunus lutea, Prunus oxycarpa. Primus siibrotunda and Prunus vinaria. The plum in which the world is chiefly interested is the Old World Prunus domestica. The Domestica plums are not only the best known of the cultivated plums, having been cultivated longest and being most widely distributed, but they far surpass all other species, both in the quality of the product and in the characters which make a tree a desirable orchard plant. How much of this superiority is due to the greater efiforts of man in domesticating the species cannot be said, for the natural history of this plum, whether wild or under cultivation, is hvX poorly known. It is not even certain that these plums constitute a distinct species, there being several hypotheses as to the origin of the Domestica varieties. Three of these suppositions must be considered. Many botanists hold that what American pomologists call the species is an assemblage of several botanical divisions. The early botanists dis- tributed these plums in botanical varieties of one species. Thus Linnaeus, ii^ 1753. divided Prunus domestica into fourteen sub-species, and Seringe, in 1825, made eight divisions of the species. Both of these men include 'Bechstein Forstbot. Ed. 5. 424. 184,5. 'Schneider, C. K. Hand. Laiib. 631. igo6. 14 THE PLUMS OF NEW YORK. in this species, among others, plums which we now place in Prunus ccrasi- fera, the Cherry plums, and Prunus insiiitia, the Damsons and Bullaces. Nearly all subsequent botanists who have not made two or more species of it have recognized from two to several sub-divisions of Prunus donicstica. It is possible that what are called the Domestica ])lums should be distrib- uted among several botanical divisions. But it is difiicult to find any differential character sufficiently constant to distinguish more than one species for the several hundred varieties of these plums now under culti- vation. Nor are there any cleavage lines sufficiently distinct to indicate that the edible varieties of the one species should be sub-grouped. In coming to these conclusions the writer has studied about three hundred varieties of Domestica plums growing on the grounds of this Station and about half as many more growing in other parts of the country, the whole number representing all of the various species and sub-species which other workers have made. The differences which have been most used to classify the varieties of Domestica in several botanic divisions have to do chiefly with the fruit, as size, shape, color and flavor, characters so modified by cultivation and selection that they are artificial and transitory and of little value in botanical classification. Moreover, the botanical groups which have been founded on these characters are much more indis- tinct than ordinarily in botany because of the merging at many points of one group into another. This indistinctness is greatly increasing year by year through the intercrossing of varieties. When the characters of no value to man, and, therefore, little modified by cultivation, are con- sidered, it is scarcely possible logically to place Domestica plums in more than one species or to further sub -divide the one species. The botanists who have divided the Domestica plums into either greater or lesser botanical groups do not define their divisions with suffi- cient accuracy to make them clearly recognizable. Neither do they give the habitats of the wild progenitors with sufificient certainty to carry con- viction that the groups were brought under cultivation from separate ancestors. Also, the several botanists who hold to the multiple species theory for the Domestica plums do not agree as to the limits of the different groups and give to them very different specific or variety names, showing that they have widely different ideas as a basis for their classification. A second theory is that Prunus domestica is derived from Prunus spinosa and that Prunus insiiitia is an intermediate between the two.' 'Bailey, L. H. Cyc. Am. Hort. 1447- 1901; Hudson Fl Aui^Uc. 212. 177S. THE PLUMS OK NEW YORK. IS This hypothesis is based* upon the supposition that when Domestica plums run wild they revert to the Insititia or Spinosa form. It is not difficult to test this theory. A study of the origin of the several hundred Domestica and Insititia plums discussed in Chapters III and IV of The Plums of New York does not show for any one of them a tendency to reversion or evolution to other species; nor do the descriptions indicate that there are many, if any, transitional forms. During the two thousand years they have been cultivated in Europe the Old World plums have been constant to type. Domestica seedlings vary somewhat but they do not depart greatly from a well marked type. Such very few striking departures as there seem to be are more likely to have arisen through crossing with other species than through reversion or evolution. This Station has grown many pure seedHngs or crosses of varieties of Domestica within the species and has had opportunity of examining many more from other parts of the State, and none of these show reversion to the other two Old World species. Nor, as we shall see, is there much in what is known of the history of these three species to lead to the belief that the Domestica, Insititia and Spinosa plums constitute but one wild species or have arisen from one. It has been remarked that there are few, if any, transitional forms between the Domestica and other European plums. It is a significant fact that Prunus domestica can be hybridized with other species of plums only with comparative difficulty, species of plums as a rule hybridizing very freely. This is as true with the Insititia and Spinosa as of other plums, there being few recorded hybrids of either of these species with the one under discussion. Quite to the contrary the varieties of the several pomological groups of Domestica plums hybridize very freely. If all were of one species we should expect many hybrids between the Domestica, Insititia and Spinosa plums. We are now left with the third hypothesis, which is, as we have indi- cated in a preceding paragraph, that the varieties of Domestica plums belong to one species; or if they have come from more than one species the wild forms have not been distinguished and must have grown under much more nearly similar conditions than is the case with Prunus domes- tica and any other species. Without knowledge of more than one wild form, and in view of the intercrossing of the varieties of these plums it seems best to consider all as parts of one species, leaving to the pomologist the division of the species into horticultural groups founded on the char- acters which make the fruit valuable for cultivation. 1 6 THE PLUMS OF NEW YORK. Assuming, then, that the plums known in pomology as Domestica plums belong to one species, the original habitat of the species may be sought. In spite of the great number of varieties of plums now grown in Europe and western Asia, and the importance of the fruit both in the green and dried state, the history of the plums cannot be traced with much certainty beyond two thousand years. Though stones, without doubt those of the Insititia or Damson and the Spinosa or Blackthorn plums, are found in the remains of the lake dwellings in central Europe' the pits of Domes- tica plums have not yet come to light. In the summer of 1909 the writer, in visiting historic Pompeii, became interested in the illustrations of fruits in the frescoes of the ancient buildings, but neither in the houses of the ruined city nor in the frescoes in the museums in Naples could he find plums, though several other fruits, as apples, pears, figs and grapes were many times illustrated. An examination of the remains of plants pre- served in the museum at Naples taken from under the ashes and pumice covering Pompeii gave the same results. No stone-fruits were to be found, though if widely used these should have been on sale in the markets of Pompeii at the time of the destruction of the city, which occurred late in August, — the very time of the year at which the examination was made and at which time plums were everywhere for sale in Rome. This obser- vation is but another indication that plums were not well-known before the beginning of Christianity, since Pompeii was destroyed in 79 A. D. In Greek literature the references to plums are few before the Christian era and these are more likely to some form of Insititia, as the Damsons, rather than to the Domesticas. Pliny gives the first clear accotmt of Domestica plums and speaks of them as if they had been but recently introduced. His account is as follows:' " Next comes a vast number of varieties of the plum, the parti- colored, the black, the white, the barley plum, so-called because it is ripe at Barley harvest, and another of the same color as the last, but which ripens later, and is of a larger size, generally known as the 'Asinina,' from the little esteem in which it is held. There are the onychina, too, the cerina, — more esteemed, and the purple plum; the Armenian, also an exotic from foreign parts, the only one among the plums that recommends itself by its smell. The plum tree grafted on the nut exhibits what we may call a piece of impudence quite its own, for it produces a fruit that has all the appearance of the parent stock, together with the juice of the 'Heer Pflanz. Pfahlb. 27, fig. 16. ' Bo stock and Riley Nat. Hisl. of Pliny 3:294. 1892. THE I'LL'MS OF XHW YORK 1 7 adopted fruit; in consequence of its being thus compounded of both, it is known by the name of ' nuci-pruna.' Nut -prunes, as well as the peach, the wild plum and the cerina, are often put in casks and so kept till the crop comes of the following year. All the other varieties ripen with the greatest rapidity and pass off just as quickly. More recently, in Baetica, they have begun to introduce what they call ' malina,' or the fruit of the plum engrafted on the apple tree, and ' amygdalina,' the fruit of the plum engrafted on the almond tree, the kernel found in the stone of these last being that of the almond. Indeed, there is no specimen in which two fruits have been more ingeniously combined in one. Among the foreign trees we have already spoken of the Damascene plum, so-called from Damascus, in Syria, but introduced long since into Italy, though the stone of this plum is larger than usual, and the flesh small in quantity. This plum will never dry so far as to wrinkle; to effect that, it needs the sun of its own native country. The myxa, too, may be mentioned as being the fellow countryman of the Damascene; it has of late been introduced into Rome and has been grown engrafted upon the sorb." While the records are somewhat vague it is probable that the Domes- tica plums came from the region about the Caucasus Mountains and the Caspian Sea and especially the section east of these mountains and the sea. What seems to be the wild form of this species has been found by several botanists in this great region.' Here the Huns, Turks, Mongols and Tar- tars, flowing back and forth in tides of war -like migration, maintained in times of peace a crude agriculture probably long before the Greeks and Romans tilled the soil. The plum was one of their fruits and the dried prune a staple product. Here, still, to the east, west and north toward central Asia, plums are among the common fruits and prunes are common articles of trade. Even in the fertile oases of the great central Asian desert, plums are cultivated, but whether domesticated here or brought from elsewhere cannot be told. Koch,= speaking of prunes in particular, gives the following account (translated) of their Asiatic origin: " According to my investigation Turkestan and the southern Altai Mountains are the place of origin. When in the year 1844 I found m\-self in Baku on the west coast of the Caspian Sea, I had plenty of opportunity to draw accounts of the fruits of their native lands from the Turkestan and Bokharan merchants, and was astonished over the high cultivation of stone fruits in these places— at the same time I was able to taste dried the most choice because best flavored, the Ali-Bokhara, that is Bokhara ' Koch, K. Dciid. 1:94, 96. 1869. Ledebour. Fl. Ross. 2:5. 1829. Boissier. Fl. Orient. 2:652. 'Koch, K. U^'ut. Obsl. 146. 1876. IS THE PLUMS OF NEW YORK. prune. Some of these Bokharan prunes were transplanted a long time ago to Trans-Caucasia and were especially cultivated in the ancient city and residence of the Ruler of the modem Elizabethpol. Unfortunately the cultivation is less now than in earlier times. A further spread toward the west and toward Europe, I have not been able to follow. In Greece, the prunes are even to-day an unknown fruit." At about the time Pliny wrote, or somewhat before, fcommunication had been opened between the Romans and the countries about the Caspian Sea, and a few centuries later the devastating hordes of Asiatics came westward and for several centuries continued to pour into eastern Eiorope. What more probable than that they should have carried dried prunes as an article of food in the invasions, and eventually, as they made settlements here and there, have introduced the trees in Europe. It is certain, at any rate, as we shall see, that several of the groups of cultivated plums trace back to the Balkan countries of Europe and the region eastward. There, now as then, the plum is a. standard fruit and prune-making a great industry. The plum when first known in Europe, as described by Pliny and other earl)- writers, seems to have been a large and well-flavored fruit, indicating that it had been under cultivation for a long while. This, and the fact that the fruit was not known by the earliest writers on agriculture, indicate that the plum was not originally an inhabitant of southern Europe, as some suppose. It is likely that the tree has escaped from cultivation and become naturalized in the localities where it is now supposed to grow wild. Prunus domestica has not been found wild nor under cultivation in eastern Asia, so far as can be learned by the botanical and horticultural explorers of China and nearby regions, Prunus tn'flora being the domesti- cated plum of that part of the continent, though it may well be surmised that some of the Domestica plums are cultivated in western China, a region as yet but imperfectly explored for its plants. Having briefly sketched the origin of the Domestica plums in the Old World we may now consider their history in the New World — a more satisfactory task, as data are abundant and reliable. The Domestica plums are valuable food-producing trees in America but have not attained here the relative importance among fniits that they hold in Europe. From the earliest records of fruit-growing in the New World the plum has been grown less than the apple, pear, peach or cherry, while in Europe it is a question if it does not rank first or second among the tree-fruits. The comparatively restricted area which the THE PLUMS OF NEW YORK. I9 Domcstica plums now occupy in America is due, jXThaps, to the fact that they do not possess in as high degree as the fruits named above the power of adaptation to the trans-Atlantic environment. Without question the feature of environment most uncongenial to plums in America is the climate. The plum thrives best in an equable climate like that of eastern and southern Europe and of western America, and cannot endure such extremes of heat and cold, wet and dry, as are found in parts of eastern America and in the Mississippi Valley. At best this fruit lacks in what is called con- stitution, or ability to withstand adverse conditions of any kind, whether of climate, culture, insects or fungi. Thus in America this plum suffers severely not only from climate but from several parasites, as curculio, black -knot, leaf-bhght, plum-pockets and other pests. We find, therefore, that in North America the Domestica plums are confined to favored localities on the Atlantic seaboard, the Great Lakes region and the Pacific coast. In the first named area they are to be found thriving to a limited degree in Nova Scotia and parts of Quebec, some- what in central New England, and particularly well in the fruit- growing sections of New York, especially in the parts of this State whea- the climate is made equable by large bodies of water. South of New York, excepting in a few localities in Pennsylvania, but few plums of this species are grown. The Domestica plums are grown with indifferent success in southern Ontario and in Michigan, and now and then an orchard is found to the south almost to the Gulf. In the great Valley of the Mississippi and in the states of the plains this plum is hardly known. Westward in the irrigated valleys of the Rocky Mountains and the Great Basin, the climate is favorable and the European plums are nearly as well-known as in any other portion of the continent excepting the Pacific Coast. It is in the last named region that the foreign plum reaches its highest development in the New World. The trees in California, Oregon and Washington are very thrifty and the plums are of large size, handsome appearance and of high quaHty. Both tree and fruit in this favored region are free from most of the insect and fungus troubles with which the eastern plum-growers must contend. Curculio and black -knot, scourges of eastern orchards, are not troublesome on the western coast. In this region the Domesticas, practically the only plums cultivated, succeed on either irrigated or naturally watered lands. It is probable that some of these plums were introduced into America by the first colonists, but if so. the early records do not show that the fruit 20 THE PLUMS OF NEW YORK. was much grown in this countr\- until toward the end of the Eighteenth Century. Certainly during the first two centuries of colonization in the New World there were no such plum plantations as there were of the apple, pear and cherry. Among the first importations of plums were those made by the French in Canada, more particularly in Nova Scotia, Cape Breton, Prince Edward Island and in favored situations such as the L'Islet County and the Island of Montreal bordering and in the St. Law- rence River. Peter Kalm in his Travels into North America in 1771 records the culture of plums as far north as Quebec with the statement that " Plum trees of different sorts brought over from France succeed very well here," adding further, " The winters do not hurt them." ' There are other records to show that the French, always distinguished for their horticultural tastes, if not the first to grow this fruit in America, at least began its culture at a very early date. In the voyages undertaken for exploration and commerce soon after the discovery of America by Columbus the peach was introduced in Amer- ica by the Spanish; for soon after permanent settlement had been made in the South the settlers found this fruit in widespread cultivation by the Indians and its origin could only be traced to the Spaniards who early visited Florida and the Gulf region. William Penn wrote as early as 16S3 that there were very good peaches in Pennsylvania; "not an Indian plantation was without them." ' The abundance of this fruit was noted by all the early travelers in the region from Pennsylvania south- ward and westward but though the wild plums are often mentioned there are no records of cultivated plums until the colonies had long been established. In Massachusetts some plums were planted by the Pilgrims, for Francis Higginson, writing in 1629, says: " Our Governor hath already planted a vineyard with great hope of increase. Also mulberries, plums, raspber- ries, corrance, chestnuts, filberts, walnuts, smalnuts, hurtleberries." ' The plums were Damsons, as a statement is made a little later that the " Red Kentish is the only cherry and the Damson the onh' plum cultivated." A further reference to this plum is made by John JossehTi, when, writing of a voyage to New England in 1663, he says, " The Quinces, Cherries, ' Kalm, Peter Travels into North America 3:340. 1771. ''Watson's Annals of Philadelphia 1:17. 1844. ^ Mass. Hist. Soc. Collections, ist Ser. 1:118. THE PLUMS OF NEW YORK. 2 1 Damsons, set the dames a work, ntarjiialad and preserved Damsons is to be met with in every house." ' In 1797 there is the following concise account of the i)lums cultivated in New England:' " The better sorts which arc cultivated are the horse plum, a very pleasant tasted fruit, of large size; the i)each plum, red toward the sun, with an agreeable tartness; the pear plum, so-called from its shape, which is sweet, and of an excellent taste; the wheat plum, extremely sweet, oval, and furrowed in the middle, not large; the green-gage plum, which is generally preferred before all the rest." A search in the colonial records of Pennsylvania, New Jersey and Delaware shows no records of cultivated plums in these states imtil the establishment of the Bartram Botanic Garden near Philadelphia in 1728. Here John Bartram grew fruits, trees and flowers of many kinds received through exchanges of indigenous species with European correspondents. Among the plants sent over from Europe to Bartram were several varie- ties of plums which were propagated and distributed throughout Penn- sylvania and nearby provinces. It must not be supposed, however, that the Domestica plums had not been grown in Pennsylvania previous to Bartram 's time. The plum grows fairly well in localities of this region, and without question it had been planted by the early colonists with seeds brought from across the sea. But the absence of references to the plum, where they abound to the apple, pear, peach, quince and cherry, shows that this fruit was not much cultivated by the Quakers and Swedes who settled in the three states watered by the Delaware. In the southern colonies the Domestica plums grow but poorly, and as the early settlers of these states were chiefly concerned with tobacco and cotton, paying little attention to fruits, we should expect the plum to have been neglected. Then, too, the peach, escaped from the early Spanish settlements, grew spontaneously in many parts of the South, furnishing, with the wild plums of the region, an abundant supply of stone- fruits. Yet the plum was early introduced in several of the southern colonies. Thus Beverly,' writing in 1722 of Virginia, says: " Peaches, Necta- rines and Apricocks, as well as plums and cherries, grow there upon standard ' Josselyn, John, Gent. New England Rarities London. 1672. 'Samuel Deane, D.D. The New Englafid Fanner or Georgical Dictionary 265. 1797. 'Beverly, Robert History of Virginia 279. 1722. RepTint iSi;?. 2 2 THE PLUMS OF NEW YORK. trees," with the further statement that these fruits grew so exceedingly well that there was no need of grafting or inoculating them. Lawson,' in his history of North Carolina, written in 17 14, says that the Damson, Damazeen and a large, round, black plum were the only sorts of this fruit grown in that state in 17 14. In South Carolina Hcnr\- Laurens, who should be accounted a bene- factor not only of that State but of the whole country as well, about the middle of the Eighteenth Century grew in Laurens Square in the Town of Amonborough all the plants suitable to that climate that widely extended merchantile connections enabled him to procure. Thus among fruits he grew olives, limes, Alpine strawberries, European raspberries and grapes, apples, pears and plums. John Watson, one of Laurens' gardeners, planted the first nursery in South Carolina. His plantation was laid waste in the Revolution, though it was afterwards revived by himself and his descen- dants and was still further continued by Robert Squib. The plum in several varieties was largely grown and distributed from this nursery. Charleston, South Carolina, was at the beginning of the Nineteenth Centur}' the southern center of horticultural activities and the European plum was widely distributed from here at this time. Of the several botanic gardens, realh- nurseries, in Charleston, one was conducted by Andr^ Michaux who was sent by the French Government in 1786 to collect Amer- ican plants. Another was owned by John Champneys at St. Pauls, near Charleston, and was managed by a Mr. Williamson who grew all of the species of trees, fruits and shrubs, native and foreign, which could be procured.' The third of these gardens was owned by Charles Drayton at St. Andrews in which not only exotic fruits were grown but those of the region as well. The plum trees frequently mentioned in the records of the time as growing in this region came from these nurseries. In Florida, as has been stated, the peach was introduced by the Span- ish explorers, but if the plum were also planted by the Spaniards it quickly passed out with the cessation of cultivation. But later there are records' of this and nearly all of the frtiits of temperate and sub-tropic climates having been grown at St. Augustine and Pensacola. In the remarkable colony* founded by Dr. Andrew TumbuU at New Smyrna, Florida, in ' Lawson, John History of North Carolina no. 1714. 'Ramsey's History of South Carolina 2:128, 129, Ed. 1858. ' Forbes, James Grant Sketches of the Floridas 87, 91, 170. 1821. < In I 763 Dr. Andrew Tumbull established a colony of fifteen hundred Greeks and Minorcans at New Smyrna, Florida, for the cultivation of sugar and indigo. But they cultivated other plants 'LLMS OK NKW YORK. 23 1763, the plum was one of the fruits cultivated. It is not probable, Ikjw- ever, that the culture of this fruit was ever extensive in Florida as it does not thrive there. WiUiam Bartrani, son of John Bartram the founder of the Bartram Botanic Garden, set out on a botanical expedition through the Southern States in 1773, which lasted five years. He records' numerous observa- tions on the horticulture of both the colonists and the Indians. At Savan- nah, Georgia, he found gardens furnished with all the cultivated fruit trees and flowers in variety. One of the earliest settlements made b}- the English in Georgia was Frederica, and here he found the peach, fig, pomegranate and other trees and shrubs growing about the ruins; though not specifically mentioned, the plum had probably been planted here with the other fruits. At the junction of the Coose and Tallapoosa rivers in Ala- bama, there were thriving apple trees, which had been set by the French at Pearl Island in the last named state. Between Mobile and New Orleans, Bartram found peaches, figs, grapes, plums and other fruits growing to a high degree of perfection and such also was the case on a plantation on the Mississippi in Louisiana near Baton Rouge. These several references to plums show that this fruit was at least tried in early colonial times, but it was not until after the establishment of fruit-growing as an industry that any extensive plantings were made. Pomology really began in America, though it languished for the first half- century, at Flushing, Long Island, about 1730 with the establishment of a commercial nursery by Robert Prince, first of four proprietors. Just when this nursery, afterwards the famous Linnaean Botanic Garden, began to offer plums cannot be said, but in 1767 one of their advertise- ments shows that they were selling plum trees. As a possible indication that the fruit was not highly esteemed at this period, an advertisement of trees for sale from this nursery in the New York Mercury of March 14th, 1774, does not offer plums. But in 1794 the catalog of the nursery offers plums in variety. Indeed, as we shall see, William Prince had at this time taken hold of the propagation and improvement of the Domestica plums with great earnestness. William Prince, third proprietor of the nursery founded by his grand- father says in his Treatise of Horticulture,- " that his father, about the as well, among the fruits growTi there being the grape, peach, plum, fig, pomegranate, olive and orange. Forbes, James Grant Sketches of the Floridas gi. 1821. ' Bartrani, William Travels Through North and South Carolina, Georgia, East and West Florida, etc. Dublin: 179.?. ' Prince, William Treatise of Horticulture 24. 1S28. 24 THE PLUMS OF NEW YORK. year 1790 planted the pits of twenty-five quarts of Green Gage plums; these produced trees yielding fruit of every color; and the White Gage [Prince's Imperial Gage], Red Gage and Prince's Gage, now so well known, form part of the progeny of these plums, and there seems strong presump- tive evidence to suppose that the Washington Plum was one of the same collection." In 1828 the Prince nursery was offering for sale one hundred and forty varieties of plums which William Prince states ' " are a selection only of the choicest kinds, in making which, the commoner fruits have been altogether rejected." Of the kinds grown, there were over twenty thousand trees. ^ To this nursery, to William Prince and to William Robert Prince,' the fourth proprietor in particular, belong the credit of having given plum -growing its greatest impetus in America. Other notable nurseries founded at the close of the Eighteenth Cen- tury, which helped to establish plum culture in America, were those of the Kenricks, of William Coxe, and of David Landreth and Son. The Ken- rick Nursery was founded in 1790 at Newton, Massachusetts, by John Kenrick, under whom and his sons, William and John A., the business was continued until 1870.* During a large part of this period the Kenrick Nursery probably grew, imported and disposed of a greater quantity of fruit trees than any other nursery in New England. Coxe's nursery was established in 1806, at Burlington, New Jersey, but he had been growing fruit for many years previous and was thus a pioneer pomologist before ' Ibid. p. 28. 'Prince, William Treatise of Horticulture 23. 1828. ' The frontispiece of The Plums of New York, showing a likeness of William Robert Prince, dedicates the book to this distinguished American pomologist. It is appropriate that the following biographical sketch of Mr. Prince, written for The Grapes of New York, should be reprinted here. " William Robert Prince, fourth proprietor of the Prince Nursery and Linnaean Botanic Garden, Flushing, Long Island, was bom in 1795 and died in 1869. Prince was without question the most capable horticulturist of his time and an economic botanist of note. His love of horticulture and botany was a heritage from at least three paternal ancestors, all noted in these branches of science, and all of whom he apparently surpassed in mental capacity, intellectual training and energy. He was a prolific writer, being the author of three horticultural works which will always take high rank among those of Prince's time. These were: .4 Treatise on the Vine, Pomological Manual, in two volumes, and the Manual of Roses, beside which he was a lifelong contributor to the horticultural press. All of Prince's writings are characterized by a clear, vigorous style and by accuracy in state- ment. His works are almost wholly lacking the ornate and pretentious furbelows of most of his contemporaries though it must be confessed that he fell into the then common fault of following European writers somewhat slavishly. During the lifetime of William R. Prince, and that of his father, William Prince, who died in 1842, the Prince Nursery at Flushing was tlie center of the hor- ticultural nursery interests of the country; it was the clearing-house for foreign and American horticultural plants, for new varieties and for information regarding plants of all kinds." ' Manning, Robert Hist. Mass. Hort. Soc. ,^3. 1880. THE PLUMS OF NEW YORK. 25 becoming a nurscr\-man. In his book, .1 View of the Cullivaiion of Fruit Trees, published in 181 7, the first American book on pomology, he says' he had been " for many years actively engaged in the rearing, planting and cultivating of fruit trees on a scale more extensive than has been attempted by any other individual of this country." The third of these nurseries, that of David Landreth and Son, was conducted in connection with the seed establishment of that family founded in Philadelphia in 1784. Their collection of fruits was among the most extensive of the time and must have forwarded the cultivation of the plum in that region.' A century ago the fruit-growing of the country was largely in the hands of amateurs and patrons of horticulture. Many varieties of plums must have been introduced by these lovers of plants. Among such growers of fruit was William Hamilton of Philadelphia, who introduced the Lom- bardy poplar in 1784, and who in 1800 was growing all the plants and fruits procurable in Europe. Ezekiel Henry Derby of Salem, Massachusetts, one of the founders of the Massachusetts Society for Promoting Agriculture, grew many choice foreign plants in his garden, greenhouse, orchard and arboretum, and attained well merited fame as a horticulturist.' Dr. David Hosack, botanist and founder in 1801 of the Elgin Botanic Gardens in what is now New York City, was one of the most distinguished patrons of pomolog}- of his time and grew many new fruits and plants from Europe, afterwards placing them in the hands of the horticulturists of the country.' These are but a very few of the many men who, having wealth and leisure, were engaged in growing fruits and plants as an avocation but were adding greatly to the material and knowledge of those to whom fruit- growing was a vocation. As a further example of how much these men contributed to horticulture, a purchase made by a member of the New York Horticultural Society may be cited. At a meeting of the Society held in July, 1822, he mentioned a list of fruit trees which he had purchased in Europe, comprising 784 varieties.' The period during which American pomology may be said to have been in the hands of wealthy amateurs began shortly after the close of the Revolution and did not fully merge into that of commercial pomology until the close of the Civil War. Soon after the beginning of the Nineteenth ' Coxe, William A View of the Cultivation of Fruit Trees 6. 1S17. ' Landreth's Rural Register and Almanac. 1872 and 1S74. ' Bulletin of the Essex Institute 2:23. * Downing, A. J. Hovey's Mag. 3:5. 1S37. ^Boston Palladium, Sept. 9, 1S22. 26 THE PLUMS OF NEW YORK. Centur}-, horticulture, iu fact all agriculture, was greatly stimulated by the publication of agricultural books' and magazines' and the formation of agricultural and horticultural societies.' The frequency of the names of these publications of a century ago in Tlic Plums of Xcw York is an indication of the contributions they made to the culture of the plum. Having briefly outlined the history of the Domestica plums, we come now to a discussion of what we have under cultivation in this fruit. The Domestica plums, 950 or more mentioned in this text, may be divided into several more or less distinct pomological groups. These groups are of interest because in their history the evolution of the plum under con- sideration is further developed; because such groups are serviceable to plum-growers, as each division has adaptation for particular conditions or particular purposes; and because of their value to the breeder of plums since the largest and best differentiated groups, as a rule, have their characters most strongly fixed and may be relied upon to best transmit them to their offspring. Groups of plums in pomology are founded for most part upon the characters of the fruit since these are most readily recognized by fruit- growers. Yet whenever possible, leaf, flower and tree-characters are con- sidered. The name given is usually that of the best known variety in the group though in some of the divisions the name is that of the variety which seems to be intermediate in character between the other members of the group. The groups of plums recognized by pomologists were far more distinct as we go back in their history. For, in the past, each fruit-growing region 'The horticultural books published in America between 1779 and 1825 were: Tlie Gardener's Kalender by Mrs. Martha Logan, Charleston: 1779; The American Gardener by John Gardiner and David Hepburn, Washington: 1804; The American Gardener's Calendar by Bernard McMahon, Philadelphia: 1806; A View of the Cultivation of Fruit Trees by William Cox, Philadelphia: 1S17; Tlie American Practical Gardener by an Old Gardener, Baltimore: 1819; The Gentleman's and Gar- dener's Kalendar by Grant Thorbum, New York: 1821; American Gardener by William Cobbett, New York: 1819; and The American Orchardist by James Thacher, M. D., Boston: 1822. 'During the quarter ending in 1825 two agricultural publications were in existence in the United States: The American Farmer, established in Baltimore in 1819, and the New England Farmer. founded in Boston in 1822. To these should be added the Massachusetts Agricultural Repository. not a journal in the strict sense of the word but published by the Massachusetts Society for Pro- moting Agriculture, established in 1793, and continued until the New Englaiui Farmer was started in 1822. The Repository was the first agricultural periodical of the New World. ' At least three agricultural societies were founded soon after the close of the Revolution; the Philadelphia Society for Promoting Agriculture and the Agricultural Society of South Carolina were founded in 1785, and the Massachusetts Society for Promoting Agriculture in 1792, while the first strictlv horticultural societv, the New York Horticultural Society, was not established until iSiS. THE PLUMS OF NEW YORK. 27 had a pomology of its own in which the varieties of any fruit were few and similar, constituting but one, or at most a very few types. The var- ious groups of plums, therefore, largely represent distinct plum-growing regions. With the increase in intercourse betw'een the countries of the world, cultivated plums have been taken from place to place and as new varieties have originated, often from crosses between varieties, the divid- ing lines between divisions have been more or less broken down. The first of the groups to be considered is: — The Reine Claude or Green Gage Plums. — This group is so distinctive in several characters that some botanists and pomologists separate it from other Domestica plums as a sub-species or species' and in common parlance its numerous varieties are very generally grouped together as " green gages " as if it were quite a distinct fruit from other plums. It comprises a considerable number of relatively small, round, mostly green or golden plums of so high quality as to make them standards in this respect for all plums. The Reine Claude is one of the oldest types of which there are records. Its varieties reproduce themselves without much varia- tion from seed though there are a few sorts, possibly crosses with some other group, which are doubtfully referred to the Reine Claudes. The later history of these plums is most interesting and is reliable, for the group is recognized and discussed by almost every European or American pomologist who has written in three centuries.' The early history is not so well known. Where the Reine Claude plums originated no one knows. Koch' says he has eaten wild plums in the Trans-Caucasian region, which must be recorded with the Reine Claudes, but on the next page he advances the theory that the group is a hybrid between Prunus domestica and Prunus insititia. Schneider' puts the Reine Claudes in Prunus insititia. The group seems to be a connecting link between the two species named above, having so many characters in common with each that it is exceedingly difficult to choose between the two as possible parent species. Prunus domestica probably originated in the Caucasian or Caspian region, and it is likel3^ as Koch suggests, that the Reine Claudes were brought from there. This is substantiated by the early pomologists, who say these 'P. domestica cereola L. (S/>. PI. 475. 1753). P. claudiana Poir. {Lam. Encycl. 5:677- '804), P. italica Borkh. {Handb. Forstb. 11:1409. 1803). ' For a bibliography of this group see an article by Waugh in Card. Citron. 24:465. 1S9S. 'Koch, K. Deui. Obst. 149. 1876. * Schneider. C. K. Hand, der Laiib. 630. 1906. 28 THE PLUMS OF NEW YORK. l)lums came originalh' from Armenia and were known as the Armenian plums, coming eventual!)- by the way of Greece to Italy. If this state- ment of its origin be true, Columella' knew the fruit, for he says: — " then are the wicker baskets cramm'd With Damask and Armenian and Wax plums." And so, too, Pliny refers to them' in his enumeration of varieties in which he says: " the Armenian, also an exotic from foreign parts, the only one among the plums that recommends itself by its smell." Hogg' says the Reine Claudes were brought from Greece to Italy and cultivated in the latter country under the name Verdochia. Hogg does not give his authority and his statement cannot be verified in an}' other of the modem European pomologies to which the authors of this work have had access. The very complete history of the agricultural and horti- cultural plants of Italy* by Dr. Antonio Targioni-Tozzetti does not give this name. Be that as it may, some variety of this group w^as introduced into England under the name Verdoch and at an early date, for in 1629 Parkinson^ enumerates it in his sixty sorts describing it as "a great, fine, green shining plum fit to preserve." Rea° in 1676 also lists and describes it as does Ray,' 1688. It is doubtful if Parkinson, Ray and Rea had the true Reine Claude, however, for the Verdacchio, according to Gallesio,' one of the best Italian authorities, is an obovate-shaped fruit while the Claudia is a round one. Gallesio says the Claudia was cultivated in many places about Genoa under the name Verdacchio rotondo; about Rome and through Modenesc, for a long time, as the Mammola; in Piedmont as the Claudia; and in Tuscany as the Susina Regina. Now (1839) he says, "it is known in all Italy under the name Claudia, and has become so common as to be found in abundance in the gardens and in the markets." The name Reine Claude, all writers agree, was given in honor of Queen Claude, wife of Francis I, the fruit having been introduced into France ' Columella lo: lines 404-406. ' The Natural History of Pliny. Translated by John Bostock and H. T. Riley 3:294. Lon- don: 1892. 'Hogg, Robert The Fruit Manual Ed. 5:704. 1SS4. ' Targioni-Tozzetti, Antonio, Ccnni storici sulla introduzionc di varie piante neW agricoliura cd horticullura Toscana. Florence: 1S50. ' Parkinson, John Paradisus Tcrrcslris 576. 1629. " Rea, John .4 Complete Florilege 208. 1676. ' Ray Historia Plantarum 2:1529. 1688. 'Gallesio, Giorgio 2: (Pages not numbered). 1839. THE PLUMS OF NEW YORK. 29 during the reign of that monarch which began in 1494 and ended 1547, these dates fixing as accurately as possible the origin of the name. Green Gage, the commonest synonym of either the Reine Claude group or of the variety, comes from the fact that this fruit was introduced into England by the Gage family. Phillips' gives the following account of its introduction into England: " The Gage family, in the last century, procured from the monastery of the Chartreuse at Paris, a collection of fruit trees. When these trees arrived at the Mansion of Hengrave Hall, the tickets were safely affixed to all of them, excepting only to the Reine Claude, which had either not been put on, or had been rubbed off in the package. The gardener, therefore, being ignorant of the name, called it, when it first bore fruit, the Green Gage. " Because of the high esteem in which the plums of this group have always been held in England the early English colonists probably brought seeds or plants of the Reine Claudes to America. This supposition is strengthened by the fact that Prince, in his efforts in 1790 to improve plums, chose the "Green Gage," planting the pits of twenty-five quarts of plums of this variety. McMahon, in his list of thirty varieties of plums, published in 1806, gives the names of at least seven varieties belonging to this group. The varieties of the group first came into America, without doubt, under one of the Green Gage names, but afterwards, probably in the early part of the Nineteenth Century, importations from France brought several varieties under Reine Claude names though the identity of the plums under the two names seems to have been recognized in American pomology from the first. In appearance the trees of this group are low and the heads well rounded. The bark is dark in color and cracks rather deeply. The shoots are thick and do not lose their pubescence. The leaves are large, broad, more or less wrinkled, coarsely crenate and sometimes doubh- serrated, a character not usually found in Domestica plums, and bear from one to four glands. The fruit is spherical or ovoid, green or yellow, some- times with a faint blush, stems short and pubescent, suture shallow, bloom thin, texture firm, qualit}- of the best, flesh sweet, tender, juicy, stone free or clinging. The leading varieties of the Reine Claude plums are: Reine Claude, Bavay, Spaulding, Yellow Gage, Washington, McLaughlin, Hand, Peters, Imperial Gage, Jefferson and Bryanston. ' Phillips, Henry Comp. Orch. 306. 1831. 3° THE PLUMS OF NEW YORK. The Prunes. — In western America plum-growers usually speak of any plum that can be cured, without removing the pit, into a firm, long-keeping product as a prune. Such a classification throws all plums with a large percentage of solids, especially of sugar, into this group. But in Europe the term is used to designate a distinct pomological group.' Since we have a number of varieties of plums long known as prunes and to which no other term can be nearly so well applied, it seems wise to follow the established European custom of using the term as a group name as well as for a commercial product which is made for most part from these plums. The prune, as an article of commerce, all writers agree, originated in Hungary in the Sixteenth Century and was at that time a very important trading commodity with Germany, France and southern Europe. If, as Koch surmises (see page 17), the prunes originated in Turkestan or farther east — and the statements of other botanists and writers tend to show that his view is correct — the spread of the varieties of this group westward is readily explained. In the migrations of the Huns, from western Asia to eastern Europe, in the first thousand }'ears of the Christian era, some Magyar or Hun intent on cultivating the soil brought with him the prune-making plums which, finding a congenial home, became the foundation of the prune industry of Hungary in the Sixteenth Century. In subsequent commercial intercourse with western Europe the latter region was enriched by these prune-making plums from Hungar}-. In America this group is now by far the most important one com- mercially, though prunes were not introduced into this country until comparatively recent years. The earl)' lists of plums do not include any of the prunes and even as late as 1806 McMahon only mentions in the thirty varieties given by him but one, " the Prune Plum." William Prince in 1828 speaks only of the "monstrous prune," ' but in such a way as to lead one to believe that neither it, nor any other prune, was then culti- vated in America.' In 1831 William Robert Prince in his Pomological 'These are the plums which Linnaeus called Prunus domeslica galatcnsis (Sp. PL 475. 1753); Seringe, Prunus domestica pruneayliana (DC. Prodr. 2:533. 'S25); and Borkhausen, Primus oecono- mica {Handb. Forstb. 2:1401. 1803). 'Prince, William A Short Treatise on Horticulture 27. 1828. ' " Of the prune, or, as they are termed in German, ' Quetsche,' there are a number of varie- ties, all which are of fine size, and considered as the best plums for drying as prunes; this is one of the largest of the varieties; the principal characteristic of these plums is that the flesh is sweet and agreeable when dried. I am informed that the ' Italian Prune ' ranks highest as a table fruit when plucked from the tree. The process of drying prunes seems to be so very easy that I should suppose it might be undertaken in this country with a certainty of success, and so as to totally supersede the importation of that article." Ibid. THE PLUMS Ul' .NEW YORK. 3 1 Manual describes from this group only the Gorman Prune and the " Agen Date." or Agen. Indeed, it was not until the beginning of the prune industry in California, about 1870, that the varieties of this group began to be at all popular though an attempt was made by the United States Patent Office to start the prune industry on the Atlantic seaboard by the distribution of cions of two prunes in 1854.' The growth of the prune industry on the Pacific Coast is one of the most remarkable industrial phenomena of American agriculture. About 1856, Louis Pellier, a sailor, brought to San Jose, California, cions of the Agen from Agen, France. Some time afterw-ard a larger plum, the Pond, was also imported from France, supposedly from Agen, and to distinguish the two, the first was called Petite Prune, by which name it is now very commonly known in the far west. The first cured prunes from this region were exhibited at the Cahfomia State Fair in 1863; commercial orchards began to be planted about 1870, and the first shipments of cured prunes were probably made in 1875.' In 1880 the output per annum was about 200,000 pounds; in 1900 the yearlv capacity was estimated to be about 130,000,000 pounds, valued by the producers at $450,000.' The typical varieties of this group are the Italian, German, Agen, Tragedy, Tennant, Sugar, Giant, Pacific and the Ungarish. The distinguishing characters of the group are to be found in the fruit, which is usually large, oval, with one side straighter than the other, usually much compressed with a shallow suture, blue or purple, with a heavy bloom, flesh greenish-yellow or golden, firm, quality good, stone free. The trees are various but are usually large, upright and spreading with elliptical leaves having much pubescence on the under surface. The Perdrigon Plums. — The Perdrigons constitute an old but com- paratively unimportant group of plums." The name comes from an old ' United States Patent Office Report: xxix. 1854. The following description of this distribu- tion is of interest: " The scions of two varieties of prunes, ' Prunier d'Agen,' and ' Prunier Sainte Catherine,' have been imported from France, and distributed principally in the states north of Pennsylvania, and certain districts bordering on the range of the Allegany Mountains, in order to be engrafted upon the common plum. These regions were made choice of in consequence of their being freer from the ravages of the curculio, which is so destructive to the plum tree in other parts as often to cut ofT the entire crop. It lias been estimated that the State of Maine, alone, where this insect is rarely seen, is capable of raising dried prunes sufficient to supply the wants of the whole Union." 'Wickson, E. J. California Fruits Ed. 2:82. 1S91. ' Hedrick, U. P. in Bailey's Cyclopedia American Horticulture 1440- '9°'- * Miller says in his Gardener's Dictionary of the variety Perdrigon, ■' Hakluyt in 1582, says, of later time the plum called the Perdigwena was procured out of Italy, with two kinds more, by the Lord Cromwell, after his travel." Miller, Phillip Gardener's Dictionary. Edited by Thomas Martyn, 2: (no page). 1707. 32 THE PLUMS OF NEW YORK. time geographical division of Italy.' The Perdrigon plums, especially the varieties having this name, have been grown extensively for two centuries about Brignoles, France, where they are cured and sold as Brignoles prunes. Since they are much grown in what was formerly the province of Touraine, France, they are sometimes called Touraine plums. The early pomological writers, as the Princes, Kenrick, Coxe, and even Downing, described White, Red, Violet, Early and Norman Perdrigon plums, but these are not now listed in either the pomologies or the nurserymen's catalogs of this country though the group is represented by Goliath, Late Orleans and Royal Tours. These plums might almost be included with the Imperatrice group, differ- ing only in the smaller and rounder fruits. The Yellow Egg Plums.'' — There are but few varieties belonging to this group, but these are very distinct, and include some of the largest and handsomest plums. The origin of varieties of this group can be traced back over three centuries and it is somewhat remarkable that the size and beauty of the Yellow Egg Plums have not tempted growers during this time to produce a greater number of similar varieties. Rea,' in 1676, described the Yellow Egg under " Magnum Bonum or the Dutch Plum " as " a very great oval-formed yellowish plum, and, according to the name, is good as well as great." The Imperial, which afterward became the Red Magnum Bonum, is mentioned by Parkinson ' in 1629 as " Large, long, reddish, waterish and late." Earlier names in France, how early cannot be said, were Prune d'Oeuf, yellow, white, red and violet, or the Mogul with these several colors, and the Imperiale with the three or four colors. Later the name d'Aubert was applied to the Yellow Egg. Though this fruit was first known in England as the Imperiall, and later as the Magnum Bonum, it has been grown for at least two centuries in that country as the Yellow Egg, and under this name came to America in the latter part of the Eighteenth Century. Koch ' places these plums in the Date-plum family. The varieties of this group now grown and more or less well-known are Yellow Egg, Red Magnum Bonum, Golden Drop and Monroe. The characters which readily distinguish the Yellow Egg group are, — the large size of the fruit, possibly surpassing all other plums in size, the ' In the first edition of Species Planlarum Linnaeus called these plums Pninus domestica perni- cona; in the second edition the varietal name was changed to " Pertizone." In the Prodromus Seringa designates the group as Prunus domestica touroitensis. 'The Pruniis domestica aubertiana of Seringe. (DC. Prodr. 2:533. 1825,) ' Rea, John A Complete Florilege 209. 1676. ' Parkinson, John Paradisiis Terrestris 576. 1629. ^ Koch, K. Deut. Obst. 560. 1876. THE PLUMS OF NEW YORK. 33 long-oval shape, more or less necked, yellow or purple color and the yellow flesh. The plums are produced on tall, upright-spreading trees. The Imperatrice Plums. — This is a poorly defined assemblage of varie- ties, of which dark blue color, heavy bloom, medium size and oval shape are the chief characters. It is impossible to trace the origin of the group or to refer varieties to it with accurac\-. The Imperatrice, of which Ick- worth is an offspring, seems to have been one of the first of the blue plums to receive general recognition, and can as well as any other variety give name to the type. This group contains by far the greatest number of varieties of an}- of the divisions as here outlined, chiefly because the color, the size, and the shape are all popular with growers and con- sumers. This has not always been the case, for in the old pomologies, blue plums are comparativel}' few in number, Parkinson, for instance, giving in his list of sixty in 1629 not more than a half-dozen Domesticas that are blue. Among the varieties that fall into this group are: — Ickworth, Dia- mond, Arch Duke, Monarch, Englebert, Shipper, Arctic, Smith Orleans and Quackenboss. About the only characters that will hold for this large and variable group are those of the fruits as given above, though to these may be added for most of the varieties included in the division, thick skin and firm flesh, clinging stones and poor quality. The trees vary much but are usually hardy, thrifty and productive, making the members of the group prime favorites with commercial fruit-growers. The Lombard Plums. — Just as the blue plums have been thrown in the last named group, so we may roughly classify a number of red or red- dish or mottled varieties in one group. If the oldest name applicable to this group were given it should be called after the Diaper plums, well- known and much cultivated French sorts of two and three centuries ago. Since they are no longer cultivated, and as the Lombard seems to be a direct offspring of them and is fairly typical of the division, the name chosen is as applicable as any. These plums differ but little from those of the preceding group, except in color and in having a more obovate shape, a more marked suture, smaller size and possibly even greater hardiness and productiveness, and if anything, even poorer quality, though to this last statement there are several marked exceptions. In this group are no doubt many varieties which are crosses between some of the old red plums and varieties of the other groups given. 34 THE PLUMS OF NEW YORK. The following sorts may be named as belonging here :— Lombard, Bradshaw, Victoria, Pond, Duane, Autumn Compote, Belle, Middleburg and Field. 2. PRUNUS INSITITIA Linnaeus I. Linnaeus Amoen. Acad. 4:273. 1755. 2. Seringe PC. Prodr. 2:532. 1825. 3. Hooker Brit. Fl. 220. 1830. 4. Loudon Arb. Fr. Brit. 2:687. 1844. 5. K.ocb., K. Dend. 1:95. 1869. 6. Ibid. DeiU. Obst. 144. 1876. 7. De Candolle Or. Culi. PI. 211. 1885. 8. Emerson Trees of Mass. Ed. 4:512. 1887. 9. Schwarz Forst. Bot. 339. 1892. 10. Koch, W. Syn. Deut. und Schw. Fl. 1:726. 1892. II. Koehne Deut. Dend. 316. 1893. 12. Dippel Handb. Laubh. 3:639. 1893. 13. Lucas. Handb. Obst. 429. 1893. 14. Beck von Managetta Nied. Oester. 819. 1893. P. communis (in part). 15. Hudson Fl. Anglic. 212. 1778. 16. Bentham Handb. Brit. Fl. 1:236. 1865. P. domcstica insititia. 17. Schneider Handb. Laubh. 1: 630. 1892. 18. Waugh Bot. Gaz. 27:478. 1899. Tree dwarfish but thrifty, attaining a height of twenty to twenty-five feet ; trunk reaches eight inches in diameter and bears its head rather low, three to five feet from the ground; bark gray with a tinge of red, smooth, with transverse cracks; branches upright-spreading, rigid, compact, short-jointed, and more or less thorny; branchlets pubescent, slender, reddish-brown or drab. Winter-buds small, conical, pointed or obtuse, free or appressed; leaves small, ovate or obovate; apex obtuse or abruptly pointed, base cuneate or narrowed and rounded, margins finely and closely, sometimes doubly serrate or crenate, usually glandular; texture thin and firm; upper surface slightly rugose, dark green, slightly hairy; lower surface paler and soft, pubescent; petioles one-half inch long, slender, pubescent, tinged with red; glands few or glandless. Flowers expand with or after the leaves, one inch or less in size; borne variously but usually in lateral, umbel-like clusters, one, two or rarely three from a bud, on slender pedicels, which are pubescent and one-half inch in length; ~ calyx-tube cam- panulate, glabrous or nearly so, green or tinged with red; calyx-lobes narrow, obtuse or acute, glandular-serrate, glabrous or pubescent, reflexed; petals white or creamy in the bud, broadly oval, entire or dentate, reflexed, claw short; stamens about twenty- five, as long as the petals; anthers yellow, often tinged with red; pistil glabrous and nearly as long as the stamens. Fruit ripens from early to late; globular or oval, often necked, less than an inch in diameter, variously colored but usually bluish-black or amber-yellow, with a heavy bloom ; skin thin, tough ; stem slender, one-half inch long, more or less 'pubescent ; cavity shallow, narrow; apex roundish or flattened; suture indistinct or a line; flesh firm, yellow, juicy, sweet or acid; stone clinging or free, somewhat turgid, ovoid, nearly smooth, ridged on one edge and grooved on the other. There is a great diversity of opinion among botanists as to what Linnaeus meant to include in his Prunus insititia. His description of the species is not definite and can be made to apply to any one of several very distinct plums. But the botanists who recognize the species usually PBVWS IXSITlTI.l Tllli I'LTMS OF NEW YORK. 35 include in it, among cvillivatcd plums, the Bulkices and the Damsons, plums which differ onl\- in the shape of the fruit, the former being round and the latter oval. Some o( the texts noted in the references for this species also place the St. Julien and the Mirabelle plums here. In The Plums of New York the authors consider the Bullaces, Damsons, the St. Julien and the Mirabelles as belonging to this species. It is true that Linnaeus established at an earlier date than the naming of Prunus insititia his Prunus domestica damascena, in which the varietal name indicates that he meant the Damsons, but the description of the variety taken by him from Bauhin's Pinax ' making the plum large, sweet and dark purplish, cannot be made to apply to this fruit, nor can it be connected definitely with any other plum; this being true, and since Linnaeus refers to no type specimen, figure, or locality, his Prunus domestica damascena according to current botanical practices in America, should be rejected. The trees of the Insititia varieties are readily distinguished from the Domestica sorts in having a dwarfer and more compact habit; much smaller and more ovate leaves with more closely serrate margins ; branches more finely divided, more slender, with shorter joints, and bearing spines or spinescent spurs; having a more abundant and a more clustered inflo- rescence, with smaller flowers, a glabrous instead of a pubescent pistil and calyx -tube ; reflexed calyx -lobes where in Domestica they are often erect ; and flowers appearing nearly a week later. The number of stamens in Prunus domestica averages about thirty; in Prunus insititia, about twenty-five. The fruit -characters of Prunus insititia are even more distinctive. The fruits are smaller, being less than an inch in diameter, more nearly round or oval, more uniform in shape, never strongly compressed as in Domes- tica, with a less distinct suture and more often with a pronounced neck. The color is usually the Damson purple or the Mirabelle yellow, with no intermediate colors as in Domestica and with few or but slight variations as compared with the other species. The plvmis are sweet or sour with a very much smaller range in flavor in the case of the Insititias and withal very distinct from that of Prunus domestica. The stones are smaller, more oval and much more swollen. In variability the Insititia plums are quite the reverse of the Domes- ticas, almost wholly lacking this quality. These plums have been culti- vated over two thousand years, yet there is seemingly little difference ' Bauhin Pin. 443 n 23. 36 THE PLUMS OF NEW YORK. between the sorts described by the Greeks and Romans at the beginning of the Christian Era and those we are now growing. So, too, one often finds hah' -wild chance seedlings with fruit indistinguishable from varieties under the highest cultivation. This pronounced immutability of the species is one of its chief characteristics. There are probably several sub-divisions of Prunus insitiiia but material does not exist in America for the proper determination of the true place for these forms, and the Old World botanists cannot agree in regard to them. It is probable that Pninus subsylvcstris Boutigny' and Prunus pomariwn Boutigny' belong to Prunus insititia and almost beyond question Primus syriaca Koehne ' is the yellow-fruited Mirabelle of this species. Prunus insititia glaherrima Wirtg.' occasionally found in the herbaria of Europe has, with its small, roundish-obovate leaves, but little appearance of Prunus insititia and may be, as Schneider surmises,' a cross between Prunus spinosa and the Myrobalan of Prunus cerasifera. The Insititia plums are second in importance only to the Domesticas. Their recorded history is older. This is the plum of the Greek poets, Archilochus and Hippona, in the Sixth Century B. C' Theophrastus, the philosopher, mentioned it three hundred years before Christ, as did Pollux, the writer and grammarian, a century before the Savior, while Dioscoridcs, the founder of botany, during the last named period, distin- guishes between this plum and one from Syria, presumably a Domcstica. This is one of the twelve kinds of plums described by Pliny (see page 17) who calls it the Damascene, so-called from Damascus in Syria, and says of it, " introduced long since into Italy." It is the Damask plum of Columella when in his tenth book he says: " then are the wicker baskets cramm'd With Damask and Armenian and Wax plums." The yellow plums of the Roman poets, Ovid and Vergil, are probably the Bullaces or Mirabelles of this species. Indeed, its cultivation was probably prehistoric, for Heer ' has illustrated and described stones of a plum found •BhZ. Soc. Daiiph. fasc. VIII. i8Si. ' Ibid. ' Dendrol. 316. 1893. * Rhein. Reisc-Fl. 6y . 1857. * Handb. Laiibh. i: 631. 1906. 'Pickering, Charles Chron. Hist. Plants. 218. 1879. ' Heer Pflandz. Pfahl. 27, fig. i6c. THE PLUMS OF NEW VOKK. 37 in the lake -dwellings of Robcnhausen which can be no other than those of Insititia. The authentic written history of this plum may be said to have begun with or a little before the Christian Era. The records of the cultivation and development through the early centuries of the present chronology and the Middle Ages to our own day may be found in the herbals, botanies, pomo- logies, agricultural and general literature of the past two thousand years. Prunus insititia now grows wild in nearly all temperate parts of Europe and western Asia — from the Mediterranean northward into Nor- way, Sweden and Russia. The botanists of Etirope very generally agree that its ' original habitat was in southern and southeastern Europe and the adjoining parts of Asia, and that elsewhere it is an escape from culti- vation. Hooker ' says that Prunus insititia grows in western temperate Himalaya, cultivated and indigenous, from Gurwhal to Kashmir, the type being that of the " common yellow -fruited BuUace." A few botanical writers hold that it is trul}' wild in the parts of Europe where now found growing. There are also not a few botanists who, as has been stated in the discussion of the Domestica plums, unite the Insititias with the Domes- ticas, and others who combine these two with the Spinosa plums in one species, Prunus communis.'' It is possible that the species is occasionally found naturalized in eastern United States; several botanists so give it. Wherever the habitat of the Insititia plums may have been, practically all writers from the Greeks and Romans who first mention this fruit to those of the present time, connect the cultivated varieties in one way or another with the old Semite city, Damascus. It is almost certain that the Syrians or Persians were the first to cultivate these plums, and that they were unknown in Europe as domesticated varieties until the Greeks first and the Romans afterward came in intimate contact with the people of the Orient. Thus it is often stated in the old pomologies that Alexander the Great brought these plums from the Orient after his expedition of con- quest and that some centuries later Pompey, returning from his invasion of the eastern countries, brought pltuns to the Roman Empire. The history of the Insititia plums in America has been given in the main in the discussion of the Domestica plums, for the varieties of the two •Hooker Fl. Brit. hid. 2: 315. 1879. ' The reader who desires fuller information regarding the botany of this species should con- sult the references given with the botanical description of Prunus insititia. 38 THE PLUMS OF NEW YORK. species have never been kept separate by plum-growers, all being grouped together as European plums. It is probable, however, that the Damson plums of this species were earlier introduced and more generally grown than any other of the European plxmis by the English settlers of America, as the references to plum-growing before the Revolution are largely to the Damsons. The reasons for this early preference for these plums are that they come true to seed while most varieties of the Domestica do not ; and trees and cions were not readily transportable in colonial times ; and, too, the Damsons have always been favorite plums with the English. When the first American fruit books were published at the beginning of the Nineteenth Century the Damsons and Bulla ces were widely grown, for all writers give a relatively large number of varieties of these plums and speak well of them. Thus McMahon,' in his list of thirty plums gives six that belong here, ending his list with "Common Damson, etc., " as if there were still more than those he enumerates. Prince, in his Pomo- logical Manual, in 1832, gives at least eighteen sorts that may be referred to Insititia with the statement that one of them, the Early Damson " ap- pears to have been brought to this country by the early putch settlers, or by the French who settled here at the time of the revocation of the Edict of Nantes," adding, "It is much disseminated throughout this section of the country." At the end of the Eighteenth Century Deane's ' New England Farmer or Georgical Dictionary, in a discussion of plums in general says: " The most common plum in this country is the Damascene plum, an excellent fruit for preserving, which is said to have been brought from Damasam, hence the name." The hardiness, thriftiness and productiveness of all of the varieties of this species commend them to those who cannot give the care required to grow the less easily grown Domesticas, and in America, as in Europe, these plums are to be found in almost every orchard and in many com- munities half -wild, thriving with little or no care. The fact that they are easily propagated, growing readily from suckers and coming true to seed is an added reason for their general distribution. The Insititia plums do not seem to hybridize freely with other species — at least there are no recorded offspring of such hybrids, though Koch believes the Reine Claudes to be a hybrid group between this species and the Domesticas and there is much evidence in the fruit to show that the 'McMahon, Bernard Gardener's Calendar 587. 1806. 'Samuel Deane, D.D. New England Farmer 265. 1797. THE PLUMS OF NEW YORK. 39 French Damson is part Domestica. The tree -characters of the Insititia plums are such, especially as regards vigor, hardiness, productiveness and freedom from disease, as to seemingly make hybrids with them very desir- able. That this species can be hybridized with Domestica, at least, is certain from work done at this Station where we have made a number of crosses between them. Four groups of plums, the Damsons, BuUaces, MirabcUes and St. Julicns, in all eighty-six varieties mentioned in The Plums of New York, may be referred to this species. There are so few real differences between these divisions, however, that it is hardly possible, logically, to sub-divide Insititia pltims into more than two groups. But since the groups of plums given above are so often referred to in pomological works it is neces- sary to discuss them. The Damsons. — The description given the species fits this division of it closely, the differentiating character for the fruit, if any, being oval fruits, while the Bullaces, most nearly like these, are round. The origin of the Damsons, as we have seen, was in Syria and near the ancient city, Damascus, their written history dating back several centuries before Christ. This plum has escaped from cultivation in nearly all the temperate parts of Europe and more or less in the eastern United States, the wild forms often passing under other names, as the Wild, Wheat, Spilling, Donkey, Ass, Hog and Horse plums. The true Damsons have a fine spicy taste, which makes them especially desirable for cooking and preserving, but a very decided astringency of the skin makes most of the varieties of Dam- sons undesirable to eat out of the hand ; this astringency largely disappears with cooking or after a light frost. Nearly all Damsons are sour, though a few sweet Insititias are placed in this group. Since the seeds grow readily and the sprouts are very manageable, the Damsons, with the other Insititias, are much used as stocks upon which to work other plums, especially the less hardy and less thrifty Domesticas. Although less used now than formerly for stocks it is a question if these plums, or some of their near kin, do not make the best obtainable stocks. There seems to be much difference in the varieties of Insititia in their capacity to send up sprouts. The forms which send up the fewest sprouts are much the best for use as stocks. Ctiriously enough, the Damsons are highly esteemed now only by the Americans and English, being grown much less at present in Continental Europe than a century or two ago. Late pomological works and nursery- 40 THE PLUMS OF NEW YORK. men's catalogs from others than the English or Americans barely mention these plums. The Bullaces. — It is impossible to distinguish between the tree-char- acters of the Damsons and the Bullaces, and pomologists are far from agree- ing as to what differences in the fruit throw a variety into one group or the other. Some writers call a sour variety of Insititia a Damson, and a sweet one a Bullace; others make color the differentiating character, calling the purple plums Damsons and the light colored ones Bullaces; still others call oval Insititias Damsons and round ones Bullaces. If a distinction is to be made, shape seems to be the character upon which it should be based. The name Bullace applies to the round shape of the fruit, but when first used or by whom given it is impossible to say. It is commonly used in the old herbals and pomologies of both England and Continental Europe, there being many variations of the name, of which bullis and bulloes are most common with the word bullum in frequent use for the fruit of the Bullace tree. The varieties of Bullaces are few in number, and are not largely grown, being known for most part only in fruit collections, the Damsons serving all the purposes for which the Bullaces would be worth growing, and to better advantage. The Mirabellcs. — The Mirabelles are round, yellowish or golden, free- stone Insititias, ranging from half an inch to an inch in diameter, very slightly sub-acid or sweet. The trees do not differ from the type of the species unless it be in even greater productiveness than the other groups of Insititia, all of which bear very abtmdant crops. The fruits represent the highest quality to be found in the varieties of this species, approaching the Reine Claudes of Prunus domestica in richness of flavor. Indeed, the Mirabelles may almost be said to be diminutive Reine Claudes, resembling them not only in quality but in color and in shape, and so closely as to lend color to Koch's ' supposition that the Reine Claudes are hybrids be- tween Prunus domestica and Prunus insititia. In France the Mirabelles are accorded second if not first place among plums, being superseded in popularity, if at all, only by the Reine Claudes. They are used in the fresh state and as primes, and are freely made into conserves, preserves, jellies and jams, being found in the markets in some of these forms the year round. They are much used for pastry, their size being such that one layer of fruit suffices and is none too deep for a good pie or tart. The fermented juice of these plums is somewhat largely used 'Koch, Ivarl Deut. Obst. 150. 1876. THE PLUMS OF NEW YORK. 4I in the making of a distilled licjuor, a sort of plum brand\-. The dozen or more varieties of Mirabclles differ chiefly in size of fruit and in time of matvirity. The range in size is from half an inch to an inch in diameter and in time of ripening in France from the first of August to the first of October. The Red Mirabelle frequently referred to in pomological works is Prunus cerasifera, and the name is wrongly so used, for if not first applied to the several varieties of Insititia it now by almost universal usage belongs to these plimis. The origin of the word, as now commonly used, dates back over two centuries, being found in the pomological treatises of the Seven- teenth Century. The assumption is that Mirabelle is derived from mirablc meaning wonderful, and the name was first so used by the French. Unforttmately the Mirabelles are hardly known in America. These plums have so many good qualities of tree and fruit that American pom- ology would be greatly enriched if the best Mirabelle varieties were grown in both home and commercial orchards. They should be used in cookery much as are the Damsons, which they surpass for some purposes. St. JuUens. — The St. Julien that the writer has seen in American and European nurseries is unmistakably an Insititia. At one time St. Julien stocks were used almost exclusively in New York nurseries, and few large plum orchards are free from trees which have through accident to the cion grown from the stock. Such trees bear fruit so like the Damson that one is warranted in saying that the two are identical, and that St. Julien is but a name used for a Damson when the latter is employed as a stock. The fruit is sweetish with a taste identical with that of the sweet Damsons. Plum -growers who have had experience with plums on several stocks are almost united in the opinion that the St. Julien is the best of all for the Domesticas, at least. St. Julien stocks were formerly imported in great numbers from France, where it is still largely grown for European use. The name seems to have come in use in France more than a century ago, but why given or to what particular Insititia appUed does not appear. There is, however, a distinct variety or type of Insititia used by the French in producing stocks, for French pomologists advise careful selection of mother-plants for the production of the young trees by suckers or layers, and caution growers of stocks in no case to use seeds which bring twiggy, spiny and crooked stocks.' St. Julien plums arc seemingly nowhere gro^^^l at present for their fruits. •This subject is well discussed in an article by E. .\. Carriere in Rcviw Horticole 438. 1892. 42 THE PLUMS OF NEW YORK. There are several ornamental forms of plums which are given specific names by European horticulturists, mentioned in the last paragraph in the discussion of the Domestica plums, which some writers place, in part at least, with the Insititias. These plums are not found in America and it is impossible to place them with certainty in either of the two species upon the contradictory evidence of the Europeans. 3. PRUNUS SPINOSA Linnaeus. I. Linnaeus Sp. PI. 475. 1753. 2. Hudson Fl. .4)igZic. 1S6. 1778. 3. Ehrhart Beitr. Nat. 4:16. 1789. 4. J'uTsh Fl. Am. Sept. i:m. 1814. 5. Kooker Fl. Bor. Am. i:i6y. 1833. 6. Tor- rey and Gray Fl. N. Am. 1:408. 1S40. 7. Koch, K. Dend. 1:98. 1869. 8. Ibid. Deut. Obst. 143. 1876. 9. DeCandolIe Or. Cult. PI. 212. 1885. 10. Schwarz Forst Bot. 339. 1892. 11. Koch, W. Syn. Deut. u>id Schw. Fl. 1:726. 1892. 12. Dippel Hmidh. Laiihh. 3:637. 1893. 13. Koehne Deut. Detid. 316. 1893. 14. Beck von Managetta Nied. Ocster. 818. 1893. 15. Bailey Cyc. Am. Hort. 1447 fig. 1901. 16. Schneider Handb. Laubh. 1:628. 1906. Plant low, spreading, much-branched, thorny, shrubby, seldom attaining the dimensions of a small tree; branchlets distinctly pubescent; leaves small, ovate or oblong-ovate, sometimes obovate, numerous, nearly glabrous at maturity, obtuse at the apex, cuneate or rounded at the base, margins closely and finely serrate. Flowers white, one-third or one-half inch in diameter, expanding before the leaves; borne singly, in pairs or sometimes in threes, in lateral clusters. Fruit globose, usually less than one-half inch in diameter, dark blue, almost black, with a heavy bloom; flesh juicy, firm, with an acid, austere taste, scarcely edible for a dessert fruit but making a very good conserve; stone turgid or but little flattened, acute on one edge. European botanists commonly break the species into a number of sub-species, as: — Prunus spinosa typica Schneider," flower-pedicels and calyx-cup glabrous; Prunus spinosa praecox Wim. and Grab.,' pedicels short, blossoms appearing before the leaves ; Prunus spinosa sessiliflora Beck,' with sessile flowers, possibly the same as the next preceding form ; Prunus spinosa coatanea Wim. and Grab.*, blossoming with the leaves and with long pedicels; di.nd Prunus spinosa dasyphylla SchviV.^, ^o-wer-^edicel and calyx-cup more or" less hairy. Besides these botanical sub-divisions there are several horticultural forms as follows: Prunus spinosa flore-pleno of the nurserymen is a double-flowered form, making a beautiful little shrub or small tree much planted in gar- ' Handb. Laubh. 628. 1906. ^ Fl. Siles. 1:2, 10. 1S29. 'Fl. Nied. Ostr. 819. 1890. *Fl. Siles. 1:2, 10. 1829. » Enum. PI. Trans, i 78. 1866. THE PLUMS OK NEW YORK. 43 dens in Europe and somewhat in America. Its blossoms arc pure white, about half an inch in diameter and not quite double, as the stamens form an orange cluster in the center of the flower. The flowers are thickly crowded on short spiny branches, the dark color of which forms a striking contrast to the white flower. Primus spinosa purpurea is another horti- cultural group, more vigorous than the species, less thorny and with larger foliage. Its branches are erect, purplish in color, striated. The leaves and petioles are at first very pubescent but at maturity glabrous; the upper surface of the leaf is green marked with red, the under a deep red- dish-violet. The flowers are a pale rose. One or two variegated forms of this species are also offered by nurserymen. Schneider holds ' Prunus jruticans Weihe' and Primus spinosa mac- rocarpa Wallroth' to be crosses between Prunus spinosa and Prunus insititia. Prunus spinosa, the Blackthorn or European Sloe, is the common wild plum of temperate Evirope and the adjoining parts of Asia. It is adventive from Europe to America and is now quite naturalized along roadsides and about fields in many places in eastern United States. Prunus spinosa is considered by some authors the remote ancestor of the Domestica and Insititia plirnis, but as brought out in the discussion of the last named species, such parentage is very doubtful. The Spinosa plum is a common and often pestiferous plant in its habitat, the roots forming such a mass that in general it is impossible for any other vegetation to grow in its vicinity. The plant is small, spread- ing and much branched and bristles with sharp thorns. The leaves are smaller than those of any of the other Old World species, ovate in shape and very finely serrate. The flowers are usually single but sometimes in pairs or threes and are borne in such number as to make a dazzling mass of white; comparatively few of these, however, set fruit. The fruit is round and small, usually less than half an inch in diameter, and, tj-pically, so black as to have given rise to the old saying, " as black as a sloe." The fruits are firm but rather juicy, with an acid, austere flavor, which makes them lonfit for eating out of hand until frost-bitten, when the austereness is somewhat mitigated. The stone is much swollen, with one edge acute. ' Handb. Laubh. i: 630. 1906. 2 Flora 9:748.1826. ^ Sched. Cril. 217. 1822. 44 THE PLUMS OF NEW YORK. European nurserymen now and then offer trees of the Spinosa plum for fruit-growing, sometimes with the statement that the fniit is sweet. But pomologists do not speak highly of these cultivated Spinosas and hold that they are hardly worth cultivation. The wild plums are quite com- monly picked for certain markets in Europe, however, especially those in which the Domesticas and Insititias are not common. With plenty of sugar the fruits make a very good conserve. In France the unripe fruit is pickled as a substitute for olives and the juice of the ripe fruit is some- times used to make or adulterate cheap grades of port wine. In the country districts of Germany and Russia the fruit is crushed and fermented and spirit distilled from it. The species is quite variable within limits, but since the wild fruits have been used from the time of the lake-dwellers of central Europe, with- out the appearance of desirable forms, the variations are not likely to give horticultural varieties worth cultivating for table use. The variations in the fruit are usually in color, the size and flavor changing but little. Several ornamental forms are in cultivation, of which the chief ones have been named. 4. PRUNUS CURDICA Fenzl and Fritsch. I. Fenzl and Fritsch Sil::b. Akad. Wieit. Bd. CI. 1:627. 1892. 2. Schneider Handb. Laubh. 1:628. 1906. The few herbarium specimens that the writer has seen of this species from southeastern Europe strongly resemble Prunus spinosa but Schneider in the above reference describing it from living specimens says that it differs from the species last named as follows: " Lower growth, about one- half as high, spreading squarrose ramification, much less thominess; leaves more like doniestica, when young hairy on both sides, later above nearly and underneath more or less glabrous; petiole shorter, not ex- ceeding one cm. ; blooms later, nearly with the leaves, white, about twenty- two mm. in diameter, bonie almost always single in this species; pedicel finely pilose, in Prunus spinosa almost glabrous; stamens fewer, about twenty; fruit blue black, stem longer, exceeding twelve mm." So far as appears from the few and scant European references to the species it has no horticultural value. 5. PRUNUS COCOMILIA Tenore. I. Tenore Fl. Neap. Prodr. Suppl. 2:68. 181 1. 2. Schneider Handb. Laubh. 1:628. 1906. Tree shrub-like, top thick, broadly ovate; branches drooping, shoots short; branch- lets glabrous, young wood olive or reddish-brown. Buds small, roundish-ovate; leaves THE PLUMS OF NEW YORK. 45 roundish-obovate, sharply and distinctly serrated, glabrous or upon the ribs on the underside sparsely pubescent. Flowersusually in pairs, opening before or with the leaves, greenish-white, pedicels about the length of the calyx-cups. Fruit yellow, agreeable. The writer has seen only herbarium specimens of this plant and has taken the description given from European texts. According to Schneider the species has been divided into two varieties by the Italian bota- nists. Prunus cocomilia typica having oblong-ovate fruit and Pruniis cocomilia brutia having round fruit. Schneider holds also that Prunus pseudoarmemaca Heldr. and Sart.' from Epirus and Thessaly is a variety of Prunus cocomilia differing chiefly in having more pointed leaves and smaller oblong-roundish red plums. The same author puts in this species still another plum, a hairy -leaved form from Thessaly which he calls Prunus cocomilia puberula. He places here also Prunus ursina Kotschy' which differs only in minor respects from the species, chiefly in having violet-red fruit though Boissier ' mentions a yellow -fruited plum which he calls Prunus ursina flava. The last named plums come from Lebanon and North Syria. 6. PRUNUS CERASIFERA Ehrhart ' I. Ehrhart Beitr. Nat. 4:17. 1789. 2. Hooker Brit. Fl. 220. 1830. 3. Koch, K. Dend. 1:97. 1869. 4. Koch, W. Syn. Deui. und Schw. Fl. 1:727. 1892. 5. Bailey Cornell Sta. Bui. 38: 66. 1892. 6. Schneider Handb. Laubh. 1:632. 1892. 7. Schwarz Forst. Bot. 339. 1892. 8. Dippel Handb. Laubh. 1:633. 1893. P. domestica myrobalan. 9. Linnaeus Sp. PL 475. 1753. 10. Seringe DC. Prodr. 2:538. 1825. P. myrobalan. 11. Loisleur Nouv. Duham. 5:184. 1S12. 12. Koehne Deut, Dcnd. 316. 1893. Tree small or a tree-like shrub, seldom exceeding twenty-five feet in height; branches upright, slender, twiggy, unarmed or sometimes thorny; branchlcts soon glabrous, becoming yellow or chestnut -brown ; lenticels few, small, orange in color, raised. Winter-buds small, obtuse, short-pointed, pale reddish-brown; leaves small, short- ovate, apex acute, base cuneate or rounded, thin, membranaceous, texture firm, light green, nearly glabrous on both surfaces at maturity, though hairy along the rib on the lower surface, margins finely and closely serrate; petiole one-half or three-quarters of an inch long, slender, usually glabrous, glandless. Flowers large, three-quarters of an inch in diameter, expanding very early or mostly with the leaves; calyx-lobes lanceolate, glandular, reflexed; petals white, sometimes with a blush, ovate-oblong or orbicular, the base contracted into a claw; borne singly, sometimes in pairs, in cymes on long, slender, glabrous peduncles. ^ Boiss. Diag. 2nd Ser. 96. 1856. ' Verh. Zool. Bot. Ges. Wien. 435. 1864. ^ Flor. Or. 11: 625. 1872. * In pre-Linnaean literature Prunus cerasijera is mentioned by Clusius as Primus myrobalanus (Rar. Plant. Hist. 46 fig. 1601), and by Toumefort under the same name (Inst. Rei Herb. 622. 1700). 46 THE PLUMS OF NEW YORK. Fruit small, one-half inch or a little more in diameter, globular or depressed-globular, cherry-like, red or yellow; skin thin and tender; flesh soft, juicy, sweet and rather pleasantly flavored; stone oval, short-pointed at both ends, somewhat turgid, ridged on one suture and grooved on the other. Prunus ccrasifcra, the Cherry plum, first came to notice in pomological literature as the Myrobalan plum, a name used as early as the last half of the Sixteenth Century by Tabemce-Montanus and given prominence in the Rariorum Plantarum Historum, published by Clusius in 1601. Why applied to this plum is not known. Myrobalan had long before been used, and is still, as the name of several plum-like fniits of the East Indies, not of the genus Prunus, which are used in tanning, dyeing, ink-making and embalming. Until Ehrhart gave it the name Prunus cerasijera in 1789 it was known as the Myrobalan plum by botanists, some of whom, and nearly all horticulturists, have continued the use of the name until the present time . Not a few of the botanists who have used Myrobalan for this plum have called it a botanical variety of Prunus domestic a. Among these were Linnaeus and Seringe. Others, as Loisleur and Poiteau, have preferred the name for the species as distinguished by Ehrhart. Many of the early botanists, as Toiomefort in 1700, Ehrhart in 1701, Loudon in 1806 and Loisleur in 18 12, gave the origin of the Cerasifera plums as North America, but upon what authority does not appear. On the other hand many European botanists, including Linnaeus, gave the habitat as Europe or Asia. The supposition that this plum came from North America hardly needs discussion. The plum flora of this continent has been well enough studied so that it can be said that no plant that could by any possibility be the Cerasifera plum grows on this side of the Atlantic. Neither does it seem logical to consider this an off-shoot of Prunus domestica, for fruit and tree-characters are distinctly different, and for a member of the genus Prunus are remarkably constant. More- over, there is abundant evidence to show that this is a distinct species and that its nativity is in the Turkish and nearby countries in Europe and Asia and that there it has been in cultivation for a long time. It is very significant that in the old herbals and botanies a frequent name of this fruit is " the Turkish plum." But more specific and almost conclusive proof is that two forms of plums belonging to this species are known to come from the Caucasus region. Prunus divaricata ' is now consid- ' Ledebour hid. Hort. Dorp. Suppl. 6. 1S24. PHliMS CEIi ISlir.K.i THE PLUMS OF NEW YORK. 47 ered by some botanists to be a synonym of Primus ccrasijcra and by others to be a botanical variety of the last named species. Ledebour, who named it, fovmd it in the Trans-Caucasian region. It differs from the type only in having much divided, wide -spreading and nearly prostrate branches. The Pissardi plum, a purple-leaved form of this species, originated in Per- sia. A plum now growing in the Arnold Arboretum raised from seed from Turkestan, presumably from wild stock, is identical with plants of Cerasi- fera of European origin. And, according to Schneider,' this plum is known in the wild state in Caucasus, Trans-Caucasus, northern Persia and Turkestan. The Cerasifera plums are small trees, usually upright but in some forms with spreading branches which are commonly unarmed, glabrous and brownish in color. The leaves are ovate and smaller and thinner and with more finely serrate margin than those of the Domestica plums. It blooms prolifically and bears large, white, single or paired flowers, making a most beautiful tree when in flower. The fruit is small, round, and cherry- like, from half an inch to an inch in diameter, usually red but sometimes yellow. The flesh is soft, sweetish or sub-acid and poor. The stone is turgid, smooth and pointed. The species is variable in nearly all tree-char- acters, and were it not surpassed by other plums for its fruit there would vmdoubtedly be a great ntmiber of varieties cultivated for the markets. There are, however, but few cultivated Cerasiferas, only nineteen being described in The Plums of New York. It is very generally distributed wherever plums are grown, because of the use to which it has been put as stocks for other species. For this ptirpose it is held in high esteem the world over. In the nurseries of New York it is now used more than any other stock and it is common to find it fruiting here and there from plants set for or used as stocks. In fact practically all the cultivated varieties have arisen as survivals of plants meant for stocks. It is almost certain that the Cerasifera, or Myrobalan, as it is universally known by horticulturists, dwarfs the cion and that it is not equally well suited to all varieties; but it does not "sprout" as badly as some other stocks, is adapted to many soils, and the young trees grow well and are rapidly budded, giving at the start a strong and vigorous orchard tree. The Cerasifera pltrnis are handsome trees. The foliage is a fresh and beautiful green and whether covered with a mass of flowers or loaded with red or yellow fruit these plums are as handsome as any of our culti- vated fruit trees, and as desirable for ornamentals. 'Schneider Handb. Laubh. 632. 1906. 48 THE PLUMS OF NEW YORK. The hardiness, thriftiness, freedom from disease and adaptability to soils make the species desirable for hybridizing, A number of breeders of plums have made use of it with some indications of a promising future, several interesting hybrid offspring of this species being described in The Plums of New York. The small number of varieties of Cerasifera cultivated for their fruit indicates that but little can be expected from this species by plum-growers, since so little has come from it in the shape of edible fruits, though it has been tmder general cultivation for over three hundred years, at least, as an ornamental and as a stock. Several valuable groups of orna- mentals have arisen from Cerasifera, of which the following are most notable : — In 1880 M. Pissard, gardener to the Shah of Persia, sent to France a purple -leaved pltmi which proved to be a form of Prunus cerasifera. To this plum Dippel ' gave the name Prunus cerasifera atropurpurea, while horticulturists very generally call it Prunus pissardi. A close study of the purple -leaved plum reveals no character in which it differs from the species except in the color of foliage, flowers and fmit; the leaves are purple, as are also the calyx and peduncles of the flowers, while the fruit is a dark wine-red. These are but horticultural characters and do not seem to be of siifficient importance to establish for this plant a botanical variety. This view is strengthened by the fact that Jack '' reports that seeds from the purple-leaved plum have produced plants which agree in all essential particulars with the species; while Kerr' has grown a purple - leaved plum from a variety of Prunus cerasifera. Besides this well-known purple-leaved plum nurserymen offer Primus pendula, a weeping form; Prunus planteriensis, bearing double white and red flowers; Prunus acutifolia, a plum with narrow, willow -like leaves; Prumis contorta, characterized by twisted, contorted foliage; Prunus elegans, Prtmus gigantea, and a variety with yellow and another with variegated leaves, etc. All of these are probably horticultural varieties of Prunus cerasifera though some of them cannot be classified with surety. Schneider * calls Prunus dasycarpa Ehrhart,' the Prunus armeniaca dasycarpa of Borkhausen,' a cross between Prunus cerasifera and Prunus armeniaca, one of the apricots. 'Dippel Handb. Laiibh. 3:633. 1893. 'Jack Gar. and For. 5:64. 1892. 'Bailey Cornell Sta. Bui 38:34- 1892. * Handb. Laiibh. 1:633. 1906. ^ Beitr. Nat. 6:90. 1791. ' Handb. Forstb. 11:1392. 1803. THE PLUMS OF NEW YORK. 49 7. PRUNUS MONTICOLA K. Koch I. Koch, K. Iitd. Sent. Hort. Bcrol. App. 1854. 2. Schneider Handb. Laubh. 1:632. igo6. Plant shrub-like, slender, upright, scarcely thorny, new wood more or less olive- brown. Buds short, ovate; leaves roundish or cuneiform, base oblong-ovate, point drawn out, main nerves over six on both sides, the serrations coarse and uniform in size, always glabrous. Flowers mostly in twos; borne on long, slender peduncles; calyx usually glabrous; petals white, odor slight; stamens thirty or more. Fruit small, roundish-oblong, red; stone ovoid, pointed at one end, somewhat turgid. Prunus nionticola is described by the above authors as a shrub-like plum from Asia Minor and Armenia having, so far as can be learned from European texts, little or no horticultural value. The herbarium specimens seen by the writer indicate that this species is closely related to Prunus cerasijera. The description of the species is abbreviated from Schneider. 8. PRUNUS TRIFLORA Roxburgh I. Roxburgh Hort. Bengal 38. 1814. 2. Ibid. Fl. Indica 2:501. 1824. 3. Schneider Handb. Laubh. 1:627. 1892. 4. Bailey Cornell Sla. Bui. 62. 1894. 5. Waugh Plum CuU. 42. 1901. P. domestica. 6. Maximowicz Mel. Biol. 11:678. 1883. P. kalian Tamari. 7. Bailey An. Hort. 30. 1889. P. communis. 8. Forbes and Hemsley Jour. Linn. Soc. 23:219. 1886-88. P. japonica of horticulturists (not P. japonica of Thunberg). Tree twenty to thirty feet in height, vigorous; trunk six to twelve inches in diam- eter, straight; bark thick, rough, numerous corky elevations especially on the branches, reddish or cinnamon -brown, peach-like; branches long, upright-spreading, much forked, brash and often splitting at the forks; branchlets thick, straight, glaucous and glabrous, at first light red, growing darker the second year; lenticels few or many, usually small but conspicuous, light in color. Winter-buds small and obtuse, free or appressed; leaves borne abundantly, small or of but medium size, oblong-obovate, point acuminate or abrupt, prominent, base rounded, firm, thin, membranaceous, margins finely and closely serrated, sometimes in two series, teeth usually glandular; upper surface bright green, glabrous, lower sur- face dull, whitish, glabrous or slightly pubescent on the veins; veins pronounced; petioles one-half inch in length, stoutish, tinged with red; glands few or several, usually globose, greenish; stipules lanceolate, very narrow, one-half inch long, caducous. Flowers expanding early, before, with or sometimes after the leaves, first of the plum blossoms to appear, very abundant, three-quarters of an inch in diameter; usually three springing from each flower-bud, often in dense clusters on lateral spurs and lateral buds on one-year-old wood; calyx-tube green, glabrous, campanulate or obconic; calyx- lobes acute to obtuse glandular-serrate, erect, glabrous or pubescent; petals white, oval, entire or crenate, with a short claw or tip; stamens about twenty-five, shorter than the petals; anthers yellow, sometimes tinged with red; pistils glabrous, longer than the stamens; pedicels one-half inch long, slender. 50 THE PLUMS OF NEW YORK. Fruit varying greatly in season, from very early to late; large, from one to two inches in diameter, globular, heart-shaped or often somewhat conical; cavity deep; apex conspicuously pointed; suture usually prominent; color varies greatly but usually a bright red or yellow, never blue or purple, lustrous, with little or no bloom; dots small, numerous, usually conspicuous; skin thin, tough, astringent; stem one-half inch in length; flesh red or more often yellow, firm, fibrous, juicy; quality variable, of distinct flavor, usually good; stone clinging tenaciously or nearly free, small, rough or lightly pitted, oval to ovate, one edge grooved, the other ridged. A study of the botanical characters of the many Trifiora plums under cultivation fails to show any lines of cleavage whereby the species can be divided. Of plums commonly grown in America it is not very closely related to any unless it be Prunus simonii. There are several plums from eastern and central Asia with which we are not at all familiar in America that may show relationship with Prunus trifiora, chief of which are Prunus ichangana Schneider,' Prunus thibetica Franchet' and Prunus bokhariensis Royle,' the last a cioltivated plum from northern India. These, in herbarium si^ecimens, have some characters reminding one of Prunus trifiora, others of Primus domestica and still others, of Prunus cerasifera. The Trifiora, or Japanese," plums are now cultivated in all parts of the world where plums are grown; yet outside of Japan and China they have been grown for their fruit less than half a centurj'. Despite the fact that these plums have been grown in Asia for several centtiries the wild form is not known. Indeed, there are doubts in the minds of some as to whether it constitutes a distinct species, Maximowicz, an authority on the flora of Japan, among others, holding that it is but a form of Prunus domestica. Roxburgh in naming it gave but little definite information in regard to the species, but the herbariimi specimens of his in the Kew Herbarium are readily identified as identical with our Japanese plums.' The confusion between Prunus trifiora and Prunus domestica seems need- less, as the points of difference between these two species are several and very distinct and constant, the resemblances between Prunus trifiora and 'Fedde Repcrt. 1:50. 1905. ^ PI. David 2:7,:^. 1888. ^III. Bot. His. MoufUains and Fl. of Cash. 1:239. 1839. * Several apricots and the loquat of southern Japan are also called Japanese plums. The name Trifiora for common usage avoids this confusion and conforms with the growing usage in horticulture of using the specific name alone. ' Bailey says, (Cornell Sta. Bui. 62:6. 1894) speaking of these specimens: " I have no hesita- tion in saying that our Japanese plums are the same." The writer examined the specimens in the summer of 1909 and recognized them at once to be the same as the cultivated Trifiora plums. i.^' «^;^^"H^ PRVWS TRIFLORA THE PLUMS OF NEW YORK. 5I some of the American species being much closer. So, too, the effort, some- times made, to make more than one species out of Prunus triflora is strain- ing a point, for though the types imder cultivation vary considerably yet the variations are not greater than between varieties of other species of the genus Prunus. Prunus triflora is almost certainly a native of China. According to Georgeson and Sargent, who have made extensive botanical explorations in the forests of Japan, there are no indigenous plum trees in that country. Dr. K. Miyake, botanist at the Agricultural College of the Imperial Uni- versity, Tokyo, Japan, writes to this Station,' that Prumis triflora does not grow wild in Japan but was introduced there from China from two to four himdred years ago. Bretschneider ' in his treatise on The Study and Value of Chinese Botanical Works says that the plum has been culti- vated from ancient times in China and this indicates that the original habitat was in that country. Mr. F. N. Meyer, Agricultural Explorer for the United States Department of Agriculture, who has made extensive agricultural explorations in China, writes ' that he has seen many trees of Prunus triflora cultivated in the Chekiang Province and also about Canton but that he had not found the species growing wild. Roxburgh says * that the shrub had been " received from China into our gardens in Bengal." Forbes and Hemsley ' state that varieties of this plum are cul- tivated in China and that it occurs in the wild state in the mountains near Peking as well as on the Tsunglin range in Shensi and Kansu. These writers are, however, uncertain as to where it is truly indigenous. While the above and practically all evidence points to China as the original home of Prunus triflora it is likely that the habitat of the species cannot be accurately determined imtil western and southwestern China have been explored by botanists, these regions as yet being almost un- known to foreign scientists. Notwithstanding the illustrious work of Kaempfer, Thunberg, Sie- bold and Fortune in sending to Europe the choicest plants of Japan and China, Prunus triflora seems to have reached the Old World through Amer- ica at a very recent date. At least the species was not cultivated for its fruit in Europe imtil introduced from the United States as Japanese plums, ' February 23, 1909. >pp. 10, 45. ' March 12, 1909. * Fl. hidica 501. 1824. 'Forbes and Hemsley Jour. Linn. Soc. 23:219. 1 886-88. 52 THE PLUMS OF NEW YORK. and even yet they are but barely known in European orchards. The species was introduced into this country from Japan about 1870 by a Mr. Hough of Vacaville, Cahfomia. According to Bailey,' who has given much attention to these plums, Mr. Hough obtained his trees from a Mr. Bridges, United States Consul to Japan. John Kelsey, Berkeley, Cali- fornia, produced the first ripe fruit of the Triflora plums in America in 1876 and 1877, ^^^ impressed by their value began recommending them. Owing to Mr. Kelsey's efforts the propagation of these plums was begtm on a large scale about 1883 by W. P. Hammon & Co., of Oakland, who commemorated Mr. Kelsey's labors by naming the plum after him. The success of the Kelsey started the importation and origination of varieties and a veritable boom in Japanese plums was soon under way. This fruit is a most valuable addition to our pomology, no less than ninety-two varieties now being under cultivation in America. At first it was thought desirable only for the southern states, but it proved to be nearly as hardy as the Domestica plums in the northern states and was soon widely distributed north and south. Beyond question it has suffered from over-praise, which has led to over-planting. As was of necessity the case, many untested and worthless varieties were offered fruit-growers, and these, with the failure of some of the extravagant claims for the really meritorious varieties, have given the Triflora plums a bad reputation with many fruit-growers. Now we have cultivated plums of this species for forty years and there has been time for the excitement of their discovery and the consequent reaction to abate making it possible to arrive more nearly at their true place in pomology. The plums of this species possess several striking features that com- mend them to fruit-growers. Undoubtedly the most valuable attribute of the Triflora plums as cultivated fruits is their wide range of adapt- ability. All must admit that this group of varieties is less valuable than the Domestica varieties where both succeed, but the Triflora plums are adapted to a much wider range of country and of conditions than the Domesticas. But even where both types of plums succeed the newer plum introduces several very desirable features quite aside from additional variety which the many distinct sorts furnish. Thus, as a species, the Trifloras are more vigorous, productive, earlier in coming in bearing and more free from diseases, especially black -knot and leaf-bUght, than the ' Cornell Sta. Bui. 62:3. 1894. THE PLUMS OF NEW YORK. 53 Domestica plums. The Trifloras are also less subject to curculio than most of the native and European species. They keep longer and ship as well as the better known Europeans. As compared with native varieties the plums from Japan are larger, handsomer and better flavored and keep and ship better. Some disadvantages are that they blossom so early as to be often caught by spring frosts; they are quite subject to brown - rot; for most part they are tenacious cHngstones; the species, all in all, is less hardy to cold than the Domestica plimis ; lastly, they are inferior in quality to the varieties from Europe. The last fault is so serious that, though the average for the Triflora plums is high, making them un- questionably more desirable inhabitants of the orchard than any of the native species, they cannot compete with the Domesticas where the two types can be equally well growm. The botanical differences between these Asiatic plums and those from Europe and America are most interesting. In 1859 Asa Gray called atten- tion to the striking resemblances between the east coast floras of Asia and America. The Triflora plvun is one of the plants which furnishes substan- tial evidence of this similarity and of the dissimilarity of the east and west coast floras of the two hemispheres. In general aspect the trees of the Triflora plums in summer or winter are much more like those of the American species than like those from Europe or West Asia; so, too, the fruits are more alike in appearance and in quality, and the peach-like foliage of the Trifloras might easily be mistaken for that of some of our varieties of Hortulana or Munsoniana. In the manner in which the buds are borne and in vernation the resemblance of the Oriental species to the Americanas, Hortulanas and Munsonianas is again most striking. In Asiatic and American species the buds are borne in twos and threes, while in the European species they are more often single or double. The importance of this similarity of the Triflora plums to the most common American species is seen when Gray's reason for the likenesses between the two floras is considered. This, briefly, is that similar types of post-glacial plants should persist in areas having like geographical positions and like climates; hence east -coast plants in one hemisphere should be expected to be similar to those of the east coast of the other hemisphere and the same with the west coast. Triflora plums are near of kin to American plums, then, because they have been evolved imder similar conditions. This is a reason why these plums from Japan are adapted to so wide a range of country in America, and why, too, they 54 THE PLUMS OF NEW YORK. are so free from the fvingus troubles which attack European plums, but from which American plums sviffer but little. As might be expected from their nearness of kin the Trifiora plimis hybridize readily with the American species and especially with the Hortu- lanas and Munsonianas, the species they most resemble. Unfortimately an amalgamation of the Oriental pltmis with the Americanas is not so easily accomplished and that with the Domesticas is still more difficult. Hybrids with Prunus simonii are easily made and the progeny as a rule have much merit. Hybrids of the Trifioras with our native species give most promising results, a number of them being described in The Plums of New York. The fact that the Trifioras have been cultivated for several centuries, at least, means in their hybridization with American species that there is an amalgamation of domesticated characters with the similar but wilder characters of our native species. It has been very difficult to establish a satisfactory nomenclature for the Triflora plimis now grown in America. In spite of the excellent work of Berckmans,' Bailey ' and Waugh,' in bringing order out of what was at one time utter confusion, there is still a great deal of imcer- tainty as to the identification of some varieties. The confusion began with the first extensive importation of these plums from Japan when names which the Japanese applied to classes or groups or the localities from which the plums came were made to apply in America to definite varieties. Many of the names under which the plums were imported have had to be dropped and the varieties boldly renamed. Another source of confusion has been that these, of all plums, seem most variable xander changed conditions. Local environment in many instances in America changes somewhat the habit and appearance of varieties, making it difficult to decide whether two or more specimens of the same sort from different localities are iden- tical varieties or distinct. Curiously enough, too, the trees of some varie- ties of plums seem to bear vmlike fruit in different years, especially in the matter of time of ripening; that is, trees of some varieties do not alwa}'s ripen their fruit in the same sequence, being earlier than another variety one year and possibly later the next. All fruits are more or less variable in this respect, but the Triflora plums are remarkably so, a fact that has added to the confusion in their nomenclature, since it adds to the diffi- culty of identifying varieties. 'Berckmans, L. A. Rpt. Ga. Hort. Soc. 15. 1S89. ' Bailey, L. H. Cornell Sta. Bids. 62, 106, 139, 175. 'Waugh, F. A. Plum Cult. 1901. THE PLUMS OF NEW YORK. 55 The cultivated varieties of Frunus triflora are also very diverse as regards tree-characters, especially as to vigor, hardiness and time of ma- turity of the fruit. The differences seem to be horticultural or those that come from cultivation, rather than botanical. Indeed, it seems im- possible to place the numerous varieties in horticultural groups that are marked with any great degree of defaniteness. A distinction of groups based on color is sometimes made, but the one character is insufficient to have classificatory value. In Japan, according to Georgeson, a division of the species is made with shape as the line of division. He says ' " The round plums are designated by the term botankio, while those of an oval or pointed shape are called hattankio." The varieties are sometimes loosely grouped into yellow and red-fieshed sorts. A serviceable classification would have to be founded on several or a considerable ntimber of characters. Such a classification at present is impossible. 9. PRUNUS SIMONII Carri^re I. Carriere Rev. Hort. iii. 1S72.' Tree small, of medium vigor, upright, dense, hardy except in exposed locations, unproductive; branches stocky, long, rough, thickly strewn with small lenticels; branchlets slender, long, with intemodes of medium length, reddish, glabrous; leaf- buds intermediate in size, short, obtuse, free. Leaves folded upward, oblong-lanceolate to obovate, peach-like, narrow, long, of medium thickness; upper surface dark green, smooth, shining, lower surface pale green, not pubescent, with prominent midrib; margin slightly crenate; petiole short, thick, faintly tinged red, often with four large globose glands on the stalk. Flower-buds numerous on one-year wood although found on spurs on the older wood; flowers appearing very early, semi-hardy, small, pinkish-white; borne singly or in pairs, often defective in pollen. Fruit maturing early; one and three-quarters by two and one-quarter inches in size, strongly oblate, compressed; cavity deep, wide, flaring, regular, often slightly russcted; suture variable in depth, frequently swollen near the apex which is flattened or strongly depressed; dark red or purplish-red, overspread with waxy bloom; dots numerous, small, dark colored, with russet center, inconspicuous; stem thick, characteristically short being often one-quarter inch long; skin of medium thickness, tough, bitter, ad- hering to the pulp; flesh rich yellow, medium juicy, tough, firm, very mild sub-acid with a peculiar aromatic flavor; of fair quality; stone clinging, about seven-eighths inch in diameter, roundish, flattened to rather turgid, truncate at the base, tapering abruptly to a short point at the apex, with characteristic rough surfaces; ventral suture narrow, acute or with distinct wing; dorsal suture very blunt or acute, not grooved. 'Georgeson, C. C. Attu-r. Card. 12:74. 1S91. ' For references and synonj-my see the Simon plum. 56 THE PLUMS OF NEW YORK. All that is known of the history and habitat of this species is that it came from China in 1867 having been sent to the Paris Museum of Natural History by Eugene Simon, a French consul in China. The spon- taneous form has not as yet been found. The general aspect of the tree is more that of the peach than the plum and the drupes are as much Hke apricots or nectarines as plums but when all characters are considered the fruit can better be classed with the plums than with any of the other stone-fruits named. Prunus simonii has been widely grown in America both for its fniits and as an ornamental, but it cannot be said that it has become poptilar for either pixrpose and only one variety of the species is now under culti- vation. As a food prodtxct the plums lack palatability and as ornamentals the trees are subject to too many pests. Prunus simonii has been success- fully hybridized with Primus trifiora and as secondary crosses its blood has been mingled with that of some of the native species as well. Most of its hybrid offspring have more value than the parent, nearly all of them lacking its disagreeable taste. According to an article published in Revue Horticole ' a new form of the Prunus simonii was produced in 1890 from a bud sport, the fruit of which is elongated, a little cordate, slightly unequal, and grooved on one side. So far as can be learned this sport has no very decided merits as a horticultural plant. 10. PRUNUS AMERICANA Marshall I. Marshall Arb. Am. iii. 17S5. 2. Eaton and Wright .V. Am. Bot. 377. 1840. 3. Torrey and Gray Fl. N. Am. 1:407. 1840 (in part). 4. Torrey Fl. N. Y. 1:194. 1843 (^^ part). 5. Emer- son Trees of Mass. 449. 1S46. 6. Nuttal Silva 2:19. 1846. 7. Darlington Fl. Cest. Ed. 3:72. 1853. 8. Torrey Pac. R. Rpt. 4:82. 1854. 9. Curtis Rpt. Geol. Surv. N. C. 36. i860. 10. R way Proc. U. S. Nat. Mus. 65. 1882. ii. Sargent loth Cen. U. S. 9:65. 1883 (in part). 12. Wat- son and Coulter Gra/jMan. Ed. 6:151. i889(inpart). 13. Coulter Con/. ^.S.A^oi. //eri. 2:102. 1 14. Sargent Sitoa AT. Aw. 4:19, PI. ISO. 1892, is.Rydherg Cont. U. S.Nat. Herb. 3:i$6. 1895. 16, Ibid. 3:494. 1896. 17. Waugh Vt. Sta. Bui. 53:59. 1896. 18. Ibid. Vt. Sta. An. Rpt. 10:100 1896-7. 19. Chapman Fl. Sou. U. S. 130. 1897. 20. Bailey Ev. Nat. Fr. 182, fig. 1898. 21 Waugh Vt.Sta.An. Rpt. 12:231. 1899. 22. Mohr Con/. U. S.Nat. Herb. 6:551. 1901. 23. Bailey Cyc. Am. Hon. 1448 fig. 1901. 24. Rydberg Fl. of Colo. 193. igo6. Tree attaining a height of thirty feet, slow but strong in growth, often shrubby; trunk thick, sometimes a foot in diameter, short, bearing the head at three to five feet; bark one-half inch thick, dark grayish-brown, outer surface rough, shaggy with large scales, with age becoming smoother, giving a characteristic aspect; branches spreading, crooked, long, rigid, but often pendulous at the extremities, more or less thorny, with lateral, spinescent branchlets; branchlets light green, usually glabrous, sometimes ' Carrie re, E. A. Rev. Hart. 152. 1S91. PRCNVS AMERICANA THE PLUMS OF NEW YORK. 57 much or little tomentose, at first becoming brownish and later tinged with red; lenticels numerous, large and distinct. Winter-buds medium in size, short, acute, appressed, reddish-brown; leaves large, obovate, oblong-obovate, or oval, acuminate at the apex and usually rounded at the base, thin and firm in texture, becoming somewhat coriaceous; margins sharply serrate, almost incised, often doubly serrate, the coarse and double serrations characteristic; teeth not glandular; upper surface more or less roughened, light green, the lower one glabrous or slightly hairy, sometimes pubescent, coarsely veined, the midrib grooved on the upper side; petioles slender, two-thirds inch in length, usually glandless; sti- pules long, sometimes three-lobed, falling early. Flowers expanding after the leaves, large, an inch in diameter, borne in lateral umbels, two to five-flowered, mostly on one-year-old wood; pedicels one-half inch long, slender, usually glabrous; calyx-tube obconic, entire, glandular, reddish on the outer, green on the inner surface, glabrous; calyx-lobes acuminate, glabrous on the outer and pubescent on the inner surface, refiexed; petals white, sometimes with bright red at the base, rounded and often lanciniate at the apex, contracted into a long, narrow claw at the base; stamens about thirty in number, as long as the petals; anthers small, yellow; pistils glabrous, slender, as long as the stamens; stigma thick and truncate; anthers and pistils often defective; when in full flower emitting a disagree- able odor. Fruit very variable in ripening period; globose, sub-globose, conical, oval, or sometimes oblique-truncate, usually more than an inch in diameter, red or rarely yellow- ish, mostly dull, with or without bloom; dots pale, numerous, more or less conspicuous; cavity shallow or almost lacking; suture a hne; skin thick, tough, usually astringent ; flesh golden-yellow, juicy, meaty, fibrous, sweetish, acid and poor but often good to very good; stone clinging or free, turgid or flattened, the apex pointed, ridged on the ventral and slightly grooved on the dorsal suture, surfaces smooth. As Prunus americana is more carefully studied throughout the great territory it inhabits, undoubtedly one or more sub-species will be described. The plums of this species in the Mississippi Valley are distinguished from the eastern and typical form by fruits having a length greater than the diameter, by a somewhat different aspect of tree and by flatter seeds which are usually conspicuously longer than broad. All of the cultivated varie- ties come from the western form. The plant of Prunus americana in the dry plain regions in Kansas and Nebraska becomes shrubby in character while on the alluvial bottom lands along the streams in this region it re- tains the character of a tree. In the southern limit of its range, the leaves of this species are more or less pubescent on the lower surface. As the species occurs throughout western New Mexico, Colorado, Utah, Wyoming, Montana and Manitoba, it differs enough, possibly, from the eastern types to be considered a sub-species, having a wholly different aspect of tree, 58 THE PLUMS OF NEW YORK. silvery and somewhat scurfy twigs, smaller, thinner and lighter colored leaves and smaller fruits with more roundish stones. Prunus americana is the predominating native plum. It is the most widely distributed, is most abundant in individual specimens and has yielded the largest number of horticultural varieties of any of the native species. Because of its prominence and comparatively high degree of permanency of characters it may well be considered the type from which has sprung not only its botanical varieties but several other of the American species. Its variability, too, is shown in its many diverse horticultviral varieties, and of its adaptability it may be said that it flourishes on nearly all soils and exposures, and is foimd wild or cultivated from Maine to Florida and northward from Mexico along the eastern slope of the Rocky Mountains well into Canada. The species was well named by Marshall "Americana." This plum has not played nearly as important a part in the pomology of America as its merits would warrant. It seems to have made an im- pression almost from the first upon the Europeans who settled America, for it is mentioned in nearly all the early records of the food products of the newly found land, yet its cultivation can hardly be said to have begun until the last half of the Nineteenth Century. But the early descriptions of this and other native plums by the colonial explorers, naturalists and botanists, show but little interest in these fruits as subjects for cultivation, and seem to contain almost no prophecies as to the possible development of a new orchard plant from them. It is probable that the Damsons, which were early introduced in America, and the Domesticas, which came at least before the Revolution, proved so adaptable to the part of the New World in which the colonies were planted that this, even though the best of the wild plums, offered small reward in comparison. It is certain, however, that from the very first, Americana plums were much used by the early settlers as wild fruits, for the histories of all the colonies and states in which plums are found contain innumerable references to wild plums, usually with some expression showing that they were considered makeshifts tmtil the European plums could be grown. Long before white men came to America the possessors of the continent knew and esteemed these fruits of the woods. According to some of the early writers wild plums of this species, since found where the Americanas are dominant, were planted and rudely cultivated by the natives.' It ' The New York Agricultural Experiment Station stands on the site of the old Indian village of Kanadasaga, founded by the Seneca Indians. The records of Sullivan's raid just after the Revolution show that when this village was destroyed by the Whites there were orchards of apples and plums (see Conover's Kanadasaga and Geneva (Mss.) Hobart College) crudely cultivated. On THE PLUMS OF NEW YORK. 59 is likely, however, that these Indian orchards were more often the result of seeds dropped about camping places and towns rather than regularly planted orchards. It is not improbable that the wide distribution of this species in the Mississippi Valley and the country about and beyond the Great Lakes is due somewhat to the hand of the Indian, of the voyageur and of the missionary of the French regime. The common names under which this plum passes in the states where it is found as a wild fruit are indicative of the knowledge possessed of it by the people. The Americana is nearly always the wild plum of eastern America. It shares with several other species the names in various parts of the country of Red Plum, Yellow Plum, the Horse and the Hog Plum. In Iowa this is most often the " native plum; " in Indiana it is the Goose plum; in Georgia, the August plum, while in the states bordering on the Gulf it is often called the Sloe. The domestication of Americana plums is due to the fact that the plums of Europe will not thrive in the Mississippi Valley, the prairie states, nor, for the most part, in the South. The European species are tender both to cold and heat in these regions and they are attacked by those scourges of plum culture, black-knot, leaf-blight and curculio. If, then, the people in the West and South were to have plums at hand when wanted, the wild species had to be brought under cultivation. Where the two will grow side by side it is doubtful if any would choose to grow the Americanas in preference to the Europeans or even for the sake of variety. The Americana plum was introduced into European gardens at an early date, for references to it are found in the pomological works of the Eighteenth Century, Duhamel having described it in his great work on pomology in 1768, under the name Prunier de Virginie, and later Poiteau ' gives a very good description of it under the name Prune de la Gallissioniere. Just how much earlier than these dates it was taken to the Old World cannot be said, but seeds of it are likely to have been taken there by some of the returning explorers of early colonial times. The important fact is that as a cultivated fruit it has made absolutely no headway in competition in Europe with the plums of that continent though it is to be found not infrequently as an ornamental. the adjoining farm of Mr. Henry Loomis descendants of these old trees still grow. The plums are Americanas, and Mr. Loomis, now in his g4th year, says that when a boy the Indians and Whites alike gathered them, soaked them in lye to remove the astringency of the skins and then cooked, dried or otherwise preserved them. 'Poiteau 1: (Unpaged). 1846. 6o THE PLUMS OF NEW YORK. The domestication of these plums began less than a century ago, not through direct efforts in breeding them but as the result of the selection of the best of the wild or chance trees found in many widely separated localities. It would be most interesting to follow in detail the introduction of variety after variety of this species into cultivation, giving full credit to the men, many of them pioneers in newly settled countries, through whose efforts the amelioration of the species was begun. But space forbids, and the reader who desires to trace more fully the history and the evolution of these plums must put together the histories of the two or three hundred varieties of Americanas described in the chapters on varieties. Are the Americanas to compete with the Domesticas, Insititias and Trifloras where all may be grown? It is very doubtful or at least not soon. The Old World plums are so superior, speaking generall}-, in size, appear- ance, and flavor, the qualities which appeal to those who eat plums, that the native varieties stand small chance for popular favor. Their place in pomology must long remain the region where the older and more highly developed groups of plums cannot be grown. Though there are now many times more of the Americana plums under cultivation than of the recently introduced Trifloras, the latter are more popular and are Hkely to remain so in localities where both can be grown. The range of Prunus americana is seemingly increasing, making it almost impossible to give its present limits. The boundary Hne of its northern range passes through central New York to central Michigan, southern Wisconsin, Minnesota and South Dakota extending northwest- ward to Manitoba and reaching its western limit in Utah. It occurs locally southward through Colorado to northern New Mexico. It is rare in Okla- homa and does not occur in Texas, but is represented in Missouri by a pubescent form. East of the Mississippi River the typical species occurs in all of the states from central New York southward to northern Florida. In this great territory it is found in many diverse soils and exposures but responding in all to good soil and congenial environment. In the wild state the Americana plums are most often fotond along the borders of streams and swamps or in bottom lands where moisture aboimds. Sometimes they are fotmd in swamps which may be submerged a part of the year. In spite of a predilection for moist lands, however, the wild plants are not in- frequently found on comparative h' dr)- uplands, seeming to prefer soiis containing considerable lime. The wild trees are usually found in thickets, often of considerable extent. THE PLUMS OF NEW YORK. 01 Under cultivation the range is even greater than for the wild plant. It is only in localities of extreme heat and cold, humidity or aridness, that some of the many Americanas cannot be made to grow under conditions at all favorable for orchards of any of the temperate fruits. So, too, vari- eties may be found for nearly all soils which permit of cultivation. This freedom from local attachments is one of the chief assets of the species. The Americana tree is commonly small, often but a bush, and usually with a thick, thorny top. Generally the head attains a height of about fifteen or eighteen feet and sometimes it rises to twenty-five or thirty feet, spreading into many rigid branches which are often pendulous at the ex- tremities. The species may almost always be told by the rough, shaggy, grayish bark, the large, thin, persistent plates of which give a very char- acteristic shagginess. In the spring the tree is covered with umbelliferous masses of ptire white flowers and both at this season and later with its ample foliage or showy fruit, the plant is very ornamental. The leaves are large, oval or obovate, thin, dull and veiny, with very jagged margins. The fruit is reddish or yellowish or a blending of the two with the red varieties predominating. Often the color is more nearly orange than red or yellow — in fact pure yellow fruits cannot be found. Wild or cul- tivated the fruits of the Americana plums vary greatly in season, size, shape and flavor. In the orchard the period of maturity covers a range of several weeks, beginning in New York in August and ending in October; in the wild, trees in the same thicket may vary as much as three weeks in ripening their fruit. The size of the cultivated sorts is from that of a Damson to that of some of the Gages, the shape being roundish -oval, or quite oval, sometimes oblique and sometimes truncate at one or both ends and often more or less compressed. The wild fruits usually have a pleasant flavor and this is much improved under cultivation so that when fully ripe the flesh of some sorts is sweet and luscious, hardly surpassed, if the skin be rejected, by the best Domesticas. The skin is usually thick, coriaceous, acerb or astringent, and altogether very unpleasant, making with the tenaciously clinging stones the chief defects of these fruits. In some varieties skin and stones are far less objectionable than in others. The trees of the varieties we have as yet are not very manageable in the orchard. They make a very slow growth and are hard to control, producing at maturity many leaning trunks which are often crooked, as are also the branches which, with the unkempt heads, give an impression of waywardness and wildness. Nearly all of the varieties over-bear and 62 THE PLUMS OF NEW YORK. unless thinned the fruits are so small as to be hardly worth harvesting; not infrequently trees die from over-bearing. A few varieties are un- fruitful but usually because of defective pollination. Nearly all sucker badly on their own roots, and except in cold regions should be grown on other stocks. In general there are fewer pests to combat with these than with the European plums but yet they are far from being exempt and require on the grounds of this Station quite as much spraying as do other plums. Waugh, who has given the subject much study, claims that the Amer- icanas are not very strong sexually,' chiefly because of defective reproduc- tive organs. He found in extensive examinations that 21.2 per ct. of the pistils were defective, ranging from nothing in some varieties to 100 per ct. in others. More seldom the anthers were defective and the flowers were sometimes proterandrous (the pollen maturing before the pistil is ready to receive it), and that they were rather frequently proterogynous (the pistils receptive before the pollen is mature). Waugh holds that in planting these plums, provision should be made for cross-polUnation, and recom- mends as sorts most suitable for inter-planting for this purpose, other varieties of the same species. Plant -breeders have not found that this species hybridizes as readily as most of the other cultivated native plums. This is chiefly due to a seeming lack of affinity for other species. Nevertheless there are numerous Americana hybrids, and it is likely that as the high quality of the fruit and the hardiness of the trees become better known they will be used much more for hybridizing. The Americana plums are all hardy and some of the varieties can be grown as far north as general agriculture is practiced. These, with the Nigras, will probably always be the chief groups for dry, cold regions be- tween the Great Lakes and the Rocky Motintains. They may also be re- lied upon in the colder parts of New York and New England. The flower- buds as well as the trees are hardy, having been known to withstand a temperature of forty degrees below zero. Goff ' reports that in the winter of 1896-7 the flower -buds of Domestica varieties on the grounds of the Wisconsin Experiment Station were almost totally destroyed though the minimum temperature recorded was only twenty-three degrees below zero, but the flower-buds of Americana varieties were not at all injured. Since 'Waugh, F. A. Plum Cult. 51, 282-307. 1901. 'Goff, E. S. Wis. Sta. Bui. 63:4. 1897. THE PLUMS OF NEW YORK. 63 the blossoms open comparatively late there is less damage from spring frosts in this than in most other species even of the natives. The number of varieties of Americana plums is a testimonial to the merits of the species. There are about 260 varieties of them more or less disseminated. There are many divergent types of these and since all are far from what may be eventually expected from the species the number of varieties will undoubtedly greatly increase and in still other directions. In the meantime the great majority have fallen by the wayside. The weeding-out process seems to be in this case the chief agent of pro- gression. A fault with the varieties now before the public is that many of them are so similar that a difference can hardly be detected. The elimi- nation of the great majority of the varieties of this species now in the catalogs and a much more judicious selection of varieties for future dis- semination would relieve pomology of the bixrden it now carries in the numerous sorts of Americanas. PRUNUS AMERICANA MOLLIS ' Torrey and Gray I. Torrey and Gray Fl. N. Am. 1:407. 1840. 2. Sargent loth Ccn. U. S. 9:65. 1883. 3. Coulter Cont. U. S. Nat. Herb. 2:102. 1891. 4. Sargent Sil. N. Am. 4:19. 1892. 5. Waugh Bot. Caz. 26:50. 1898. P. americana lanata. 6. Sudworth Norn. Arb. Fl. U. S. 237. 1S97. P. lanata. 7. Mackenzie and Bush Trans. Acad. Sci. St. Louis 12:83. 1902. Prumts americana mollis is a western and southwestern form of Prumis americana, the sub-species being distinguished from the species by the amount and character of the pubescence on the leaves and shoots. The leaves, petioles and shoots of this plum are soft -pubescent, almost tomentose, the tomentum being pale in color and usually very dense ; the calyx -lobes are pubescent on both sides and the pedicels are appressed and densely pubescent. According to Bailey, there is a form of this sub-species "with flowers as completely double as those of St. Peter's wreath, or similar spireas." This double-flowering plum we have not seen. It is impossible to give the range of Prunns americana mollis as the wooUy-leaved plum of the west gradually passes into the smooth- leaved species of the east and the two forms are not infrequently mixed in the South and Southwest; or possibly it would be better to say that they run into each other though the extreme forms are sufliciently distinct as to be readily mistaken for separate species. It can only be said ' The Primus mollis of Torrey (Fl. U. S. 1:470. 1824) was Prunus nigra, as Torrey's specimen, now in the herbarium of Columbia University, plainly shows. 64 THE PLUMS OF NEW YORK. that it is to be found in the greatest abundance in the region extend- ing from southern Iowa through Missouri. Only two varieties of this plum, Wolf and Van Buren, are in general cultivation, both of which originated in Iowa. In neither fruit nor tree-characters do these differ greatly from the Americana plums. A plum with pubescent leaves belonging to the Americana series known locally as the Big Tree plum, occurs from western Tennessee, south- westward through the extreme southern portion of Missouri, through Arkansas, southern Oklahoma, extending westward in central Texas, at least, as far as the Colorado River and reaching its southwestern limit in northern Mexico. From specimens of this plimi in several herbaria and from studies made of it in the field by W. F. Wight of the United States Department of Agriculture, it would seem that this plum is a dis- tinct species, its chief distinguishing character being the great size attained by the tree. So far as it is known the Big Tree has no ciiltivated forms unless it be Bilona, supposed to be a hybrid between this species and Prunus triflora, now growing on the grounds of F. T. Ramsey, Austin, II. PRUNUS HORTULANA Bailey- I. Bailey Gar. and For. 5:90. 1S92. 2. Sargent Sil. N. Am. 4:23, PI. 151. 1S92. 3. Waugh Vt. Sta. An. Rpt. 10:99-105. 1897. 4. Mohr Torrey Boi. Club Bui. 26:118. 1899. 5. Bailey Cyc. Am. Hort. 1450, fig. 1901. 6. Mohr Cont. U. S. Nat. Herb. 6:551. 1901. P. americana, var. ? 7. Patterson List PI. Oqtiawka 5. 1S74. Tree attaining a height of thirty feet or more, vigorous in growth; trunk sometimes a foot in diameter; trunk and branches rough and shaggy becoming furrowed in age; bark gray-bro%vn, thick and containing deposits of red cork cells which show as bright 1 A brief account of the life of Liberty Hyde Bailey appeared in The Grapes of New York (page 142), but his work with plums deserves further mention. The foundation of our present knowl- edge of the cultivated species and races of American and Triflora plums was laid by the compre- hensive study of these fruits made by Bailey in the closing decade of the Nineteenth Century. His examination of plums may be said to have begun in 1886 with the setting of an orchard of native plums — probably the first general collection of these plums planted — on the grounds of the Michigan Agricultural College, Lansing, Michigan. The results of his studies have largely appeared in the publications of the Cornell Agricultural Experiment Station, the first of which was The Cultivated Native Plums and Cherries published in 1892; The Japatiese Plums, 1894; Revised Opinions of the Japanese Plums, 1896; Third Report upon Japanese Plums, 1897; Notes upon Plums, 1897. Beside these bulletins a monograph of the native plums was published in TJie Evolution of our Native Fruits in 1898 and a brief but complete monograph of the Genus Prunus in the Cyclopedia of American Horticulture in 1901. These are but the chief titles under which his studies of plums have appeared, several minor contributions having been printed from time to time in the horticultural press. While Dr. Bailey has given especial attention to all fruits grown in eastern America, it is probable that pomology is most indebted to him for his long and painstaking work with the difficult Genus Prunus with which he has done much to set the varieties and species in order. PRVXUS JIORTVLANA THE PLUMS OF NEW YORK. • 65 red blotches or as thick layers when the bark is sectioned, these deposits, especially in quantity, characterizing the species; branches very spreading and open, twiggy, slender, thorny; branchlets light green at first, becoming reddish-brown, glabrous and glossy; lenticels few, large, very coarse, raised, characteristic of the species. Winter-buds plump, very small, obtuse, appressed; leaves one and three-quarters inches wide to five inches in length, long-oval with a tapering, pointed, acuminate apex, peach-like, base abrupt, texture thin, becoming leathery, margins serrate, almost crenate, sometimes in a double series, glandular; upper surface smooth, glossy, glabrous; lower surface light green, almost glabrous except on ribs and veins which are very pubescent, with characteristic orange color, midrib grooved above, rounded below, very prominent; petioles slender, an inch in length, pubescent on the upper side, tinged with red; glands two to eight, small, globose, mostly on the petioles. Flowers expanding after the leaves, blooming later than any other cultivated plum, three-quarters inch across; odor disagreeable; clusters borne from lateral buds on one- year-old wood only, characterizing the species, the fruit-spurs making a very long growth, more Hke branches than the spurs of other species, two to six flowers from a bud; pedicels three-quarters inch long, very slender, glabrous; calyx-tube narrow, campanulate, glabrous, green; calyx-lobes narrow, acute, glandular-serrate, glands red, slightly pubescent on the inner side, erect; petals ovate, slightly crenate, dentate at the apex, tapering into long narrow claws; stamens about twenty in number, yellow; pistils glabrous, equal to or shorter than the stamens. Fruit very late in ripening; globose, oval, an inch in diameter; color varying from shades of red to shades of yellow; bloom inconspicuous or lacking; dots numerous, small, conspicuous; suture very shallow or only a line; skin thick, tough, astringent; flesh golden-yellow, juicy, coarse, fibrous, firm, flavor mildly sweet, astringent at the pit, strongly aromatic; quahty fair; stone clinging to the flesh, turgid, long-oval, small, prolonged at the ends, the surfaces rough and reticulated. Prunus hortulana as established by Bailey, to quote a part of the original description, " includes a large class of plums represented by Golden Beauty, Cumberland, Garfield, Sucker State, Honey Drop, probably Wild Goose and others." Unforttmately Bailey later added ' a number of other plums to the group which the above varieties and some ten or fifteen others comprise, the additions in themselves constituting at least three somewhat distinct groups, and then to account for this omnibus species called it a " brood of natural hybrids." Waugh supports Bailey's con- clusions ' and divides the species into four groups of hybrids — the Miner group, the Wild Goose group and the Schley or Clifford group. These, Waugh says, " form an unbroken series from Prunus americana to Prunus angustifolia." The fourth of Waugh's groups, " comparatively distinct ^ Bot. Gas. 24:462. 1896; Cornell Sta. Bui. 170. 1897; Ev. Nat. Fruits 194-208. 1898. * Gar. and For. 10:340, 350. 1897. Plum Cult. 60-66. 1901. 66 THE PLUMS OF NEW YORK. from the others, is made up of such varieties as Wayland, Moreman, Gol- den Beauty, Reed, Leptime, Kanawha and others." These plums he designated as the " Wayland group." This disposition of the plioms tmder consideration leaves Prunus hortulana as the name of only a rather loosely related lot of cultivated varieties. It is probable that neither Bailey nor Waugh, had they seen the material now to be had, would have left the species as they did. There is an abundance of herbarium material to show that Prunus hortulana as originally described by Bailey, with the varieties named as the type, leaving out Wild Goose, which is but doubtfully included, and as represented by Waugh 's " Wayland group," is to be found wild in Illinois, western Kentucky, western Tennessee, Missouri and northern Arkansas, Oklahoma and southeastern Kansas. The writer has not seen material from states adjoining those named but the species is probably more widely spread than the range given indicates. Further, the cul- tivated varieties named by Bailey as members of his species, to which should be added at least American Golden, Benson, Columbia, Crimson Beauty, Dunlap, Kanawha, Leptune, Moreman, Reed, Wayland and World Beater, are so similar in all their characters and constitute a group so distinct from any other species that it is impossible to place them other- wise than in a distinct species. A group of hybrids could hardly be so tmi- form, and, moreover, these varieties contain characters, like late blooming, late fruiting, color, texture and flavor of fruit, leaf -serrations and deposits of red cork-cells in the bark, which other native species do not have, thereby shutting out the probability of the hybridity theory in which the supposed parents are Prunus americana and Prunus angustijolia. Lastly, and most convincing, varieties of the species come true to seed, which of course, would not be the case were these plums hybrids. From seed borne in 1893 this Station has had six seedlings of World Beater and four of Golden Beauty attain the age of sixteen years with more or less fruit for thirteen successive years. The seedlings could hardly be distinguished from the parents and showed no pronounced characters of either of the species of which Prunus hortulana has been supposed to be the hybrid offspring. Of the sixteen varieties named as certainly belonging to this species, ten came from wild plants or seeds. Two of the remainder came from planted seeds and the origin of the remaining four is not known. One of the varieties from the wild. Golden Beauty, if its history as commonly given is correct, came from the Colorado River in western Texas. The THE PLUMS OF NEW YORK. 67 Golden Beauty now tinder cultivation almost certainly belongs to Primus hortulana, though it differs somewhat from other varieties of the group, but how it could have come from the wild in western Texas, so far from the usual range of the species, is at present tinexplainable. This and other idiosyncrasies of distribution were reasons given by Bailey and Waugh for calling this species a group of hybrids. A careful study of localities from which all other Hortulana varieties than Golden Beauty have come shows them to be well within the range of Prunus hortulana. The fact that Golden Beauty is perfectly hardy at Geneva, and according to Waugh fairly so at Burlington, Vermont, suggests either that what we have as Golden Beauty did not originate in south central Texas or that the plant from which it came must have been introduced there within comparatively recent times. Prunus hortulana gives to American pomology a very distinct and valuable group of plimis which fortimatelyare adapted to a wide range of conditions, especially of climate. The Hortulanas are particularly well suited to the Mississippi Valley and southern states and fruit well as far north and east as New York. The product of Wayland, Kanawha and Golden Beauty, best known of the plums tinder discussion, is especially suitable for preserves, spicing and jelly, being unsurpassed by any other of our plums excepting the Damsons for these purposes. They are quite too acid and the flesh clings too tenaciously to the stone for dessert plums or even for ordinary culinary purposes. These plums, having firm flesh and tough skins, ship and keep splendidly and since they are the latest of the native plums in ripening, extend the season for this fruit very materially. The Wayland-like plums make very good stocks upon which may be grafted not only the varieties of the same species but those of the other native species as well. A point of especial merit with these plums as stocks is that they do not sucker as do most other species. Unfortu- nately they cannot be propagated from cuttings and the difficulty of obtaining seed at present precludes their use very generally. The Hortu- lana plums hybridize freely with other native species and their hybrids are such as to commend this species very highly to plum-breeders for hybridization. Waugh ' has given the name Prunus hortulana robusta to a group of hybrid plums of which Prunus triflora and various native varieties are the parents. For most part these hybrids resemble the American more 'Waugh, F. A. Vt. Sta. An. Rpt. 14:277. iqoo^di. 68 THE PLUMS OF NEW YORK. than the Asiatic parent. Since these plums differ so among themselves it is doubtful if more can be said as to the characters of Waugh's group than to mention the above resemblance. Some thirty or more varieties fall into this group of which America, Golden, Juicy, Ruby, Waugh and Gonzales are chief. PRUNUS HORTULANA MINERI Bailey I. Bailey Cornell Sta. Bui. 38:23. 1S92. 2. Waugh Vt. Sta. An. Rpt. 10:103. 1S97. 3. Britton and Brown 2:247. 1897. It is impossible from present knowledge to say certainly whether the Miner-Hke plums put by Bailey into a botanical sub-division of Prunus hortulana are extreme variations of the species or, as Bailey in his last accounts and Waugh at all times have supposed, are hybrids between Prunus hortulana and Prunus americana. It is certain that all of these plums are intermediate in some characters between the two species named ; neither botanists nor pomologists can agree as to whether certain varieties belong to the one or the other botanical division. There are, however, in several herbaria, specimens from the wild, and from different localities, that indicate that there is a distinct plum toward the northern limit of the range of Prunus hortulana which, if a natural hybrid, is of so ancient hybridity that the plants now come measurably true to type. The chief representatives of the Miner-like plums under cultivation, as Miner, Forest Rose, Prairie Flower and Clinton, are so like these wild plimis as to lead the writer to believe that Bailey's botanical sub-division is justified and is worth contintdng even though a considerable ntmiber of the varieties now put with Miner, most of which have originated under cultivation, are hybrids and that the wild plums may have come from natural hybrids of more or less remote time. The sub-species differs from the species in having shorter, stiffer, less graceful branches; leaves smaller, thicker, rougher and of a bluish -green cast; the blossoms of the two are much the same but those of the sub- species open a few days earlier; the fruits of the sub-species are larger than those of the species, lighter red, have more bloom, are less firm in texture, ripen earlier, yet later than those of any other species, and are quite different in flavor, having more nearly the taste of the fruit of Prunus americana; the stones, as well as the fruits, are very different, being in the sub-species larger, broader, flatter, smoother and less pointed. The differences in fruit and stone, and to some extent in the leaves, can be seen if the color-plates of Forest Rose and Wayland be compared. rULMS IIORTUT.AXA MI\Eai THE PLUMS OF NEW YORK. 69 In fruit-growing, the Miner-like plums behave m general much like the Americana plums. In some respects the fruits are an improvement upon those of the Americana varieties. For example the skin in the Miner- like varieties is usually less tough; is brighter in color and the flavor, in most cases, is a little better. These plums seem to be nearly or quite as hardy as the Americanas and are adapted to quite as wide a range of soils. Presumably they have the same value as stocks, though they seem not to have been tried for this purpose and they should have equal value at least in plant-breeding. The trees of the Miner-like plums are rather more amenable to domestication than those of Prunus americana having as orchard plants straighter trunks, more symmetrical and less unkempt tops and making larger trees. The fruits ripen so late as to make the varieties of this group especially valuable in prolonging the season for plums in regions where native varieties are grown exclusively. About twenty varieties of this sub-species are under cultivation. 12. PRUNUS NIGRA Aiton I. Alton Hort. Kew. 2:165. 1789. 2. Sims Bot. Mag. 1117. 1808. 3. Pursh Fl. Am. Sept. 1:331. 1814. 4. Torrey Fl. U. S. 1:469. 1824. 5. Sargent Silva N. Am. 4:15, PI. 149. 1892. 6. Small Torrey Bot. Club Bui. 21:301. 1894. Cerasus nigra. 7. Loiseleur Noiiveau Duhamel 5:32. 1812. P. americana (in part). 8. Torrey and Gray Fl. N. Am. 1:407. 1840. 9. Torrey Fl. N. Y. 1:194. 1843. ^o- Emerson Trees of Mass. Ed. 2, 2:511. 1846. 11. Nuttall Silva 2:19. 1852. 12. Sargent loth Cen. U. S. 9:65. 1883. 13. Watson and Coulter Gray's Man. Ed. 6:151. 1889. 14. Gray For. Trees N. A. 46, PI. 1891. P. americana nigra. 15. Waugh Vt. Sta. Biil. 53:60, fig. 1896. 16. Ibid. Vt. Sta. An. Rpt. 10:102. 1897. 17. Bailey Cyc. Am. Hort. 1449. 1901. P. mollis. 18. Torrey Fl. U. S. 1:470. 1824. Tree small, seldom exceeding twenty feet in height; trunk attaining six or eight inches in diameter, bearing the head at three to five feet from the ground; bark thin, one-quarter inch thick, from dark red to a light gray-brown, rough, but not shaggy, surface covered with thick scales; branches upright, stout, rigid, forming a compact rather narrow head, armed with stout, spiny spurs; branchlets more or less zigzag, glabrous or tomentose, green, later becoming reddish-brown; lenticels few or many, pale, slightly raised. Winter-buds of medium size, conical or long-acuminate, reddish-brown; leaves large, broad-oval, ovate or obovate, with a long acuminate apex and cuneate or sub- cordate base; margins doubly crenate-serrate with teeth tipped -svith glands which disappear as the leaves mature; thin and firm in texture; upper surface light green, glabrous, the under surface paler, pubescent when young and pubescent at maturity on some soils; midribs coarse but veins rather slender; petioles two-thirds inch long, rather stout, with two, sometimes but one, large, dark red glands near the blade, 70 THE PLUMS OF NEW YORK. pubescent and tinged with red; stipules lanceolate, sometimes lobed, one-half inch in length. Flowers expanding early, before or with the leaves, large, sometimes one and one-half inches across; borne in three or four-fiowered lateral umbels on slender, glabrous, red pedicels one-half inch or more in length; calyx-tube obconic, outer surface red, inner surface pink; calyx-lobes glabrous on both surfaces or with a few, straight, scat- tered hairs on the inner surface, pinkish, acute, glandular; petals pink, turning a darker pink in fading, rather broadly ovate, apex rounded, base a short claw, margins arose ; stamens with yellow anthers; filaments one-half inch long; pistils glabrous, shorter than the stamens. Fruit ripening comparatively early; globose or oval, usually somewhat oblong, an inch or more through the long diameter, red, orange or yellowish in color, with little or no bloom; skin thick, tough and astringent; flesh yellow, firm, meaty, often acid or astringent; stone usually clinging, large, oval, compressed, thick-walled, with a sharp ridge on the ventral and a slight groove on the dorsal suture. It is possible that a group of Nigras, those occuiring in western Wis- consin and Minnesota and about the upper extremity of Lake Superior ought to be described as a sub-species since they have a somewhat different aspect of tree and the fruits are a darker shade of red and show more bloom; the calyx is more pubescent and the calyx -glands more sessile. The dif- ferences in environment may change these characters, as indicated above, but they seem very constant in the cultivated varieties of the groups, most of which come from the west, and therefore sufficient to segregate this form from the species. The Nigra is the wild plum of Canada. Its most common name, " Canada Plum," is distinctly applicable and is here supplanted by " Nigra " only for the sake of imiformity. This is tmdoubtedly the dried plum which Jacques Cartier saw in the canoes of Indians, in his first voyage of discovery up the St. Lawrence in 1534.' These primitive primes, Cartier says, the Indians called " honesta." In his second voyage, the next year, he enumerates among other fruits the plum, " pnmier," growing on the " Ysle de Bacchus," named from its " Vignes." Dried plums, we learn from many later accounts, were a staple article of the winter diet of the savages. That the Indian tended the trees is probable, for the early ex- plorers often record that plantations of plums were foimd about the abo- riginal towns. Undoubtedly the range of this species was greatly extended by the Indians. The Nigra is the most northern of the American plums, being an inhabitant of a region bounded on the north by a line passing from southern ' Hakluyt Voyages 3:258. :4^: PRUXVS MGKA THE PLUMS OF NEW YORK. 71 New Foundland westward to the Strait of Mackinac and thence southward to Lansing, Michigan. Its southern boundary can be but illy defined, but the species is common in New England, northern New York, where it is sometimes cultivated about houses, and westward at least as far as the eastern shore of Lake Michigan for the species, while the western form reaches the western boundary of Minnesota at least. Small ' reports it as far south in the Appalachian System as northern Georgia. In the great region outlined above it is distributed in more or less scattered localities, being found usually in the valleys of rivers and streams, though often on high lands and in open woods, in the last locations preferring a limestone formation. There has been much discussion as to whether Prunus nigra should be given specific rank or be united with Prunus americana, either as a part of that species or as a botanical variety of it. Until the revival by Sargent in 1892 of the name given the group by Alton in 1789, the botanists of the latter half of the Nineteenth Century had for most part described the two groups under Prunus americana. Since Sargent's re -establishment of the species, botanists have very generally regarded it as worthy of the rank. Bailey and Waugh, the leading horticultural authorities on plums, however, consider Nigra as but a botanical variety of Americana. The taxonomic characters of Prunus nigra seem to the writers of The Phinis of New York to be as distinct as those of several other of the native species of Prunus, and since the species now is generally recognized by botanists, we have considered it in this work as distinct from Prunus americana. The two species may usually be distinguished by the following differences: (i) The general aspect of the trees is very different. The tree of Americana is larger, the top is more spreading, and its branches longer, with more twigs, more slender and more pendulous. The bark on the tnink is lighter-colored and much more shaggy than in Nigra. (2) The wood of Nigra is tougher and the trees do not break as readily as those of Americana. The wood is also lighter in color. (3) The leaves of Nigra are larger, broader and the serrations are not so deeply incised nor so often double. Very distinct and very constant are the glands to be found on the teeth of the serrations on the yovmg leaves of Nigra. These glands disappear as the leaves grow older, leaving a calloused point which makes the serrations of Nigra rounded, while those of Americana are acute, this Torrey Bot. Club Bui. 21:301. 1894. 72 THE PLUMS OF NEW YORK. being one of the most constant differences. (4) The flowers of Nigra appear several days earHer, are larger and are more pink than those of Americana. (5) The calyx -lobes of Nigra are glandular and the leaf -stalks are bi-glandu- lar, characters usually not found in Americana. The calyx in all its parts is glabrous or at least far less pubescent than in Americana and if present the hairs are short and stiff, whereas in Americana the pubescence is soft. (6) The fruit of Nigra ripens earlier and is darker in color with less bloom and is more oblong than that of Americana. The skin of the plum is thinner and is not so objectionable either cooked or eaten out of hand. (7) The stone of Nigra is usually larger, flatter and more strongly crested. The characters of the two species vary much in different individuals and there are many intermediate forms but the differences seem as constant as between other species of this variable genus. The Nigra plums are important horticulturally because they can be grown in somewhat colder regions than the Americanas. They not only endure more cold than the last named group, but their tough wood enables them to stand better the weight of snows and the stress of winds. Their earliness, too, prolongs the season for this type of fruit and in regions where the season is short they may be grown with more certainty than other groups. In habits and characters other than those named they are so like the Americana as to need no further discussion. About forty varieties of this species are under cultivation. 13. PRUNUS ALLEGHANIENSIS Porter I. Porter So;. (7a2. 2:85. 1877. 2. Ibid. Gar. and For. 3:428, fig. 53. 1890. 3. Sargent Sil. N. Am. 4:27, PI. 153. 1892. 4. Bailey Ev. Nat. Fr. 225. 1898. Tree low, slender, straggling, fifteen to eighteen feet in height, or a low shrub; trunk-diameter from five to eight inches; bark dark brown, surface fissured and scaly; branches numerous, upright, rigid, seldom spiny; branchlets pubescent, becoming glabrous and red, turning to dark brown; lenticels many, small, white. Leaves ovate-oblong or lanceolate, sometimes obovate, apex acute or acuminate, base rounded, margin sharply serrate, teeth fine and tipped with glands, in texture thick and firm; upper surface dark green and glabrous; lower surface light green, glabrous except on the veins and midrib; petioles short, slender, pubescent; glands two, large, at the base of the blade. Flowers white, fading to pink, one-half inch across, appearing with the leaves; borne in two to five-flowered umbels; pedicels slender, finely tomentose, from one- fourth to one-half inch in length; calyx-tube narrowly obconic; calyx-lobes entire, pubescent on the outer, tomentose on the inner surface; petals rounded but narrowing THE PLUMS OF NEW YORK. 73 into claws at the base; filaments and ovary glabrous; anthers often reddish; style slender with a funnel-shaped apex. Fruit matures in summer or early autumn; from one-quarter to three-quarters inch in diameter, sub-globose or ovoid, dark blue or purple with heavy bloom; skin thick and tough; flesh yellow, juicy, acid and somewhat astringent; stone clinging to the flesh, turgid, acute at the ends, thin-walled, ridged on the ventral and grooved on the dorsal suture. In leaf, flower and tree Prunus alleghaniensis resembles Pnmus amer- icivia. The species has long been known to be distinct, however, having been first distinguished by J. R. Lowrie of Warriorsmark, Pennsylvania, in 1859,' and was published as such in 1877, when T. C. Porter of Lafayette College described it as Prunus alleghaniensis. It differs from Prunus americana chiefl}' in the smaller size of the plant, smaller leaves and flowers, in color of flowers which fade to pink in this species, and in fruit-characters. The fruit matures earlier, is much smaller in size, is more globose, and is a dark purple or blue with very heavy bloom. The skin is thick and tough and while the texture of the flesh is as good as that of the wild Americanas the flavor is much more astringent. The stone is more swollen. The plant is commonly but a shrub, usually found along fence rows and the borders of woodlands, but intermingled among old thickets of this kind there are often a few small trees. It is a hardy species, very productive, and seemingly but little attacked by either insects or fungi, being especially exempt from black-knot.' In the wild state it produces great numbers of suckers which seem to spring very readily from a bruise or an exposed root. The range of Prunus alleghaniensis is exceedingly limited. It is found in abundance only in a small territory in central Pennsylvania, being of most frequent occurrence in the barrens of northern Htmtingdon County, extending from there north into Center County and northwest- ward over the Alleghany Motontains into Clearfield and Elk counties. It grows for the most part in elevated lands of the wildest character, being found on low, moist soils, on high and dry barrens and on limestone cHffs, reaching its greatest size in the last situation. Specimens identified as Prunus alleghaniensis have been found in at least two places in Connecticut and the writer has just seen specimens of a closely allied form collected by W. F. Wight of the United States Depart- ^ Silva of North America 4:28. iSgv ^ Jack, J. G. Card, and For. 7:206. 1S94. y4 THE PLUMS OF NEW YORK. ment of Agriculture a few miles south of Houghton Lake, Roscommon County, Michigan. This plum is not yet introduced into cultivation and it is doubtful if the wild fruits have sufficient merit to make an attempt at domestication promising. While the wild fruits are locally used for various culinary pur- poses it is so much inferior to other native plums, being almost imea table tmless cooked, that its cultivation would hardly warrant the efEort. Arborettmi specimens of the tree show it to be somewhat desirable as an ornamental, being a small, compact, upright plant, very fioriferous, and bearing an abundance of rather attractive fruit. 14. PRUNUS SUBCORDATA Bentham 1, Bentham PI. Hartweg. 30S. 184S. 2. Torrey Pac. R. Rpt. 4:82. 1854. 3. Brewer and Watson Bot. Calif. 1:167. 1880 (in part). 4. Lemmon Pittonia 2:68. 1890. 5. Greene Fl. Fran- cis 1:49. 1891. 6. Bailey Cornell Sta. Bid. 38:76. 1892. 7. Sargent Sil. N. Am. 4:31, 32, PI. 154. 1892. Tree small, rarely attaining a height of twenty- five feet, sometimes a shrub ten or twelve feet high and often a bush but three or four feet in height; trunk medium in length with a diameter of 8 to 12 inches; bark gray-brown and deeply fissured; branches stout and spreading; branchlets glabrous or pubescent, bright red becoming darker red and finally a dark-brown or gray; lenticels minute, whitish. Leaves round-ovate, sub-cordate or truncate, or sometimes cuneate at the base; margins either sharply or obtusely serrate, sometimes doubly serrate; young leaves pubescent but at maturity nearly glabrous, somewhat coriaceous, dark green on the upper and pale green on the lower surface, with very conspicuous midribs and veins; stipules acute-lanceolate, caducous. Flowers white, fading to rose, about an inch across; appearing before the leaves; usually borne in threes, often in pairs on short pubescent pedicels; calyx campanulate, with lobes pubescent on the outer and hairy on the inner surface; petals twice the length of the sepals, obovate, and contracted into short claws; filaments and ovary glabrous; style slender and funnel-shaped at the apex. Fruit ripens in late summer or early autumn; roundish or oblong, about one inch in length, borne on a short, stout stem, dark red or purplish; flesh subacid, well-flavored, clinging to the flattish or turgid stone which varies greatly in size, pointed at both ends, crested on the ventral edge and grooved on the other. Prunus subcordata, the Pacific or Western pltrm, is an inhabitant of the region east of the Coast Range from southern Oregon to central California. It is so rarely found on the seacoast as to have escaped the attention of the early botanists and remained tinknown tmtil the middle of the Nineteenth Century, when Hartweg, working in the interior of THE PLUMS OF NEW YORK. 75 California, brought the plant to notice. This wild plum is not common except in the foothills of the Sierra Nevadas in northern California and southern Oregon, where it often forms thickets of small trees along streams, thriving in fresh, fertile, sandy soils, in canons, on hillsides or in the forests of yellow pine which are found in this region. Hammond ' writes of it growing here as usually a small tree but often seen as a shrub from four to five feet high. Of the frequency of the occurrence he says: " It often sets the whole coimtryside ablaze in the autumn, with the abvmdance of its scarlet and crimson colors, mingled, of course, with red and yellow, and garnished with a sprinkling of green." Sandberg ' re- ports having collected Prunus subcordata as far north and east as Nez Perces County, northern Idaho, in the Craig Mountains at an altitude of about 2,900 feet, but this report is based on an error in determination, the specimen collected by Sandberg being clearly a European species. The tree and the fruit vary greatly according to the locality. This Subcordata plvmi is one of the standard food products of the aborigines in the region in which it grows, being eaten either raw or cooked ; and it is sometimes dried in considerable quantities at the harvesting places and carried considerable distances to the Indian villages.' The trappers, the first men to enter the habitat of this plum, followed by the gold- seekers and ranchers, all knew and esteemed the fruit. The early settlers regarded it as the most useful of all the wild fruits of the Coast and attempts were made at an early date to domesticate it. Of these Wickson says:' " In 1856 there was, on the Middle Yuba River, not far from Forest City, in Sierra County, a wayside establishment known as ' Plum Valley Ranch,' so-called from the great quantity of wild plums growing on and about the place. The jolum by cultivation gave a more vigorous growth and larger frviit. Transplanted from the mountains into the valley they are found to ripen earlier. Transplanted from the mountains to a farm near the coast, in Del Norte Cotinty, they did not thrive. One variety, moved from the hills near Petalimia in 1858, was grown as an orchard tree for fifteen years, and improved both in growth and quality of fruit by cultivation. * * * * Recently excellent results have been reported from the domestication of the native plum in Nevada County, and fniit ^ Gar. and For. 3:625. 1890. 'Sandberg, J. H. Cont. U. S. Nat. Herb. 3:221. 1895. ' Coville, P. V. Cont. U. S. Nat. Herb. 5:99. 1S97; and Chestnut, V. K. Cont. U. S. Nat. Herb. 7:356. 1902. * Wickson, E. J. Calijornia Fruits 52. 1891. 76 THE PLUMS OF NEW YORK. shown at the State Fair of 1888 gave assurance that by cultivation and by selecting seedlings valuable varieties can be obtained. It is stated that in Sierra County the wild plum is the only plum which finds a market at good prices, and that cultivated gages, blue and egg plums scarcely pay for gathering. The wild plum makes delicious preserves." In its typical form Prunus subcordata is a shrub and is often only a low bush but under the most favorable conditions it attains the dimension and shape of a small tree. In its roiindish, roughish leaves it so closely resembles the Old World types of plums that it becomes the nearest approach to them to be found among our American species. But in the globular, red or purple subacid fruit it betrays its affinity to the American plums, as it does also in the flat, sometimes turgid, smooth stone to which the flesh tenaciously clings. The flowers are white, fading to rose and borne abundantly, making the plant an attractive ornamental in blooming time as it is also in the autumn when the foliage turns to bril- liant red, scarlet or crimson with touches of yellow. The fruit is some- times so poor in quality as to be inedible but on the other hand is some- times quite equal to some of the cultivated plums, especially in its botan- ical variety, Kelloggii. That the fruit is capable of improvement by the selection of seedling varieties and useful in hybridizing with other species can hardly be doubted. Luther Burbank, under date of December 6, 1909, writes in this regard as follows: " The Prunus subcordata, as it grows wild, bears very heavily even on bushes two and three feet in height, bending the burhes flat on the ground when the fruit is ripe. This is a very beautiful sight. The wild ones, although almost invariably bright red and spherical, are sometimes, though rarely found, yellow. When the seed of the yellow fruit is planted a certain portion of red ones are produced, but all, practically, of the same size and quality as the original. The trees of Subcordata in the wild state are greatly variable in growth, generally much more so than in the fruit. The fruit, however, varies much in quality, but it is promiscuously gathered by those living in the vicinity of the plum grounds and considered most excellent for cooking. I commenced working on this species about twent}-- two years ago and have not carried it on as extensively as with the Mari- tima, as I found it subject to plum-pockets, but by very careful selection I have produced most magnificent plums, oval in form or round, sweet as honey or sweet as the French Prune, greatly enlarged in size, tree im- proved in growth and enormously productive, the different varieties ripen- ing through a long season. Most of these are light and dark red. Some of THE PLUMS OF NEW YORK. 77 them, when cooked, are far superior to cranberries, having the exact deh- cious flavor so much Hked in this fruit, and the same color. " From the crosses of Subcordata with the Americana, Nigra, Triflora and other species, some of the most beautiful and highest flavored fruits which I have even seen have been produced. These vary in color from almost pure white to light yellow, transparent flesh color, pink, light crim- son, scarlet, dark crimson and purple; in form round, egg-shaped or elon- gated-oval; trees both upright and weeping, enormously productive, and in one or two cases the fruit, by hundreds of experts, has been pronounced the best plum in flavor of any in existence. Most of these selections are extremely productive." Wickson ' reports that the roots of Subcordata have been used more or less as stocks for other plums but show no marked advantages over the species commonly used for this purpose. Most of those who have experimented with it condemn it as a stock because it dwarfs the cion and suckers badly. Prunus oregana Greene ' is from its description an interesting plum of which, however, it has been impossible to secure a glimpse even of her- barium material and of which we can therefore, only publish Greene's description as follows: " Evidently allied to P. subcordata, but leaves little more than an inch long, subcoriaceous, pubescent on both faces, in outline oval or broadly elliptic, never subcordate, commonly acutish at both ends, serrulate; flowers unknown; fruits in pairs or threes, on pedicels one-half inch long or more, densely tomentose when very young, more thinly so, yet distinctly tomentulose when half -grown. " Known only from specimens collected on the Yanex Indian reser- vation in southeastern Oregon, by Mrs. Austin, in 1893; and a most re- markable species, as connecting true Prunus with Aniygdalus. But that it is a plum and not an almond is evident." Without any first-hand knowledge of this species it is thought best to consider it only under the allied species, Prunus subcordata. PRUNUS SUBCORDATA KELLOGGII Lemmon I. Lemmon Pittonia 2:67. 1890. 2. Wickson Calif. Fr. Ed. 2:51. 1891. 3. Greene Fl. Francis 1:50. 1891. 4. Bailey Cyc. Am. Hort. 1448. 1901. Prunus subcordata kelloggii, named in honor of Dr. Albert Kellogg, an early explorer and settler in Cahfomia, is distinguished from the species 'Wickson, E. J, Calif. Fruits Ed. 4:35. 1909. ^ Pittonia 3:21. 1896. 78 THE PLUMS OF NEW YORK. in being a somewhat taller and more slender plant.' The branches and bark are of a characteristic ash-gray, so distinct in color from Prunus suhcordata that this is often called the " Gray-branch " plum. The leaves are orbictilar or elliptical, not cordate, cuneate at the base and nearly glabrous. The fruit is bright yellow instead of red and larger than that of the species, being an inch or more in diameter with a more nearly free stone. This plum inhabits the region of Mount Shasta where it has been known since the time of the early gold diggers, attracting more attention as a food, and promising more for the cultivator than Subcordata. Botan- ists seem to have given this plum comparatively little attention and careful study may give it specific rank. Locally, and now somewhat in the trade, it is known as the Sisson plum, after a Mr. Sisson, living near Mount Shasta^ who has brought it to notice. At present the Kelloggii seems to be the branch of promise for the improvement of the wild plums of the western coast. 15. PRUNUS UMBELLATA Elliott i.'EWioX.iSk. Bot. S.C.andGa.i-.SAT-- 1821. 2. Sargent loZ/j Cch. U. S. 9:67. 1883. 3. Ibid. Sil. N. Am. 4:33, PI. 155. 1892. 4. Waugh Plum CuU. 91. 1901. 5. Mohr Com. U. S. Nat. Herb. 6:551. 1901. Cerasus umbellata. 6. Torrey and Gray Fl. N. Am. 1:409. 1840. Tree low, sometimes a shrub, seldom over twenty feet in height; trunk short, usually crooked, attaining a thickness of ten inches; bark dark brown and scaly; branches spreading, slender, twiggy but spineless; branchlets at first pubescent but becoming glabrous, bright red turning dark brown the second year; lenticels few, oblong, yellowish. Leaves oblong-ovate, or oblong-obovate to oblong, thin and membranaceous, acute at the apex but usually obtuse or cordate at the base; margins closely and evenly serrate with glandular teeth, upper surface dark green and glabrous, lower surface pale green and more or less pubescent; petioles stout, glabrous or sometimes pubescent; glands usually two, sometimes wanting, large, dark, at the base of the leaf; stipules lanceolate, small, caducous. Flowers medium in size, appearing before and with the leaves ; usually borne in four- flowered umbels; calyx-tube obconic, its lobes entire, outer surface glabrous or pubes- cent, the inner densely tomentose; petals white, orbicular, clawed. Fruit matures in late summer; one-half inch in diameter, nearly round, without cavity or suture, borne on a slender pedicel three-quarters inch long, orange-red or bright red to purple or nearly black, covered with a thin bloom; skin thick and tough; flesh coarse, thick, acid or astringent, scarcely edible; stone nearly free, flattened, acute at both ends, rugose, thin-walled. ' The first published account of this phim is a brief non-technical description of it by Dr. Kellogg in Hiitching's Mag. 5:7. 1859. THE PLUMS OF NEW YORK. 79 Prunus umbellata, the Sloe, Black Sloe or Hog Plum, Oldfield, and sometimes Chickasaw and Bullace of the South, is found along the seaboard from South Carolina to central Florida, thence westward to the Gulf and along its shores to Texas. Inland it is found as far north as middle Georgia,' Alabama and Mississippi and southern Arkansas. Though Very common in localities in the region outlined, there are vast areas of this territory in which it is scarcely found, preferring bottom lands of rivers and rich, moist soils in some instances and dry, sandy copses, open woods and borders of fields in others. In flower and fruit it is a handsome and conspicuous plant, yet, as the references show, the early botanists did not describe it, and even Elliott, who gave it its name, in 182 1, passed it by with a scant description. Its neglect by the several famous botanists of the Eighteenth Century who explored this region must be attributed to their confusing it with Prunus angustijoUa and Prunus maritima, one or the other of which is found in most of the region, and to the idiosyncrasies of the distribution of Prunus tmibcUata. The fruit of this species is unfit for dessert purposes but is commonly gathered for culinary use and sometimes is offered for sale in the markets of the South, being highly esteemed for pies, jams and jellies. There appear to have been no efforts made to domesticate it, however, and since it is quite inferior in fruit -characters to others of the native plimis, efforts to that end are probably not worth while. PRUNUS UMBELLATA INJUCUNDA (Small) Sargent 1. Sargent Sil. N. Am. 13:21. 1902. Primus injucunda. 2. Small Torrey. Bot. Club Bui. 25:149. 1S98. 3. Mohr Ibid. 26:118. 1S99. 4. Ibid. Cont. U. S. Nat. Herb. 6:552. 1901. 5. Bailey Cyc. Am. Hort. 1449. 1901. Tree low, seldom twenty feet in height, often a straggling shrub; trunk short, crooked, attaining a diameter of eight inches; bark dark brown, nearly black; branches slender, rigid, twiggy and somewhat spiny; branchlets velvety becoming purplish and finally a dull gray; lenticels few, yellowish. Leaves oblong-ovate to obovate, taper-pointed at the apex and obtuse or rounded at the base, margins closely and finely toothed, thin in texture; upper surface yellowish- green, wrinkled and more or less pubescent, lower surface densely pubescent and with a prominent yellowish midrib and rather prominent lateral veins; petioles stout, one- half inch in length, very pubescent; stipules lanceolate, small, caducous. Flowers medium in size or small, usually appearing before the leaves; in four or five-flowered sub-sessile umbels; pedicels slender, three-quarters inch in length, very Torrey Bot. Club Bui. 25:149. 1S9S. 8o THE PLUMS OF NEW YORK. pubescent; calyx-tube obconic, tomentose, with erect, entire, sharply pointed, cihate, tomentose lobes; petals white, orbicular, clawed; filaments and base of pistil tomentose. Fruit maturing in late summer, three-quarters inch long, oblong, with but a trace of cavity and suture, dark purple with light bloom; flesh thin, sour and very astringent; skin thick, tough; scarcely edible; stone ovoid, long, flat, roughish, pointed at both ends with a groove on one edge and a grooved ridge on the other. In 1898 Small described Prunus injucunda as a new species from what had hitherto been considered a part of Prunus umhellata. Sargent, whom we follow, gives it as a botanical variety of Prunus umhellata. Small sa.\s that the two differ as follows : Prunus injucunda has ' ' a more rigid habit and the foliage, including the branchlets, is velvety tomentose. In place of the sub-globose drupe of Prunus umhellata we find an oblong fruit of an extremely bitter taste. The stone is correspondingly lengthened." To these differences may be added tomentose or pubescent leaves, hairy umbels, and tomentose calyx and pistil, as characters not found in Prunus umhel- lata though there are occasional pubescent individuals in the species. Small first collected Prunus injucunda in sandy soil in the granite districts about the base of Little Stone Mountain, Georgia, and reports it as occurring about Stone Mountain. Mohr reports the plant on rocky summits and among the sandstone cliffs of Alpine Mountain, Talladego County, Alabama, as a low, unsightly shrub, four feet in height, with short, straggling branches. The wild fmit is seldom fit for domestic use and with so much better material in other species the fruit-grower can hardly afford to spend time in an attempt to domesticate this one. 16. PRUNUS MITIS Beadle I. Beadle Bill. Bot. Stud. 1:162. 1902. 2. Britton and Bro%^Ti A^. Am. Trees 489. 1908. Tree small, maximum height twenty-five feet; bark dark brown or reddish-gray; branches spreading or ascending, usually unarmed; branchlets glabrous, glaucous; leaves thin, elliptic, oblong-lanceolate, sometimes ovate or obovate, apex acute or acu- minate, base narrow or rounded, margin sharply serrate; petioles less than one-half inch, densely pubescent, with two glands at or on the base of the leaf; upper surface bright green, finely pubescent, lower surface paler, also pubescent and with a prominent midrib and veins. Flowers of medium size, appearing before the leaves; borne in sub-sessile, two to six- flowered umbels; calyx-tube obconic, smooth, its lobes triangular, pubescent on the outer and velvety on the inner surface; petals white, obovate, clawed; pedicels slender, smooth, three-quarters inch long. Fruit ripening in mid-summer; over one-half inch in length, oblong, dark purple with a heavy bloom ; stone ovoid or oval, flattened, nearly one-half inch long, pointed at both ends especially at the apex, and crested on one edge. THE PLUMS OF NEW YORK. 8l Prunus mitis is a newly named species from Alabama, common in dry soils in the regions where it is found wild. The species has many characters in common with Prunus umbellata, to which it is so closely related that it is difficult to distinguish the two in herbarium specimens. Although nothing is yet known of its horticultural possibilities the apparent re- lationshii^ does not indicate much value in the pkxm for the cultivator. 17. PRUNUS TARDA Sargent 1. Sargent Bot. Gaz. 33:108. 1902. 2. Ibid. Sil. N. Ant. 13:23, PI. 632. 1902. Tree from twenty to twenty-five feet in height; trunk tall, eighteen or twenty inches in diameter; bark light brown, reddish, thick, with flat ridges and plate-like scales; branches spreading, forming an open symmetrical head; branchlets slender, at first light green and tomentose becoming glabrous, light brownish and lustrous, and the second year much darker; lenticels small, dark, scattered. Leaves oblong to obovate, apex acute and sharp-pointed, base rounded or cuneate, margin finely serrate with incurved, glandular teeth, in texture thick and firm; upper surface glabrous, dark yellow-green, lower surface pubescent, pale green; petioles stout, tomentose or pubescent, short, eglandular or with two stalked, dark glands at the apex; stipules acicular, often bright red, small. Flowers three-quarters inch across, appearing before and with the leaves; borne in two or three-flowered umbels, on slender, glabrous pedicels; calyx-tube narrowly obconic, hairy above, the lobes acute, entire, villose on the outer, tomentose on the inner surface; petals oblong-obovate with a short claw at the base; filaments and pistils glabrous. Fruit maturing very late ; short-oblong to sub-globose, one-third to one-half inch in length, red, yellow, purple, black or blue; skin tough and thick; flesh thick and acid; stone adhering to the flesh, ovoid, more or less compressed, very rugose, ridged on the ventral and grooved on the dorsal suture, acute at the apex, rounded at the base. Prunus tarda, locally known as the Sloe, as are many other plums, was named from specimens collected in 1901 near Marshall, Texas, by Sargent and others. Sargent, to whom is due what field knowledge we have of the plant, gives its range from where found in Texas to western Lotiisiana and southern Arkansas. He says that it resembles and is often confotmded with Prunus umbellata but may be distingtiished from it by its bark, which differs from that of any other American plum tree, being more like that of the chinquapin chestnut with which it grows; by the pubescence on the leaves, not usually found on those of Prunus umbellata; and by its variously colored fruit which ripens much later than that of other plums in the region. From what has been published in regard to the species one gathers little in regard to its horticultural possibilities thottgh the 82 THE PLUMS OF NEW YORK. Statements that it bears great quantities of fruit and is used locally for culinary purposes indicate that it may have some value under cultivation. 18. PRUNTJS ANGUSTIFOLIA Marshall 1. Marshall Arb. Am. iii. 1785. 2. Torrey and Gray Fl. N. Am. 1:407. 1840. 3. Loudon Arh. Fr. Brit. 2:70s. 1844. 4. Sargent \oth Cen. U. S. 9:66. 1883. 5. Watson and Coulter Gray's Man. Ed. 6:152. 1889 (in part). 6. Gray For. Trees N. A. ^t,V\. 1891. 7. Sargent Si7. TV. ^m. 4:25, PI. 152. 1892. 8. Mohr Cont. U. S. Nat. Herb. 6:551. 1901. P. chicasa. 9. Michaux' Fl. Bor. Am. 1:284. 1803. 10. Nuttall Gen. N. Am. PI. 1-302. 1818. II. Elliott Sk. Bot. S. C. and Ga. 1:542. 1821. 12. Hall PI. Texas 9. 1873. 13. Ridg- way Proc. U. S. Nat. Mus. 65. 18S2. 14. Chapman Fl. Sou. U. S. 131. 1897. Plant seldom becoming a trae tree, usually, however, forming a small but distinct trunk with a twiggy, bushy top; bark thin, dark reddish-brown, slightly furrowed or roughened, scaly; branches slender, usually zigzag with long, thin thorns or spine-like branchlets; branchlets slender, zigzag, glabrous, glossy, bright red; lenticels few, scattered, yellowish, raised. Winter-buds small, obtuse, free, browTiish; leaves folded upward, lanceolate or oblong-lanceolate, pointed at both ends, thin, membranaceous, margins closely and finely serrate with minute teeth, tipped with glands; upper surface glabrous, lustrous, bright green, lower surface glabrous or pubescent in the axils of the veins, dull, two- thirds inch wide and from one to two inches long; petioles one-half inch long, slender, glabrous or tomentose, bright red with two red glands near or on the base of the leaf; stipules one-half inch long, narrow-lobed, serrate -^v-ith gland-tipped teeth. Flowers appearing with or before the leaves, small, less than one-half inch across, very numerous; umbels sub-sessile, two to four-flowered, from lateral spurs or buds; pedicels glabrous, slender, one-half inch in length; calyx-tube campanulate, glabrous; calyx-lobes obtuse, glabrous outside, margins ciliate, inner surface pubescent, reflexed; petals creamy in the bud, obovate, apex rounded, narrowing into a claw at the base; filaments and pistils glabrous, the latter shorter than the stamens. Fruit ripening early; spherical or ovoid, three-quarters inch in diameter, bright red, sometimes yellow, glossy, with little or no bloom; dots numerous, very conspicuous; skin thin; flesh tender, juicy, yellow, subacid; quality rather poor; stone small, clinging, ovoid, turgid, slightly roughened, cherry-like, edges rounded, the dorsal one grooved. The original home of Prunus angustijolia is not known. The in- ference is left in most of the botanies that the species is not indigenous in the region east of the Mississippi, but that it was brought by the abo- rigines from the southwestern section of the Mississippi Valley or possibly the southern Rocky Motmtains or Mexico. The chief reason for the behef ' The writer has examined the type specimen of Michaux's Pruniis chicasa in the herbarium of the Jardin des Plants in Paris and found it, though incomplete and poorly preserved, plainly not Prunus angustijolia but more likely some form of Prunus mnbellata. Undoubtedly, however, the references which follow Michaux's are to Prunus angustijolia. THE PLUMS OF NEW YORK. 83 that it does not belong where it now grows is the fact that it is usually found near human habitations and on the margins of fields and as it was known to have been cultivated by the Indians,' it is supposed to have escaped from their semi-cultivated plantations. Bailey ' dissents from the current view, holding that the plant behaves like a true native in regions where he has known it, Maryland in particular. It seems to the writer that Bartram's supposition, given in the foot-note below, has been followed too closely. A careful study of recent botanical works indicates that the species is indigenous to the southeastern United States. Whatever the original habitat may have been it is now found in the wild state from southern Delaware to Florida and westward to the Pan- handle of Texas and southern Oklahoma. It is usually found on rich soils but is foimd as well in worn-out fields and pastures, most often in thickets of small trees or thorny shrubs or scraggly bushes, producing under the latter conditions a small fruit so like cherries as to give it the name in some localities " Moimtain Cherry " (Maryland), and in others " Wild Cherry " (Louisiana). There has been much confusion in regard to Prunus angustijolia. The older botanists very generally mistook this species for Michaux's Prunus chicasa which, as stated in the foot-note on page 82, is almost certainly not the plum under discussion. Practically all horticulturists ascribe to Prunus angustijolia a great number of cultivated varieties which cannot by any possibility belong here ; indeed, it is doubtful if the species is cultivated at all other than very locally, and still more doubtful as to whether, as compared with other native plums, it is worth growing. In spite of this confusion the species is one of the most distinct of plums, and its characters are comparatively constant throughout the range. A careful reading of Humphrey Marshall's description of Prunus angustijolia by subsequent botanists might have helped to keep this plum in its place. Marshall wrote of it : " Prunus angustifolia. Chicasaw Plumb. This is scarcely of so large a growth as the former \P. americana], but rising with a stiff, shrubby stalk, dividing into many branches, which are garnished with smooth, lance-shaped leaves, much smaller and narrower than the first kind [P. ' " The Chicasaw plumb I think must be excepted, for though certainly a native of America, yet I never saw it wild in the forest, but always in old deserted Indian plantations: I suppose it to have been brought from the S. W. beyond the Mississippi, by the Chicasaws." Bartram Travels Through North and South Carolina, Georgia, East and West Florida, etc. 38. i793. 'Bailey Ev. Nat. Fr. 193. 1898. 84 THE PLUMS OF NEW YORK. americana], a little waved on their edges, marked with very fine, slight, coloured serratures, and of an equal shining green colour, on both sides. The blossoms generally come out very thick and are succeeded by oval, or often somewhat egg-shaped fruit, with a very thin skin, and soft, sweet pulp. There are varieties of this with yellow and crimson coloured fruit. These being natives of the Southern states, are somewhat impatient of much cold." The tree -characters given by Marshall are hardly those of the plum under cultivation which we have been calling Prunus dngustijolia, and his statement that the species is " impatient of much cold " at once sepa- rates the cultivated " Angustifohas " from the true species. We shall contrast the tree -characters of the two groups of plums in the discussion of Prunus munsoniana. Of the hardiness of the two it may be said that the cultivated varieties which we have placed in the last named species are for the most part hardy as far north as Burlington, Vermont, while the true Prunus angustijolia cannot be grown to fruiting as far north as Geneva, New York. Its behavior, too, on the northern limit of its range, and the fact that it did not follow the aborigines northward as it seems to have followed them from place to place within its range, show that Prunus angustijolia belongs in the southern states. This plum was well known b}' the early colonists of Virginia and southward. John Smith in Virginia, in 1607-9, and Strachey, writing a few years later, saw " cherries much like a damoizm, but for their taste and cullour we called them cherries." Beverly in his History of Virginia, written in 1822, speaks of two sorts of pliims, " the black and the Murrey Pltmi, both of which are small and have much the same relish with the Damasine " ; the latter was probably the Angustifolia. Lawson in his History of Carolina speaks of several plums,' one of which, the Indian plum, must have been the fruit of the present discussion. Bruce' quotes ' " The wild Plums of America are of several sorts. Those which I can give an account of from my own Knowledge, I will, and leave the others till a farther Discovery. The most frequent is that which we call the common hidian Plum, of which there are two sorts, if not more. One of these is ripe much sooner than the other, and differs in the bark; one of the barks being very scaly, like our American Birch. These Trees, when in Blossom, smell as sweet as any Jessamine, and look as white as a Sheet, being something prickly. You may make it grow to what Shape you please; they are very ornamental about a House, and make a wonderful fine Shew at a Distance, in the Spring, because of their white Livery. Their Fruit is red, and very palatable to the sick. They are of a quick Growth, and will bear from the Stone in five years, on their Stock." Lawson, John History of Carolina 105. 17 14. ' " The third was known among the later colonists as the Indian cherry and was the prodiict of a tree hardly exceeded by the English peach tree in girth and height, and showing an inclina- THE PLUMS OF NEW YORK. 8$ a letter from William Fitzhugh, written in 1686, in which the latter speaks of the " Indian Cherry," meaning of com-se, this jslum; for it still passes under the same name. Of the horticultural possibilities of Prunus angustijolia, little can be said from this Station as the trees cannot be grown here. But since the species has been so long known, and is sO near at hand to fruit-growers, without more of its offspring coming under cultivation, it is not likely that it ma}' be comited upon to bring forth much in the futiu-e for the orchard. Such trees and fruits of this species as the writer has seen are not at all promising for the cultivator. PRUNUS ANGUSTIFOLIA WATSONI (Sargent) Waugh' I. Waugh Vt. Sta. An. Rpt. 12:239. 1899. 2. Bailey Cyc. Am. Hort. 1450 fig. igoi. P. watsoni. 3. Sargent Gar. and For. 7:134, fig. 1894. 4. Waugh Bot. Gaz. 26:53. 1898. 5. Bailey Ev. Nat. Fr. 218. 1898. Shrub four to ten feet high; branches slender, short-jointed, zigzag, reddish-brown; branchlets at first bright red and lustrous, later becoming brownish-red or sometimes ashy-gray; lenticels few and light-colored; leaves small, ovate, apex acute, base rounded or cuneate, margins finely crenulate; upper surface glabrous, shining, lower surface paler, glabrous; petioles reddish, one-half inch in length, biglandular at the apex. Flowers in fascicles of two to four, borne with or before the leaves and in great abundance; calyx cup-shaped, the lobes acute, eglandular, ciliate on the margins, pubescent on the inner surface; petals white, obovate, contracted into a claw at the base; filaments glabrous, anthers reddish, style slender, exserted; pedicels one-quarter inch long. tion for the soil of the valleys of the rivers, and of the narrow bottoms of the smaller streams. This variety was considered to be of extraordinary excellence in flavor; when ripe it was colored a dark purple, and there was only a single cherry to the stalk. There were two varieties of plums, re- sembling, both in size and taste, the English Damson." Bruce, Philip Alexander Economic His- tory of Virginia in the Seventeenth Century 1:94. 1896. ' Frank A. Waugh was bom in Sheboygan Falls, Wisconsin, July 8, 1869. On his father's side he is of Scotch descent, though the family has long been in America ; his mother came from Ger- many. He was educated in the public schools of Kansas and in the Kansas State Agricultural Col- lege, graduating from the latter place in 1891. In 1893 he became professor of horticulture in the Oklahoma Agricultural College and horticulturist at the Experiment Station, a place which he held for nearly three years, going late in 1895 to take the same position in the University of Vermont. After eight years of arduous service in Vermont, during which time he became well known by his writings on horticultural, botanical and agricultural subjects, he left Vermont to take charge of horticulture in the Massachusetts Agricultural College and the Hatch Experiment Station. Professor Waugh's study of plums began in the West, Kansas and Oklahoma, but his reports in regard to this fruit have come from Vermont where his work has been mainly done. The chief titles under which his studies have been published in the bulletins and annual reports of the Ver- mont Station are: The Pollination of Plums, Classification of Plums, A Monograph of the Wayland 86 THE PLUMS OF NEW YORK. Fniit two-thirds inch in diameter, globose, sometimes oblong, orange-red, bloom- less, handsome; skin thin, rather tender; flesh yellow, juicy, tender, pleasant flavor; of comparatively high quality; stone somewhat turgid, compressed at the apex, thick- walled, rounded on the ventral and sometimes on the dorsal suture. Primus angustijolia watsoni is the Sand plum of the plains, being an inhabitant of southern and southeastern Nebraska and central and west- em Kansas and possibly passing into western Oklahoma. It is usually fotmd along the banks of streams and rivers where it often forms shrubby thickets. The wild plums are held in high esteem for dessert and culinary purposes, becoming a commercial product in parts of the region in which they grow, and are occasionally transplanted to the garden or orchard. From such transplantings a half dozen varieties have arisen. The pro- ductiveness, hardiness to heat and cold and the size and quality of the fruits should attract plum-growers in the region of its habitat and experi- menters elsewhere as well. Waugh ' gives the following interesting sketch of the use to which this pltun has been put in Kansas: " Early settlers in Kansas, before their own orchard plantings came into bearing, used to find the sand plums well worth their attention. In July and August everybody for fifty miles back from the Arkansas sand hills used to flock thither to pick, and it was an improvident or an unlucky family which came off with less than four or five bushels to can for winter. Whole wagon loads of fniit were often secured, and were sometimes offered for sale in neighboring towns. " The fruit gathered from the wild trees was of remarkably fine quality, considering the conditions under which it grew. The plums were quite tiniformly large — I would say from memory that they often reached three- fourths of an inch to an inch in diameter. They were thin-skinned and of good flavor, not having the unpleasant astringency of the wild Ameri- Group of Plums, Hybrid Plums, Types of European Plums, Propagation of Plums, The Myrobalan Plums, A Review of tlie Americana Plums and The Grouping of Japanese-Hybrid Plums. In igoi he published Plums and Plum Culture, a popular presentation of the various phases of his botanical and horticultural work with this fruit. The titles given do not represent the extent of his studies with this fruit for there were third and fourth reports upon several of the subjects mentioned. In particular he has been helpful to American pomology in the classification of native plums, in his study of sex in plums and in setting forth the hardiness of the various species and groups. Besides his papers on plums, Professor Waugh's chief contributions to horticulture have been a book en- titled Fruit Harvesting, Storing, Marketing, another under the title Systematic Pomology and two works on apples. He has also published two books on Landscape Gardening which have given him high standing in this division of horticulture. Professor Waugh will long be remembered in horticulture for the great extent of his work, for his versatility in the profession and for his ability to present well to both readers and hearers, either technically or popularly, horticultural knowledge. '"The Sand Plums" Country Gentleman, Jan. 37, 1898. THE PLUMS OF NEW YORK. 87 cana pltims, which were also sometimes gathered. They were excellent for canning and made the finest of jelly. " Naturally, the settlers who went every year to the sand hills for plums brought back trees to plant in the gardens they were opening. Almost every farm within the range mentioned above had a few or many of the dwarf trees growing. Some of these were fruitful and worth their room, but most of them have now died out, or are neglected and forgotten. This is because people have paid no attention to their selection, propaga- tion and cultivation. Further than this, however, the sand plum has often failed signally to come up to its record when transferred to cultiva- tion. It seems not to adapt itself readily to a wide diversity of soils and conditions." The sub-species is easily mistaken for the species ; in herbarium speci- mens it is almost impossible to distingtiish between them, but in general the Sand pltrni differs from Angustifolia in its dwarfer habit, shorter -jointed, zigzag, ashy-gray branches, smaller but thicker leaves, larger, thicker skinned and better flavored fruit which ripens later, and in a smaller and somewhat differently marked stone. In distinguishing the two groups some allowance must be made for the adaptability of plums to different environments. PRUNUS ANGUSTIFOLIA VARIANS Wight and Hedrick Plant a small tree, attaining a height of twenty-five feet; trunk small but well- defined; branches spreading, bushy, sometimes armed with spinescent branchlets; young wood slender, more or less zigzag, usually glabrous, glossy, reddish but approach- ing a chestnut-brown; lenticels few, scattered, yellowish, raised. Leaves oblong, oval-lanceolate or rarely slightly obovate-lanceolate, one and one- fifth to two and one-fifth inches long, three-quarters to one inch broad, gradually nar- rowed at the base, acute at the apex; margins very minutely glandular-serrate; upper surface glabrous and somewhat lustrous; lower surface paler, glabrous or sparingly hairy along the midrib and in the axils of the lateral veins; petioles slender, usually reddish, about one-half inch long, pubescent along the upper side, eglandular or some- times with one or two glands at the apex; stipules small, linear and glandular-dentate. Flowers appearing from early in March and before the leaves in the South, to the middle of April and with the leaves in the North, in dried specimens about one-half inch broad; pedicels three-eighths to one-half inch long, glabrous; calyx campanulate, the tube glabrous; calyx-lobes usually shorter than the tube, oblong and obtuse, glab- rous on the outer surface, glabrous or sometimes sparingly pubescent on the inner, the margin ciliate, eglandular; petals obovate, gradually narrowed toward the base, arose or entire toward the apex. Fruit globose or sub-globose, varying from red to yellow, usually with a light bloom; stone about one-half inch long, two-fifths inch broad, turgid, ovoid to elliptic-oblong, ob- 88 THE PLUMS OF NEW YORK scurcly pointed at the apex or sometimes slightly obtuse, truncate or obliquely truncate at the base, grooved on the dorsal edge, ventral edge with a narrow, thickened and slightly grooved wing, the surfaces irregularly roughened. Yellow Transparent may be considered a typical variety. Type spec- imens in the Economic Collection of the Department of Agriculttire were collected at the Eastern Shore Nurseries of J. W. Kerr, Denton, Maryland, (flowers) I. Tidestrom, April, 19 lo; (foHage and fniit) P. L. Ricker No. 2933- June 29, 1909. In the wild, Pnimis angustijolia varians forms dense thickets, the larger specimens attaining a height of ten or twelve feet. When budded and grown in the orchard it assumes the form of a small tree with well defined trunk and spreading branches, sometimes armed with rather slender spinescent branchlets. It is distinguished from the species by its usually more robust habit, by its having the young twigs less reddish and approaching a chestnut -brown in color, rather longer leaves, longer pediceled flowers, and by the stone in most cases being more pointed at the apex. Usually in more fertile soil than the species, it occurs locally from southern Oklahoma through eastern Texas southward possibly to the Colorado River, and probably westward to the Panhandle region. As yet, however, its distribution is not well defined. Nearly all of the early ripening horticultural varieties previously referred to Prunus angustijolia belong to Prunus angustijolia varians. The fruit of the sub-species appears to be superior to that of the species though scarcely equal to that of the other southern plimis now cultivated. Hybrids between this form and Prunus munsoniana undoubtedly occur freely both in the wild state and imder cultivation. The varieties Eagle and El Paso have probably originated in this way. Nearly all of the plums belong- ing to .this species, some twenty in all, are tender to cold, none, so far as is known, succeeding in the North. African, Cluck, Jennie Lucas and Yellow Transparent may be named as representative varieties. 19. PRUNUS MUNSONIANA' Wight and Hedrick Prunus angitstifolia. i. Bailey Cornell Sta. Bui. 38:58. 1S92 (in part). 2. Ibid. Ev. Nat. Fr. 191-194. iSgS (in part). 3. Waugh Vt. Sta. An. Rpt. 10:99, 105. 1S97 (in part). Prunus hortulana. 4. Bailey Cornell Sta. Bui. 38:48. 1892 (in part). 5. Waugh Vt. Sta. An. Rpt. 10:99, 103-105. 1896-97 (in part). Tree medium to large, from twenty to thirty feet in height; trunk six to ten inches in diameter; bark grayish-brown, shaggy, furrowed; branches spreading, rather slender, ' Thomas Volney Munson, after whom it has been a pleasure to name this species, though best known as a viticulturist, has also rendered invaluable serv'ice to plum-culture. A sketch of his life appeared in The Grapes of New York (page 122) in which his services to viticulture were briefly PRUNVS MVNSOlflANA THE PLUMS OF NEW YORK. 89 zigzag, little or not at all thorny; branchlets slender, zigzag, reddish, lustrous, glabrous; lenticcls numerous, large, raised. Winter-buds small, short, obtuse, usually free; leaves one and one-quarter inches wide by four inches long, lanceolate to oblong-lanceolate, sometimes broadly so, some- what folded, apex acute or tapering, usually rounded at the base, texture thin, margins closely and finely serrate, teeth with small, dark red glands; upper surface bright green, glabrous, lustrous; lower surface dull green, pubescence sparse along the midrib and veins or sometimes tufted in the axils; petioles slender, about three- quarters of an inch long, pubescent on the upper surface, reddish, usually with two glands at the base of the leaf-blade; stipules linear, glandular, serrate. Flowers appearing before or with the leaves, season of blooming late, about three- quarters inch across, odor sometimes disagreeable; borne on lateral spurs and buds, two or four flowers in a cluster; pedicels one half inch long, slender, glabrous; calyx-tube campanulate, glabrous, obscurely nerved, about one-fourth length of the pedicel; cal3rx-lobes as long as tube, ovate-oblong, obtuse at the apex, usually glabrous outside, pubescent inside at least toward the base, glandular-ciliate, erect; petals one- third inch long, white, creamy in the bud, oval or obovate, margins slightly erose, abruptly tapering into a claw, sometimes pubescent ; stamens about twenty in number, equal to or shorter than the petals; filaments glabrous; anthers yellow or sometimes tinged red; pistils glabrous, shorter than the stamens. Fruit ripening early; globose or oval, shortest diameter about an inch, bright currant- red, rarely yellow; bloom thin; dots few or numerous, whitish, large or small, always conspicuous; cavity shallow, narrow; suture a line; apex rounded or slightly depressed; flesh light to dark yellow, juicy, soft or melting, fibrous, sweetish, sour at the pit, aromatic; good; stone clinging to the flesh, varying from about one-half inch in length in the wild fruits to at least three-quarters inch in cultivated varieties, turgid, oval, prolonged and pointed at the apex, usually obliquely truncate at the base, more or less roughened, grooved on the dorsal edge, thick-margined and markedly grooved on the ventral one. The description of this species is based on both wild and cultivated material, and the variety Arkansas may be considered as a typical mentioned. While his name is not commonly connected with the study of plums, it is not too much to say that without his aid the publications of those who have written during the last quarter cen- tury on native plums would have lacked much of the information they contain in regard to the species of the Southwest. He has an intimate knowledge of the wild plums of Texas and has freely given of it to all who have asked, often supplementing information with herbarium specimens or plants. The authors of The Plums of New York wish to give him credit for much of the informa- tion, furnished directly or indirectly, in regard to the wild and cultivated plums of the region in which he lives, in recognition of which his name is given to one of the most important species of native plums. Mr. Munson lias grown and introduced a number of hybrid plums of note, chief of those of his own growing being Nimon, Minco and Burford. Many of his experiments in hybrid- izing plums, though unproductive of new varieties, are of much value as a guide to other workers with this fruit. 9° THE PLUMS OF NEW YORK. representative. Type specimens, deposited in the Economic Collection of the United States Department of Agriculture, were collected by W. F. Wight (flowers) at the New York State Experiment Station, Geneva, New York, No. 2721, May 15, 1909, and (foliage) at the Iowa Experi- ment Station, Ames, Iowa, No. 4178, September 15, 1909. This species dififers from Prunus angustijoUa, with which it has long been confused, chiefly in being a much larger plant, a true tree while the other seldom reaches the size of a tree. It has coarser and less twiggy branches, shaggier bark and less red in the color of the yoving wood. The leaves are larger, thicker, more truly lanceolate in shape, less folded, a lighter green and less glossy. The flowers of the new species are larger, fewer in number, borne in less dense ximbels which are not so nearly sessile as those of the older species and are borne on longer pedicels. The calyx -lobes are erect in this species and refiexed in Prunus angustijoUa, strongly marked by marginal glands in Prunus munsoniana and eglandular in Prunus angustijoUa. The fruits are larger and wholly plum-like in the newly made species and cherry -like in Prunus angustijoUa. The stone is very plum-like in Prunus munsoniana but in the older species it might easily be mistaken for the pit of a cherry. The robust form is hardy as far north as Geneva, New York, at least, while the other species cannot be grown much north of Mason and Dixon's Hne. Of the varieties which certainly belong to this species by far the greatest number have originated under cultivation. There is herbarium material from uncultivated plants to show that this species is rather com- mon in the northern part of Texas, in eastern Oklahoma and in parts of Missouri. It is a species forming dense thickets in its native habitat, where it is usually fotmd in rather rich soils, with the older central specimens sometimes attaining a height of twenty to twenty-five feet and gradually diminishing in height to the edge of the thicket. When budded and grown in the orchard it forms a well-defined trunk and attains a height of twenty-five feet or more. The branches are little or not at all spinescent, bark of the stem in young specimens reddish or chestnut -brown, and usually rather smooth, becoming scaly and losing its reddish color with age, that of the young twigs usually chestnut -bro-mi. Its natural range, though not yet definitely determined, probably extends from central Tennessee through northern Mississippi, northern Arkansas, central Missouri and southeastern Kansas to the valley of the Little Wichita River in northern Texas. THE PLUMS OF NEW YORK. 91 The Wild Goose varieties, now placed here, in the past have been considered hybrids more closely resembling Prunus hortulana than any other species. But Wild Goose and some other varieties of its group are not to be distinguished from Prunus munsoniana and beyond question belong in this species. The varieties in this division of Munsoniana are largely seedlings of Wild Goose, each variety possibly with a different male parent since Wild Goose seldom or never fruits unless cross-fertilized. Thus, of these plums, twelve are known seedlings of Wild Goose ; seven others originated imder cultivation ; the origin of fourteen is not known and it is not certain that any beside Wild Goose came from wild plants. From such a record, and from the characters of the plants, it is probable that some of the Wild Goose varieties are horticultural hybrids, many of them from H. A. Terry of Iowa in whose work, with many varieties of several species, hybridity was the rule. Horticulturally, this is the most important group of native plimis for the South; it contains a greater number of cultivated varieties than any other native species excepting Prunus americana, no less than sixty sorts being listed in The Plums of New York, some of which are deservedly the best known of the native plums for either home or market use. For dessert or the kitchen they are particularly valuable, having a sprightly vinous flavor making them very pleasant flavored to eat out of hand or when cooked. Their bright colors, semi-transparent skins and well-turned forms make them very attractive in appearance. Considering the juiciness of most of the varieties, these plums ship and keep well. Unforttmately nearly all of the varieties of this species are clingstones. This group hybri- dizes more freely than any other of the pltmis and there are a great number of promising hybrids of which it is one of the parents. Of all plums, these are most in need of cross-pollination, some of the varieties being nearly or, as in the case of Wild Goose, wholly self -sterile. While these plums are especially valuable in the Southern States, some of them are desir- able in the North as well, where all will grow at least as far north as central New York. Plums of this species are occasionally but not often used as stocks. Some recommend them for stocks for low or wet lands. The fact that Prunus mtmsoniana suckers very badly will probably preclude its use largely in propagating. The leading varieties under cultivation of this species are Arkansas, Pottawattamie, Robinson, Newman, Wild Goose and Downing, all of which are described in full and illustrated in colors in The Plums of New York. 92 THE PLUMS OF NEW YORK. The first four of these have in the past been referred by botanists and pomologists to Pninus angnstijolia and the last two to Primus hortidana. 20. PRUNUS MARITIMA Marshall I. Marsliall Arbust. Am. 112. 1785. 2. Wangenheim Amcr. 103. 1787. 3. Michaux Fl. Bor. Am. 1:284. 1S03. 4. Pursh Fl. Am. Sept. 332. 1814. 5. Nuttall Gen. M. Am. PI. 1:302. 1818. 6. EWiott Sk. Bot. S. C. and Ga. i:s4s. 1821. 7. Torrey and Gray FZ. .V. .4m. i :4o8. 1840. 8. Torrey FZ. A/', y. 1:194. 1843. g. Emerson Trees of Mass. 449. 1846. 10. Ba.iley Cornell Sta. Bui. 38:75, fig. No. 9, 1892. II. Waugh Vt. Sia. An. Rpi. 12:234. 1899. 12. Bailey Cyc. Am. Hort. 1449, fig- 1 90 1. * P. litioralis. 13. Bigelow Fl. Bost. Ed. 2:193. 1824. P. pubescens. 14. Torrey Fl. U. S. 469. 1824. Cerasus pubescens. 15. Seringe DC. Prodr. 2:538. 1825. 16. Beck Bot. Nor. mid Mid. U^ S. 96. 1833. Shrub four to ten feet high, sometimes a low tree under cultivation; main branches decumbent and straggling or upright and stout; bark dark brown or reddish, more or less spiny, often warty; branchlets slightly pubescent at first, becoming glabrous, dark reddish-brown, straight or slightly zigzag and rather slender; lenticels few, small, dark. Winter-buds small, long, acute, with small reddish scales; leaves oval or obovate, short-acute or nearly obtuse at the apex, rounded or nearly acute at the base, margins closely and evenly serrate, thinnish or thickish and somewhat leathery; upper surface glabrous, dull green, lower surface paler and more or less pubescent; petioles less than one-half inch long, stout, tomentose or glabrous; glands two, sometimes more, at the base of the leaves. Flowers small, appearing before the leaves but the latest of any of the hardy plums; borne in three-flowered umbels closely set along the rigid branches ; calyx-tube campan- ulate, tomentose; petals white, sometimes pinkish, sub-orbicular, narrowed into a claw at the base; pedicels short, slender, stiff, tomentose. Fruit maturing in late summer in Massachusetts; one-half inch in diameter, globose, slightly flattened at the ends ; cavity shallow, borne on a slender pedicel more than one- half inch in length, usually dark purple with a heavy bloom but variable, sometimes red or less frequently yellow; skin thick, tough and acrid; flesh crisp, juicy, sweetish; stone free from the flesh, small, turgid, pointed at both ends, cherry-like, acutely ridged on one and grooved on the other edge. Prumis inaritima, or as it has long been known, the Beach plum, is as yet hardly grown as a domesticated frviit. It is destined, however, in the minds of not a few, because of qualities Avhich we shall describe, to play a more important part in the futtire of the cultivated plum flora than it has in the past. It has several valuable characters that should fit it alike for direct cultivation and for hybridizing with other species. It is surprising that more has not been done to domesticate the Maritima plums THE PLUMS OF NEW YORK. 93 for they were among the first frtiits noticed by carl\- explorers and have ahvays been used by both Indians and Whites for culinary purposes. The fact that Domestica plums thrive in their habitat is the only explanation of the non-amelioration of this plum before this. September third, 1609, Hudson entered the river bearing his name and found " a very good harbor, abundance of blue plums, some currants brought by the natives dried and the country full of great and tall oaks." The blue plum was the Maritima; and from Hudson's time nearly all of the accounts of the New World given by early explorers mention this plum. It is probably one of the plums described by Captain John Smith as a cherry " much like a Damson;" by Edward Winslow in 162 1, in a letter to England to a friend, as one of his "plums of three sorts"; by Francis Higginson in his New England's Plantation in 1630; described by Thomas Morton in 1632 in his New English Canaan as having " fruit as bigg as our ordinary buUis." John Lawson, one of the first of American natviralists, describes them rather more fully as follows:' "The Amer- ican Damsons are both black and white, and about the Bigness of an European Damson. They grow any where if planted from the Stone or Slip; bear a white blossom, and are a good fruit. They are fotmd on the Sand-Banks all along the Coast of America. I have planted several in my Orchard, that came from the Stone, which thrive well amongst the rest of my Trees. But they never grow to the Bigness of the other Trees now spoken of. These are plentiful Bearers." These are but a few of the many references to the Beach plum but they are enough to show that the colo- nists were attracted by this wild plum found on a long stretch of the Atlantic seaboard — probably the first fruit to attract attention from Virginia to New England. To be more explicit as to its range. Primus maritima, in its typical form, is an inhabitant of the sea beaches and sand dunes from New Bruns- wick to the Carolinas, or possibly farther south, growing inland usually as far as recent ocean soil formations extend. As it leaves the seaboard marked variations make their appearance, chief of which are, smaller, more oval, smoother and thinner leaves and smaller fruit. The species has been reported as an inhabitant of the sands at the head of Lake Michigan,' but the writer, who is well acquainted with this region, has never seen it there, nor is it to be found in the chief herbaria of Michigan as having been collected in the state. 'Lawson, John History of Carolina 105. 1714. ' Waugh Vt. Sta. An. Rpt. 12:235. 1899. Bailey Cyc. Am. Hort. 1449. 1901. 94 THE PLUMS OF NEW YORK. In the region where it is found wild the Maritima plum is a rather common article of trade. The fruit is usually sold by the quart, the price being five or ten cents, and is used for both dessert and culinary purposes though for most part for the latter. The species is one of the most variable of the true plums and there is, probably must ever be, much disagreement as to its botanical relation- ships. Several botanical varieties of Prunus maritima have already been named and there are yet groups within the species which seem to be nearly as distinct as those described and possibly worth distinguishing. Since the variations show in the size, color and edible qualities of the fruit, as well as in the characters of the plant, it is to be expected that the species has a horticultioral future though at present it has but one cultivated variety — Bassett. Professor J. W. Macfarlane of the University of Pennsylvania has shown well the great range of variations in this plvim both from botanical and horticultural aspects." He holds that these variations are sufficiently distinct to make many varieties of this plum in the wild, to which DeVries agrees with the statement that they indicate " the existence of separate races as elementary species." ' The plum which Small has described as Prunus gravesii, to be discussed later, is a marked variation of Prunus maritima. As it grows on the sea-coast Prunus maritima is a low bush three to six feet high, occasionally reaching a height of ten or twelve feet. Usually the plant is straggling but sometimes it is compact or even tree-like. In- land, on better soils, or under cultivation it makes a rather handsome dwarf tree. The flowers are borne in great numbers, completely covering the plant and coming later than most of the plums bloom. The species bears fruit very abundantly, which is always attractive but of quite diverse value for food. The fruit varies in size from a half to three-quarters of an inch in diameter and is almost spherical, though sometimes oval and with or without a distinct suture. The usual color is a rich bluish-black with a waxy bloom, but red, yellow, amber and orange fruits are often fotmd. In taste the Maritima plums range from inedible to nearly as rich a flavor as is found in the best of the Domestica plums. Besides variations in the above and other qualities, Macfarlane calls attention to the range in ripening of the fruit of this plum, showing that it extends over a period of two months, an exceptionally wide variation for a wild plant. ^ Cont. Bot. Lab. University of Pa. 2:216. 1899-1900. ' DeVries, Hugo Species and Varieties, etc. 57. 1905. THE PLUMS OF NEW YORK. 95 This plum has a number of qualities that commend it to the fruit- grower. Since in the wild it grows on sandy soils it is not likely under cul- tivation to make great demands on either the moisture or the fertility of soils. It is very hardy and very productive and seldom fails to bear. It seems to be free or nearly so from some of the pests of cultivated plums. Lastly, the great number of wild varieties of the plums give many starting points from which to breed cultivated varieties. Two objections to the wild fruits are that when the fruit is harvested the juice often exudes from the wound made by the parting from the stem, and secondly, the secretion of some substance forming a dark colored, hard core in the pulp which gives a very bitter taste to the fruit. The last defect is very common in the wild plums and is probably due to the sting of an insect. Under cultivation it may be possible to obtain fruits free from these faults. It would be desirable if some of the characters enumerated above could be combined with those of other species. Burbank has hybridized the Maritima plum with other species, with promising results. Of these he writes under date of December 6, 1909, as follows: " I first began raising Prunus maritima about 1887 — twenty-two years ago — collecting myself and having specimens sent me all the way from the coast of Labrador to South Carolina, the finest of which were obtained from the eastern coast of Massachusetts. Among the seedlings, of which I raised and fruited several hundred thousands, were yellow, red, purple and almost black ones, early and late, round, oval, oblate and flattened, with big stones and little stones, free stone and cling stone, and much variety in productiveness and growth of the young bushes, but not one of them the first two or three generations were very much increased in size — probably the largest being about the size of a cranberry or a small hazelnut — and none of them of very exceptional quality, though their habit of blooming late was a tremendous advantage, as they invariably escaped our spring frosts. This, with their unusual hardiness induced me to continue experimenting with them. Finally after some ten years I obtained a very delicious variety, about an inch in length and three- quarters of an inch in diameter, tree much increased in size, larger foliage and more productive and producing enormous quantities of most delicious fruit. From this I raised a great many thousand, almost as good and a few of them even better, several hundred of which have been selected and are now bearing on my Sebastopol place. Some of these improved seedling trees grow five to ten times as large as the ordinary Maritima, with larger leaves and in every possible way improved. My greatest success with this species (and one of the most striking occurrences in my work with plimis) 96 THE PLUMS OF NEW YORK. was produced by pollinating one of the somewhat improved Maritimas with Primus tri flora. " The very first generation, a plum was produced which is an astonish- ing grower for a Maritima — almost equal to the Triflora, with large, broad glossy foliage of almost the exact shape of the Maritima, Maritima blossoms, and fruit weighing nearly one-quarter of a pound each, with an improved superior Maritima flavor, Maritima pit in form, but enlarged. The most singular peculiarity of this plum, which is so enormous, is that the trees commence to bloom about with the Triflora and bloom and bear fruit all summer, so that blossoms, young fruit and the enormous deep red ripening fruit can be seen on the trees at the same time." 21. PRUNUS GRAVESII Small I. Small Torrcy Bot. Club Bui. 24:44, PI. 292. 1S97. 2. Britton and Brown N. Am. Trees 2:249. 1897. 3. Robinson and Femald Gray's Man. Ed. 7:498. 190S. Shrub low, slender, attaining a height of four feet; main trunk much branched, with dark, rough bark; branches ascending, slender, leafless, unarmed; branchlets of the season puberulent. Leaves oval-orbicular, orbicular or slightly obovate, rounded, retuse or apiculated at the apex, base truncate or at least obtuse, margins sharply ser- rate or crenate-serrate ; upper surface sparingly pubescent or glabrous, lower surface pubescent, especially on the veins. Flowers white, one-half inch broad; borne in two or three-flowered, lateral umbels, appearing with the leaves; calyx- tube campanulate, pubescent; petals sub-orbicular, abruptly narrowed at the base; pedicels stout, stiff, pubescent. Fruit maturing in September; globose, one-half inch in diameter, nearly black, with a light bloom, acid and astringent; stone broadly oval, rounded at the apex, acute at the base. Prunus gravcsii is now known only in Connecticut, where it is found on a gravelly ridge at Groton near Long Island Sound. It grows in the neighborhood of Prunus maritima to which it is evidently closely related. Small in describing the species gives the following differences between the Gravesii and the Maritima plums: (i) Prunus gravesii is more slender and delicate in habit, and matures its leaves and fruit earlier in the season. (2) The leaf of Prunus gravesii is small and sub-orbicular while that of the other is larger and more elongated. (3) The new species has smaller flowers with sub-orbicular petals while those of Prunus maritima are broadly obovate and gradually narrowed at the base. (4) The fruit of Prunus gravesii is smaller and more globose and has shorter pedicels. (5) The stone is more turgid and is pointed only at the base ; that of Prunus maritima is usually pointed at both ends. (6) Sprouts arising from the THE PLUMS OF NEW YORK. 97 ground do not produce flowers as they frequently do in the case of Prunus mariiima. The cultivation of this plum has not been attempted and as compared with Maritima it promises little for the fruit-grower. 22. PRUNUS ORTHOSEPALA Koehne I. Koehne Dcttt. Deiid. 311. 1S93. 2. Sargent Gar. and For. 7:184, 187 fig. 1894. 3. Bailey Cyc. Am. Hort. 1450. igoi. Shrub four or five feet high; branches dense and twiggy; stems sometimes armed with slender spines; bark separating in large, loose scales; branchlets stout, slightly- zigzag, reddish-brown becoming dark brown. Winter-buds obtuse, three-lobed at maturity; leaves oblong-ovate, thin and firm, acuminate, long-pointed, two and one-half to three inches long, two-thirds inch broad, unequally cuneateor rounded at the base; margins closely serrate with incurved, calloused or rarely glandular teeth; upper surface glabrous, light green, lower surface paler and pilose; petioles slender, slightly grooved, puberulous, one-half inch long; glands two, large, at the apex of the petiole. Flowers appearing after the leaves; borne in three or four-flowered fascicles on stout pedicels one-half inch long; calyx- tube turbinate; lobes puberulous on the outer surface, with thick tomentum, often tipped with red on the inner surface; petals narrowly obovate, rounded at the apex, narrowing at the base into slender claws, white or tinged with pink; stamens orange, exserted; style glabrous, thickened at the apex into a truncate stigma. Fruit globose, an inch in diameter, deep red with a heavy bloom; skin thick; flesh yellow, juicy, of good flavor; stone flattened, oval, slightly rugose, deeply grooved on the dorsal and ridged on the ventral edge. The history and habitat of Orthosepala are given by Sargent as fol- lows: "The history of this plant as I know it, is briefly this : In Jime, 1880, Dr. George Engelmann of St. Louis, sent to the Arnold Arboretum a package of seeds marked ' Pnmus, sp. southern Texas.' Plants were raised from these seeds and in 1888, or earlier, they flowered and produced fruit, which showed that they belonged to a distinct and probably unde- scribed species. A name, however, was not proposed for it, and in 1888, probably, plants or seeds were sent to Herr Spath, of the Rixdorf Nurseries, near Berlin, where this plum was fovmd in flower by Dr. Emil Koehne, who has described it under the name of Prunus orthosepala." Of the affinity of this species Sargent says: "Prunus orthosepala is a true plum, rather closely related to Prumis hortulana, from which it can be distinguished by the smaller number of glands of the petioles, by the eglandular calyx-lobes, the dark colored fruit and smoother stone." As the writer has seen this pltmi growing in the Arnold Arboretum, Jamaica 98 THE PLUMS OF NEW YORK. Plains, Massachusetts, and the City parks at Rochester, New York, it seems well worth cultivating. Mr. J. W. Kerr writes of it as follows: " I have P. orthosepala fruiting here, and with me its fniit is excep- tionally fine in quality, sparingly produced — attributable I believe to the fact that no variety stands near enough to it for proper inter-pollination. The trees are rather dwarfish in habit, close-headed, with fine clean foliage. The fruit is globular in form; size equal to fair specimens of Hawkeye or Wyant; skin a greenish -yellow, almost entirely covered with deep red." W. F. Wight of the United States Department of Agriculture has collected specimens of a cultivated plum, taken from the wild, locally known as the Laire, in Rooks and neighboring counties in Kansas, with foliage very similar to Prunus orthoscpela. While the identity of Laire with the species under discussion cannot be established at this time, the reported source of the seeds, "southern Texas," from which Prunus orthosepela was grown may be an error. 23. PRUNUS GRACILIS Engelmann and Gray I. Engelmann and Gray Bost. Jour. Nat. Hist. 5:243. 1845. 2. Torrey Pac. R. Rpt. 4:83. 1854. 3. Britton and Brown III. Fl. 2:249, fig. 1897. P. chicasa var. normalis. 4. Torrey and Gray Fl. N. Am. 1:407. 1840. P. normalis 5. Small Fl. S. E. U. S. 572. 1903. Shrub low, attaining a height of five or six feet; branches many, straggling, more or less spiny; branchlets at first densely tomentose or soft-pubescent, becoming glabrous; leaves small, ovate-lanceolate or oval, margins finely and evenly serrate, rather thick, texture harsh and firm; upper surface dark green, glabrous or nearly so at maturity, lower surface paler, soft-pubescent becoming nearly glabrous; petiole short and stout. Flowers white, small, appearing before the leaves; borne in sessile, several-flowered umbels; pedicels short, slender, soft-pubescent. Fruit globose or oval, very small, not more than one-half inch in diameter, variable in color, mostly in shades of red; stone turgid, nearly orbicular, pointed at both ends. Prunus gracilis is fotmd in dry, sandy soils from southern Kansas and western Arkansas to central Texas. It grows most abundantly and thrives best in Oklahoma, a fact which leads Waugh to call it the " Okla- homa " plum. All who know the species agree that it is a near approach to Maritima in many of its characters. This plum is very variable and some of its forms seem not to have been well studied. As a fruit plant Gracilis is hardly known in cultivation though Torrey says it is cultivated in the region of its habitat tmder the name Prairie Cherry. The wild fruit is used more or less locally and is sometimes offered for sale in the markets of western towns. The quality is about the same as that of the THE PLUMS OF NEW YORK. 99 wild Americanas and under cultivation would probably improve. The small size of plant and fruit are the most impromising characters though the species is also much subject to black -knot. 24. PRUNUS RIVULARIS Scheele I. Scheele Linnaca 21:594. 1848. 2. Gray PI. Wright. 1:67. 1852. 3. Hall PI. Texas. 9 1S7J. 4. Coulter Cont. U. S. Nat. Herb. 2:101. 1S91. 5. Waugh Bot. Gaz. 26:50-52. 1898. 6. Bailey Ev. Xat. Fr. 223. 1898. Shrub three to seven feet high; branches angular, smooth, shining, ash-colored, rough; lenticels small, crowded; leaves oblong-ovate or sometimes ovate, rarely- lanceolate, apex acute, margins coarsely or doubly serrate, glabrous above and sparingly pubescent below; petioles glandular, grooved, pubescent; flowers in lateral umbels, in pairs or several-flowered; fruit about one-half inch in diameter, oblong-oval, cherry- red; skin thick, smooth and tough, acid. The preceding description is largely compiled from the authors given in the references, the writer having seen only herbarium specimens. The species is included here largely upon the authority of Professor C. S. Sargent of the Arnold Arboretum and W. F. Wight, who know the plant as de- scribed by Scheele in the field. Gray described the plant as " verging to Americana." Bailey says " it evidently bears the same relation to Prunus americana that Prunus watsoni does to the Chickasaw plum." Waugh is " convinced that Prunus rivularis Scheele is nothing more than one of the more distinct sub-divisions of the multiform hortulana group." ' T. V. Mimson writes me that the Waylandi plums belong in this species. My own opinion is, from the herbarium specimens examined, from correspond- ence and conversation with those who have seen the plant in the field, that Scheele's species is a good one and quite distinct from the species named by Bailey, Waugh and Mtmson as allied to it. It is to be looked for along the streams and bottom-lands in the neighborhood of San Antonio and New Braunfels, Texas. The plum is locally known as the Creek plum and in common with other plums is gathered for home consumption. The species seems to offer but few possibilities for the fruit-grower. ' The references given contain these quotations. THE PLUMS OF NEW YORK. CHAPTER II PLUM CULTURE. Ten states produced over 82 per ct. of the plum crop of the United States in 1899. The census of 1900 shows that in the preceding year the total crop in the country was 8,764,032 bushels of which California, Oregon. New York, Washington, Michigan, Iowa, Texas, Arkansas, Ohio and Kansas, named in order of yield, produced 7,429,248 bushels. All other states yielded 1,334,784 bushels. Of these ten states, three, California, Oregon and Washington, holding first, second and fourth places in produc- tion, use by far the greater parts of their crops for prunes. Four others, Iowa, Texas, Arkansas and Kansas, grow the native and Trifiora varieties almost exclusively. New York with a crop of 313,668 bushels in 1899, Michigan with 213,682 bushels the same year and Ohio with 81,435 bushels, grew the main crop of Domesticas for the states in which plums are not made into prunes. At the end of the Nineteenth Centiiry the plum ranked third in com- mercial value among orchard products, being surpassed by the apple and the peach. The increase in number of trees and bushels of fruit for the whole country for the decade ending with 1899 was remarkable, being for trees 334.9 per ct. and for bushels of fruit 243.1 per ct. These great in- creases were due to very large planting of plums for prunes on the Pacific Coast and to the widespread distribution dtiring these ten years of native and Trifiora varieties. It is very doubtful if the percentage of increase has been nearly so great during the present decade. It is likely that the development of rapid transportation and refrigerator service betw^een the great plum-growing region of the far West and the markets of the East has caused a decrease in trees and production in the eastern states. Plum-growing, as with the growing of all fniits, is confined to localities geologically, climatically and commercially adapted to the industry. If we take New York as an example we find that plums are grown largely only in ten of the sixty-one covm ties, according to the census of 1900. These with the number of trees in each are as follows: Niagara 184,133, Ontario 92,917, Seneca 59,205, Monroe 57,246, Schuyler 48,'336, Orleans 41,985, Yates 32,742, Albany 32,373, Erie 30,281, Wayne 30,047. Over 62 per ct. of all the trees in the State are in these counties and probably they produce more than 90 per ct. of the plums sent to market. THE PLUMS OF NEW YORK. lOI A canvass of the acreage of four hundred plum-growers in New York shows that the following in order named are the leading commercial varie- ties: Bradshaw, including Niagara, which is identical, Reine Claude includ- ing its several near variations, Italian Prune, German Prune, Lombard, Shropshire, Grand Dvike, Washington and Gueii. Abundance and Bur- bank are as widely distributed as any of these, chiefly owing to the zeal with which nurserymen have sold these varieties, but are seldom grown exclusively in commercial plantations, and their popularity is now on the wane as is also the case with Red June which has been largely planted. Varieties of native plums are hardly grown in New York though now and then they are found in home collections and there are a few small com- mercial plantations of them. The fruit of the native and Triflora plums is so inferior to that of the Domestica sorts for market and domestic purposes, that varieties of these are not likely to take the place of the Domestica plums. Producers and purchasers are now familiar with the possibilities of the natives and of the Orientals and have not been greatly attracted by them in New York. It is true, however, that the natives have been chiefly represented by Wild Goose and the Trifloras by Abundance and Burbank — scarcely the best that these groups of plums can produce. It is true, too, that the varieties have been greatly over-praised and that they now suffer from the reaction. Yet the Domesticas command the market and their reliableness in the orchard gives them a popularity in this region which other plums cannot for a long while trench upon. This brings us to a discussion of the conditions under which plums are now grown in North America and more particularly in New York. Of these, chmate, with this fruit, should be first discussed, outranking all others in importance. CLIMATE Climatic conditions determine the culture of the plum not only for a region but for a locality; not only as to whether it is possible to grow plums at all but as to whether this frioit can be grown with reasonable prospects of commercial success in competition with other localities. The constituents of climate which are important in plum-growing are tempera- ture, rainfall and air currents, the last two being largely dependent upon the first. The relationship existing between plums and these factors of climate are fairly well known for they have received attention from the very beginning of plum culture. 102 THE PLUMS OF NEW YORK. There are four phases of temperature that need to be considered in order to get a clear insight into the cUmatic conditions which govern pro- duction of fruit crops. These are, the daily, inonthly and annual changes in temperature and the extremes in temperature. Of these the daily and annual changes are of little importance. All plants are very adaptable to daily variations in climate and are little affected by them. Annual varia- tions are shown by statements of the annual mean temperatures but such statements are of small value to fruit-growers as they may be the result of averaging very divergent temperatures or temperatures very close together. The monthly mean, however, is a very fair criterion of climate for fruit-growing, especially when given with the amount and distribution of rainfall. But far more important than any of the above phases are the extremes in temperature and more particularly of cold. A plant can not be grown profitably where the temperature, even occasionally, falls below the point where winter-killing results to tree or bud, or where the blossom is injured by frost. Extremes of heat are disastrous usually only when long continued. For each fruit, too, there must be a total amount of heat available to carry it from the setting of the fruit to maturity, in which respect varieties of any fruit may differ materially. Of the injurious effects and of the necessary amounts of heat, however, we know but little. These general considerations of temperature lead us to their applica- tion to the plum and especially to a discussion of the most important of the several factors -hardiness. Hardiness to cold, a matter of prime importance with all fruits, is especially so with the plum because of the many different species, each with its own capacity for withstanding cold. As the different species are taken from their natural habitat to other regions, there to become accli- matized, and as new forms originate by hybridization, the matter becomes more complicated and more important. Waugh ' has investigated the hardiness of plums and we publish a table given by him showing the hardiness of representative varieties of the species most generally culti- vated. We have taken the liberty of adding a few plums not given in the original table and have also made some changes in the nomenclature of the groups. 'Waugh, F. A. Vt. Sta. An. Rpt. 11:273. 1897-9S. THE PLUMS OF NEW YORK. 103 Table Showing the Hardiness of Representative Varieties of Plums at Various Places. h — hardy; hh — half-hardy; t — tender. Americana Plums: De Soto Hawkeye Wolt Domestica Plums: Lombard Reine Claude . . Bradshaw .... Arctic Hortulana Plums: Moreman , Golden Beauty. Wayland Insititia Plums: Damsons Munsoniana Plums: Pottawattamie, Newman Robinson Nigra Plums The Simon Plum... Triflora Plums: Abundance . . . . Burbank Satsuma Kelsey .2 i 1 i a > t i 1 ■3 c 0^ h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h hh h hh h h h t hh h h h hh hh hh hh hh h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h , h hh ? h h h h ? h h? ? ■> hh h h h h h h ? h h ? ? hh hh h h h ' h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h hh t h h h h h h ? ? h ? t t hh t h h h h ? ? h ? t t t hh h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h hh hh h hh hh t t t h h h h hh h h h h hh hh hh h h h h h h h h h hh hh hh hh h h hh t h hh hh hh t t hh t ■ t hh t t t t t t t * A few general statements in addition to the above table will help to make plain the comparative hardiness of the different groups of cul- tivated plvims. The Nigras may be rated as the hardiest of the plums to be considered though the Americanas are but slightly less hardy. The plums of these species are the hardiest of oiu" tree -fruits and are able to resist nearly as much cold as any other cultivated plant. The Insititias, as represented by the Damsons, at least, come next hardiest after the above species, with varieties of Domestica, as Arctic, Lombard and Voronesh, I04 THE PLUMS OF NEW YORK. nearly as hardy. So far as resistance to cold is concerned the Domestica plums as a class are less hardy than the apple, ranking in this respect with the pear. Of the Domesticas the Reine Claude plums are as tender to cold as any though some consider Bradshaw as more , tender. Between these last sorts and the hardiest varieties there is a great range in capacity to endure cold, as would be expected with so large a number of varieties originating in widely separated climates. The Trifiora plums vary more in hardiness than any other of the cultivated species. Speaking vcr\' generally they are less hardy than the Domesticas, the hardiest sorts, Burbank and Abundance, being somewhat hardier than the peach, while the tenderest varieties, of which Kelsey is probably most tender, are distinctly less hardy than the peach. Of the remaining plums, the Hortulana, Munsoniana and Watsoni groups, there are great diversities in opinion as to hardiness. Probably all of the varieties in these last groups are as hardy as the peach with a few sorts in each more hardy than the peach. It is to be expected from the more northern range of the wild prototypes that the Hortulana and Watsoni plums are somewhat hardier than Primus munsoniana. The rainfall is of comparatively small concern to plum-growers in America, since, with now and then an exception, in eastern America it is sufficient under proper cultivation, and on the Pacific Coast the crop is largely grown under irrigation. Summarized statements of annual rainfall are of Httle or no importance since almost all depends upon the distribution of the amount throughout the year and upon the manner in which it falls. Monthly and seasonal "means" of precipitation, as in the case of temperatiire, may be of considerable importance in determining the desirability of a locality for plums. Air currents are of local or regional occuiTence and though not often the determinant of profitable cultitre of plums have sometimes been im- portant factors in choosing a location to grow this fmit. The occurrence, direction, moisture condition and temperature are the attributes of air currents usually considered. The failure of many plums to grow in the prairie region of the Mississippi Valley and the Great Plains is no doubt due in some measure to winter winds. The problem of varietal adapta- tion is more or less complicated in any region by the nature of the air currents. An extremity of any of the constituents of what we call " weather " endangers the plum crop at blossoming time. In New York stresses of THE PLUMS OF NEW YORK. I05 weather are probably the predominating causes of the non-setting of fruit on plum trees which bear an abundance of blossoms. This is well shown in a study of the relations of weather to the setting of fruit made by the New York Agricultural Experiment Station in which it is held that several phases of weather at blossoming time cause the loss of plum crops.' Thus late frosts, wet weather, low temperature, strong winds and wide daily ranges in temperature were factors in the loss of fruit crops in all of the failures during a period of twenty-five years. Quite as significant was the fact that in all of the years during this period when there was simshine and warm, dry weather during blossoming time there were good crops of fruit. Locations for growing the different varieties of plums are selected with reference to general and local climate. As regards general climate, latitude, altitude and proximity to large bodies of water are the chief determining characters; as regards local climate, the lay of the land has most to do as a determinant. Again, varieties are selected with reference to time of blooming, that they may escape in some degree injurious cli- matal agencies. Lastly, varieties are selected having greater capacity, from one cause or another, to withstand injurious weather. With all varieties it is found that cultural treatment to induce strong vitality helps a tree to withstand stresses of harmful weather at blossoming time. The above considerations show that the blossoming dates of plums should be known for the proper culture of this fruit. In the following table averages of the blooming dates of varieties of plums for the eight years just past, 1902 to 1909, inclusive, are given. Li making use of these dates, consideration must be given to the environment of the orchards at Geneva. The latitude of the Smith Astro- nomical Observatory, a quarter of a mile from the Station orchards is 42° 52' 46.2" ; the altitude of the orchards is from five hundred to five hundred and twenty-five feet above the sea level ; the soil is a stiff and rather cold clay; the orchards lie about a mile west of Seneca Lake, a body of water forty miles in length and from one to three and one-half miles in width and more than six himdred feet deep. The lake has frozen over but a few times since the region was settled, over a hundred years ago, and has a very bene- ficial influence on the adjacent country in lessening the cold of winter and the heat of summer, and in preventing early blooming. 'Hedrick. U. P; Tlie Relation oj Weatlier to the Setting of Fruit. Bui. 299. 1908. io6 THE PLUMS OF NEW YORK. The dates are those of full bloom. They were taken from trees growTi under normal conditions as to pruning, distance apart, and as to all other factors which might influence the blooming period. An inspection of the table shows that there is a variation of several days between the time of full bloom of the different varieties of the same species. These differences can be taken advantage of in selecting sorts to avoid injury from frost. The same table shows the ripening season of the plums growing on the Station grounds. Now and then the late and very late plums given in the table may be caught by fall frosts in the colder parts of New York or in regions having a similar climate. Table Showing Bloomi.vg Dates and Season of Ripening. The " blooming date " is tliat of full bloom. Under season of ripening "very early" is from July 15 to August 10; "early," August 10 to August 20; "mid-season," August 20 to September 10; "late," September 10 to September 20; " very late," September 20 to October i. Blooming date May Season of ripening Very _ , Mid- ^ ^ Very / Earlv Late , J early ' season late P. amencana: De Soto Hawkeye New Ulm Ocheeda Oren Rollingstone Stoddard Surprise Wolf Wood Wyant P. cerasifera: De Caradeuc Golden Cherry . . . P. domestica: Agen Altham American Arch Duke Autumn Compote Arctic Bavay BejonniSrs Belgian Purple . . . Belle Bradshaw Bryanston THE PLUMS OF NEW YORK. 107 Table Showing Blooming Dates and Season of Ripening — Continued. Blooming date May 13 14 15 16 17 18 ig 20 V"y Early ^''^- Late "^"J early -^ season late Season of ripening P. domestica: Chambourcy Champion Cling Stem Clyman Czar Dawson' Diamond Doretts Duane Eariy Rivers Early Orleans. . . . Eariy Royal Eariy Tours Empire Englebert Esjum Erik Field Freeman Furst German Prune . . . Giant G. No. 4 Golden Drop Golden Gage Goliath Grand Duke Gueii Guthrie Late Hand Harriet Hector Hudson Hungarian Ickworth Imperial Epineuse Imperial Gage Italian Prune .... Jefferson Kirke Lafayette Large English. . . . Late Orleans Late Musca telle . . Lombard Lucombe Middleburg Miller No. i Miller Superb .... Missouri Green Gage Morocco Mottled Prune . . I08 THE PLUMS OF NEW YORK. Table Showing Blooming Dates and Season op Ripening — Continued. Blooming date May 3 14 15 16 17 Season of ripening Very „ , Mid ,- Early early ^ Late y"y son late P. domestica: Newark Nicholas Ottoman Seedling . Oullins Pacific Palatine Paul Early Pearl Peters Pond Purple Gage Quackenboss Red Date Sannois Saunders Sheldrake Shipper Smith Orleans Spaulding Stanton St. Catherine Sugar Tennant Tobias Gage Tragedy Transparent Ungarish Union Uryany Victoria Voronesh Warner Washington Wyzerka Yellow Egg Yellow Gage York State Prune.. P. hortulana: Golden Beauty Wayland World Beater Hybrids: America Ames Apple Bartlett Climax Downing THE PLUMS OF NEW YORK. Table Showing Blooming Dates and Season of Ripening — Contimted. 109 Blooming date May Season of riijening Very „ , Mid- , Early rly •' season Very Hybrids: Golden. . . Hammer . Jape.x. . . . Juicy . . . . Marianna. Milton . . . Shiro . . . . Sophie . . . Wickson . . P. insititia: Black BuUace. . . Crittenden Freestone French Frograore King of Damsons Late Mirabelle.. . Mirabelle Reine des Mirabelles Shropshire Sweet Damson . . White BuUace... P. hortulana mineri: Forest Garden . . . Maquoketa P. munsoniana: Arkansas Newman Poole Pride . . . . Pottawattamie. Robinson Wild Goose P. nigra: Cheney P. triflora: Abundance . . . . Burbank Chabot Engre Earliest of All. . Georgeson Hale Long Fruit . . . . Maru Ogon no THE PLUMS OF NEW YORK. THE POLLINATION OF PLUMS. One of the discouragements in plum-growing is the uncertainty w:hich attends the setting of the fruit in some varieties even though the trees bear an abundance of blossoms. Blooming, the prelude of fruiting, had little significance to the fruit-grower until the discovery was made that many varieties of several fruits were unable to fertilize themselves and that failures of frt:it crops were often due to the planting of infertile varie- ties. Investigations as to the self -sterility of pears, plioms and grapes have shown blossoming-time to be one of the most important life periods of these fruits. The knowledge obtained by workers in this field has to some degree modified the planting of all orchard-fruits and of none more than of the plums. Indeed, it is held by many that it is hardly safe to plant any excepting the Domestica and Insititia plvuns without provision for cross- pollination. A variety is in need of cross-pollination when the pollen from its own blossoms does not fecundate the ovules of the variety. There is a delicate and complicated procession during the process of frmt formation and the life of the fruit may be jeopardized by any one of a number of external or internal influences. These deleterious influences are most often unfav- orable weather or defects in the reproductive organs of the plants them- selves. Of the latter, in the plum there are several rather common ones which cause self-sterility, as impotency of pollen, instifficiency of pollen, defective pistils and difference in the time between the maturity of the pollen and the receptiveness of the stigmas. It is held that the main cause of the infertility in plums is impotency of pollen on the pistils of the same variety. The pollen may be produced in abundance, be perfect as regards appearance, and potent on the pistils of other varieties but wholly fail to fecundate the ovaries of the variety from which it came. The most marked examples of such impotency are to be found in the native plums though the Triflora sorts are generally accredited with being largely self -sterile and the Domesticas somewhat so. The proof offered to show the impotency of plums is for most part the records of fruit setting under covered blossoms. In this method of testing the impotency of pollen there are several sources of error and the figures given by experimenters probably greatly exaggerate the infertility of plums, but since the experience of plum-growers generally affirms the results in some measure it is well to hold that the native plums at least should be so planted as to secure cross-pollination. It is doubtful if the THE PLUMS OF NEW YORK. Ill Domestica and Triflora plums are self-sterile and yet the question is an open one as regards some varieties of these species. There is great difference in the quantity of pollen produced by the several groups of plxims but it is very doubtful if insufficiency of pollen is a factor of any considerable importance in the self -sterility of this fruit. Yet the matter is worth attention because of its bearing upon the selection of pollinizers. Of the several botanic groups, speaking somewhat generally, the Americanas and Nigras bear most pollen ; the Munsoniana plums are abundant pollen bearers; the Trifloras seldom show a shortage but bear rather less than the others named; the Domesticas produce pollen abun- dantly ; while the hybrid groups are the most capricious of all the plums in this respect, some varieties bearing much and others but little pollen. Probably the amount of pollen which the flowers of any tree produce is somewhat modified by the climate in which the tree is growing, by the weather and by the vigor of the tree. Waugh ' and Goff ' have shown that self -sterile pltims often have abnormal pistils or pistils too weak for the development of fruits. Not infrequently flowers of the plum are without pistils, as occasionally, but less rarely, occurs with the stamens and petals. These abnormalities cannot be very general causes of self -sterility in plums, however, as varie- ties, or even trees, cannot often be fotmd which are not fruitful if other varieties are growing near them. It is very doubtful if even so much as fifty per ct. of abnormal flowers, seriously jeopardizes a pliim crop, as the trees bear, if they blossom at all, several times as many flowers as they can mature plums. But a high percentage of abnormal flowers nearly always indicates a general weakness in fruit -setting. Another cause often assigned for the failure of plums to set fruit is the difference in time of maturity of stamens and pistils. It is claimed that when these organs do not mature simultaneously the plums do not set unless pollen is supplied from some other source. The task of taking notes at blossoming time on more than three hundred varieties of plums on the grounds of this Station has given abundant opportunity to observe the comparative degrees of maturity of pistils and stamens in varieties of this fruit. In general the pistils mature first, often three or four days before the stamens. Rarely the pollen is disgorged before the stigmas are receptive. But stigmas remain receptive, weather conditions being favor- ' Waugh, F. A. Vt. Sta. Bui. 53:51. 1896. 'Goff, E. S. Wis. Sta. An. Rpt. 18:302. 1901. 112 THE PLUMS OF NEW YORK. able, for several days and the pollen from all anthers is not shed at once and is produced with such seeming prodigality as to almost insiire the retaining of a sufficient amoimt to pollinate late-maturing stigmas. In view of these considerations, premature or retarded ripening of either pistils or stamens does not seem of great significance in the setting of fruit From the statements just made it may be seen that the main cause of the failures to set fniit when trees bloom freely must be ascribed to the faikrre of pollen to fertilize the pistils of the flowers of the same variety. The solution of the problem of self -sterility in the main, then, is to so plant that varieties will be mutually cross-fertilized. In the selection of varieties for such cross-pollination two factors must be considered, simul- taneity of blossoming and sexual affinity. It is evident, if cross-fertilization is to play an important part in fruit-growing, in planting to secure it kinds must be chosen which come into blossom at the same time as those they are expected to fertilize The table on pages io6 to 109 shows the sorts that bloom together or nearly enough so to make cross-pollination possible. It will be found upon examining the table that, under normal conditions and during the average season, varieties of any one species overlap siifficiently for the above ptupose imless it be the very early and very late varieties. Varia- tions due to locaHty and to season must be expected but within the boimds of New York these will be slight. If the table is used for other regions than New York it must be borne in mind that the farther south, the longer the blossoming season; the farther north, the shorter the season. Prop- erly interpreted the table of dates should be a useful guide as to the simul- taneity of blooming. Varieties of pltims seem to have sexual affinities. That is, some varie- ties will fertilize each other very well and some will not, even though they belong to the same species. There seems to be Httle definite know^ledge as to the sexual affimities of plums and it is not, therefore, possible to lay down exact rules for the selection of poUinizers for individual varieties. In the current discussions of cross-pollination it is probable that the im- portance of " affinities " is over-rated, and yet the subject is worthy of consideration. Waugh and Kerr have given this subject considerable attention for native and Japanese plums and have recommended a list of pollinizers for the several species.' The Domesticas and Insititias, the ' Waugh, F. A. Plum Cult. 297-300. 1901. THE PLUMS OF NEW YORK. II3 above writers hold, are best cross-pollinated by varieties from the same species if cross-pollination is essential. The subject cannot be closed without the expression of the opinion that the lack of cross-pollination as a cause of the uncertainties in the setting of fruit has been over estimated in the planting of plum orchards. This expression of doubt is made because there are serious disadvantages in the planting of mixed orchards of any fruit and the question as to whether these do not outweigh the advantages must ever be considered. LOCATIONS AND SOILS FOR PLUMS. The plum is comparatively easy to suit in the matter of location of orchards, as is shown by the exceedingly wide range of this fruit in New York. Plums are grown with eminent success on the elevated and sloping lands adjoining the Great Lakes, the Central Lakes of western New York and on both banks of the Hudson. Unquestionably there are many other localities than those named about the waterways of the State and also upon the elevated lands in the western interior formed by morainic hills, and upon the slopes of the mountains in eastern New York. Upon any land in the State suited to general farm crops, where the severity of winter is tempered by the lay of the land or proximity to water, and where late spring frosts are infrequent, plums may be grown. The early blooming plums, the Trifloras in particular, require more or less consideration as to the slope of land, a northern exposure to retard blooming-time being best. With other species the direction of the slope makes little difference, though a slope for air and water drainage is always better than a dead level. The pliun is now thriving in New York, and in the country at large, in a great diversity of soils. The chief requisite for the genus in general seems to be good drainage. Given this condition, some sort of plums can be grown on almost any soil found in America not wholly prohibitive of plant growth. Plums can be found which will stand rather more water than any other of the tree-fruits, and since plums can be grafted on several stocks, each having its own adaptation to soils, the adaptability of the genus is still further increased. Yet the several species have somewhat decided soil preferences. The Domesticas and Insititias, the plums now almost exclusively grown in New York, grow most satisfactorily, all things considered, on rich clay loams. The plum orchards in this State on such soils contain the largest and most productive trees and produce the choicest fruit from 114 THE PLUMS OF NEW YORK. the standpoints of size, appearance and quality. Yet there are exceptions in which exceedingly fine Domestica plums are grown on light loams. The Station collection of about two hundred varieties of European plums is on stiff clay, but well drained, and the results are uniformly good. The Americanas and Nigras grow very well on much the same soils as the European sorts, speaking from the experience on the grounds of this Station, for varieties of these species are not generally grown in New York. Beyond question the Trifiora plums, next most widely grown in New York after the Domesticas, are giving the best resiolts on light soils — those most favorable for the peach. The ideal soil for this species is a sandy or gravelly loam but they are growing well on soils having either more sand or more clay than the ideal types. The Hortulana and Munsoniana plums incline to the comparatively light types of soils named as being best for the Trifioras rather than to the heavier lands on which the European plums are most commonly grown. Plum-growers are well aware of the necessity of good drainage for this fruit but few seem to realize the importance of warmth in a plum soil. The plum, in common with all stone-fruits, grows best, as a rule, on soils having the power to absorb and retain heat, or if the soil have not these properties the location and the cultivation should be such as to pro- vide as far as possible for " bottom heat." STOCKS AND PROPAGATION. A discussion of stocks naturally follows one of soils, for the two are intimately related. The plum can be successfully grown on various stocks and for this reason the practices of nurserymen are diverse, depending upon the cost of the stocks, the ease with which they may be budded or grafted and the adaptability of the tree to the stocks. Unfortimately there is little experimental data to show which of the several stocks is best for the different plums and since growers seldom know what stocks their plums are growing upon they can give almost no information as to the desirability of propagating on this stock or that. Nurser^nnen know the stocks best adapted to their purpose and from them we have sought infor- mation. A letter of inquiry sent to representative nurseryTnen in all parts of the United States as to the relative merits of the several stocks for the different species of plums shows that plum propagators in different regions use somewhat different stocks. In New England and the North Atlantic THE PLUMS OF NEW YORK. II5 States, the Myrobalan sccnis to be almost the universal choice, the excep- tion being a few propagators who claim that the Japanese sorts should be worked on the peach, especially for sandy soils, and a few others who are using Americana stocks for the American species. In the Atlantic states south of Pennsylvania and in the Gulf states to the Mississippi the preferences are very diverse, with the majority of the nurserymen in this region favoring the peach, Myrobalan following as a close second choice. For light soils it woidd seem that the peach is always to be preferred for this great region. The opinions expressed by the veteran pliun-grower, J. W. Kerr of Denton, Maryland, on this subject are worth printing in full. He says: " In this locality for all varieties of the Domesticas that unite thor- oughly with it, the peach is preferable as a stock. There are, however, a good many varieties of Domesticas that refuse to unite firmly with the peach. For these the Marianna or the Myrobalan gives best results. For all of the Japanese plums the peach has proved most satisfactory, when the trees are propagated by root-grafting on the whole -root plan. Nearly forty years of experimenting and testing stocks of various kinds gives me a decided preference for the peach as a stock for native plums ; results doubtless would be different in colder cHmates and soils than this, but long and critical experience has conclusively demonstrated the supe- riority of this stock when used as indicated for the Japanese." In the interior region between the Atlantic and Gulf States and the Mississippi, the Myrobalan is used almost exclusively for the European plums and most largely for the other species. Several nurserymen from this region, however, state that the St. Julien is better than the Myrobalan for the Domesticas and Insititias but object to them because the stocks cannot be obtained as cheaply. The peach is generally recommended for the Trifiora sorts and the statement is several times repeated that the Americanas would be preferred for the native species if stocks of this species could be obtained readily. In the northern states of the Mississippi Valley, all nurserymen agree that plums must be worked on Americana stocks. In this region the hardy natives only are grown. South of the northern tier in the states of the plains the Myrobalan is used almost exclusively for the European species, most largely for the Trifioras, with the peach second for this species, and Americana stocks for the native species. Stark Brothers of Louisiana, Missouri, large growers Il6 THE PLUMS OF NEW YORK. of nursery stock in this region, express the opinion that " the right stock for native plums is yet to be found." In Oklahoma, Texas and New Mexico the Marianna is mentioned by several nurserymen as desirable, and is, from these statements, rather more commonly used for stocks in these states at present than in any other region. On the Pacific Coast propagators use Myrobalan and peach in about equal quantities — the first named for heavy soils and the last for the lighter soils. The native plums are not grown in this region. The almond is mentioned as being desirable in California under some conditions. Some plum-growers in the states of the Pacific propagate their own trees from suckers. The information given by nurserymen shows that by far the greatest number of plums in the coiintry are grown on Myrobalan stocks. In New York this stock is used almost exclusively. In Europe the writer fotmd that the nurserymen hold that this is a dwarfing stock, and that the trees on it are shorter -lived than on some other stocks. In the nurseries in New York, plums in general, but more especially the Eviropeans, are larger and' finer trees at two years, the selling age, grown on Myrobalan roots than trees grown on other stocks. Nurserymen lodge but two complaints against it; these are that in the South it suckers badly and in the cold states of the Great Plains the roots are killed by the winters. Its advan- tages from the tree-growers' standpoint are: Cheapness of the stock, which is usually imported from France, large handsome trees in the nvirsery, ease of budding and a good union with nearly all varieties. Some growers complain that certain varieties overgrow this stock making in the end a badly mal-formed trunk. The Myrobalan plums are very variable, a fact which finds record in nearly all the characters of tree and fruit and this is somewhat against it as a stock. It is for this reason that there are so many " true " and " false " Myrobalans among nurserymen. Many im- porters hold that this stock is grown in France from cuttings. Such it seems was the old practice but now, if information from France is correct, most of these stocks are grown from seed. Hansen reports that in South Dakota this stock is worthless because it winter-kills. He says' "in experi- ments at this Station a very small per cent, of Myrobalan stocks sur- vived the first winter and these died the ensuing summer." It is likely that this stock would suffer in the coldest parts of New York. 'Hansen, N. E. S. D. Sta. Bill. 93:67. 1905. THE PLUMS OF NEW YORK. I17 In this region the St. JuHen is probably the next most common stock in plum orchards though trees on it are for most part old, as its use is on the decrease. There is a wide-spread opinion among plum-growers that this is a much better stock for Domestica and Insititia plums than any- other. On St. Julien stocks varieties of these species, it is claimed, with much to substantiate the claim, produce trees that are longer-lived, thrif- tier, hardier, deeper feeders, sprout less and are less susceptible to changes in soils. The chief objections to this stock are : It is more expensive, some- times scarcely obtainable in France; difficvilt to bud; the young trees do not make as good growth as on the Myrobalan stocks; and the yearlings are much more susceptible to fungi while in the nursery row, though the latter troubles can be remedied wholly or in part by spraying. Hansen, in the reference given above, says that " the St. Julien and European Sloe {Prunus spinosa) both winter-killed ' ' in South Dakota when used as stocks. The St. Julien stock is propagated from layers when properly grown in France ' but much undesirable stock is now raised from seed. There are fruiting trees of this stock about the nurseries in the neighborhood of this Station which show it to be an Insititia of the Damson type, a type likely to come fairly true to seed yet not sufficiently so as to make seed-grown trees desirable. The Horse plum was formerly used as a stock by nurserymen a great deal but is now wholly superseded. Indeed, it is so nearly lost to the trade as to make it almost impossible to really know what the plum of this name is. Some describe it as a small-fruited Domestica, others as an Insititia similar to the St. Julien, but the majority of the trees shown by old nur- serymen in the nursery region of New York, about the only place in which the stock was used, show it to be a Cerasifera but not M}'robalan. Some of the named varieties of Cerasifera probably sprung from sprouts of this stock. It seems to have had no qualities which would make it worth while to attempt to re-establish the stock. The testimony of a large number ot nurserymen is in favor of the peach as a stock for plums. Budded on the peach, plums of many varieties are grown very successfully on the warm sandy and gravelly soils so well suited to the peach. This stock enables the tree to make a quick growth and come into bearing early, and the roots do not produce sprouts. The budding with the peach is easily done, the young trees make a vigorous ' Carrie re, E. A. Prunier Saint Julien. Revue Horlicole 438-439. 1892. Il8 THE PLUMS OF NEW YORK. growth in the nursery and plums on peach roots can probably be grow^n at a less cost than on any other stock. Triflora plums in particular make excellent trees worked upon peach stock, the roots are as hardy as the tops and the union is sufficiently congenial to make the resulting tree long-lived. For the Domestica and Insititia plums the peach stock is not so valuable, for with some varieties a good union is not secured and the roots are less hardy than the tops. Among the varieties which nursery- men say will not unite with the peach are: Lombard, Damsons, Yellow Egg and Washington. Peach borers are sometimes troublesome when plums are budded on peach stocks. Mr. Kerr, in his statement regarding stocks, on page 115, says that it is his practice to whip-graft the plum on "whole-root" peach roots obtaining eventually the plum on its own roots. This method is certainly well adapted to Mr. Kerr's conditions but whether it would do in heavier soils and a colder climate is doubtful. One would suspect that some varie- ties of Domesticas and Insititias at least would sprout badly. In the South, more particularly Texas and the Southwest, Marianna stocks find favor, though their use seems to be on the decrease. The advan- tages of this stock are such as appeal to the nurserymen rather than to the plum-grower. These are that the Marianna readily strikes root from cuttings and the growth in the nursery is all that can be desired. Cuttings strike more easily in the South than in the North, hence its popularity in the first named region. For the colder parts of the Great Plains and as far east as to include Wisconsin, Americana seedlings are the only stocks that will withstand the winter. In this region Americana stocks are, of course, used only for the native plums and data seem to be lacking as to whether other plums cultivated for their fruit could be grown on this stock or not. The W. & T. Smith Company of Geneva report that they are now using Americana seedlings for native plums for their eastern trade, speaking of them as follows: " We think we get a larger growth and a better root system by using the native (Americana) stocks. We also consider that the Flower- ing Almonds, Prunus triloba and Prunus pissardi, make a better growth on native stocks." From the last statement one would suspect that it would be feasible to grow other orchard plums than the native species on this stock. As yet Americana seedlings are expensive, and imtil they cost less their use in competition with the Myrobalan and peach stocks will be almost precluded. The chief fault of the Americana stock is that the trees sucker rather badly. THE PLUMS OF NEW YORK. II9 Besides the plants discussed above various nondescript members of the genus Prunus are used as stocks for cultivated plums under particular circumstances or for particular purposes. Seedlings of Munsoniana plums are supposed to be preeminently adapted for low wet lands. J. W. Kerr believes that seedlings of Prunus hortulana are excellent stocks for native plums as they never sucker.' The Sand plum {Prunus augustijoUa watsoni) offers possibilities as a stock for dwarfing larger growing species. According to Hansen,' who reviews the literature and describes several experiments of his own, the western Sand cherry {Prunus hesseyi) dwarfs varieties worked upon it and has the merits of being extremely hardy and of producing trees which bear early and abundantly. As stated in the discussion of Subcordata, stocks of this plum have been used on the Pacific Coast and discarded because it dwarfs trees and suckers badly. According to Wickson,' the apricot and almond are sometimes used as stocks for plums in California and in some instances with considerable success. Lastly, suckers are not uncommonly used by plum-growers for certain varieties. Thus in the western part of New York, the plum-growing region of the East, several varieties as the Reine Claudes and some of the Dam- sons are propagated from sprouts taken from the base of old trees. This method can be used, of course, only when the trees are grown upon their own roots. The writer was told by plum-growers in Germany and France that most of the plums in gardens and small plantations, constituting the majority of the plums in the two countries, were propagated from suckers. This method has small merit except that it enables a grower to get a few trees cheaply and perhaps gives a better tree of some varieties for a heavy soil. Beyond question it gives trees with a tendency to sucker — an un- desirable attribute. In the horticultural literature of the time recommendations for top- working plums are rather frequent. It is true that many varieties of plvims grow slowly and make crooked growths, especially in the nur- sery, but in the attempts at grafting in New York the failures are more conspicuous than the successes. If top-working is decided upon, the earlier in the life of the tree it is done, the better. For the Domesticas at least, the Lombard is probably the best stock. The method of top- ' Waugh Plnm Cult. 247. 1901. 'Hansen, N. E. S. D. Sta. Bid. 87. 1904. Ibid. 93:68. 1905. 'Wickson, E. J. California Fruits 348. 1891. I20 THE PLUMS OF NEW YORK. working is to graft in early spring or bud in late stammer. Grafting ought to be used more often than it is to renew the tops of injured trees, as the difficulties in doing this are not much greater than in the case of apples. PLUM ORCHARDS AND THEIR CARE. Plum trees in New York are set from twelve to twenty feet apart. The amount of room given seems to depend mostly upon the custom in the locality, though, as all agree, it should depend upon the soil and the variety. The deduction which plum-growers are drawing from these experiences is that the plum should have more room than is generally given it, therefore, wider plantings are more the rule now than formerly. Little attention has been paid to mixed planting for cross -pollination in this State, as the Domesticas are planted almost exclusively and seem under orchard conditions to be self -fertile. In this region plum trees are usually planted two years from the bud, the exception being the Japanese which are sometimes set at a year from the bud. Plum trees in the past have been headed at three or four feet above the ground but the tendency now is to head them lower — half the above distances, and in orchards so planted there seems to be no incon- venience in tilling with modem implements. In the commercial orchards of the State the heads are formed of four or five main branches and in the case of the Domesticas and Insititias about a central trunk but with the Trifloras the leader is often removed leaving a vase-formed head. After the head is formed the subsequent pnming is simple, consisting of cutting out injured and crossed branches and heading-in long, whip-like growths. The Trifloras receive more pnming than the European varieties, as much of the fnoit is borne on the growth of the previous season and it is necessary to keep the bearing wood near the trunk. It is the custom to cut rank growing Trifloras severely but the value of such a procedure is doubtful, as the more such a plum is pruned the more it will need pruning in the years to follow. A better plan seems to be to curtail the food and prune as little as possible, though on rich soils the tree would probably grow out of all boimds unless cut back somewhat year after year. About the only cultivated native pltuns to be found in New York, if a few Wild Goose trees here and there are excepted, are on the groimds of this Station. Experience here demonstrates that, prune as you will, certain varieties of the native species will remain crooked, ungainly and unkempt. Pruning some varieties is necessary in order to permit pickers THK PLUMS OF NEW YORK. 121 to get into the dense, thomy heads; heading-in such varieties would make their tops wholly impenetrable. In common with all tree-frtiits the best plum orchards are tilled. Such tillage usually consists of plowing in the spring followed by frequent cultivation tmtil the middle of August, at which time a cover-crop of clover, oats or barley is sown. The pliim seems to require more water than other tree-frtiits — it often thrives in comparatively moist land and fails on sandy soils where the peach would grow luxuriantly. Culti- vation to save moisture is very necessary for the plum in the experience of New York growers. Grass and grain have proved ruinous in most orchards where tried, though cultivated crops between young trees to pay for keep until fruiting-time are very generally planted. The claim is made by some, and with a show of reason, that there is less of the brown- rot in tilled orchards than in neglected ones for the reason that the mummied fruits which carry the fungus through the winter are buried by plowing and with shallow cultivation, at least, do not come to light and life. Plum-growers very generally recognize the several distinct and valu- able purposes which cover-crops serve in orchards. They protect the tree from root-killing, from cold, keep the soil from washing, add humus and, with legumes, nitrogen to the soil, modify the physical structure of the soil and hasten seasonal maturity of the tree. There is one other function which is not so often taken into account. Plum orchards in which cover- crops are regularly grown, even though the crop be not a legume, need less fertilizers than those in which no such crop is grown. There are several reasonable suppositions as to why there should be such an effect, but one not usually given sttfficient consideration is that cover-crops make available much plant food in the soil. Each plant in the crop collects food from soil and air, most of it otherwise unavailable, and turns it over to the trees. A discussion of fertilizers naturally follows. Present practices in the use of fertilizers with the plum, as with other fruits, are very diverse. It is impossible to ascertain what considerations have governed the appli- cations of fertilizers in the plum orchards of New York or what the results have been. Too often, it is to be feared, fertilizers have been used as "cure alls" for any or all of the ills to which trees are heirs. Out of the mass of conflicting data as to the effects of fertilizers on plums, the most apparent fact is that much of the fertilizers for this fruit is wasted; this in face of the fact that plums want rich soils. But the plum crop is mostly water, the foliage remains on the ground, the trees grow several years before 122 THE PLUMS OF NEW YORK. fruiting, their growing season is from early spring until late fall, the roots go deep and spread far, the trees transpire large amounts of water, hence may thrive on diluted solutions of plant food, and now and then there is an off year in bearing for the trees to recuperate. It does not follow from the above consideration that plums never need fertilizers, but it does seem plain that they need rather less than truck or farm crops and that applications of plant food must be made with exceedingly great care if fertilizing is to be done without waste. There is a growing disposition on the part of plum-growlers to experiment very carefully and know that they are getting the worth of their money before using any considerable quantity of fertiHzers for their trees. Thinning the fruit should be a regular practice with plum-growers, but it is the operation in the growing of this fruit about which growers are most careless both as to whether it is done at all and in the manner of doing. Many growers in New York, realizing the great necessity of thinning certain varieties of Trifiora, as Burbank and Abundance, follow the practice very regularly with plums of this group; but the Domesticas are seldom well thinned, though some of them, of which Lombard is a conspicuous example, ought nearly always to have anywhere from one-fifth to half of the fruit removed. Growers of some of the native varieties in regions where these sorts are grown say that imder cultivation some kinds of these plums will bear themselves to death if a part of the crop be not removed in most years. Those growers in New York who thin, do the work as soon as possible after the June drop has taken place. HARVESTING AND MARICETIXG. Plum trees in this climate begin to bear when set from three to five years. The Trifiora varieties will bear soonest, the Old World varieties next in order, say at four years from setting, and the native sorts, as a rule, come in bearing last. At eight or ten years of age, proHfic varieties of the Trifiora and Domestica sorts bear in a good year about three bushels of fruit ; the Insititia and native varieties, on the Station grotmds, at least, do not bear as much, though most of the plums of these two groups bear more regularly than the first named groups. Plums in this State, and east of the Mississippi generally, are picked and put upon the market just before they reach edible condition ; while farther away they must be picked much greener. It is the practice in the East to pick while still somewhat green because the fruit so THE PLUMS OF NEW YORK. 1 23 picked is best handled at this stage of maturity and the brown-rot fungus is likely to destroy much of the crop if left until fully matured. Some of the Trifiora sorts, Abundance, Burbank and October, for example, are picked from a week to ten days before ripe and yet develop very good color and flavor. The Domesticas need not be, and are not, picked quite so green. In picking, great diversity exists as to ladders, receptacles, and manner of conveyance from orchard to packing hotise. These need not be discussed here, nor need the methods of picking be spoken of further than to say that while good growers consider it vital not to bruise the fruit nor destroy the delicate bloom, if such injuries can be avoided, pickers in general are not nearly as observant of these important details as they should be. The plum crop is sent to market, for most part in New York, in six, eight and ten-pound grape baskets with the preference at present for the smallest of these baskets. Occasionally some fruit is packed in four pound baskets. Rarely, and always to the disadvantage of both producer and consumer, plums go to market in the packages in which the fruit is picked. Indeed, it is seldom advantageous to pack the fruit in the field, it being far better to convey it to the packing house where the preparations for shipping may be more carefully made, as the package and the manner of packing advertise the product. Plums coming to this State from the far West are often wrapped individually in tissue paper as a help in safe ship- ping and to add to their attractiveness but the fruit grown in the State is seldom, if ever, so treated, though it is possible that choice specimens could be profitably wrapped. Of the sorting, grading, facing and marking the packages, little need be said except that they are too rarely well done in present methods, though there is a steady improvement in attending to these important matters. Few plums are stored longer than a week at most in common storage and three weeks or a month is quite the limit for most varieties in cold storage. Late plums and in particular some of the prunes might well be stored longer than is now the custom if proper precautions are taken, as is shown by the experience at this Station where a considerable number of the Domestica and Insititia varieties are annually kept in com- mon storage for a month or longer without unusual precautions. Some of the new varieties offered to growers, as Apple and Occident, are recom- mended as keeping for several weeks after picking. There is a most marked difference in the keeping qualities of this fruit and it is certain that varie- 124 THE PLUMS OF NEW YORK. ties can now be selected for long keeping and that there is a fine oppor- tttnity for breeding sorts that will keep even longer than any we now have. Marketing, the actual seUing, is a business qtiite by itself, and since it is one which has changed greatly in the past few years and is destined to change even more in the near futtire, a few observations on the subject are worth putting on record. A well developed local market is tindoubtedly the best selling place for the plum producer, as in it the sales are directly to the consumer, eliminating expensive middlemen. The westward spread of manufacturing industries, the workers in which use up the western- grown fruit, is making better local markets for eastern plums, a point worth noting, for many New York plum-growers have ceased planting, indeed have been removing trees, fearing western competition. By far the greater part of the plum crop now finds its way to consu- mers through the following costly distributive system: ist. Local buyers who ship to centers of consumption. 2nd. Transportation companies. 3rd. Commission companies who collect and distribute the crop in con- suming centers. 4th. Retailers who parcel out the quantities and the qualities demanded by the consumer. The great defect in handling the crop is, that there are too many men and too much machinery to do the work cheaply — moreover, the risks of depreciation are great, and the fruit is not handled on a large scale chiefly because of a lack of capital by the grower or local buyer. These defects in the present distribution of plums in New York make the price received by the grower about half that paid by the consumer and the selling of the crop a more or less specu- lative business. The plum industry, as is the case with all fruits, is greatly hampered by the present marketing systems. Unfortunately there is yet but a small outlet for surplus plvuns as manufactured products. As a rule the commercial outlook is best for those fruits of which the surplus can be turned into by-products. The only outlet for the plum in the East is in canning, as this region is unable to compete with the West in the making of prunes ' and as the several • A prune is a dried plum. The requisite for a prune-making plum is that it have a large pro- portion of solids, particularly sugar. Comparatively few varieties of plums bear sufficient amounts of solids so that they may be successfully cured into a firm, long-keeping product. Only varieties of the Domesticas are used in making prunes, though possibly some of the Insititias might be so used. Prunes are chiefly used in cookery though some of the finer grades from France are sold as confections. Prunes are either dried in the sun as in California; partially cooked in ovens and the curing completed indoors, as in European countries; or wholly dried in evaporators, as in the Pacific THE PLUMS OF NEW YORK. 1 25 plum products of the Old World are not in demand in the New World. Beyond question there are a number of products, as preserves, jellies from the native plums, glac6 fruits, plum butter, marmalades and the like, which could be made profitable for the markets and thus a great help in utilizing surplus plums. DISEASES. Plums are subject to a considerable number of fungus diseases, several of which are often virulent, the viridence depending on locality, season, weather and variety. Happily for the plum industry, knowledge of plant pathology has made such advancements in recent years that nearly all of the diseases of this fruit are now controlled by preventive or remedial measures. Northwest. Sun-drying is the most economical method where the climate permits. The half cooking does not make so attractive a product but when skillfully done the prunes are possibly more palatable, as the cooked flavor is liked by consumers. Beyond question the best prunes are made, however, all things considered, in well-managed evaporators. In evaporators the changes of curing take place most perfectly and uniformly so that, as a rule, the prune looks better, keeps longer, is not so tough and has a more natural taste of the green fruit. In prune-making the fruit is allowed to remain on the trees until ripe enough to fall to the ground, as the maximum proportion of solids is thus obtained. After picking, the plums are passed over graders to remove rubbish and to secure uniformity in size, this being essential to obtain evenness in curing, since the small fruits dry more rapidly than large ones. Usually before evaporation begins the fruit is dipped in boiling lye or pricked by needles in a pricking machine to make tender the tough skin and so allow the moisture to escape more readily. The dipping consists of immersing the fruit for a minute or less in a solution of lye in the proportion of i pound of concentrated lye to from 10 to 50 gallons of water maintained at the boiling point. The fruit is carried mechanically through the lye vat and a rinser by a modified endless chain, or it may be dipped in wire baskets. After rinsing the plums are ready for curing. Exposure to the sun in curing varies from five to twelve days, depending upon the heat of the sun and the size and the variety of the plum. Curing in evaporators varies with the fruit and with the make of the machine. In general the temperature in the evaporator is from 120° to 140° at the start, increasing to from 160° to 180° and decreasing when the prunes are taken out. Too much heat at first causes the cells of the fruit to burst, thereby producing drip and discoloration. Important factors in evaporating in machines are the circulation of air, convenience, cost of fuel and power. The time required for curing ranges from twelve hours for a small plum to forty-eight hours for a large, juicy one. If not cured enough fermentation and molding result; if cured too much the weight is lessened, the quality is injured, the prime is harsh and coarse and has a dried up appearance. When sufficiently dried the prunes are put in bins or piles to sweat, a process taking from one to three weeks, after which they are graded, processed and packed. In grading, the prunes are separated into sizes indicating the number of prunes required to make a pound, as 30's to 40's, 40's to 50's and so on to the smallest size, 120's to 130's. The processing is done by dipping the prunes in boiling water and glycerine or by steaming or by using some special preparation in the final dipping or by rattling in a revolving cylinder. Processing is reputable if it adds beauty to the color, or kills insects' eggs or sterilizes the prunes. It is disreputable when the aim is to add to the weight. The best prunes are packed in boxes, in which process lining with paper, filling 126 THE PLUMS OF NEW YORK. One of the commonest and most striking of the diseases of the plum is black -knot' {Plowrightia morbosa (Schw.) Saccardo) characterized by wart- like excrescences on shoots and branches. In early summer these knots are dark green, soft and velvety, but as the fungus ripens in the fall the color changes to a carbon-like black and the knots become hard and brittle. The disease is usually confined to one side of the twig or branch so that death of the affected part does not ensue at once. Black-knot is an American malady, at one time confined to the eastern part of the continent where in some localities its ravages forced the abandonment of plum- growing. The fimgus is now endemic to wild or cultivated plants in prac- tically all the plum-growing regions of the continent, but it is still epidemic only in the East, the South and West being practically free from the dis- ease. Unless especially virulent black -knot is controlled by cutting out the diseased wood. Usually eradication is not possible without several prunings during a season. Much has been made of the supposed immunity of some varieties of plums to black -knot. In the vicinity of this Station, where the disease is always present and often rampant, the differences in immunity are not very marked in varieties of the same species. The Trifloras are less at- facing, pressing and labeling are important details. A well cured prune is soft and spongy, the pit is loose but does not rattle, the skin is bright, the product is free from drippings or exudation, the flesh is meaty, elastic, and of a bright, lively color. The custom has been to bleach light colored prunes with sulphur fumes. This process injures the quality and possibly makes the product somewhat poisonous. Sulphuring is now regulated by the Federal Pure Food Law. If poorly managed or if the plums are not of the best, several difficulties are encoimtered in curing prunes. Thus, a syrupy liquid sometimes oozes from the prunes, besmearing and making unattractive the final product. Again, the finished prunes may be covered with globules of sugar, rendering them sticky and destroying the lustre. Fruit grown on poor soils, on unhealthy trees or picked green may cure into small prunes of an abnormal shape called " Frogs " or they may ferment and swell up in large soft prunes called " Bloaters." The plum chiefly used in California in making prunes is the Agen, usually called Petite, a prune curing into a bright amber-colored product. This plum is easily cured, and the prune from it needs little sugar in cooking. In the states north of California the Italian Prune is the favorite, produc- ing a dark red, almost black product, more tart but on the whole rather better flavored than the prune from the preceding variety. Other varieties more or less used are Golden Drop, the pro- duct from which is known as the Silver Prune; Reine Claude, which makes a fancy product often used as a confection; Yellow Egg, which sells as the Silver Prune when evaporated; the German Prune, making a productmuch like the Italian Prune; "Hungarian Prune," froma very large plum and making a fancy product but very difficult to cure; the Tragedy Prune, an early plum of the Italian type; Golden Prune, much like the Silver and possibly better; and the Champion, Willam- ette, Pacific, Tennant, Steptoe and Dosch, all of the Italian type. ' Farlow, W. G. The Black Knot, Bulletin Bussey Institution 440-453. 1876. Halsted, B. D. Destroy the Black Ivnot, etc. A^. /. Sta. Bid. 78:1-14. 1891. THE PLUMS OF NEW YORK. 1 27 tacked, however, than any other group of plums, and the Insititias rank next in immunity. No variety of the Domesticas has yet proved to be free from the disease but strong claims are made that Middleburg and Palatine are relatively free. Next in order of seriousness among the diseases which attack culti- vated plums is the brown-rot ' {Sclcrotinia fructigena (Persoon) Schroeter) known also very commonly as the ripe-rot and sometimes as peach-blight. The disease is most conspicuous on the ripe fruits of the various drupes and is popularly supposed to be confined to the fruits alone. Such is not the case, for it also attacks, and very vigorously oftentimes, the flowers and shoots. The presence of the disease on the fruits is known by a dark discoloration of the skin which is afterward partly or wholly covered by pustule-like aggregations of grayish spores. The decayed fruits may fall to the ground, or as is more usual in the case of plums, they hang to the tree and as the juice evaporates become shriveled mummies, each mummy being a storehouse of the fungus from which infection spreads the following season. The twigs, flowers and leaves are known to be suffering from inroads of the parasite when they are blackened as if nipped by frost. In warm, damp weather the rot spreads with great rapidity and fruits touch- ing in clusters or in boxes stored for shipping are well placed to spread the epidemic. Destruction of the mummy-like fruits and all other sources of infection, and spraying with bordeaux mixture are now practiced as preventives, but so far as the crop is concerned with but indifferent success. A better remedy than we now have is eagerly looked for by growers of fruits. The hosts of this fungus show varying degrees of susceptibility to it, the peach and the sweet cherries being more subject to it than plums. Similarly, among plums some species and varieties are more susceptible than others. Thus the Trifloras and Americanas, the latter especially in the South, are injured more by the brown-rot than other species. The idiosyncrasies of varieties in this regard are best shown in the disctissions of the individual sorts. Several interesting and sometimes destructive diseases of plums are caused by various species of the fungal genus Exoascus. ' The most common of these, and the most striking and destructive, is plum-pockets (Exoascus 'Smith, E. F. Peach Rot and Peach Blight Journ. Myc. 5:123-134. 1889. Quaintance, .-\. L. The Brown Rot, etc. Ga. Sta. Bui. 50:237-269, figs. 1-9. 1900. ' Atkinson, G. F. Leaf Curl and Plum Pockets Cornell Sta. Bui. 73:319-355, Pis. 1-20. 1894. 128 THE PLUMS OF NEW YORK. pruni Fuckel), which causes prominent deformities of the fruit. These give the disease the common name or less frequently " bladders " and " curl." The fungus attacks the developing fruits at an early stage of their growth and causes the production of a spongy mass in the fleshy tissue which greatly enlarges and distorts the plum. The stone in a dis- eased plum is but rudimentary or very often not at all developed. Less prominently but quite as frequently, the leaves are attacked, showing as they unfold more or less red or yellow with a very decided curling and arching of the leaf -blade. The disease usually spreads from the leaves to the shoots, the infected shoots with their rosettes of mal-formed leaves giving the tree a most tmsightly appearance. Prevention at present con- sists of removing the diseased parts and spraying with bordeaux mixture when the buds begin to swell. Munsoniana and Hortulana plums seem to be most susceptible to this disease. Atkinson ' has described several species of Exoascus on the different species of wild plums, some of which are liable to be foimd on the cultivated varieties of the native plums. They are all very similar to Exoascus pruni, differing chiefly, in the eyes of the layman, in forming smaller pockets. Sturgis' records an attack of one of the leaf-curl fungi, distinct from the plum-pockets fungus, on varieties of Triflora in Connecticut, which seemed to him to be of scientific and economic importance. The leaves of the different species of cultivated plums are attacked by several fungi which produce diseased spots on the foliage, which for most part drop out, causing a shot -hole effect. These diseases pass under such descriptive names as " shot -hole fungus," " leaf -spot," and " leaf- blight." The fungus probably responsible for most of this trouble is best known as the shot -hole fungus^ {Cylindrosporium padi Karsten). The Domestica and Triflora varieties are very susceptible to this fungus, which, on the foliage of the first, causes spots for most part, while on the latter the spots on the leaves are nearly always followed by holes. Varieties of the native species, especially those of Americana and Nigra, are relatively free from this disease. Another of these shot -hole fiangi is Cercospora circumscissa Saccardo* much less common than the former, but still to be considered and especially on the foliage of Americana. All of these dis- ' Ibid. 4 ' Sturgis, W. C. A Leaf Curl of the Plum Conn. Sta. Rpt. 19:1 S3, PI. 2. 1S95. 'Arthur, J. C. Plum Leaf Fungus N. Y. Sla. An. Rpt. 5:276-281, Pis. 6-10. 1887. ' Duggar, B. M. Fungous Diseases of Plants 314, figs. 147, 14S. 1909. Pierce, N. B. A Disease of Almond Trees Jour. Myc. 7:66-67, Pis. 11-14. 1S92. THE PLUMS OF NEW YORK. 1 29 eases of the foliage are prevented to some degree by the proper use of bordeaux mixture, which, on the Triflora plums at least, must be used with great care to avoid injury. Cultivation has a salutary effect as it destroys the diseased leaves which harbor the fungi. Another disease of plum foHage, occurring rarely on the fruit, is the plum -leaf rust ' {Puccinia pruni-spinosae Persoon) which produces so considerable a number of spore cases on the underside of the leaves as to give the foliage a brownish cast and to cause defoliation in severe infec- tions. The fimgus is most apparent in the fall and most troublesome in warm, moist climates. Bordeaux is used as a preventive. Stewart and Rolfs have shown that trunks and branches of plums affected by sunscald in New York are almost invariably infested by a fvingus ' {Valsa leucostoma Persoon) which in the Old World is known as the " die back " of the peach. The disease manifests itself on plums chiefly by affected areas much depressed at the boimdary between the living and the dead bark, these areas usually, not always, having connec- tion with sunscald injiu-ies on the trunk. The disease is accompanied by more or less gumming. In common with nearly all rosaceous plants, in nearly all countries, the plum is sometimes seriously injured by the powdery mildew ' (Podo- sphaera oxyacanthae DeBary). The affected leaves have a grayish appear- ance caused by the parts of the fungus which project beyond the leaf tissue ; when badly diseased the leaves are more or less arched and curled. Mildew is seldom prevalent enough on plimis to require treatment. The crown gall,* (Bacterium tmnefaciens Smith and Townsend) is a parasite on all of the fruits of the order Rosaceae and is especially common on nursery stock, attacking plums in many soils but rarely, how- ever, to the great injury of the plant. These galls are perennial structures of very varying duration. They are to be foimd on the loots, usually at the collar of the plant, and vary from the size of a pea to that of a man's fist, forming at maturity, rough, knotty, dark -colored masses. Means of ' Scribner, F. L. Leaf Rust of the Cherry, etc. U. S. Dept. Agr. Rpt. 353-355, PI. 3. 1887. Hedrick, U. P. Prune Rust Oreg. Sta. Bui. 45:67. 1897. 'Stewart, F. C. .V. Y. Sta. Bui. 191:323-324. 1900. Rolfs, F. M. Die Back of Peach Trees Science 26:87. 1907. ' Duggar, B. M. FungoJiS Diseases of Plants 226. 1909. * Smith, E. F. and Townsend, C. O. A Plant Tumor of Bacterial Origin Science 25:671-673. 1907. Tourney, J. W. Cause and Nature of Crown Gall Ariz. Sta. Bui. 33:1-64, figs. 1-3 1. 1900. Hedgcock, G.C. Crown Gall.etc. U.S. Dept. Agr. Bur. PI. hid. Bui. 90:15-17, Pis. 3-5. 1906. 13° THE PLUMS OF NEW YORK. prevention or cure are not established though all agree that soils may be inoculated with the disease from infected stock; hence the necessity of discarding diseased trees at transplanting time. Smith found in Michigan and Clinton in Connecticut a disease of the fruit called bacterial black spot' (Pseudomonas pruni Smith) of the same generic origin as the crown gall but widely different in nature. The writ- ers and the growers who fovmd the infected fruit, saw the disease only on the Trifiora plums. It attacks the green fruits which show conspicuous, black -purple, sunken spots sometimes as large as half an inch in diameter. The injiu"ies are usually isolated and quite superficial but nevertheless, spoil the fruit. The plum in common with other stone-fruits often suffers from an excessive flow of gum, for which trouble the name gummosis ' is now generally applied. The disease is to be found wherever plums are grown but it is much more destructive on the Pacific than on the Atlantic sea- board. So far as is now known gummosis is secondary to injuries caused by fungi, bacteria, insects, frost, sunscald, and mechanical agencies. The disease is least common in species and varieties having hard wood ; on trees on soils favoring the maturity of wood; under conditions where sun and frost are not injurious; and, obviously, in orchards where by good care the primary causes of gumming are kept out. Stewart ' has recorded an interesting case of gum -pockets in the fruit, but could assign no cause. Mechanical injuries from the sun, frost and hail are troubles with which nearly all plum-growers must contend at one time or another. In this region the Reine Claude and Trifiora plums suffer much from sunscald but none are wholly immime, though Lombard is possibly most so. These injuries from the elements of weather are often mistaken for diseases, and are so often followed by fungal parasites and insects as to make it difficvdt to distinguish the primary from the secondary trouble. Low- heading of the trees is the best preventive of these trunk injuries. Plums are somewhat subject to attacks of the well-know^n peach scab ' (Cladosporium carpophilum Thumen). The scab appears in numer- ous, small, sooty, circular spots of brownish color, often confined to one ' Smith, E.F. SciVnc? 17:456-7. 1903. Ibid. 21:502. 1905. Clinton, G. P. Report of Botanist Conn. Sta. Rpt. 273. 1905. 'Hedrick, U. P. Gumming of the Prune Tree Oreg. Sta. Bui 45:68-72. 1S97. •Stewart, F. C. A^. Y. Sta. Bui. iqi:324-326. 1900. * Pammel, L. H. New Fungous Diseases of Iowa Jour. Myc. 7:99-100. 1892. y' THE PLUMS OF NEW YORK. 131 side of a fruit but in other cases distributed over the whole surface. None of the cultivated species are free from the disease but the Munsoniana, and Hortulana varieties are most susceptible to it. Pear blight,' {Bacillus amylovorus (Burrill) DeToni) commonly thought of as a disease of the pear and apple has been found on various plums, and the yellows of the peach, cause unknown, is often quite destructive to Tri- flora plums. According to Smith the peach rosette,' cause unknown, attacks both wild and cultivated plums in the South and is quickly fatal. The disease was prevalent on the wild Angustifolias, on two varieties of Trifiora, Kelsey and Botan, but the observer had not seen rosette on varieties of Domestica. Waugh describes a trouble which he calls " flyspeck ftmgus " ' fotmd on fntits sent from the Southern States, in which small areas are thickly dotted with black spots; also a fruit-spot on pliuns from Texas caused, as he states, by an im determined Phoma.* Stames of Georgia describes a malady of the Trifiora plums called " wilt," ' cause unknown, which he states is the most serious obstacle to the culture of this plum in the South. In this peculiar disease the foliage passes directly from a green, healthy state into a wilted and then parched condition, the death warrant being signed when a tree is once affected. In Oregon and Washington the Italian Prune is subject to a leaf -curl ' which begins in mid-summer and curls the leaves conduplicately without withering but shriveling some- what. As the season advances the leaves turn yellow and many of them drop. Neither cause nor cure is known. Smith described a plum-blight ' of native plums in Georgia which " destroys large branches or even whole trees in mid-summer in the course of a few weeks." INSECTS. Cultivated plums furnish food for a great number of insects. Many of the destructive insect pests of the several cultivated species of Prunus are known to have come from the wild plants of the genus, but others, and possibly the majority, come from over the seas. No less than forty 'Jones, L. R. Studies upon Plum Blight Vt. Ex. Sta. Rpt. 15:231-239. 1902. "Smith, E. F. The Peach Rosette Jour. Myc. 6:144. 1891. •Waugh, F. A. Plum CuU. 329. 1901. ' Ibid. 'Stames, H. N. Japan and Hybrid Plums Ga. Sta. Bui. 68:22-24. 1905. • Hedrick, U. P. Curl-leaf of the Italian Prune Oreg. Sta. Bui. 45:72-74. 1897. ' Smith, E. F. Field Notes Jour. Myc. 6:108. 1891. 132 THE PLUMS OF NEW YORK. species of insects may be enumerated as pests of the plum and many more can be counted as occasional parasites on one or another of the species. Of the formidable pests the plum curculio is probably the most troublesome. The plum curculio ' (Conotrachelus nenuphar Herbst) is a rough, grayish snout -beetle somewhat less than a quarter of an inch in length, an insect so familiar to fruit-growers as hardly to need a description. The female beetle pierces the skin of the yoving plums and places an egg in the pimcture. About this cavity she gouges out a crescent -shaped trench, the pimctiore and trench making the " star and crescent " of the Ottoman Empire, hence the common name of the beetle, " The Little Turk." The egg-laying process may be repeated in a number of fruits and from each egg a larva hatches within a week and burrows to the stone, making a wormy fruit. Most of the infested plums drop. In years past plum-growers relied upon jarring the beetles from the trees in the early morning, but the treatment was too expensive, and poisoning with an arsenate is now the chief means of combating the pest. Rubbish and vegetation offer hiding places for the insects and hence cultivated orchards are more free from curculio. Thin skinned varieties are damaged most by the insect but there are no " cur- culio -proof " plums. A larger snout -beetle than the curculio, the plum gouger ' (Anthon- omus scntellaris LeConte), occasionally does much damage to plums. The work of the gouger may be told from that of the curculio by the absence of the crescent cut about the puncture made for the egg, and from the fact that the larvae of this pest chiefly infest the stone and those of the other insect the flesh of the plum. The remedies are the same for the two insects though the gouger is more easily destroyed. Among the several borers which are more or less destructive to species of Rosaceae only the peach borer ^ {Sanninoidea exitiosa Say.) may be counted as a troublesome pest of the plum. The larvae of this insect are frequently to be found in both wild and cultivated plum trees and must be combated in nearly all plum orchards east of the Rocky Mountains. The prevention of the work of the borer is best accomplished by thorough cultivation, the use of coverings of tar and poisonous washes and mounding the trees. Destruction is effectively carried out only by digging out the borer with knife or wire. The lesser peach borer ♦ {Sesia pictipes Grote ■Riley, C. V. An. Rpt. State Entomol. Mo. 1:50-56. 1869; 3:11-29. 1871. 'Ibid. 3:39-42. 1871. ' Beutenmtiller, W. Sesiidae of America, etc. 266-271. 1901. *Ibid. 291-292. 1901. THE PLUMS OF NEW YORK. 1 33 & Robinson) attacks the jAum and in New York has been found particu- larly injurious to the Wickson plums. The flat-headed apple tree borer ' {Chrysobothris jemorata Fabricius) is frequently found in the wood of wild plums and is sometimes a pest of the several cultivated species. It is treated as is the peach borer. The shot-hole borer ' (Eccoptogaster rugu- losus Ratzeburg) a diminutive insect which deposits its eggs in the trunks or large branches of various members of the genus Prunus, may be regarded as an effect rather than a cause of disease, for it seldom injures perfectly healthy plum trees. The peach bark-beetle ' (Phlaeotribus liminaris Harris) is somewhat similar in its work to the shot -hole borer and like it is found for most part only in diseased and decrepit trees. The plum aphis * {Aphis prunifolii Fitch) is sometimes very destruc- tive to varieties of the native plums, especially the Americanas, and occa- sionally injures or even kills the young trees of the Domestica sorts. It is not a formidable foe in New York, and it is the exception when trees must be treated for it, the treatment being any of the contact solutions used against sucking insects. The cherry aphis ' {Myzus cerasi Linnaeus) and the green peach aphis ' {My::us persiccB Sulzer) are much less common than the plum aphis on plum trees, but are sometimes abundant on foliage of this fruit and are combated in the same way as the more common aphis. Gillette enumerates two other aphids as attacking the plum in Colorado — the rusty brown plum louse ' {Aphis setarice Thomas) and the mealy plxim louse ' {Hyalopterus arundinis Fabricius). Several scale insects infest the plum. Chief of these is the dreaded San Jos^ scale ' {Aspidiotus perniciosus Comstock) known and feared by all fruit-growers in the United States. The lime and stalphur solution is now the most common and probably the most effective spray for this insect. The European fruit lecanium '" {Lecanium corni Bouche) occa- sionally does a great deal of damage in New York and now and then de- stroys the whole crop in an orchard. The winter treatment for San Jos^ ' Riley, C. V. An. Rpt. Slate Entomol. Mo. 1:46-47. 1869. 'Lowe, V. H. AT. Y. Sta. Bid. 180:122-128. 1900. 'Wilson, H. F. The Peach-tree Barkbeetle U. S. D. A. Bur. Ent. Bui. 68:91-108. 1909. * Hunter, W. D. The Aphididae of N. A. la. Sta. Bui. 60:103. 1901. 'Ibid. 107, 108. • Ibid. 108, 109. ' Gillette, C. P. A Few Orchard Plant Lice Col. Sta. Bid. 133:41- 1908. 'Ibid: 39, » Maria tt, C. L. The San Jose or Chinese Scale U. S. D. A. Bur. Ent. Bui. 62:1-89. 1906. '">Lowe, V. H. The Xew York Plum Lecanium N. Y. Sta. Bui. 136.583. 1897. 134 THE PLUMS OF NEW YORK scale is used to control this pest, but usually such treatment is supple- mented by a svmimer spray about July first with such contact sprays as whale oil soap and kerosene emulsion. Of the other scales ' which feed upon plums and now and then become pestiferous the following may be named : The fruit pulvinaria {Pulvinaria amygdali Cockerell) , the mealy bug (Pseudococcus longispinus Targioni), the scurfy scale (Chionaspis jurfuraFitch) , the West Indian peach scale (Atdacaspis pentagonaTargiom) , the Putnam scale {Aspidiotus ancylus Putnam), the cherry scale {Aspid- iotus forbesi Johnson), the walnut scale (Aspidiotus juglans-regice Corn- stock), Howard's scale {Aspidiotus howardii Cockerell), the European fruit scale {Aspidiotus ostrecejormis Curtis), the red scale of California {Chrysomphalus aurantii Maskell), the oyster-shell scale {Lepidosaphcs ulmi Linnaeus), and the soft scale {CocaiS hesperidum Linnaeus). Wild plums of several species seem to be favorite feeding grounds for the tent caterpillar ^ {Malacosonia americana Fabricius), but culti- vated plums are not so often attacked ; the spraying with arsenites usually given for the curculio is fatal to this pest as well. The spring canker- worm ' {Paleacrita vernaia Peck) and the fall canker-worm ' {Alsophila pometaria Harris) are other caterpillars which often do much damage unless checked by destructive measures, of which the best are the arsenical sprays. The larvae of a considerable number of other moths and butter- flies are often fotmd on plum foliage but seldom in such numbers as to require systematic destruction. The eye-spotted bud-moth " {Tmeiocera ocellana Schiffermuller) is a rather serious pest in plum nurseries where the larvae eat into the young buds at the time they are opening, often destroying the shoots. Some- times the larvae are found destroying buds on old trees. The arsenical sprays are used to destroy this pest. The peach twig-moth {Anarsia lineatella Zeller) is now and then found in plum twigs but is seldom classed as a plum pest. The clover mite ' {Bryobia pratcnsis Garman) formerly considered a serious pest of the plum only in the far West, is now abundant in plum ' For references to these scales see Femald, Mrs. M. E. Coccidae of the World Mass. Sta. Bui. 88:1-360. 1903. 2 Lowe, V. H. The Apple-tree Tent Cateri^iUar .V. Y. Sta. Bid. 152:279-293. 1898. 'Riley, C. V. An. Rpt. State Entom. Mo. 2:94-103. 1S70. *Ibid. 7:83-90- 1875- 'Saunders, W. Insects Injurious to Fruits 95, 96. 18S3. •Riley, C. V. and Marlatt, C. L. The Clover Mite Insect Life 3:45-53- 1890. THE PLUMS OF NEW YORK. 135 orchards in New York. It can be controlled by applications of lime and sulphur. The bumble-flower beetle ' (Ettphoria inda Linnaeus) is reported by Goff to be occasionally very injurious to plums in Wisconsin. Remedies seem not to have been tried. The larvae of the cherry slug ' {Selandria cerasi Peck) is not infrequently found doing damage to plum foliage and occasionally the larvae of one or two other saw-flies feed on the plum. These are all overcome by the use of arsenical sprays. At least one of the curious insects know as " case-bearers " attacks the plums. The troublesome one is the pistol case-bearer » {Coleophora malivorella Riley), which is not often a pest but has sometimes done considerable damage. Attempts to check this insect with the arsenical sprays have usually proved successful. The plum tree is a host -plant of the hop aphis * (Phorodon hnmuli Schrank). So much does this insect feed on the plum that the destruction of plum trees in the vicinity of hop fields is recom- mended to hop-growers by Riley. 'Saunders, W. Insects Injurious to Fruits 159. 1883. 'Ibid. 150-153. 1S83. 'Lowe, V. H. The Pistol Case-bearer N. Y. Sta. Bui. 122:221-232. 1897. * Riley, C. V. Insect Life 1:133. 1889. 136 THE PLUMS OF NEW YORK. CHAPTER m LEADING VARIETIES OF PLUMS. ABUNDANCE Prunus triflora I. Am. Pom. Soc. Rpt. 96. 1887. 2. Am. Gard. 9:360. 1888. 3. Ga. Hon. Soc. Rpt. 51, 52, S3, 99. 1S89. 4. Bailey Ann. Hort. 103. 1889. 5. Am. Pom. Soc. Rpt. 106, 125. 1891. 6. Am. Gard. 13:700. 1892. 7. Rural N. Y. 52:666. 1893. 8. Cornell Sta. Bui. 62:19, 27, 32. 1894. 9. Tex. Sta. Bui. 32:488. 1894. 10. Rev. Hort. i6o. 1895. 11. Mich. Sta. Bid. 118:52. 1895. 12. Cornell Sta. Bui. 106:41, 43, 44, 47, 48, 49. 1896. 13. Va. Sta. Bid. 67:96. 1896. 14. Cornell Sta. Bui. 131:195. 1897. 15. Ibid. 139:37, 38, 39, 40. 1897. 16. Am. Pom. Soc. Cat. 26. 1897. 17. Cornell Sta. Bui. 175:141, 142, 143. 1899. 18. Waugh Plum Cult. 132, 135. 1901. 19. Mich. Sta. Bui. 169:242, 2^8. 1899. 20. Ont. Fruit Exp. Sta. Rpt. I $. 1902. 21. Ohio Sta. Bid. 162:2 $4, 255- 1905- 22. Texas Nur. Co. Cat. 9. 1907. 23. Ga. Sta. Bui. 68:7, 28. 1905. Abundance 7. Babcock (?) 15, 17. Babcock 12, 16, 18. Botan i, 2, 3, 5, 6, 10. Botan 12, 16, 18. Botankio 12. Botankio 3. Burbank No. 2. 11, 12. Chase 12. Chase 14, 15, 17. Douglas 9, 15, 18. Douglas 17. Hattankio 8, 15. Hattonkin 12. Hytankayo 8, 9. Munson 8. Munson 9, 18. Oriole 22. Sweet Botan 7. Sweet Botan 15. Yellow Fleshed Botan 3, 6, 8, 17, 23. Yellow Fleshed Botan 5. Yellow Japan 12. Yellow Japan 8, 14. Though Abundance has been in America only a quarter of a century, it is now about as well known as any other plum, being probably the best known of the Triflora plums. The two chief assets which have given the variety its great popularity so quickly are adaptability to a wide diversity of soils and climates and, as its name implies, abundance of fruit, for it bears not only heavily but yearly. As a market plum Abimdance has been overplanted since it ships and keeps poorly, is much subject to brown-rot, matures unevenly and drops rather too readily as it ripens. Whether for market or home use, the fruit of this variety should be picked before it is quite ripe as it develops in flavor best when so picked and the dropping and rot are thus avoided to some extent. It is an exceedingly variable plum and imdoubtedly several well marked strains could be se- lected, some of which are not as hardy or otherwise as valuable as others. While Abundance has passed the heyday of its popularity it is still one of the most desirable of the Triflora plums. This variety was imported from Japan by Luther Burbank in 1884, and was introduced by John T. Lovett, Little Silver, New Jersey, under the name Abundance, in 1888. A large number of Japanese pltims that have since been introduced have proved to be either identical or so nearly like the Abundance that much confusion has arisen. Abundance was first known as Botan, but that name was dropped as it refers to a group ABUNDANCE THE PLUMS OF NEW YORK. I37 of plums in Japan rather than to a variety. Babcock, which is said to have been imported by Burbank in 1885 and named for Colonel E. F. Babcock, a nurseryman of Little Rock, Arkansas, has been described by Bailey as indistinguishable from Abundance. Botankio, described in the Georgia Horticultural Society Report for 1889, proved to be the Abundance as tested at the Cornell Experiment Station. The Chase plum, also dissem- inated in New York under the name Yellow Japan, was bought by the R. G. Chase Company, Geneva, New York, for the Abundance, but as it was thought to blossom and fruit later than that variety, it was dis- tributed as a new plum; in 1897 Bailey considered it the same as Chabot, but in 1899 he stated that it and Abundance were identical. The Douglas plum is also identical. Dr. J. T. Whitaker of Tyler, Texas, imported this variety and introduced it in 1886 under the name of Hytankayo. Bailey, who tested Whitaker's variety from trees obtained from T. V. Munson, Denison, Texas, found a yellow-fruited strain and to distinguish the purple form named the latter Munson.' As this name had been applied to a native plum, R. H. Price, of the Texas Experiment Station, in 1894 re- named the variety calling it Douglas.' There have been two types of this Douglas plum disseminated; Bailey, in 1899, found no difference between it and Abtmdance except that the Douglas seemed to have a little drier flesh; others testing Douglas found it to be identical with the Chabot. Burbank No. 2, imported by Luther Burbank in 1885 and introduced by him in 1889, is very similar if not identical with the Abundance. Oriole, recently introduced by the Texas Nursery Company, Sherman, Texas, is so nearly like Abundance as to be unworthy of a separate name. The American Pomological Society added Abundance to its fruit catalog list in 1897. Tree large, vigorous, vasiform, open-topped, hardy in New York, very productive, susceptible to attacks of shot-hole fungus; branches rough, dark ash-gray, inclined to split when overloaded, with few, slightly raised lenticels; branchlets slender, short, with short intemodes, red early in the season changing to dark brown, glossy, glabrous, with numerous, inconspicuous, small lenticels; leaf-buds small, short, conical, plump, free. Leaves folded upward, narrow-obovate or oblanceolate, peach-like, one and three- eighths inches wide, three and one-quarter inches long, thin; upper surface light green, smooth, glabrous, with grooved midrib; lower surface pale green, pubescent on the midrib and larger veins; apex taper-pointed, base cuneate, margin very finely ^Cornell Sta. Bid. 62:27. 1894. ^Tex. Sta. Bui. 32:488. 1894. 138 THE PLUMS OF NEW YORK. serrate, with small, brownish glands; petiole three-eighths inch long, slightly pubescent along one side, reddish, glandless or with from one to five small, globose, green or reddish glands usually on the stalk. Blooming season early; flowers appearing with the leaves, medium in size; borne in clusters on lateral buds and spurs, in pairs or in threes; pedicels of medium length and thickness, slightly pubescent, greenish; calyx-tube green, obconic, glabrous; calyx- lobes obtuse, with ciliate margins, glabrous, erect; petals broadly oval, entire, abruptly clawed; anthers yellowish; filaments of average length; pistil glabrous, equal to the stamens in length. Fruit early, season short; one and three-eighths inches in diameter, roundish- ovate, halves nearly equal, slightly compressed; cavity medium in depth and width, abrupt, regular; suture shallow, distinct; apex pointed; color pinkish-red changing to darker red, mottled, with thin bloom; dots numerous, of medium size, russet, con- spicuous; stem one-half inch long, glabrous, parting easily from the fruit; skin thin, tough, bitterish, separating readily; flesh yellow, very juicy, tender and melting, sweet except next to the pit, pleasantly aromatic; good; stone clinging, three-quarters inch by one-half inch in size, oval, somewhat compressed, pointed, rough, ridged along the ventral suture; dorsal suture grooved. AGEN Prunus domestica 1. Kraft Pom. Aust. 2:38, Tab. 189 fig. i. 1796. 2. Land. Hort. Soc. Cat. 143, 147, 152, 153 1831. 3. Prince Pom. Man. 2:75, 100. 1832. 4. Poiteau Pom. Franc, i. 1846. 5. Downing Fr Trees Am. 309. 1845. 6. U. S. Pat. Off. Rpt. 30. 1854. 7. Thompson Card. Ass't 519. 1839 8. Am. Pom. Soc. Cat. 86. 1862. g. Oberdieck DeiU. Obst. Sort. 427. 1881. 10. Hogg Fruit Man. 683. 1884. II. Mas Le Verger 6:81, fig. 1866-73. 12- Cal. State Bd. Hort. 291. 1SS5-86. 13 Cat. Cong. Pom. France 343. 1887. 14. Cal. State Bd. Hort. 49, 50. 1S87-88. 15. Ibid. 233, 233 340. 1890. 16. Ibid. 96, 105, PI. I. 1891. 17. Guide Prat. 160, 353. 1895. 18. Oregon Sta. Bui. 45:24. 1897. 19. Cornell Sta. Bui. 131:191. 1897. 20. U. S. D. A. Div. Pom. Bui. 7:315, 316 PI. IV, fig.4. 1898. 21. Mich. Sta. Bui. 169:241, 242. 1899. 22. Cal. Fr. Gr. Con. 29. 1901, 23. Waugh PlumCuU. 94, 95 fig. 1901. 24. Baltet Cult. Fr. 495, fig. 331, 506, 507, fig. 336. 190S 23. Wickson Cal. Fruits 225. 1908. 26. Cal. Fr. Grower 40:18, 19, fig. 1909. Agen 22. Agener Kaiserzwetsclte 17. Agen Date 3. Agen Datte 5, 10. Agener Pflaume 17. Agener Pflaume 9. Agen Pnine 21. California 20. California 16. D'Agen 2, 10, 11, 17, 24. D'Agen 3, 5, 8, 13, 20. D'Ast 13, 17. Date 21. Datte 17. De Brignole 17. D'Ente 13, 17, 24. D'Ente d'Agen 13. Datte Violette i, it,, ly. Die Blaue Dattelpfiaume ly. Die Blaue Dattelpflaume i. Du Rot 17. French 20. French Prune 13, 18, 23, 25. French Prune (?) 2, 12, 14, 13, 26. Lot d'Ente 18. Petite 20. Petite d'Agen 14, 20, 26. Petite Prune 18. Petite Prune 23. Petite Prune d'Agen 25. Prune d'Agen 5, 6, 7, 8, 15, 17, ig, 25. Prune d'Agen 14, 16, 18, 23. Prune de Brig- nole (pi some) 5, y, ly. Pru>te d'Ante 3. Prune d'Ast $, j, 10, 11. Prune d'Ente j, 12, iS. Prunier d'Agen 3. Prunier d'Agen 6. Prune d'Ente 22. Prune du Rot 10. Robe de Sergoit 3, 3, 7, a, II, 13, 17, 18. Robe de Sargent 10, 12. Roi d'Agen 2. Saint Maurin 2, 4. St. Maurin 5, 7, 10, 17. Saint jMatiriniatta 4. Violette Dattcl::wetschc 17. Agen is the plum par excellence for pn:ne-making in France and America. Several qualities make it admirably fit for curing into prunes. THE PLUMS OF NEW YORK. 1 39 To begin with, it has a high percentage of sugars and soUds so that the plum cures readily into a firm, sweet, long-keeping prune which in cooking needs comparatively little sugar; again, the trees bear regularly, abvmd- antly and the plimis are uniform in size, — productiveness, regular bearing and imiformity of size of fruit being necessary attributes of a good prune- making plum; lastly, it hangs well on the tree as it ripens and afterwards so that the curing really begins on the tree. Besides making most excellent pnmes, the Agen is a very good dessert plum — one of the best — and ought to be in every home orchard and, where it attains sufificient size, in every commercial plantation. Lack of size is the defect in this variety which has kept it from being more largely grown outside of prune-making regions. If by pruning, thinning and other cultural treatment the size of the plums could be increased, the Agen should prove a valuable commercial fruit in New York. The name of this variety is derived from Agen, a region in France where it is extensively grown. Tradition says that on their return from the Crusades, the Benedictine monks brought with them from Turkey or Persia what was then known as the Date plum and planted it in the garden of their abbey on the River Lot, in the vicinity of Bordeaiix, France, and that afterwards this became the Agen. Its first recorded importation into the United States was made in 1854 by the United States Patent Office, though it was described by Prince as early as 1832. The most important introduction was made, however, in 1856, when Louis Pellier of San Jose, California, introduced Agen on the Pacific Coast, where it soon became and still is the leading plum, though with curious persistency the fruit- growers there call it the " French Prune " and the " Petite Prune." In 1862 this variety was added to the fruit catalog list of the American Pomological Society. There are many strains of Agen in America, due to the numerous importations of grafts from various parts of France, where the pltmi orchards are frequently grown from seedlings or from sprouts; some of these strains are worthy of varietal recognition. Tree of medium size, upright-spreading, dense-topped, hardy, very productive; branches ash-gray, smooth, with numerous, large, raised lenticels; branchlets slender, short, with short intemodes, greenish-red changing to dark brownish-drab, dull, pubes- cent, with small lenticels; leaf-buds of medium size and length, conical, free. Leaves folded upward, obovate or oval, one and three-quarters inches wide, three and one-quarter inches long, velvety; upper surface with few fine hairs and a narrow, grooved midrib; lower surface pale green, thickly pubescent; apex abruptly pointed, I40 THE PLUMS OF NEW YORK. base acute, margin doubly serrate; petiole one inch long, slender, pubescent, tinged red, with two or three small, globose, greenish-brown glands usually on the stalk. Season of bloom intermediate in time and length; flowers appearing after the leaves, one and one-eighth inches across, white; borne on lateral spurs, singly or in pairs; pedicels five-eighths inch long, thick, glabrous except for a few short hairs, greenish; calyx-tube green, campanulate, pubescent; calyx-lobes obtuse, somewhat pubescent within, with glandular margin, reflexed; petals broadly oval or obovate, entire, tapering to short, broad claws; anthers yellowish; filaments five-sixteenths inch long; pistil glabrous, equal to the stamens in length. Fruit late, season short; one and one-half inches by one and one-eighth inches in size, obovate, the base necked, halves equal; cavity shallow, narrow, flaring; suture very shallow, indistinct; apex roundish or flattened; color reddish or violet-purple, overspread with thin bloom; dots numerous, small, brown, obscure, clustered about the apex and interspersed between russet flecks; stem thick, seven-eighths inch long, glabrous, adhering well to the fruit; skin thin, tough; flesh greenish-yellow, tender, sweet, aromatic; very good to best; stone semi-free or free, seven-eighths inch by one-half inch in size, oval, flattened, with pitted surfaces, rather abrupt at the base and apex; ventral suture somewhat narrow, furrowed, with distinct wing; dorsal suture widely grooved. AITKIN Prunus nigra I. Minn. Hort. Soc. Rpi. 426. 1S96. 2. Wis. Sta. Bui. 63:24, 27, 28 fig. 11, 43. 1897. 3. Jewell Nur. Cat. 1899-1906. 4. Waugh Plum Cult. 169. 1901. 5. Can. Exp. Farm Bui. 43:29. 1903. 6. la. Hort. Soc. Rpt. 227. 1904. Aitken 4. Bcatty 6 incor.. Itasca i incor.. Aitkin is very favorably mentioned in the references given above and undoubtedly has value for the Northwest. It was listed in the cat- alog of the American Pomological Society in 1899. The variety was found growing wild in Aitkin County, Minnesota, by D. C. Hazelton on land adjoining his farm. It seemed to possess merit and was introduced in 1896 by the Jewell Nursery Company of Lake City, Minnesota. Because of having originated near Itasca Lake, it has been confused with the Itasca plum, which preceded it by nearly ten years. The following description is a compilation: Tree vigorous, productive, ripening its wood very early; fruit earliest in season of its group; large for its class, oval, deep red, with no bloom; skin thin, not astringent; flesh yellow, juicy, sweet and rich; good; stone large, oval, flattened, clinging. THE PLUMS OF NEW YORK, I4I ALHAMBRA [{Primus triflora X Prumis cerasifera X Prunus domestica] X [{Prunus simonii X Primus triflora) X {Prunus americana X Prunus nigra)] I. Vt. Sta. Bui. 67:5. 1S98. 2. De Vries Plant Breeding 213. 1907. Although it is over a decade since Alhambra was offered to fruit- growers, it has made Httle headway in popularity and is chiefly of interest because of its breeding. It is not often that we can trace the pedigree of a plant for more than one or at the most two generations, but in Alhambra we are particularly fortunate. Luther Burbank, the originator, began by crossing Kelsey and Pissardi, and the offspring from this cross was fertilized with Agen pollen. This tri -hybrid was in turn fertilized with pollen from a complex hybrid of a cross of Prunus simonii and Prunus triflora pollinated by a cross of Prunus americana and Prunus nigra. As might be expected, the offspring of this final cross was extremely variable and from it was selected the Alhambi-a. The variety was named by the originator in 1898. The fruit as described by Waugh is " egg-shaped, large or very large; cavity medium shallow, abruptly rounded; suture shallow; apex pointed; color dark, dull red; dots many, small, yellowish; bloom thin, purplish; skin firm; flesh yellow inside, reddish outside; stone medium to large, flat, pointed, nearly smooth, clinging; flavor brisk subacid; quality first rate." ALTHAM Primus domestica 1. Jour. Hon. N. S. 17:228. 1869. 2. Lange Allgem. Garten. 2:419. 1879. 3. Oberdieck Deut. Obst. Sort. 432. 1881. 4. Lauche Deut. Pom. 19, PI. IV. 1882. 5. Hogg Fruit Man. 692. 1884. 6. Mathieu Norn. Pom. 420. 1889. 7. Gaucher Pom. Prak. Obst. 94, PI. 1894. 8. Soc. Nat. Hon. France Pom. 550 fig. 1904. 9. Cat. Cong. Pom. France 468, fig. 1906. 10. Baltet Cull. Fr. 490, fig. 328. 1908. Alihan's Reine Claude 6, 7. Althann's Reine Claude 2, 3, 4, 6. Althahn's Rote Reine-Claude 6, 7. AUhann's Reine Claude 7. Count Althann's Gage 5. Count Althann's Gage 6, 7. Graf Althan's Reine-Claude 6. Graf Althann's Reine-Clajide 7. Hathen's Red Gage i. Reine-Claude Rouge de Hathen 1. Reine-Claude d'Althann 5,6,7. Reine-Clatide Comte AUhan 5,6. Reine-Claude de Comte Halhem 5, 6. Reine-Claude du Comte Hathem 6, 7. Reine-Claude du Comte d'Althan 8. Reine- Claude Althan's 5, 6, 7. Reine-Clatide Comte d'.AUhan 6. Reine-Claude d'Althan 8. Reine-Claude d'Althan 6, 7, 10. Reiiie-Claude Rouge Comte Althan 6, 7. Reine-Claude Rouge du Comte Hethau 6. Reine-Claude rouge du comte Hethan 7. Reinette Claude Comte d'Althan 9. Reinette Clmide d'Althan 9. Altham is an excellent plum for dessert or home use. The color is a trifle too dull for market purposes and yet it is better colored than Mc- Laughlin, which sells fairly well. The fruit is the type of the last named 142 THE PLUMS OF NEW YORK. plvun but is later. In Europe this variety is well known and highly es- teemed for its quality, but unfortunately it is almost imknown in America. The variety is well worth trial in this cotmtry as a fine plum of the Reine Claude group. Altham is a seedling of Reine Claude, raised by Herr Prochaska, gardener to Cotmt Michael Joseph Althann, of Swoyschitz, in Bohemia. It was noted in the English Journal of Horticulture for 1869 as a new plum sent out by Thomas Rivers. Tree of medium size, upright-spreading, dense-topped, productive; leaf-scars promi- nent; leaves folded upward, obovate, two and one-quarter inches wide, nearly four inches long, ver>' thick, leathery; margin doubly crenate, with few, small, dark glands; petiole thick, with from one to four globose, yellowish-green glands on the stalk; season of bloom intermediate, short; flowers appearing after the leaves, one inch across, yellow- ish at the apex of the petals; borne on lateral buds and spurs, singly or in twos. Fruit mid-season; one and one-half inches by one and five-eighths inches in size, oblate, strongly truncate at the base, compressed; color dark purplish-red over a yellow ground, covered with thick bloom; dots russet surrounded with a dark red ring; stem adhering strongly to the pulp; flesh light golden- yellow, firm but tender, sweet, mild, pleasant ; very good to best ; stone semi-clinging, seven-eighths inch by five-eighths inch in size, flattened, irregular-oval, with pitted surfaces, contracted at the base into a short oblique neck; ventral suture prominent, heavily furrowed, often with distinct wing; dorsal suture wide, deep. AMERICA Pruntis munsoniaua X Prunus triflora 1. Burbank Cat. 3. 1S9S 2. Vt. Sla. Bid. 67:5. 1898. 3. Rural N. Y. 59:706. 1900. 4. Vl. Sta. An. Rpt. 14:273. 1900. 5. Mich. Sla. But. 205:37 1903. 6. Del. Penin. Hort. Soc, Rpt. 36. 1905. 7. Ohio Sla. Bid. 162:254, 255. 1905. 8. Ga. Sla. Bid. 68:8, 35. 1905. America is illustrated and described in full chiefly because it is the most promising cross between Prunus munsoniana and Prunus triflora. The fruit of the variety is tmusually attractive in appearance, golden- yellow with a red cheek and waxy lustre turning currant-red when ripe, ships exceptionally well and is of very good quality for cooking, but is without merit as a dessert plum. The trees are large, very vigorous, as hardy as either of its parents or possibly more so, and enormously pro- ductive. The qualities of fruit and tree are such that the variety ought to succeed in commercial plantations where any but the hardiest native plums are cultivated. America is almost phenomenally free from rot, con- sidering its parentage. This variety is one of Luther Burbank's productions, grown from a seed of Robinson fertilized by pollen from Abtmdance. It was introduced .^:--V.» / • THE PLUMS OF NEW YORK. 143 by the originator in 1898 and has been since that time well tested at several places in the eastern states and is very generally well spoken of for a plum of its kind for the East. Tree large, vigorous, spreading, somewhat open-topped, hardy, very productive; branches roughish and with cracked bark, sHghtly zigzag, dark ash-gray, with numerous, conspicuously raised Icnticels ; branchlets willowy, long, with short intemodes, green with a reddish tinge changing to dark chestnut-red, glossy, glabrous, with numerous, small, raised lenticels; leaf-buds small, short, conical, free. Leaves folded upward, broadly lanceolate, peach-like, one and one-half inches wide, three and one-fourth inches long, thin; upper surface reddish late in season, smooth and glossy, with deeply grooved midrib; lower surface light green, sparingly pubescent along the midrib and larger veins which are more or less red; apex taper- pointed, base abrupt, margin finely and doubly crenate and with numerous, small, dark glands; petiole one-half inch long, tinged red, pubescent along one side, glandless or with one or two small globose, reddish glands on the upper part of the stalk. Blooming season intermediate and long; flowers appearing after the leaves, one- half inch across, white; borne in clusters on short lateral spurs and buds, in pairs or in threes; pedicels five-sixteenths inch long, slender, pubescent, green; calyx-tube greenish, obconic, glabrous; calyx-lobes obtuse, with a trace of red along the margin, glandular-serrate, glabrous, with marginal hairs, erect; petals small, roundish, entire, tapering abruptly to narrow claws; anthers yellowish; filaments three-sixteenths inch long; pistil glabrous, longer than the stamens. Fruit early, season of medium length; one and three-eighths inches in diameter, roundish-oval, halves equal; cavity shallow, flaring; suture shallow, a distinct line; apex roundish; color clear, dark, currant-red over golden-yellow, mottled, with thin bloom; dots numerous, small, whitish, inconspicuous; stem slender, one-half inch long, glabrous, adhering to the fruit; skin thin, bitterish, separating readily from the pulp; flesh yellow, juicy, fibrous, somewhat tender, sweet, not high in flavor; fair in quality; stone clinging, seven-eighths inch by one-half inch in size, oval, pointed, with pitted surfaces, broadly ridged along the ventral suture; dorsal suture grooved. AMERICAN Prunus domestica 1. Oregon Sta. Bui. 61:17, 18. 1900. American Seedling i. American originated with a Mr. Peterson of Elkton, Douglas County, Oregon, as a sprout from an old tree. It has never been extensively dis- seminated, but seems to be a variety of considerable promise. The fruit as grown on the Station grotinds resembles Hand rather closely; is large for a plum of its type, is a handsome golden color, is high in quality and will probably keep and ship well. Too little is known of its tree -characters to recommend it unqualifiedly. 144 THE PLUMS OF NEW YORK. Tfee above medium in size, vigorous, round-topped, dense, productive; branches numerous; branchlets thick, marked by grayish scarf-skin; leaves flattened, oval or obovate, two and one-quarter inches wide, four and one-half inches long, dark green; margin serrate or crenate; blooming season intermediate, short; flowers appearing after the leaves, one and three-eighths inches across, singly or in twos, fragrant. Fruit mid-season; very large, roundish-oblate, truncate, golden-yellow, indistinctly streaked with green, mottled, covered with thin bloom; flesh light golden- yellow, tender, sweet, pleasant flavor; good to very good; stone clinging, one inch by three-quarters inch in size, broadly oval, flattened, surfaces pitted; dorsal suture wide, deep. AMERICAN EAGLE Prunus americana I. Cornell Sta. Bui. 38:36. 1S92. 2. Am. Pom. Soc. Cat. 37. 1899. 3. Can. Exp. Farms Rpt. 105. 1900. 4. Waugh Plum Cult. 142. 1901. 5. Can. Exp. Farm Bui. 43:28. 1903. 6. Ohio Sia. Bui. 162:254, 255. 1905. Of the origin of ttiis very good Americana variety little is known except that it probably came from Missouri, as it was introduced, in the fall of 1859, by the Osceola Nursery Company, Osceola, Missouri. Although an old variety it was not listed by the American Pomological Society tintil 1899. In regions where Americana plums are grown, American Eagle ought to be better known, its chief defect being the dull color of the fruit. Tree vigorous, spreading; leaves large; petiole glandular. Fruit mid-season; large, varies from roundish-oval to nearly oblate, dark red, covered with thick bloom; stem short, pubescent; flesh yellow, juicy, fibrous, sweet, aromatic, with character- istic Americana flavor; of good quality; stone clinging, three-eighths inch by one-half inch in size, roundish, turgid, conspicuously winged; surface smooth. AMES Primus americana X Prunus trifiora 1. Vt. Sta. An. Rpt. 12:220. 1899. 2. 7a. Hort. Soc. Rpt. 112. 1899. 3. la. Sta. Bui. 46:261. 1900. 4. Wangh Plum Cult. 20^. 1901. 5. Budd-Hansen /Iw. Hort. Man. 293. 1903. 6. S. Dak. Sta. Bui. 93:9. 1905. 7. III. Hort. Soc. Rpt. 422. 1903. 8. Rural N. Y. 65:730. 1906. De Soto X Oregon No. 3 6. Japan Hybrid No. 3 2. Though Ames has been known to the pubHc scarcely ten years, its good qualities have given it relatively high rank among Americana plums with which it must be compared. Though supposed to be a cross between Prunus americana and Prunus trifiora, the variety shows few, if any, traces of the Trifiora parentage, except, possibly in the shape and color of the fruit. The variety is distinguished from other Americana plums by reddish t THE PLUMS OF NEW YORK. 145 dots on the fruit instead of the yellowish dots commonly foxmd on the plums of this species. The fruit of Ames is very attractive in color, the quality is fair, it keeps and ships well and it is fairly free from rot, characters which make it desirable where the native plums are grown. This variety was produced by Professor J. L. Budd ' of Ames, Iowa, by crossing De Soto with pollen of a " large Japanese plum received from Oregon." For a long while it was known as De Soto x Oregon No. 3 and as Japan Hybrid No. 3, but was named Ames by Professor John Craig, now of Cornell University. Tree of medium size, spreading, dense-topped, hardy, productive; branches rough- ish, thorny, the trunk shaggy, dark ash-brown, with numerous, large, raised lenticels; branchlets willowy, thick, long, with long intemodes, green changing to dark chestnut- red, glossy, glabrous, thickly strewn with conspicuous, large, raised lenticels; leaf- buds small, short, obtuse, plump, appressed. Leaves falling early, flattened, oval, two inches wide, four inches long; upper sur- face dark green, glabrous, slightly rugose; lower surface light green, pubescent; apex taper-pointed, base abrupt, margin coarsely serrate, the serrations ending in hair-like ' Professor Joseph Lancaster Budd was a native of New York, having been bom July 3, 1835, at Peekskill, Westchester County. On his father's side he was of French ancestry, but his mother was of English descent, a member of the Lancaster family, early settlers on the Hudson River. He was educated in the public schools of Monticello, Monticello Academy and at Hiram College, though he did not finish at the last named institution because of financial distress at home. In 1857 the young man moved west and for a year taught in an academy at Rockford, Illinois, and in the Wheaton schools of the same state. In 1858 he moved to Benton County, Iowa, where he estab- lished the Benton County Orchards and Nurseries. He soon became identified with horticulture in Iowa, especially through its State Horticultural Society, an organization of which he was secre- tary from 1873 to 1885 and from 1892 to 1895, serving in all seventeen years. In 1876 he was elected to the chair of Horticulture and Forestry in the Iowa Agricultural College, a position which he held until 1899, when he retired as professor emeritus, having spent twenty-two years in pioneer work in this college. In 1882 Professor Budd visited Russia to study the hardy plants of that country and imported from there many varieties of fruit, as well as other plants, which he thought suited to the climate of the Northwest. After his return his work was largely given up to originating and testing varieties which he thought would prove of value to the States of the Plains. He was pre- eminent in America for his work with Russian fruits and was one of the first to see the possibilities of our native plums. The frequency with which his name is mentioned in this book as a breeder of hardy fruits indicates his interest in securing plimis adapted tc the region in which he lived. The horticultural library of Charles Downing, by the wish of the owner, was given to the Iowa Agricultural College with the expectation that Professor Budd would revise Downing's famous Fruits and Trees of America. Ill health prevented the accomplishment of this task, although as senior author he published, in 1902, the American Horticultural Manual in two volumes. During the greater part of his active life he was a constant correspondent of the horticultural press- Professor Budd was a teacher as well as a pomologist and did much for American pomology in imparting to the men who came in contact with him both knowledge and enthusiasm. He died in Phoenix, Arizona, December 26, 1904. 146 THE PLUMS OF NEW YORK. tips, eglandular; petiole seven-eighths inch long, slender, pubescent, tinged red, gland- less or with from one to three globose, greenish-red glands. Blooming season medium in time and length; flowers appearing after the leaves, nearly one inch across, white; borne in clusters on lateral buds and spurs, in threes or fours; pedicels one-half inch long, slender, glabrous, greenish; calyx- tube green, cam- panulate, glabrous; calyx-lobes narrow, somewhat acute, reflexed, pubescent on the inner surface, the margin faintly pubescent and with a trace of red; petals small, oval, somewhat dentate, tapering below to long, narrow, slightly hairy claws; anthers yellow- ish; filaments five-sixteenths inch long; pistil glabrous, equal to the stamens in length, frequently defective. Fruit mid-season, one and seven-sixteenths inches by one and five sixteenths inches in size, ovate or oval, sides compressed, halves equal; cavity shallow, narrow, flaring; suture a line; apex roundish; color light to dark red over a yellow ground, covered with thin bloom; dots numerous, small, brownish-red; stem slender, glabrous; skin medium in thickness and toughness, adhering; flesh golden-yellow, juicy, coarse, fibrous, tender and melting, semi-sweet; of fair quality; stone nearly free, one inch by five-eighths inch in size, irregular-oval, flattened and elongated at the base, abruptly pointed at the apex, very smooth; ventral suture winged and furrowed; dorsal suture acute. APPLE Pruniis triflora X ? I. Burbank Cat. 2. 1898. 2. Vt. Sta. Bui. 67:6. 1898. 3. 17. Sta. An. Rpt. 12:220. 1S99. 4. Am. Card. 21:36. 1900. 5. Waugh Plum Cult. 203. 1901. 6. Ga. Sta. Bill. 68:is, 35. 1905. 7. Mass. Sta. An. Rpt. 17:161. 1905. The Apple is a conspicuous plum; its shape, color, size, flavor; its firm, blood-red flesh and long-keeping quality, all distinguish it. Even the tree is marked with its robust growth, flat -topped head, peculiar, light brown bark, handsome foliage and wood that can be propagated from cuttings with surprising ease. It is difficult to predict the futiu-e of this interesting plum, but probably it will remain for most part a curiosity. Its peculiar flavor is not pleasant at first taste and it is doubtfiil if many will learn to like it. Unpalatability is the defect of the variety which will most often be counted against it. In general the Apple is inferior for dessert or kitchen to the Satsuma, itself none too good, which it most nearly resembles of all plums. In the Station collection tree and fruit are quite susceptible to both fungus and insect pests and the fruits ripen unevenly. The fruit of the variety keeps and ships remarkably well and these qualities may be its saving grace, both so well developed as to make it valuable for breeding purposes when these characters are desired. In his catalog for 1898 Burbank announces the Apple as a new plum and says, "Among the welcome surprises found three years ago among THE PLUMS OF NEW YORK. I47 a lot of some twenty-five thousand plum seedlings was this one, bearing a cruel load of enormous plums when only two years old. * * * * It was at once named Apple from the very close resemblance in form, color general appearance, and rare keeping qualities. * * * * its parentage is not known, except that it is a second generation seedling from cross-bred seedlings, and no doubt Satsuma and probably Robinson are in its line of ancestry." Satsuma characters are readily detected in tree and fruit and especially its hard, red flesh, but in no way is its descent from Robinson apparent. Tree of medium size, flat-topped, spreading, dense-topped, slow-growing, semi- hardy, productive; branches rough and thorny, with numerous fruit-spurs, dark ash- gray, reddish and with numerous lenticels; branchlets often with a rosette of flower- buds on the apex of the shoots, slender, with short intemodes, greenish-red changing to dark brown, glossy, glabrous, with numerous, conspicuous, large, raised lenticels; leaf-buds small, short, obtuse, plump, appressed. Leaves folded upward, obovate or oblanceolate, one and one-quarter inches wide, three and three-quarters inches long, thin, leathery; upper surface purplish-red late in the season, glossy, glabrous, with grooved midrib; lower surface light green, pubes- cent at the base of the veins; apex acutely pointed, base cuneate, margin finely and doubly crenate and with small amber glands; petiole five-eighths inch long, pubescent, red along one side, with from three to ten large, conspicuous, reniform, red or yellowish glands on the stalk. Blooming season early and of medium length; flowers appearing before the leaves, white; borne in clusters on lateral buds and spurs, in threes or fours; pedicels medium in length and thickness, glabrous; calyx-tube obconic, glabrous; calyx-lobes narrow, obtuse, glandular-ciliate, glabrous, erect; petals oval, entire, short-clawed; anthers yellowish; filaments of medium length; pistil glabrous, shorter than the stamens, often defective. Fruit mid-season; one and one-half inches long, one and three-quarters inches wide, roundish-oblate, compressed, halves equal; cavity medium in depth and width, flaring, with concentric russet rings; suture shallow; apex depressed and at one side; color dull dark red, with waxy bloom; dots numerous, large, russet, conspicuous, clus- tered about the apex; stem five-eighths inch long, glabrous; skin tough, bitterish, sepa- rating from the pulp; flesh dark red, juicy, firm but tender, sweet, with pleasant mild flavor, aromatic; good; stone clinging, three-quarters inch by five-eighths inch in size, oval or obovate, turgid, pointed, roughish, winged on the ventral, deeply furrowed on the dorsal suture. APRICOT Priimis domestica I. Parkinson Par. Ter. 578. 1629. 2. Rea Flora 209. 1676. 3. Quintinye Com. Card. 67, 69. 1699. 4. Duhamel Traii. Ar&. Fr. 2:93, PI. XIII. 1768. 5. Vinoo-p Fructologie 2 •.$2, $i, $^. 1771. 6. Kraft Pom. Aust. 2:28, Tab. 173 fig. i; 2:34, Tab. 183 fig. i. 1796. 7. Prince Pom. Man. 71. 148 THE PLUMS OF NEW YORK. 1832. 8. Kenrick Am. Orch. 255. 1832. 9. Thomas Am. Fruit Cult. 327. 1849. 10. Elliott Fr. Book 424. 1854. II. Noisette Man. Comp. Jard. 2:498. i860. 12. Downing Fr. Trees Am. 896, 952. 1869. 13. Mas Pom. Gen. 2:133. 1873. i4- -^ Bon Jard. 338. 1882. 15. Hogg Fruit Man. 684. 1884. 16. Mathieu Nam. Pom. 421, 43'. 4S4- 1889. Apricocke i. Apricock Plum 2. Abricot de France 5. Abricot Bla>ic 16. Abricot Blanche 5. Abricot ordinaire 5. Abricote $. Abricote blanc 7, 12. Abricot^e 4, 13. Abricotee 6, 7, 10, 12, 16. Abricolee Perdrigon 6. Abricotee Blanche 7, 12, 15, 16. Apricot Plum of Tours 7. Abricote de Tours T. Abricotie de Tours y, 10,12,13, 15, 16. Apricot Plum 8. Apricot Plum of Tours 10, 12, 16. Abricotee Blanc 12. Aprikosenartige Pflaume i^. Apricot i^. Aprikosenartige Pflaume 16 Apricot Plum 16. Aprikosen Perdrigon 16. Die Abrikosenartige Pflaume 6. Die Morillenpflaume 6. French Apricot 9. FrUhe Gelbe Kaiser Pflaume 16. Gelbe Apricosenartige Pflaume 13. Gelbe Dauphins 16. Gelbe Reine-Claude 16. Gelbe Aprikosenpflaume 16. Lieflander Gelbe Pflaume 16. Morillen Pflaume 16. Old Apricot 12, 13, 15, 16. Prune-Abricot 11. Prune Abricotee 14. Prune Abricotee Blanche 11. Prune Abricotee de Tours %. Prune Abricote Z. Prune d' Abricot Ordinaire $. Prune d'Ahricot Blanch 5. Prime d' Abricot bigarree 5. Prune d'Abricot de France 5. Prune d' Abricot 16. Red Apricot 10 incor. Reine-Claudenartige Aprikosen Pflaume 16. Susina Massina Piccola 16. The New Apricot Plum 16. Virginale $. White Apricot Plum 7, 12. Wahre Aprikosen Pflaume 16. White apricot 12, 16. Weisse Aprikosen Pflaume 16. Yellow Apricot 10, 12,13, 15, 16. Since John Parkinson described the " Apricocke " plum in 1629, several types of this variety have appeared in literature and these have become so badly confused that it is impossible to separate them. However, as the variety is nearly extinct, and will probably never be revived, this confusion is happily of historic rather than of economic interest. Nearly all writers recognize at least two types, one of which is superior to the other. The better of these can readily be identified as the " Abricotee " of Du- hamel, and should be considered the true Apricot. Little is known of the early history of this variety other than that it was very generally dis- tributed throughout Eiirope early in the Seventeenth Century. The American Pomological Society rejected Apricot in 1858, though it is doubtful if they had the true type. This variety is not to be confused with the Prunus simonii, commonly called " Apricot," or the native plum of that name. The following description is compiled: tree large, vigorous, productive; fruit mid-season; large, roundish or slightly elongated, with prominent suture, yellow, blushed with red, overspread with thin bloom; flesh yellow, sweet, pleasant, slightly musky; good; stone small, free. ARCH DUKE Prtmiis doynestica I. Hogg Fruit. Man. 684. 1884. 2. Ont. Fr. Gr. Assoc. Rpt. 35. 1891. 3. U. S. D. A. Pom. Rpt. /iS. 1895. 4. W.N. Y. Hon. Soc. Rpt. 42:8,^. 1S97. 5. Corm-ll Sta. Bui. 131:182. 1897. 6. Mich. Sta. Bui. 169:241, 242. 1899. 7. Ibid. iST.yj, 78. igoi. 8. Waugh Plum Cult. 95. 1901. 9. Thompson Gard. Ass't 4:156. 1901. 10. Ohio Sta. Bui. 162:242, 243 fig., 254, 255. 1905. Late Diamond i. ARCH DUKE THE PLUMS OF NEW YORK. 149 Arch Duke ought to become one of the leading plums for the market in New York. The qualities which fit it for a high place among com- mercial varieties are: large size, handsome color — a rich, dark purple with thick bloom — and firmness of flesh and skin so that it both keeps and ships well. The accompanying color-plate does not do the variety justice, either in beauty, color or size of fruit. Arch Duke compared with Grand Duke, known by all pliim-growers, is nearly as large, neck thicker, the same color, bloom heavier, quality higher, flesh firmer, stone free and ripens earlier. The tree -characters, like the fruit-characters, are all good. While this variety is suitable for both home and market use it appears after a thorough test in many parts of the State for nearly twenty years to be especially well adapted for a market fruit. Arch Duke was raised by Thomas Rivers, Sawbridge worth, England, from seed of De Montfort, and was sent out in 1883. It was first noted in America by the Ontario Fruit Growers' Association in 1891 and was im- ported into the United States by S. D. Willard' of Geneva, New York, about 1892. Tree of medium size, upright-spreading, hardy in New York except in exposed locations, very productive; branches smooth, dark ash-gray, with small, raised lenticels; branchlets of medium thickness and length, with long internodes, greenish-red changing to brownish-red, glossy, covered thinly with bloom and with sparse pubescence; lenticels numerous, very small, obscure; leaf-buds large, long, pointed, free; leaf-scars swollen. 'Samuel D. Willard was bom August 24, 1835, near Cayuga, New York. He was educated in the district school, Canandaigua Academy, and Temple Hall, Geneseo, having been graduated at the last named place in 1854. After a successful business career of a decade and a half following his schooling, Mr. Willard engaged in the nursery business in Geneva, New York. He prospered in tree-growing and soon embarked in fruit-growing as well, rapidly attaining distinction as a nur- seryman and as a fruit-grower. He early began to specialize in plum culture and soon became one of the leading growers of plums, one of the chief authorities on varieties, and one of the largest importers of new sorts. In 1897, with Dr. L. H. Bailey as co-author, Mr. Willard prepared Bul- letin 131, Notes upon Plums, of the Cornell University Agricultural Experiment Station. In this bulletin Mr. Willard put on record the results of his long experience in growing plums and gave descriptions of seventy varieties, nineteen of which he had imported from Europe. Besides this bulletin he has published but little on plums, but his spoken words regarding them may be found in nearly every report of the two horticultural societies of New York since 1880, as they are also to be found in the reports of horticultural societies in neighboring states and the provinces of Canada. Besides his work in horticultural societies, Mr. Willard was one of the earliest and foremost insti- tute speakers in New York. He was, too, for many years active -in the development of the state fair in New York, having charge of the horticultural department, a position which he also held at the Pan-American Exposition in Buffalo in 1901. For nearly a half-century Mr. Willard has been prominent in his profession in the state and nation; he is known by all eastern fruit-growers and his vigorous and enthusiastic utterances in the press, from the platform and in conversation have made him a favorite authority with the fruit-growers of this generation. 150 THE PLUMS OF NEW YORK. Leaves folded upward, oval or obovatc, one and five-eighths inches wide, three and five-eighths inches long, thickish, stiff; upper surface dark green, glossy, glabrous, with grooved midrib; lower surface silvery-green, sparingly pubescent; apex and base acute, margin doubly serrate, with small, dark glands; petiole three-quarters inch long, pubescent along one side, tinged red, usually with two large, globose, greenish-yellow glands on the stalk or on the base of the leaf. Blooming season intermediate in time and length; flowers appearing after the leaves, one and one-eighth inches across, in the bud creamy-yellow changing to white when expanded; borne in scattering clusters on lateral buds and spurs, singly or in pairs; pedicels nine-sixteenths inch long, glabrous, green; calyx-tube greenish, campanulate, glabrous; calyx-lobes obtuse, pubescent on both surfaces, glandular-serrate and with marginal hairs, slightly reflexed; petals obovate or oval, crenate, with short, broad claws; anthers yellowish, with a trace of pink; filaments five-sixteenths inch long; pistil glabrous, equal to the stamens in length. Fruit late, season very short; one and three-quarters inches by one and three- eighths inches in size, long-oval, slightly compressed and necked; cavity shallow, narrow, compressed, abrupt; suture shallow and rather broad, prominent; apex elongated; color reddish-purple changing to dark blue at full maturity, overspread with thick bloom; dots numerous, small, brownish-russet, inconspicuous; stem often inserted at one side of the base, five-eighths inch long, glabrous, adhering well to the fruit; skin tough, adhering; flesh deep golden-yellow often a little reddish, juicy, coarse, firm, but somewhat tender, sweet, pleasant and sprightly; good; stone free, the cavity larger than the pit, one and one-eighth inches by five-eighths inch in size, long-oval, necked, abruptly tipped at the apex, often reddish, rough; ventral suture broad, blunt, slightly furrowed; dorsal suture with an indistinct shallow groove. ARCTIC Primus doniestica I. Downing Fr. Trees Am. 3d App. 182. 1881. 2. Am. Pom. Soc. Cat. 38. 1881. 3 Country Gent. 49:106. 1884. 4. .Am. Pom. Soc. Rpt. 96. 18S7. 5. Mich. Pom. Soc. Rpt. 289, 290 1889. 6. Card. & For. 6:526. 1892. 7. Can. Hon. 16:301. 1893. 8. Mich. Sla. Bid. 103:35, 1894. 9. Ont. Fr. Exp. Sta. Rpt. 120. 1896. 10. Cornell Sta. Bui. 131:189. 1897. 11. Ohio Sta Bui. 113:160. 1899. X2. Mich. Sta. Bui. 169:241, 242. 1S99. 13. Can. Exp. Farm Bid. 43:33 1903. 14. Budd-Hansen Am. Hort. Man. 304. 1903. 15. Ga. Sta. Bid. 67:278. 1904. 16. Ohio Sta. Bui. 162:256, 257. 1905. Moore Arctic 8, 15. Moore's Arctic i, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 9, 10, ii, 16. Moore's Arctic, 13, 14. Arctic is very generally supposed to be preeminent in two qualities, hardiness and productiveness. On the grounds of this Station it is both hardy and productive and from its behavior here it might well be recom- mended for these qualities, but as to its hardiness elsewhere pomologists do not agree. In the references given above, Downing says it is the hardiest plimi known; in Michigan it is reported very tender in the ntirsery row; ARCTIC THE PLUMS OF NEW YORK. I5I a Canadian writer says it is not hardy enough for Canada; and it is re- puted in the prairie states to be not hardier than Lombard. The place of its origin, where few plums are grown, and the fact that it is one of but few that can be grown in parts of Canada and New Brunswick establish the claim that it is one of the hardiest of the Domesticas, possibly not more so, however, than Lombard, Voronesh and a few others. The small size and mediocre quality of the fniit and the dwarfish trees should rule Arctic out where less hardy varieties can be grown. This variety was first noted in 1881 by Downing who says it originated on the grounds of A. T. Moore, Ashland, Maine, about forty miles north of Bangor. The parentage of Arctic is unknown. According to the originator, it was grown from a seed of a medium sized blue plum bought at a fruit-stand in Boston. In 1881 Arctic was added to the American Pomological Society catalog, where it still remains. Tree small, of medium vigor, upright-spreading, very hardy, productive, an early bearer, subject to attacks of fungi; branches somewhat rough, dark ash-gray, with small lenticels; branchlets strongly inclined to develop spurs and blossom-buds, short, slender, with short intemodes, greenish-red changing to dark brownish-drab, dull, sparingly pubescent, with inconspicuous, raised lenticels; leaf -buds short, obtuse, appressed. Leaves obovate or oval, two inches wide, three and three-eighths inches long; upper surface dark green, covered with numerous hairs, the midrib grooved; lower surface silvery-green, pubescent; apex abruptly pointed or acute, base acute, margin finely serrate, with small, black glands; petiole five-eighths inch long, tinged red, pubescent, with from one to four globose, green glands usually at the base of the leaf. Blooming season of medium length; flowers appearing after the leaves, one and three-sixteenths inches across, in the bud creamy-yellow changing to white as the petals expand; borne in clusters on lateral buds and spurs, singly or in pairs; pedicels five- eighths inch long, pubescent, greenish; calyx-tube green, campanulate, pubescent; calyx-lobes narrow, obtuse, pubescent on both surfaces, serrate, with ciliate margins, reflexed; petals narrow-obovate or oval, crenate, short-clawed; anthers yellowish; filaments one-half inch long; pistil pubescent at the base, shorter than the stamens. Fruit mid-season, ripening period long; one and three-eighths inches by one and one-quarter inches in size, oval or ovate, slightly swollen on the suture side, compressed, halves equal; cavity very shallow and narrow, abrupt; suture shallow, indistinct; apex roundish; color dark purple becoming purplish-black at full maturity, covered with thick bloom; dots numerous, small, russet, inconspicuous, clustered about the apex; stem slender, seven-eighths inch long, pubescent, adhering to the fruit; skin of medium thickness and toughness, separating readily; flesh Hght yellow, juicy, coarse and fibrous, somewhat firm but tender, sweetish, mild; fair in quality; stone nearly free, characteristically small, seven-eighths inch by one-half inch in size, oval, flattened at the apex, acute at the base, rough and pitted; ventral suture ridged, faintly winged; dorsal suture broadly and shallowly grooved. 152 THE PLUMS OF NEW YORK. ARKANSAS Prunus munsoniana I. Am. Pom. Soc. Rpt. 162. 1881. 2. Cornell Sta. Bui. 38:60, 86. 1892. 3. Tex. Sta. Bui. 32:478. 1894. 4. Wis. Sta. Bui. 63:27. 1897. 5. Waugh Plum Cult. 192, 194 fig. 1901. 6. Budd-Hansen Am. Hort. Man. 293. 1903. 7. la. Hart. Soc. Rpt. 488. 1904. Arkansas Lombard i, 2, 3, 4, 7. Arkattsas Lombard 5, 6. Arkansas, as the synonymy shows, originally, and even now, usually has Lombard as a suffix, but the name is misleading as the plum is in no wise like a Lombard and following the rules of the American Pomological Society it has been dropped in The Plums of New York. On the grounds of this Station, Arkansas is one of the most valuable plums of its species, being unusually attractive in size, color and shape and one of the best in quality of its kind. Its chief fault is a lack of robustness in the tree. While it would not prove profitable as a market plum in New York, it could be well planted in a commercial orchard in regions where native plums must be grown, and in New York it would at least add a pleasing variety to any collection of plums. This variety was brought to notice by T. V. Munson in 1881. It originated in Arkansas and was introduced by J. D. Morrow & Sons of that state. Tree small, flattened, spreading, dense-topped, symmetrical, hardy, productive, somewhat subject to shot-hole fungus; trunk shaggy; branches rough, zigzag, sparingly thorny, dark ash-gray, with numerous lenticels; branchlets slender, with very short internodes, greenish-red changing to reddish-brown, glossy, glabrous, with few, con- spicuous, raised lenticels; leaf-buds small, short, obtuse, free. Leaves folded upward, lanceolate, peach-like, one and one-quarter inches wide, three and one-half inches long, thin; upper surface light green, smooth, glabrous, with grooved midrib; lower surface pale green, sparingly pubescent along the midrib and larger veins; apex taper-pointed, base acute, margin finely serrate, with light brown glands; petiole one-half inch long, slender, pubescent on one side, dull red, with from one to six small, globose, yellow or brownish-red glands. Blooming season late and long; flowers appearing after the leaves, five-eighths inch across, in the buds creamy -yellow changing to white as they unfold; with a strong disgreeable odor; borne in very dense clusters on lateral buds and spurs, in threes or fours; pedicels one-half inch long, slender, glabrous, greenish; calyx-tube green, campanulate, glabrous; calyx-lobes short, sparingly pubescent on the inner sur- face, glandular-serrate, faintly hairy and with a trace of red on the margin, erect; petals obovate, crenate, with narrow claws, somewhat hairy at the base; anthers yellowish; filaments nearly one-quarter inch in length; pistil glabrous, slightly shorter than the stamens. Fruit early, season very long; one inch by seven-eighths inch in size, roundish- ovate, halves slightly unequal; cavity shallow, flaring, regular; suture an indistinct THE PLUMS OF NEW YORK. 153 line; apex roundish or pointed ; color bright currant-red, with thin bloom; dots smallish, white, conspicuous, clustered about the apex; stem very slender, five-eighths inch long, glabrous, not adhering to the fruit; skin thin, tough, bitter, separating readily; flesh orange-yellow, juicy, fibrous, somewhat tender and melting, sweet at the skin but sour at the center, aromatic; good; stone chnging, three-quarters inch by one-half inch in size, oval, flattened and prolonged at the base, sharp-tipped at the apex; ventral suture acute, faintly ridged; dorsal suture acute. AUTUMN COMPOTE Prunus doniestica I. Mcintosh Bk. Gard. 2:533. '855. 2. Card. Chron. 26:364. 1866. 3. Hogg Fruit Man. 351. 1866. 4. Downing Fr. Trees Am. 897. 1S69. 5. Mas Le Verger 6:71, fig. 36. 1866-73. 6. Hogg Fruit Man. 683. i8r-4. 7. Thompson Gard. Ass't 4:156. 1901. Autumn Compote 5. Compote d'Automne 5. This plum is well and favorably known in England, but it is scarcely grown in America, though it has much in the character of its fruit at least to recommend it. The plums are attractive in appearance and while not of the highest flavor are yet far above the average in the qualities which make a good dessert fruit, while for culinary purposes it ranks among the best. The trees are productive, hardy and fairly vigorous and may be especially noted as holding their crop well. Auttmm Compote is a seedling of Cooper, raised by Thomas Rivers, Sawbridgeworth, England, about 1840. Tree of medium size and vigor, spreading, rather low and open-topped, hardy, very productive; branches smooth, dark brownish-gray, with lenticels intermediate in number and size ; branchlets few, slender, very short, with long intemodes, greenish- red changing to dark brownish-red, dull, sparingly pubescent early in the season, becom- ing heavily pubescent later, with few, inconspicuous, small lenticels ; leaf-buds long, pointed, free. Leaves drooping, folded backward, long-oval or obovate, two and one-eighth inches wide, four and one-fourth inches long, thick; upper surface dark green, smooth, hairy, with deeply grooved midrib; lower surface pale green, pubescent; apex acute, base tapering, margin crenate, eglandular; petiole thick, one-half inch long, tinged red, glandless or with from one to four globose, greenish-yellow, large glands usually on the stalk. Season of bloom medium, short; flowers appearing after the leaves, one and one- quarter inches across, in the buds creamy-yellow changing to white as the flowers open; borne in clusters on short lateral spurs, singly or in pairs; pedicels nearly one-half inch long, glabrous, green; calyx- tube greenish, campanulate, glabrous; calyx-lobes broad, obtuse, glandular-serrate, sparingly pubescent on both surfaces, reflexed; petals oval, narrowly dentate, with very short and broad claws; anthers yellowish; filaments nearly seven-sixteenths inch long; pistil glabrous, longer than the stamens. 154 THE PLUMS OF NEW YORK. Fruit late, ripening period of medium length; one and five-eighths inches by one and three-eighths inches in size, oval or slightly ovate, halves unequal; cavity shallow, narrow, abrupt; suture shallow, a distinct line ; apex roundish or slightly pointed ; color purplish- red over a yellow ground, covered with bloom of medium thickness; dots numerous, small, light russet, conspicuous; stem glabrous, adhering to the fruit ; skin thin, tender, separating readily; flesh golden-yellow, dry, firm but tender, sweet, not high in flavor; fair in quality; stone clinging but not tenaciously, one inch by five-eighths inch in size, irregularly and broadly ovate, flattened, roughish, slightly compressed and necked at the base, blunt or acute at the apex; ventral suture narrow, winged, strongly fur- rowed; dorsal suture acute or faintly furrowed. BARTLETT Pninus triflora X Prunus simonii I. Cal. State Bd. Hort. 53. 1897. 2. Vt. Sta. Bui. 67:7. 1898. 3. Burbank Cat. 1899. 4. CoH. Hor;. 25:411. 1902. 5. Ga. Sta. Bui. 6S:6. 1905. 6. De Vries Plant Breeding 226. 1907. Bartlett was grown by Burbank from a cross of Prunus simonii with Delaware, the latter one of his earliest hybrids. The originator disposed of the variety in 1899 and it immediately became popular with niu-serymen and was soon offered for sale in all parts of the United States. Fruit- growers have not received it so well, however, and most of those who have tried it have discarded it or hold the variety as a curiosity. The frtiit is attractive in appearance and the Bartlett pear flavor is agreeable, but the skin cracks badly in this State and the flesh is too soft for shipping. The tree with its stiff, upright branches resembles a Lombardy poplar and with its bright, glossy green foliage is an attractive ornamental. It is still further peculiar in bearing thick clusters of flowers at the ends of lateral spurs. Tree lacking in size and vigor, upright, open-topped, not very hardy, productive; branches rough, with numerous fruit-spurs; branchlets slender, short, glabrous throughout the season; leaf-buds plump; leaves folded upward, oblanceolate, one and one-half inches wide, three and one-quarter inches long, thin; margin finely serrate, in two series, eglandular or with small, dark glands; petiole slender, with from one to four small glands; blooming season early, long; flowers appearing before the leaves. Fruit very early; one and three-eighths inches by one and one-quarter inches in size, long-cordate to slightly oval, dark purplish-red over yellow, covered with thick bloom; skin tendi;r, bitter; flesh yellow, not very juicy, tender, sweet, with a peculiar but pleasant flavor; of good quality; stone clinging, seven-eighths inch by one-half inch in size, elongated-ovate, narrow, blunt at the base, long drawn out at the apex, the surfaces rough. 'V% AUTUMN COMPOTE THE PLUMS OF NEW YORK. 155 BASSETT Prunus maritima I. Card. Mon, 17:335. 1875. 2. Cornell Sta. Bui. 38:75. 1892. 3. Bailey Ev. Nat. Fruits 314. 1898. 4. Waugh Plum Cult. 229. 1901. 5. Ohio Sta. Bui. 162:254, 255. 1905. 6. S. Dak. Sta. Bui. 93:10. 1905. Bassett's American 2, 3. Bassett's American 4. Bassett, the best known of the few cuhivated varieties of Prunus maritima, was fotind growing wild in New Jersey and was turned over to a nurseryman, Wm. F. Bassett of Hamilton, New Jersey, who intro- duced it in 1872. After its introduction it became somewhat popular in the West, gaining quite a reputation as being "ciirculio proof." However, its marked inferiority to varieties of other species, in both size and quality, has now banished it from all commercial plantings. The following descrip- tion is compiled. Tree vigorous, spreading. Fruit late mid-season; very small, roundish, dull red, covered with thin bloom; skin thick, tough; flesh greenish-yellow; quality poor; stone of medium size, roundish, smooth, free. BAVAY Primus domestica I. Card. Chron. 6:65. 1846. 2. Mag. Hon. 12:340. 1846. 3. Horticulturist 1:527. 1846. 4. Lee Gen. Farmer 10:241. 1849. 5. Thomas ,4m. Frwi^ C«&. 328. 1849. 6. Elliott Fr. Soofe 423. 1854. 7. Am. Pom. Soc. Cat. 210. 1856. 8. Downing Fr. Trees Am. 370. fig. 1857. 9. U.S. D. .4. Rpl. 190, PI. XII. 1865. 10. Hogg Frutt Man. 379. 1866. 11. Downing Fr. Trees Am. 897. 1869. 12. Pom. France 7:No. 6. 1S71. 13. Mas Le Verger 6:93, fig. 47. 1866. 14. Ober- dieck Deut. Obst. Sort. 437. 1881. 15. Cat. Cong. Pom. France 363. 1887. 16. Rev. Hort. 515. 1888. 17. Mathieu Nom. Pom. 422. 1889. 18. Mich. Sta. Bui. 129:32, 33. 1896. 19. Cornell Sta. Bui. 131:191. 1897. 20. Mich. Sta. Bui. 169:241, 242. 1899. 21. Waugh Plum Cult. 96. 1901. 22. Va. Sta. Bui. 134:40. 1902. 23. Ohio Sta. Bui. 162:241. 1905. Bavay's Green Gage 17, 21. Bavay's Green Gage 11. Bavay' s renkloie 12. Bavay's Reine Claude 17. Bavays Reine-Claude 1^. De Bavay 1$. Monstreusede Bavay 1$. Monstrueuse de Bavay 10, II, 12, 17. Prune de Bavay 12, 17. Queen Claude of Bavay 6. Reine Claude 21, 23. Reine- Claude de Bavay 2,3, 4, 5, 7, 8,9, 10, 12, 13, 15, 16, 19. Reine-Claude de Bavay 6, 11, 13, 17, 18. 21. Reine-Claude Monstreuse de Bavey i. Reine-Claude Monot 17. Reine-Claude von Bavays 14. St. Claire 10. Saint Clair 11, 17. Sainte-Claire 17. Saint-Claire 12. Bavay is one of the best of the green plums — a worthy rival in all respects and in some superior to its parent Reine Claude. It is tinexcelled as a dessert plum and its delicious flavor is retained in cooking, making the somewhat rare combination of a first rate dessert and a first rate culi- nary fruit. Bavav is not only satisfactory in the qualities which make it desirable to the consumer but it is a good market plum for it both keeps 156 THE PLUMS OF NEW YORK. and ships well. The flavor is not quite equal to that of Reine Claude, one of the best of all plums in quality, but in tree-characters the Bavay surpasses the older variety. The trees bear young, annually and heavily, sometimes too heavily, and while not as hardy, as large, as robust or as long-Uved as could be wished, yet in these respects they are superior to those of most of the varieties of Reine Claude plums. Some horticulturists recommend that the Bavay be top-worked on a more vigorous, hardy and longer -lived stock but the behavior of trees so treated in this vicinity makes top-working a very doubtful expedient. Lombard is usually recom- mended as a stock upon which to work it. Bavay is indispensable in home orchards and can be recommended for much more general planting in commercial orchards. This variety is a seedling of Reine Claude produced by Major Esperin of Malines, Belgium, about 1832, and dedicated by him in 1843, to M. De Bavay, Director of the Royal Nurseries, at Vilvordes, near Brussels. Though this variety is distinct from its parent in tree-characters, in having a later season, smaller fruit and a different flavor, the two plums have become confused by many nurserymen and horticulturists. In 1856, the American Pomological Society placed Bavay on its fniit catalog list where it still remains. Tree of medium size and vigor, upright-spreading, open-topped, hardy, very pro- ductive, somewhat susceptible to sunscald; branches smooth except for the few, large, raised lenticels, light ash-gray; branchlets medium in thickness and length, with inter- nodes of variable length, dull brownish-red, pubescent, with numerous, inconspicuous, small lenticels; leaf -buds large, long, pointed, appressed. Leaves folded backward, oval, or slightly obovate, wide, long, thick; upper surface nearly smooth, covered sparsely with hairs; lower surface thickly pubescent, especially along the midrib and larger veins; apex acute; margin crenate, glandless; petiole thick, long, tinged lightly with red, glandless or with from one to three globose, greenish- yellow glands on the stalk or base of the leaf. Blooming season intermediate in time and length; flowers appearing after the leaves, one and one-eighth inches across, whitish or creamy at the apex of the petals; borne on lateral buds and spurs, singly or in pairs; pedicels three-eighths inch long, pubescent, green; calyx-tube greenish, obconic, pubescent at the base; calyx-lobes rather broad, obtuse, pubescent on both surfaces, glandular-serrate, refiexed; petals broadly obovate, crenate, tapering below to short, broad claws; anthers yellowish; filaments three-eighths inch long; pistil pubescent on the ovary, longer than the stamens. Fruit late, season long; of medium size, roundish-oval, halves equal; cavity inter- mediate in depth and width, abrupt; suture a line; apex roundish; color greenish- yellow changing to dark straw-yellow, obscurely streaked and splashed, covered with t 'if>}'^. MIM&k ,-««.■ #:•■;>* • m THE PLUMS OF NEW YORK. 157 thin bloom; dots numerous, small, grayish, obscure, clustered about the apex; stem thick, short, pubescent, adhering well to the fruit; skin rather tough, separating readily; flesh rich golden-yellow, juicy, slightly fibrous, tender, sweet, pleasant flavor; very good; stone free, seven-eighths inch by five-eighths inch in size, oval, slightly necked, blunt at the apex, with pitted surfaces; ventral suture winged, deeply furrowed; dorsal suture widely and deeply grooved. BEJONNIERES Prunus insititia I. Downing Fr. Trees Am. 898. 1869. 2. Cat. Cong. Pom. France 472. 1887. 3. Ibid. 453. 1906. Des B^jonnieres 2, 3. Prune des Bcjonnihes i. This variety is so highly prized in France that it is here recommended for trial even though the trees as they grow in this part of New York have not been productive. It is too small for a dessert plum but might become of value here if used as in France for tarts, spices, preserves and drying. The plum originated about 1827 in the nursery of Andre Leroy, Bejonnieres, Angers, France. Tree medium in size and vigor, upright-spreading, unproductive; leaf-scars swollen; leaves oval, medium in width and length; margin with small dark glands, finely serrate; petiole with none or from one to six glands, usually on the stalk; flowers appearing after the leaves, tinged creamy-white as they open; borne on lateral buds and spurs, in pairs or in threes. Fruit late, season of medium length; one and three-eighths inches by one and one-quarter inches in size, obovate, a little necked, yellow, blotched with red on the exposed cheek, covered with thin bloom; stem long; apex strongly depressed; flesh pale yellow, firm but tender, sweet, aromatic; very good; stone semi-clinging, three- quarters inch by one-half inch in size, oval. BELGIAN PURPLE Prunus domestica I. Downing Fr. Trees Am. 373. 1857. 2. Hogg Fruit Man. 351. 1866. 3. Pom. France 7:No.27. 1871. 4. MasLe l-'frgfr6:io5. 1S66-73. $. Am. Pom. Soc.Cat.:i(>. 1877. 6. Cat. Cong. Pom. France 340. 1887. 7. Guide Prat. 153, 352. 1895. Bleue de Perk 4. Bleue de Bergues 3,7. Bktie de Belgique 1,7. Bleu de Perque i. Blaue von Belgien 4, 7. Bku de Bergues 6. BleiK de Peck 6. Belgian Purple 4, 6, 7. Bleue de Belgique 7. Belgische Damascene 7. Bleue de Perck 7. Bleu de Belgique 6. Fertheringham 3 incor. Prune Bleue de Belgique 3. Belgian Purple is a mediima grade plum of little value for dessert but rather highly esteemed for culinary purposes, especially in Europe. It probably has but a small place in American pomology. Concerning 158 THE PLUMS OF NEW YORK. the origin of the variety, nothing is known although it is generally believed to have originated in Belgium prior to 1850. Tree large, vigorous, round and dense-topped, not always hardy, very productive; branchlets numerous, thick, pubescent throughout the season; leaf-scars prominent; leaves flattened or folded upward, oval, one and five-eighths inches wide, three and one-half inches long; margin serrate or crenate; petiole five-eighths inch long, gland- less or with from one to two small glands usually at the base of the leaf; flowers nearly one inch across, white, with a peculiar greenish and creamy tinge near the apex of the petals and often splashed with pink towards the base ; borne on lateral buds and spurs ; calyx-tube thickly pubescent. Fruit mid-season; medium to below in size, roundish-oval, purplish-black, over- spread with thick bloom; flesh rich, golden-yellow, medium juicy, firm, sweet, mild; fair to good; stone nearly free, of medium size, oval, flattened, often with a distinct wing. BELLE Pruniis domcstica I. Horticulturist 10:71. 1855. 2. Downing Fr. Trees Am. 394. 1857. 3. Flor. & Pom. 144, PI. 1863. 4. Hogg Frwji A/oH. 351, 384. 1866. 5. Mas Lc VVrgrr 6:27, fig. 14. 1866-73. 6. Le Boil Jard. 341. 1882. 7. Barry Fr. Garden 410. 1S83. 8. Decaisne & Xaudin Man. Am. des Jard. 4: 382. 9. Mathieu ATow. Pow. 449, 451. 18S9. 10. Garden 50:2^$. 1896. 11. Rivers Cat. 33. 1898. 12. Pish Hardy-Fr. Bk. 2:55. 13. Thompson Card. Ass't 4:156. 1901. 14. Waugh Plum Cult. g6. 1901. Autumn Beauty 11. Autumn Beauty g. Belle dc Scptemhre 9, 11, 14. Belle de Septembre I, 3, 4, 7, 1°. 12. 13- ('I'o^ Rouge de Septembre 3, 4, 9. Lawrence Early 9. Regina nova 6. Reitie- Claude Rouge g. Reitie-Claude Rouge de Septembre 5, 9. Reine-Claude Rouge of September 2 Reine-CIaude Rouge de Van Mons 5, 6, 8. Reine-Claude Rouge de Van Mans 9. Reiiie-Claude Rouge Van Mons 4, 9. Reine Nova (Berre) 9. Rcina Nova 2, 3, 4, 9. Rote Claude 9. Reitie Nova 9. Schone September Kvnigspflautne g. Van Mons KSnigspflaume 9. Van Mons Konigspflaume S- Van Mons Red 9. Van Mons' Red 4. Van Mons Red Gage 5, 9. Belle is an unusually large, handsome plum but unfortimatel}- is not of very high quality. It is much like Pond but is brighter red, a little smaller, less necked, the stem is shorter, the apex more blunt and it is more of a clingstone. European authorities say that Belle is second to none for culinary purposes and its handsome appearance gives it value across the seas as a dessert plum. As Belle grows on the grounds of this Station — it seems not to be found elsewhere in New York — the tree-char- acters are quite above those in the average variety of plums and when considered with the fine, late fruits, indicate that the variety might be grown with profit for market purposes. It well deserves to be tried by commercial plum-growers. Belle came from Brussels, Belgium, and was propagated by the famous hortictolturist, Van Mons. Nothing further is known of its origin. >LUMS OF NEW YORK. 159 Tree above medium in size, vigorous, upright, open-topped, hardy, productive; branches smooth, dull dark ash-gray, with small, numerous, raised Icnticcls; branchlets thick, with short intemodes, green changing to brownish-red, often marked with scarf- skin, dull, very pubescent early in the season becoming less pubescent as maturity ad- vances, with numerous, small lenticels; leaf-buds of medium size and length, conical, free. Leaves flattened or folded upward, obovate, one and seven-eighths inches wide, four and one-half inches long, thick, leathery; upper surface dark green, with deeply grooved midrib, sparingly hairy; lower surface silvery-green, pubescent; apex acute, base cuneate, margin shallowly but broadly crenate, with few small dark glands; petiole one and one-eighth inches long, thick, pubescent, tinged with light red, glandless or with one or two small, globose, yelkjwish glands on the stalk or base of the leaf. Blooming season late and long; flowers appearing after the leaves, one and one- eighth inches across, the buds cream-tipped changing to white on expanding; borne on lateral buds and spurs, usually singly; pedicels about seven-sixteenths inch long, thick, pubescent, green; calyx-tube greenish, campanulate, glabrous except towards the base; calyx-lobes above medium in width, obtuse, slightly pubescent on both sur- faces, glandular-serrate, erect; petals broadly ovate, crenate, with short, broad claws; anthers yellowish; filaments five-sixteenths inch long; pistil glabrous, equal to the stamens in length. Fruit late, season of medium length; one and seven-eighths inches by one and three- quarters inches in size, roundish-oval, sHghtly compressed, halves nearly equal; cavity shallow, flaring; suture shallow, rather wide, prominent; apex roundish or depressed; color light purplish-red over a greenish-yellow ground, overspread with thin bloom; dots numerous, small, russet, inconspicuous; stem one-half inch long, thickly pubescent, adhering strongly to the fruit, with fleshy ring about the base; skin of average thickness and toughness, sour, separating from the pulp; flesh pale yellow, juicy, coarse, firm, sweet at the skin, but tart at the center, pleasant, aromatic; good; stone clinging, one and three-sixteenths inches by three-quarters inch in size, oval, turgid, blunt at the apex, with rough and pitted surfaces; ventral suture winged, with few but prom- inent ridges; dorsal suture widely and deeply grooved. BERCKMANS Prunus triflora I. Ga. Hort. Soc. Rpt. 5s, 99- 1889. 2. Cornell Sta. Bui. 62:20. 1894. s. Ga. Hort. Soc. Rpt. 95- 1895. 4. Cornell Sta. Bid. 106:43, 44- 1896. 5. Rural N. Y. 56:614. 1897. 6. Am. Pom. Soc. Rpt. 26. 1897. 7. Cornell Sta. Bui. 175:138, 143- 1899. 8. Rural N. Y. 62:582. 1903. 9. Ga. Sta. Bui. 68:9, 28. 1905. Botan of some 2, 4. Botan White 6. Sweet Botan i. Sweet Botan 2, 3, 4. Trtie Sweet Botan 2, 4, 9. White-fleshed Botan i. White-fleshed Botan 2, 4, S, 9. This variety was introduced by Luther Burbank in 1887 from imported stock. P. J. Berckmans' of Augusta, Georgia, who had secured some ' Prosper Julius A. Berckmans was one of the noted horticulturists and pomologists of the generation just passing. He was bom at Aerschat, near Antwerp, Belgium, October 13, 1830, l6o THE PLUMS OF NEW YORK. Botan trees from Burbank, noted that this plum difiFered from the rest and, in order to distinguish it, named it Sweet Botan. The nomenclature of Botan was confused and indefinite and Bailey, in 1894, renamed the new plum Berckmans. As it is very similar to Abundance, still more confusion has arisen in regard to it. Compared with Abundance, Berck- mans is more spreading in growth ; fniit less pointed, with dryer and more insipid flesh; color brighter red and the stone usually freer; but it is neither as productive nor as free from rot. In 1897 the American Pomological Society placed the variety on its fruit list. As Berckmans is inferior to Abundance and ripens at the same season, it is not worth recommending for general planting. It is to be regretted that so distinguished a horti- culturist as Mr. Berckmans is not to have his name perpetuated in a better plum than the one named in his honor. BERGER Pruiius triflora I. Cornell Sta. Bid. 62:20, 21 fig , 31. 1894. 2. Ibid, 106:45, 62, 67. 1896. 3. Ibid, 139:46. 1897. 4. Ibid, 175:132, 133 fig. 26. 1899. 5. Texas Sta. Bui. 32:486 fig. 7, 490, 492. 1899. 6. W. N. Y. Hort. Soc. Rpt. 92. 1899. 7. Ohio Sta. Bui. 162:248 fig., 254, 255. 1905. Honsmomo i, 2, 3, 4, 5. Red Nagate i, 2 incor. Satsuma i, 2 incor. Shiro Smomo i, 2, 5. Strawberry i, 3, 6. Strawberry 2, 4. Uchi Bene 6. Uchi-Beni i, 2, 5. Uchi-Beni 3, 4. Ura- Beni i, 2, 3, 4, 5. his father being Dr. Louis Edouard Berckmans, author of the splendid pomological work, Album de Pomologie, and as noted in Europe as was the son in America, in horticulture and pomology. The younger Berckmans was educated in Tours, Belgium and Paris, attaining distinction as a student in botany. In 1850 father and son came to America and the following year settled at Plainfield, New Jersey. Six years later the son moved to Augusta, Georgia, and established near that place a horticultural plantation, which he called " Fruitlands," the nursery of which has become famous throughout the world. Soon after locating in Georgia, Mr. Berckmans became interested in horti- cultural organizations and later his activities were extended to the promotion of horticulture in the Nation. In 1859 he became a member of the first horticultural society in Georgia. In 1876 he helped to organize and was the first president of the Georgia State Horticultural Society, a position which he held until his death. In i860 he became a member of the American Pomological Society and was at once intrusted with important committee work in that organization. His work here was done so well that in 1887 he was elected president of the society and later was four times re- elected. Mr. Berckmans was a member of a number of state and national horticultural and scien- tific organizations other than those named and was an honorary member of many similar societies in Europe. In 1893 he was chosen to make the opening address of the Horticultural Congress held at the World's Fair in Chicago that year. Mr. Berckmans was eminent in entomology as well as in botany and horticulture and was interested in all the sciences. Through much reading, study and travel he became versed in literature and art as well as science. Mr. Berckmans' fellow-workers in horticulture, his business associates and the patrons of his nursery, justly esteemed him for his amiability, integrity and public spiritedness. At his death, November 8, 1910, a well spent life was ended. THE PLUMS OF NEW YORK. l6l At first sight Berger is a wholly insignificant plum, being no larger than a sweet cherry; but the variety is so distinct in several characters that every collection should have a tree or two of it and the plum-breeder will find it most interesting and valuable. Its peculiarities are: A flavor quite distinct from that of any other Triflora plum; its cherry-like appear- ance; early ripening, maturing in this State shortly after the middle of July; its pronounced upright habit of growth; its light green foliage; and its habit of bearing its fruit close to the old wood. In common with many other Japanese varieties, the nomenclature of Berger is badly confused. According to Bailey, who received specimens of this variety from various sections of the country, H. H. Berger & Company of San Francisco sent out this plum under several names. Berckmans of Georgia received it as Red Nagate; N. S. Piatt of Connecticut as Satsuma; to another person in the South it came as Shiro Smomo, while T. V. Munson of Texas grew it under the name of Berger, a term finally adopted by Bailey. In the meanwhile. Stark Brothers of Louisiana, Missouri, introduced a plum very similar to this under the name Strawberry but the variety was dropped by them in 1893. Whether or not this " Strawberry " or " Uchi-Beni," as it was sometimes called, was really the Berger it is impossible to say but it is certain that both of these names have been applied to the Berger. The following description is a compilation. Tree vigorous, upright, open-topped, medium hardy; leaves narrow, light colored; blooming season early; flowers white, small. Fruit very early; unusually small, roundish but truncate at the ends, attractive light to dark red, covered with thick bloom; flesh firm, meaty, light yellow, sweet, of pleasant flavor; fair to good; stone very small and cherry-like, free, with smooth surfaces. BLACK BULLACE Pruims insititia I. Parkinson Par. Ter. 576, 578. 1629. 2. Gerard Herball 1498. 1636. 3. Miller Card. Diet. 3:1754. 4. Abercrombie Card. Ass't 13. 1786. 5. Deane A^. E. Farmer Diet. 266. 1797. 6. Miller Gard. Diet. 3:1807. 7. Land. Hort. Soe. Cat. 144 . 1831. 8. Phillips Com. Orch. 306. 1831. 9 Prince Pom. Man. 2:105. 1832. 10. Hogg Fruit Man. 689. 1884. 11. Jour. Hort. 27:476. 1874. 12. Garden 59:226. 1901. Black Bulleis i. Bullesse 2. Farley's November 11. This variety is interesting chiefly as an early type of the Insititia plums, its thorny branches, wa\Tvard grovidh, small and austere fruit, all bespeaking a wild fruit. The plums when ripened by frost are not xm- pleasant to taste and are borne in prodigious quantities. The variety, how- THE PLUMS OF NEW YORK. 163 one-half inch long, pubescent, adhering to the fruit; skin of medium thickness and toughness, slightly astringent, adhering somewhat; flesh greenish-yellow, juicy and fibrous, firm, sour or agreeably tart late in the season; stone clinging, three-quarters inch by one-half inch in size, irregularly oval or ovate, slightly necked at the base, acute at the apex, with pitted surfaces; ventral suture swollen, blunt; dorsal suture acute or partially furrowed. BLACKMAN Prunus hortulana X Prunns persica 1. Gara. Man. 24:82. 1882. 2. Ibid, 29:45, 302. 1887. 3. Cornell Sta. Bui. 38:77. 1892. Blackman is supposed to be a hybrid between the Wild Goose plum and a peach. According to Bailey, a Mrs. Charity Clark secured plum pits from an orchard of Wild Goose and Washington plums in Rutherford Cotinty, Tennessee, about 1865 and gave them to Dr. Blackman of Nash- ville of that State. One of the seedlings appeared promising and was disseminated by a local nurseryman under the name Blackman. A rival nurseryman in attempting to procure cions of this variety inadvertently cut them from an adjacent tree, a barren seedling from the same lot of seed. Unfortunately the spurious Blackman received a wide distribution while the true variety remained practically unknown. Afterwards in order to avoid confusion the original Blackman was rechristened Charity Clark under which name it is now known. The tree of the second Blackman is strong and vigorous but rarely produces its plum-like fruit. The foliage is about midway in character between the plum and peach; the fniit-buds are formed abundantly but seldom open. From a horticultural stand- point, the variety is of course worthless but the hybrid, one of the first of its kind, is interesting and worth recording. BLEEKER Prunus domestica I. Prince Pom. Man. 25. 1828. 2. Kenrick Am. Orch. 255. 1832. 3. Manning Book of Fruits 104. 1838. 4. Downing Fr. Trees Am. 273. 1845. 5- Am. Pom. Soc. Cat. 54. 1852. 6. Thompson Card. Ass't siS- 1859. 7. Downing Fr. Trees Am. 899. 1869. 8. Mas Le Verger 6:21. 1866-1873. 9. Hogg Fruit Man. 686. 1884. 10. Mathieu Nom. Pom. 423. 1889. 11. Guide Prat. 158, 364. 1895. 12. Waugh Plum Cult. 96. 1901. Bleecker's 11. Bleecker's German Gage i. Bleecker's German Gage 2. Bleecker's Gage 2, 4. S, 6, 7. Bleecker's Gage g, 10, 11, 12. Bleeker's Gage 3. Blucher's Gage 6. Bleecker's Yellow j, BUeker's 10. Bleecker's Yellow Gage 7, 8, 11. Bleecker's Gage 8. Bleeker's Yellow 9. Bleeker's Gclbe Zwetsche 11. Bleeker's Gelbe Zwetsche 10. Bleeker's Yellow Gage 9, 10. Bleeker's Gelbe Reine-Claude 10. Bleeker's Gclbe Renklode 11. Bleeker's Yellow 10. German Gage 4, 6, 7, 9, 10, 11. Jaune de Bleeker 10, 11. Reine-Claude de Bleeker 10. Reine-Claude de Bleecker 8, 11. l64 THE PLUMS OF NEW YORK. Just why this old and one time popular jjlum is now so seldom grown cannot be said. It is a delicious dessert pkim of the Reine Claude group, much like Yellow Gage but distinguished from it by a longer and stouter stalk. Its tree -characters in New York are good and the fruit in all the Qualities that make plums desirable is as good as that of most of its class. The variety originated with a Mrs. Bleeker of Albany, New York, about 1 8 ID from a pit given her by Rev. Mr. Dull of Kingston, New York. This stone had come from Germany and was thought to have been that of a German prune but this is probably an error as the seedlings of that variety come true or nearly so. Bleeker was listed in the catalogs of the American Pomological Society from 1852 to 1897. Tree large, vigorous, upright-spreading, open-topped, productive; trunk and branches thick and covered with rough .bark ; branches sHghtly pubescent ; leaves two and one-quarter inches wide, four inches long, oval, stiff; upper surface somewhat rugose; margin serrate; petiole five-eighths inch long, thick, tinged red, with from two to three glands usually on the stalk. Fruit early; nearly one and one-half inches in diameter, roundish-oval, greenish- yellow, striped and splashed with green becoming golden-yellow at full maturity, over- spread with thin bloom; flesh golden-yellow, dry, coarse, firm, sweet, mild; of good quality; stone semi-clinging, one inch by five-eighths inch in size, obovate, acute at the apex, medium turgid, with pitted surfaces. BLUE PERDRIGON Primus domestica I. Parkinson Par. Ter. 576. 1629. 2. Rea Flora 208. 1676. 3. Ouintinye Com. Card. 67, 68, 6g. 1699. 4. Langley Powiojta 92, PI. 23 fig. 4. 1729. 5. Duhamel 7rai/. Arfc. Fr. 2:85. 1768. 6. Prince Pom. Man. 2:66. 1832. 7. Downing Fr. Trees Am. 290. 1845. 8. Floy-Lindley Guide Orch. Card. 280, 293, 383. 1846. 9. U. S. Pat. Off. Rpt. 287. 1853. 10. Hogg Fruit Man. 687. 1884. II. Mathieu Nom. Pom. 452. 1889. 12. Guide Prat. 154, 361. 1895. Blue Perdrigon 6, 7, 11, 12. Brignole Violette 7, 10, 11, 12. Battle Monument 10, 11. Blaue Fasanen Pflaume II, 12. Blauer Perdrigon 11, 12. Blew Perdrigon 2, 3. 4. Perdrigon i, 3, 9. Perdrigon Violet 5, 12. Perdrigon Violet 6, 8, 11. Perdrigon Violette 7, 10. Perdigon S. Pcr- digevena 8. Violet Perdrigon 4, 6, 7, 10, 11. Violet Perdrigon 6, 8. Violetter Perdrigon 11. Violette Fasanen Pflaume 11. Violette Huhner Pflaume 11. Violette Rebhuhn Pflautne 11. Violette Fasanenpflaume 12. Violette Huhner pflaume 12. Violetter Perdrigon 12. Violettes Rebhitlmerei II, 12. Early records indicate that the Blue Perdrigon was introduced into England from Italy. Hakluyt, writing in 1582, says, " Of late time the Plum called the Perdigevena was procured out of Italy, with two kinds more, by the Lord Cromwell, after his travel." Gough, in his British Topography, states that Lord Cromwell introduced the " Perdrigon j)lum " THE PLUMS OF NEW YORK. j55 into England in the time of Henry VII. From these accounts it would seem that this plum was established in England some time during the latter part of the Fifteenth Centiuy. For three hundred years it thrived so well in England that writers had no hesitation in pronouncing it their best plum. From England it came early to America. Probably it was included in the shipment of plum pits ordered from England by the Governor and Company of the Massachusetts Bay Colony in New Eng- land in 1629. In spite of its Old World reputation, however, it never found favor here and is now rarely if ever seen even in collections. The older writers mentioned a Black Perdrigon which they considered distinct from the variety under discussion. Inasmuch as all plums imtil recently were propagated from seed, it is more than likely that there were all gradations in color and that some attempted to classify the darker seedlings as a distinct variety. This hypothesis is borne out by the fact that after graft- ing and budding became the common method of propagation the so-called Black Perdrigon became extinct. The following description is a compilation. Tree vigorous, but not always productive; young shoots pubescent; fruit mid- season; medium in size, obovate, compressed on the suture side, purple or blue, with thick bloom; stem slender; skin thick, very tough; flesh greenish-yellow, firm, rich, sweet, aromatic; good; stone small, flattened, clinging; fruit hangs on the tree until it shrivels. BODDAERT Prunus domestica I. Downing Fr. Trees Am. 2d App. 156. 1876. 2. Am. Pom. Soc. Cat. 36. 1877. 3. Hogg Fruit Man. 68t. 1884. 4. Mathieu A'om. Pom. 423. 1889. 5. Lucsls Vollst. Hand. Obst. 4y2. 1894. 6. Waugh Plum Cult. 97. 1901. Boddaert's Green Gage i, 3. Boddart's Green Gage 2. Boddaert's Reine Claude 4. Boddaert's Green Gage 4, 6. Reine-Clatide de Boddaert 4. Reine-Claude Boddaert i, 3, 4. Reine-Claude von Boddaert 4. Boddaert has much to commend it, the fruit being surpassed by that of but few other pltuns of its type — that of the Reine Claude. The plums are large, attractive and of very good quality. Since the variety has been known so long it must be that the tree has some fatal defect; otherwise it would be more largely grown. Boddaert is probably a Reine Claude seedling and is of foreign origin, the details of its early history not being known. Downing, in 1876, first mentioned the variety in America; the following year it was placed on the fruit list in the American Pomo- logical Society catalog. l66 THE PLUMS OF NEW YORK. Tree large, medium in vigor, upright-spreading, open-topped, productive; trunk rough; branches smooth, except for a few, raised lenticels; branchlets of medium thickness, brash, thinly pubescent; leaves oval, two and one-quarter inches wide, four inches long, thick and leathery; upper surface dark green, rugose; margin crenate, with small dark glands; petiole pubescent, thick, tinged red, usually with two globose glands. Fruit mid-season; about one and one-half inches in diameter, roundish-ovate, strongly compressed, yellow, mottled with green before full maturity, overspread with thin bloom; stem thickly pubescent; flesh light yellow, dry, meaty, tender, sweet; good in quality; stone semi-free or free, seven-eighths inch by five-eighths inch in size, oval or ovate, turgid, with pitted surfaces. BRADSHAW Prunus domestica I. Mag. Hort. 12:341. 1846. 2. Horticulturist 10:13, 253. 1855. 3. Am. Pom. Soc. Rpt 190,214. 1856. 4. CwMzJaior 8:25 fig. i860. 5. Mas Pom. Gen. 2:3, fig. 2. 1873. 6. Mich. Pom Soc. Rpt. 303. 1S7S. 7. Am. Pom. Soc. Rpt. 61, 118. 1883. 8. Hogg Fruit Man. 709. 1SS4 9. Rural N. Y. 44:103- 1885. 10. Mc. Pom. Soc. Rpt. 130. 1888. 11. Ibid. 144. 1889. 12 Mathieu Norn. Pom. 434. 1889. 13. Mich. Sta. Bui. 103:32, ^Z^ %• 6. 1894. 14. Guide Prat 157. 3S9- 1895. 15. Cornell Sta. Bui. 131:182. 1897. 16. Mich. Sta. Bui. 169:242, 244. 1899 17. W. N. Y. Hort. Soc. Rpt. 44:91. 1899. 18. Thompson Gard. Ass't 4:158. 1901. 19. Waugh Plum CuU. 97. 1901. 20. Ont. Fruit Exp. Sta. Rpt. 16, 17 fig. 1902. 21. Va. Sta. Bui. 134:40. 1902. 22. Can. Exp. Farm Bui. 43:33. 1903. 23. Ohio Sta. Bui. 162:239, 254, 255, 256. 1905. Black Imperial 5, 14. Blue Imperial 5, 14, 19, 20. Bradshaw 9, 14. Grosse Schwarze Kaiser Pflaume 12. Hart Prune 17. Large Black Imperial 8, 14, 18. Large Black Imperial 2, 3, 12. Mooney 9, 17. Niagara 7, 9, 10, 11. Niagara 13, 15, 17, ?I9, 20, ?22, 23. Bradshaw leads all other plums in number of trees m New York, according to a survey of the leading orchards made in the preparation of The Plums of New York. A study of the variety does not justify this popularity. The trees grow rather slowly and are slow in coming into bearing; the fruit is not especially high in quality and in many regions is attacked by brown-rot too freely for profitable orchard culture. To offset these faults the trees are large and w^ell formed, bear regularly and heavily, are hardy, robust and healthy, the best of recommendations, and the plums are large, attractive in appearance and keep and ship well especially if picked a little green. The variety, curiously enough, is not nearly as badly attacked by San Jose scale as other plums. Probably one of the reasons why Bradshaw is so largely growTi in New York is that it is easily handled in the nursery and quickly makes a very good nursery tree. Bradshaw does not deserve the high place it holds with plum -grow- ers, and must give way sooner or later to better varieties for commercial orchards. The value of the crop is greatly lessened in New York because it ripens in the midst of the peach season. THE PLUMS OF NEW YORK. 167 Unfortunately, the origin of this plum is not known. The Europeans and some Americans have held that it came from America but, since it is identical with the Large Black Imperial, it must be of foreign origin. It was named by C. M. Hovey in 1846, and was described in his Magazine of Horticulture with the following explanation: " For the want of a name to distinguish a very large and excellent plum, exhibited for three or four years in succession, by E. E. Bradshaw, Esq., Charlestown, we have called it the Bradshaw plum." Barry, in 1855, states in the Horticulturist that he " received it from Wm. Kenrick, a nurseryman in Newton, Massachu- setts, tmder the name of Large Black Imperial ; but as it has been described in Hovey's Magazine as Bradshaw, we have adopted that name in our catalog." Though the name Bradshaw is incorrect according to the rule of priority, it would now cause too much confusion to change it. Niagara, a well known variety in this State, is identical with Brad- shaw in all characters, in spite of a supposedly distinct origin. According to Mr. George Atwood of the State Department of Agriculture, a Mr. Moody of Lockport exhibited, about 1870, the Mooney plum, afterwards named the Niagara. Being interested in the variety, Mr. Atwood visited Mooney, at Lockport, the man from whom Moody had secured his stock. In Mooney 's yard were found several bearing trees, which had been grown from sprouts taken from the original seedling tree, grown in Canada. These trees could not be told from the Bradshaw. If the Niagara is distinct as to origin, it is probably a seedling of Bradshaw. Bradshaw was recom- mended to fruit-growers as a promising variety by the American Pomological Society in 1856 and has since remained on the fruit list of the society. Tree large, vigorous, broad- vasiform, dense-topped, hardy, very productive; branches smooth except for the numerous, small, raised lenticels, dark ash-gray; branch- lets short, with long intemodes, greenish-red changing to brownish-red, often with heavy gray scarf-skin, dull, sparingly pubescent, with obscure, small lenticels; leaf- buds variable in size and length, pointed, free. Leaves drooping, folded backward, obovate or oval, two inches wide, four and one-quarter inches long, thickish; upper surface dark green, rugose, pubescent, with a shallow groove on the midrib; lower surface grayish-green, thickly pubescent; apex acute, base abrupt, margin not regular, varying from coarsely crenate to serrate, egland- ular or with few, small, dark glands; petiole three-quarters inch long, pubescent, red- dish, glandless or with from one to three large, globose, greenish-brown glands on the stalk or at the base of the leaf. Season of bloom short; flowers appearing after the leaves, one and three-sixteenths inches across, the buds creamy changing to white as the flowers expand ; borne on lateral l68 THE PLUMS OF NEW" YORK. buds and spurs, singly or in pairs; pedicels nearly eleven-sixteenths inch long, pubescent, green; calyx-tube greenish, campanulate, pubescent only at the base; calyx-lobes wide, obtuse, pubescent on both surfaces, glandular-serrate, margins ciliate, reflexed; petals broadly oval, erose, with short, broad claws; anthers yellowish; filaments seven- sixteenths inch long; pistil pubescent at the base, shorter than the stamens. Fruit mid-season; two inches by one and three-quarters inches in size, oval or obovate, compressed, halves equal; cavity shallow, narrow, abrupt, with a fleshy ring around the stem; suture very shallow; apex roundish or flattened; color light purplish-red changing to dark reddish-purple at maturity, covered with thick bloom; dots numerous, small, russet, inconspicuous, clustered about the apex; stem thick, seven-eighths inch long, pubescent, adhering strongly to the fruit; skin thin, somewhat tough, sour, separating readily; flesh dull yellow, often with a trace of red when fully mature, juicy, fibrous, somewhat tender, sweet, pleasant; good; stone semi-free, flat- tened, one and one-quarter inches by three-quarters inch in size, irregularly oval, necked at the base, blunt at the apex, strongly roughened and pitted, often with numerous, small, deep pits near the margins of both ventral and dorsal sutures; ventral suture strongly furrowed and winged; dorsal suture with a deep, narrow groove. BRYANSTON Pruuus domestica 1. Land. Hort. Soc. Cat. 144. 1831. 2. Jour. Hort. N. S. 17:286. 1869. 3. Downing Fr. Trees Am. 902. 1869. 4. Am. Pom. Soc. Cat. 24. 1871. 5. Barry Fr. Garden 411. 1883. 6. Hogg Fruit Man. 688. 1884. 7. Tenn. Sta. Bui. 3:No. 5, 88. 1890. 8. Gtiide Prat. 155. 1895. 9. Thompson Card. Ass't 4:157. 1901. 10. Waugh Plum Cult. 98. 1901. 11. Mass. Sta. An. Rpt. 17:158. 1905. Bryanstone 11. Bryanston Gage i, 2, 6, 9. Bryanston's Gage 3, 5, 7. Bryanston's Gage 10. Bryanstone Gage 4. Reine-CIaude Bryanston 8. The fruits of Bryanston fall not a little short, all things considered, of being as good as those of several other of the varieties in the Reine Claude group of which this plum is a member. For this reason Bryanston is not often rated by horticulturists as one of the best plums, but the large, vigorous trees growing on the Station grounds are so especially desirable for this variety, in a group which taken as a whole is noted for poor trees, that it is here described among the leading plums. The fruit is larger than that of Reine Claude but is less attractive in color and shape and the quality is not as high. It is later than the variety with which it has just been compared and the crop is not borne as regularly. Wliile this plum can hardly be recommended for extensive orchard plantings, it }-et has too many merits to be forgotten. This variety is said to be the result of crossing Reine Claude and Golden Drop at Bryanston Park, Blandford, England. It was first noted THE PLUMS OF NEW YORK. 169 in the London Horticultural Society fruit catalog in 1831 but no informa- tion in regard to the date of its origin seems to have been published. In 187 1 the American Pomological Society added it to its fruit catalog list but dropped it in 1897. Tree very large and vigorous, round-topped, open, hardy, very productive; branches smooth, becoming rough near the trunk, ash-gray, with lenticels of medium size and number; branchlets somewhat slender, short, with long internodes, greenish-red chang- ing to dull reddish-brown, marked by scarf-skin, dull, glabrous, with few, inconspicuous, small lenticels; leaf-buds above medium in size and length, pointed, free; leaf-scars prominent. Leaves folded backward, oval or obovate, one and five-eighths inches wide, three and one-quarter inches long, leathery; upper surface dark green, sparingly hairy, with a shallow groove on the midrib; lower surface yellowish-green, pubescent; apex abruptly pointed or acute, base acute, margin crenate, bearing small, dark glands; petiole one- half inch long, pubescent, with a little red, glandless or with one or two small, globose, yellowish glands. Blooming season intermediate in time, short; flowers appearing with the leaves, one and one-eighth inches across, white, creamy at the apex of the petals in the newly opened flowers; borne on lateral buds and spurs, singly or in pairs; pedicels one-half inch long, thick, pubescent, greenish; calyx-tube green, campanulate, pubescent at the base; calyx-lobes broad, obtuse, pubescent on both surfaces, glandular-ciliate, some- what reflexed; petals roundish-ovate, erose; anthers yellow; filaments about one- quarter inch long; pistil glabrous except at the base, slightly longer than the stamens; stigma large. Fruit mid-season; one and five-eighths inches by one and one-half inches in size, irregular roundish- truncate, halves unequal; cavity shallow, narrow, abrupt; suture usually shallow, prominent; apex flattened or depressed; color dull yellow with greenish streaks, sometimes with pinkish blush about the cavity, mottled, overspread with thin bloom; dots numerous, small, inconspicuous; stem thick, three-quarters inch long, pubescent, adhering well to the fruit; skin thin, tough, sour, separating readily; flesh greenish-yellow, juicy, firm but tender, sweet, aromatic; very good; stone nearly free, seven-eighths inch by five-eighths inch in size, broadly oval, turgid, slightly con- tracted at the blunt base, roundish at the apex, with rough and pitted surfaces; ventral suture broad, with a distinct but small wing; dorsal suture widely and deeply grooved. BURBANK Primus tri flora 1. Ga. Hort. Soc. Rpl. 53, pg. 1889. 2. U. S. D. A. Rpt. 392. 1891. 3. Wickson Cal. Fruits 360. 1S91. 4. Cornell Sta. Bui. 106:46, 63. i8g6. 5. Ala. Col. Sta. Bui. 85:445. 1897. 6. Am. Pom. Soc. Cat. 26. 1897. 7. Am. Card. 19:75, 132, 220, 792. 1898. 8. Mich. Sta. Bui. 169:242, 249. 1899. 9. Cornell Sta. Bui. 175:143. 1899. 10. Waugh Plum Cult. 134. 1901. II. W. N. Y. Hort. Soc. Rpt. 88. 1902. 12. Can. Hort. 25:272. 1902. 13. Budd-Hansen Am. 170 THE PLUMS OF NEW YORK. Hort. Man. 308. 1903. 14. Ga, Sta. Bid. 68:11, 28. 1905. 15. Ohio Sta. Bui. 162:256. 1905. 16. DeVries Plant Breeding 170. 1907. Persing Nos. i & 2, 13. Russian plum 20M. 4. Wassu 4. Wassu 9. Probably Abundance holds first place among the Triflora plums in New York but Burbank is a close second and in many localities has first preference. Abiindance is in the lead chiefly because the trees of this variety are larger and better formed and bear more fruit than those of Burbank. To offset the advantages of Abundance the fruit of Burbank is of better quality, more handsomely colored, keeps and ships better and is less susceptible to brown-rot. The fruit of Burbank ripens a week or more later than that of Abundance, which in most seasons is a slight advantage for the first -named variety. The trees of this plum are distin- guished from those of all other plums by their low, spreading habit, flat top and somewhat drooping branches, characters which make them more or less difficult to handle in the orchard and very difficult to manage in the nursery. The wood of Burbank is brittle, true of all Trifloras, but a serious defect in this one. In common with other varieties of its species, Burbank is less troubled with curculio and black -knot than the European plums. The fruit of this variety begins to color some days before ripe and should be picked before fully matured if it is to be kept or shipped. Usually the best specimens of Burbank come from thinned trees and thinning is a necessary operation in all commercial orchards. The variety does not thrive in the South, being poor in quality and rotting badly. In New York, Burbank is not being planted nearly so largely as a few years ago, the Domesticas being much more profitable than this or other Triflora plums. It is a very desirable variety for home plantations in New York. Burbank was produced from a plum pit sent to Luther Burbank ' by ' Luther Burbank, kno-rni the world over for his work in bringing into being new plant forms, was bom in Lancaster, Massachusetts, March 7, 1849. He was educated in the common schools and in the local academy, his school-training being supplemented by much reading in the well-stocked library of which every New England town boasts. After leaving school, some time was spent in a factory in Worcester, Massachusetts, but, following a strong natural inclination to work with plants, he left the factory to grow vegetables and seeds. It was while so engaged that he grew the Burbank potato, most widely known and most valuable, if gauged by the monetary value of the crops pro- duced, of all of his new plants. In 1875 Mr. Burbank went to California and a few years later began in a small way the plant-breeding nursery at Santa Rosa in which most of his work has since been done. The years preceding this beginning and several following it constitute a time of hard labor, sickness and of financial distress through which only a man of remarkable strength of character could have lived and kept the desire to continue his work. Following a decade, more or less, of difficulties after the start at Santa Rosa, Mr. Burbank's career as a world-wide figure in plant-breeding may be said to have begun. One cannot briefly catalog the new forms of plants THE PLUMS OF NEW YORK. 17I a Japanese agent in 1883.' The fruit of this variety proved to be very superior and Mr. Burbank sent specimens of it to the Division of Pomology, United States Department of Agriculture in 1887, where it was named in honor of the introducer. Wassu, introduced by J. L. Normand, and the Russian plum, 20 M, sent out by Professor J. L. Budd proved to be indis- tinguishable from the Burbank as tested by Bailey, but Kerr ' thinks the Wassu is a distinct variety. The American Pomological Society added Burbank to the fruit list in its catalog in 1897. Tree large, vigorous, distinguished by its low, sprawling habit and flat open top, unusually hardy for a Japanese variety, very productive, healthy; branches somewhat roughish, dark ash-gray, thickly covered with fruit-spurs, with few, large, raised lenticels; branchlets medium in thickness and length, with short intemodes, greenish-red changing to dark brown, with gray scarf-skin, glossy, glabrous, with raised lenticels of medium size and number; leaf -buds short, obtuse, free. Leaves folded upward, broadly oblanceolate, peach-like, one and one-eighth inches wide, three and three-quarters inches long, thin; upper surface light green, smooth, pubescent only on the deeply grooved midrib; lower surface glabrous, pubescent on the midrib; apex taper-pointed, base cuneate, margin finely and doubly serrate, with small amber 01 reddish glands; petiole nine-sixteenths inch long, sparingly hairy on one side, tinged red, with from one to four small, reniform or globose glands mostly on the stalk. that have gone forth from his private place in California ; they must number well into the hundreds; his biographer, in 1905, said that Mr. Burbank has worked with over two thousand five hundred distinct species (Hanvood, W. S., New Creations in Plant Life i. 1905). Among these have been practically all of the species of plums now under cultivation, from which have been obtained, according to Mr. Burbank, hundreds of thousands of plum-seedlings of which the breeder has selected a score or more of very distinct sorts, all interesting and a few of them very valuable. The many other fruits, flowers and forage plants which Mr. Burbank has sent out, each involving the handling of countless seedlings, cannot be mentioned here. Nor can his methods and results be discussed, except to say that in them he is a unique figure in plant-breeding and that they have been such that he has exercised a powerful influence toward the improvement of plants. The practical results of Mr. Burbank's work have been as great or greater than those secured by any other person in plant-breeding, yet they have been magnified out of all bounds in the popular press and his work has been caricatured by calling the man a wizard and ascribing to him occult knowledge. Of the plants introduced by Mr. Burbank the proportion of really valuable commercial ones seems now to be small, but what he has done cannot be measured by money values; he has awakened universal interest in plant-breeding; has demonstrated that things unheard of before his time can be done with plants; and, all in all, his contributions in new forms of plants to horticulture and agriculture, in their intrinsic and educational value, make him the master worker of the times in improving plants. ' Stirtement in a letter from Mr. Burbank. ^ Mr. Kerr in a letter written in 1909 says: "Wassu, as I have it, is radically diflferent from descriptions of both Waugh and Bailey. The tree is as slovenly in habit as is that of the Burbank — there all resemblance ceases." 172 THE PLUMS OF NEW YORK. Blooming season early and short; flowers appearing with the leaves, white; borne in dense clusters on the lateral buds and spurs, in threes; pedicels one-quarter inch long, thick, glabrous; calyx-tube green, obconic, glabrous; caljrx-lobes broad, obtuse, gland- ular-serrate, glabrous, erect; petals broadly oval, entire, short-clawed; anthers yellow- ish; filaments one-quarter inch long; pistil glabrous, longer than the stamens. Fruit early, season long; variable in size, large when the tree is not overloaded, one and three-quarters inches in diameter, roundish-conic, halves equal; cavity deep, abrupt, regular; suture shallow; apex roundish; color dark red over a yellow ground, mottled, with thick bloom; dots numerous, large, russet, conspicuous; stem five-eighths inch long, glabrous, parting readily from the fruit; skin thin, tough, sour, separating from the pulp; flesh deep yellow, juicy, tender, flrm, sweet, aromatic; good; stone clinging, three-quarters inch by five-eighths inch in size, roundish-oval, turgid, blunt but sharp-tipped, roughish ,with a slightly winged ventral suture; dorsal suture acute. CHABOT Prunus triflora I. Ga. Hon. Soc. Rpt. 29. 1886. 2. Ibid. 52, 99. 18S9. 3. Am. Card. 12:501. 1891. 4. Ibid. 13:700. 1892. 5. i?«'. Hor/. 132, PI. 537. 1892. 6. Cornell Sta. Bui. 62:20, 22, 28. 1894. 7. Ibid. 106:44, 48, 51, 60. 1S96. 8. Rogers Cat. 9. 1896. 9. Cornell Sta. Bui. 139:38- i897- lO- -'!'«• Pom. Soc. Cat. 26. 1S97. II. Cornell Sta. Bui. 175:150. 1899. 12. Waugh Plum Ctdi. 134, 135 fig. 1901. 13. Can. Exp. Farm Bui. 43:37- 1903- 14- Ohio Sta. Bui. 162:250, 254, 255, 256, 257. 1905. 15. Ga. Sta. But. 68:12, 14, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32. 1905. Babcock 15. Babcock ?is. Bailey 3, 4, 6, 7. Bailey 9, 11, 12, 15. Chase 9, 15. Chabot 15. Douglas 15. Furugiya 7, 15. Furugiya 11, 12, 15. Hytankayo 14. Hytankayo 15. Hon-smonio 15. 0-Hatankyo II. Orient 6, 7. Orient 14. O-hattankio 15. Paragons. Red N agate oi some 1. Uchi Beni of some 11. Yclloiv Japan 9, 11, 12. When properly handled the fruits of Chabot are far the most attract- ive of the many Triflora plums. They are large, beautifully molded and handsomely mottled in shades of red over yellow with occasional splashes of russet and a heavy but delicate bloom. To secure the best coloring, the fruit must be picked before ripe and be matured in dark stor- age. Early picking is necessary also because the season of ripening is very long and the fruit drops badly if permitted to hang to the trees until fvdly ripe. There should be at least three pickings for this variety. Unfortunatel}-, the quality of Chabot belies its appearance, being at best not above the average. The frtiits are firm and ship well and keep rather better than those of any other plum of its species. The trees are hardy and depend- able in bearing but not as productive as could be wished. The blossoms of Chabot open later than those of most other Trifloras, enabling this sort occasionally to escape frosts which injure other varieties of this species. The stamens are often short, tmdeveloped and wholly or in part sterile. THE PLUMS OF NEW YORK. I73 Because of its attractive fruit this variety might well be grown more than it is for the markets. Chabot was imported from Japan by a Mr. Chabot of Berkeley, Cali- fornia, and was introduced to the trade by Luther Burbank in 1886. As with Abundance, the nomenclature of Chabot is badly confused. Several names that have been found to be synonymous with the former have also been applied to the latter. J. L. Normand, Marksville, Louisiana, imported trees from Japan, among which was a tree that was different from any growing on his grounds. He named this variety after Bailey and in- trodticed it in 1891. Later this was fotmd to be identical with Chabot. Furugiya, another introduction by Normand, is imdoubtedly Chabot. H. N. Stames of the Georgia Experiment Station, who has tested many of the Japanese pliuns, published in Bulletin 68 of his station, the additional synonyms: Chase, 0-hattankio, Hytankayo, Douglas, Hon-smomo and Babcock. Orient, introduced by Stark Brothers, Louisiana, Missouri, in 1893, is Chabot as tested at the New York and Ohio experiment stations. Paragon, introduced by the Rogers Nursery Company, Moorestown, New Jersey, has also proved to be identical. In 1897 the American Pomological Society added this variety to its fruit catalog list. Tree large, vigorous, vasiform or upright-spreading, open-topped, slow-growing, hardy, productive, susceptible to attacks of shot-hole fungus; branches roughish, the fruit-spurs numerous, dark ash-gray, with raised lenticels variable in size; branchlets slender, with short intemodes, greenish-red changing to dark chestnut-red, glossy, glabrous, with numerous, conspicuous, rather large, raised lenticels; leaf-buds small, short, obtuse, somewhat appressed. Leaves folded upward, obovate or oblanccolate, peach-like, one and one-quarter inches wide, three inches long, thin; upper surface light green, smooth, with a shallow, grooved midrib; lower surface pale green, glabrous except at the base of the veins; apex acutely pointed, base cuneate, margin finely serrate, with small, amber or dark red glands; petiole one-half inch long, slender, slightly pubescent along the upper surface, heavily tinged with red, glandless or with from one to six small, globose or ren- iform, greenish-brown glands usually on the stalk. Blooming season intermediate and long; flowers appearing with the leaves, white; borne in clusters on lateral spurs in pairs or in threes; pedicels three-eighths inch long, pubescent, greenish; calyx-tube green, obconic, pubescent at the base; calyx-lobes obtuse, glandular, somewhat serrate, pubescent at the base, erect; petals broadly oval, entire, with narrow, long claws; anthers shrivelled; filaments nearly sessile or one- eighth inch long; pistil glabrous, longer than the stamens; stigma small. Fruit mid-season, ripening period long; one and five-eighths inches in diameter, cordate or roundish, halves equal; cavity deep, flaring, with concentric, russet rings; 174 THE PLUMS OF NEW YORK. suture distinct; apex roundish or pointed; color light and dark shades of red over yellow, mottled, with occasional splashes of russet and with a thick but delicate bloom; dots numerous, small, russet or yellow, conspicuous unless obscured by the bloom, clustered around the apex; stem thick, one-half inch long, adhering to the fruit ; skin medium in thickness, tender, bitter, separating easily; flesh golden-yellow, very juicy, coarse and fibrous, tender, somewhat melting when fully ripe, sweet, although somewhat tart at the center, sprightly, with characteristic Triflora flavor; good; stone clinging, three-quarters inch by one-half inch in size, oval, turgid, slightly necked, with pitted surfaces; ventral suture wide; dorsal suture unfurrowed. CHALCO Pruniis sinionii X Prunus triflora I. Burbank Cat. 4. 189S. 2. Rural N. Y. 57:184, 653. 1898. 3. Vt. Sla. Bui. 67:8. 1S98. 4. Vt. Sta. An. Rpt. 14:273. 1901. 5. Ga. Sta. Bui. 68:12, 35. 1905. Chalco has been extensively advertised by several ntirseries but, from the reports received, it is doubtful if it will ever be grown commercially. The trees, in the East at least, are slow in coming into bearing; the fruits are small; and the flavor such that consirmers will have to learn to like it although it is much better in quality than the Simon plum, one of its parents, being quite free from the bitterness of this parent. The tree is rather better than that of the Simon plum or of the Wickson, the two plums with which it must be compared. The amateur may care to plant Chalco but here its useftilness ends. Burbank in introducing this plum in 1898, stated that it was the first fruit offered after twelve years' work in crossing Prunus simonii with Prunus triflora and American species. The parentage of Chalco is given as a Simon-Burbank cross. The following description is compiled: Tree vigorous, upright or somewhat vasiform, very productive; leaves large, dark green. Fruit matures shortly before Burbank; large when well grown, oblate, dark red; flesh yellowish, firm, very juicy, aromatic, sweet; good; stone small, oval, slightly flattened, semi- free. CHAMBOURCY Prunus domestica I. Rev. Hort. 39. 1898. 2. Soc. Nat. Hort. France Pom. 560, fig. 1904. 3. Can. Exp. Farms Rpt. 433. 1903. 4. Cat. Cong. Pom. France 473 fig. 1906. Reine-Claude Tardive De Chambourcy 2. Reine-Claude Tardive Latinois i. Reine-CIaude Tardive de Chambourcy i. Reine-Claude Latinois 2, 4. Reine-Claude tardive i. Reine-Claude Verte 4. Reine-Claude Tardive 2, 4. Reine-Claude de Chambourcy 3. Tardive de Chambourcy 4. This fruit was fotmd at the beginning of the Nineteenth Centur}^ at Chambourcy, France, in the garden of M. Bourgeois; no record of its par- THE PLUMS OF NEW YORK. 175 ents seems to have been made. M. Latinois introdticed it into commerce in 1885-1886 and consequently his name became attached to the variety. The plum is not well known in America, there being only one published American reference. This Station received the variety for testing in 1899 from the United States Department of Agriculture. It has value on ac- count of its high quality and its lateness, and is worthy of extensive testing. Tree small, upright-spreading, dense-topped, productive; branchlets develop fruit-spurs near the base; leaf-buds strongly appressed; leaves folded upward, long- oval or obovate, one and five-eighths inches wide, three and three-quarters inches long, somewhat leathery; margin doubly serrate or crenate, with small dark glands; bloom- ing season intermediate in time and length; flowers appearing after the leaves, over one inch across; borne in thin clusters on lateral buds and spurs, singly or in pairs. Fruit very late, season of medium length; nearly one and one-half inches in diameter, roundish, slightly truncate, yellowish-green, with a delicate bloom and a pink blush on the exposed cheek; flesh greenish-yellow, very juicy, firm but tender, sweet, aro- matic, of high flavor; very good to best; stone semi-free or free, three-quarters inch, by one-half inch in size, irregular-oval, flattened, rather blunt at the base and apex, with roughened surfaces; ventral suture strongly furrowed, often with a distinct wing. CHAMPION Prunus domestica I. Wickson Cal. Fruits 360. 1891. 2. Oregon Hort. Soc. Rpt. 147. 1893. 3- Am. Pom. Soc. Rpt. 150. 1895. 4. Oregon Sta. Bui. 45:30. 1897. Champion Prune, i, 2, 3. The Champion was introduced with the expectation that it would be a valuable fruit for curing into prunes. It has not proved to be a good plum for prune-making, as it is too juicy, about three-fourths of its bulk evaporating, but the western plum-growers have found it a very good pliun for shipping in the fresh state. It is very attractive in appear- ance, firm, free of stone, sweet and pleasant and withal of rather high quality. The tree-characters, as the plums grow in Geneva, are in the main very good, falling short, if at all, in productiveness. They are such as to lead to the recommendation of a trial for this plum by pliun-growers in general in New York. This variety is a seedling of the Italian Prune produced by Jesse Bullock, Oswego, Oregon, about 1876, and introduced by C. E. Hoskins, Springbrook, Oregon. Since the Italian Prune comes nearly true to seed it is very doubtful if this variety is a pure-bred seedling judging from the characters of the fruit as given below: 176 THE PLUMS OF NEW YORK. Tree of medium size and vigor, upright-spreading, open-topped, hardy, productive, an early bearer, subject to sun-scald; branches ash-gray, rather smooth, with few, small lenticels; branchlets short, with very short intemodes, greenish-red changing to brownish-red, dull, sparingly pubescent throughout the season, with few incon- spicuous, small lenticels; leaf-buds below medium in size, short, obtuse, free, plump. Leaves folded upward, oval, one and five-eighths inches wide, three inches long; upper surface somewhat rugose, covered with numerous, fine hairs, with a shallow groove on the midrib; lower surface silvery-green, pubescent; apex abruptly pointed or acute, base acute, margin crenate, with small black glands; petiole one-half inch long, green, pubescent, with from one to three medium to large, globose, brownish glands mostly at the base of the leaf. Blooming season intermediate in time and length; flowers appearing after the leaves, one inch across, white with a yellowish tinge at the apex of the petals; borne on lateral spurs, singly or in pairs; pedicels five-eighths inch long, with a few scattering hairs, green; calyx-tube greenish, campanulate, sparingly pubescent; calj^-lobes obtuse, pubescent on both surfaces, glandular-serrate, somewhat reflexed; petals round- ish, crenate, tapering to short, broad claws; anthers yellow; filaments three-eighths inch long; pistil glabrous, slightly shorter or equal to the stamens in length. Fruit earlier than Italian Prune; about one and one-half inches in diameter, round- ish, compressed, halves equal; cavity very shallow, abrupt, narrow, regular; suture shallow; apex roundish, with a slight depression at the pistil-point; color dark purplish- black, with thick bloom; dots small, russet, somewhat conspicuous, clustered about the apex; stem five-eighths inch long, sparingly pubescent, parting readily from the fruit; skin thick, tough, sour, adhering but little; flesh attractive yellow, juicy, firm, sweet, pleasant flavor; very good; stone free, the cavity larger than the pit, three- quarters inch by one-half inch in size, irregular-oval, the surface distinctly roughened and pitted; ventral suture swollen, rather narrow, often with a wing; dorsal suture with a shallow, narrow, indistinct groove. CHENEY Primus nigra I. Wis. Hon. Soc. Rpt. IS, 38. 1S85. 2. Minn. Hort. Soc. Rpt. 126. 1890. 3. Cormll Sta. Bui. 38:36, 86. 1892. 4. la. Sta. Bill. 31:346. 1895. 5. Wis. Sta. Bid. 63:24, 31 fig. 13. 1897. 6. Am. Pom. Soc. Cat. 24. 1897. 7. Card. & For. 10:367. 1897. 8. Colo. Sta. Bui. 50:33. 1898. 9. l^Iinn. Hort. Soc. Rpt. 412. 1899. 10. Waugh Plum CuU. 169. 1901. 11. Budd-Hansen Am. Hort. Man. 2g4. 1903. 12. Can. Exp. Farm Bui. 43:2g. 1903. 13. la. Hort. Soc. Rpt. 4SS. 1904. 14. Ohio Sta. Bui. 162:254, 255. 1905. 15. 5. Dak. Sta. Bui. 93:11. 1905. 16. 7a. Sta. Bui. 114:129. 1910. Cherry 16 incor. Cheney is of little value except towards the northern limits of fniit cultiire in America where, because of its great hardiness, it is a most desir- able fruit -plant. Of the varieties illustrated and described among the lead- ing plums in this text, Cheney is the sole representative of Prunus mgra. } I THE PLUMS OF NEW YORK. 177 the wild plum of Canada and of northern United States. The accompany- ing description shows that while the fniit of this variety is not such as to recommend it where other species can be grown, the tree has some characters most desirable wherever plums are grown — ^hardiness, vigor, productiveness and good form — so that this variety might well be used in breeding plums. The trees are very ornamental whether in flower, full leaf or fruit, but especially when in full bloom as they bear a great pro- fusion of large white flowers which change to a pleasing pink before falling. This plum, according to a letter from the discoverer, E. Markle, of La Crosse, Wisconsin, was found in the brush on a ridge, in Vernon County, Wisconsin, about twenty-five or thirty years ago. Mr. Markle thought it must have spning from a seed dropped by an early voyager of the Missis- sippi River as there were no similar plums in the region. Noting its good qualities Mr. Markle introduced the variety, the date of introduction being about 1887. The American Pomological Society added Cheney to its fruit catalog list in 1897, where, however, it remained but two years. Tree large, vigorous, spreading, dense-topped, hardy, productive, bears early, somewhat susceptible to disease; branches numerous, dark brownish-gray, very thorny, with large lenticels; branchlets long, with long intemodes, greenish-red changing to dull reddish-brown, dull, thickly pubescent early in the season, the pubescence de- creasing at maturity, with raised lenticels which are variable in size; leaf-buds smallish, short, conical, free. Leaves folded upward, oval, one and three-quarters inches wide, three and five- eighths inches long, thin; upper surface dark green, nearly smooth, pubescent only along the midrib which is deeply grooved; lower surface yellowish-green, pubescent along the midrib and larger veins; apex taper-pointed, margin crenate, usually in two series, sometimes with small, dark glands; petiole one-half inch long, rather slender, pubescent, tinged red, glandless or with from one to three small, globose, green- ish-yellow glands usually on the stalk. Blooming season intermediate in time and length; flowers appearing after the leaves, showy, about one inch across, white changing to pink; borne in clusters on lateral spurs, in pairs or in threes, very fragrant; pedicels nine-sixteenths inch long, pubescent, green with a trace of red; calyx-tube obconic, glabrous, red on the outer surface but green within and pinkish along the margin; calyx-lobes obtuse or acute, serrate, with small red glands and with marginal hairs, narrow, sparingly pubescent on the inner surface, reflexed; petals broadly oval, crenate, often toothed, tapering below to long narrow claws; anthers yellowish; filaments nearly one-half inch in length; pistil glab- rous, shorter than the stamens. Fruit mid -season, ripening period very long; medium in size, irregular roundish- oval, strongly oblique, halves equal; cavity shallow, regular, flaring; suture shallow 178 THE PLUMS OF NEW YORK. or a line; apex' roundish, somewhat oblique; color at first yellowish-green with a light carmine blush changing to deep carmine on a yellow ground, covered with thin bloom; dots numerous, very small, russet, inconspicuous, densely clustered about the apex; stem slender, five-eighths inch in length, slightly pubescent, adhering to the fruit; skin thick, tough, sour, separating readily; flesh deep yellow, very juicy, fibrous, tender and melting, sweet next to the skin but tart at the center, not high in flavor; fair in quality; stone adhering, seven-eighths inch by five-eighths inch in size, broadly oval, distinctly flattened, blunt-pointed, with ridged and furrowed surfaces; ventral suture acute, narrow; dorsal suture slightly furrowed. CLIMAX Primus triflora X Primus simonii 1. Rural N. Y. 57:653, 818. 1898. 2. Cal. State Board Hort. 52. 1897-98. 3. Vt. Sta. Bui. 67:9. 1898. 4. Vt. Sta. An. Rpt. 12:222. 1899. 5. Burbank Cat. 2. 1899. 6. Nat. Nur. 8:117. 1900. 7. Vt. Sta. An. Rpt. 14:273. 1901. 8. Rural N. Y. 62:643. 1903. 9. Mich. Sta. Sp. Bui. 30:18. 1905. 10. Ga. Sta. Bui. 68:8, 35. 1905. 11. Ga. Hort. Soc. Rpt. 66. 1907. Royal I. Royal i, 3, 4. It is hard to judge as to the merits of this variety. From the behavior of the trees on the grounds of this Station where we have had fruit of it for eight years, we should say at once that Qimax has no place in the plum-growing regions of the East but others who have grown it speak so well of it, the fruit in particular, that the unfavorable opinion of the variety formed here may be unjust. Some of the expressions re- garding this fruit in the foregoing references inay be dismissed at once as the most wildly extravagant and absurd to be found in plum literature. From its behavior on these groimds and in the plum-growing regions of the East in general, it seems certain that Climax cannot stand the vicissitudes of the climate, suffering both in winter and summer. The trees, in size, vigor and habit of growth, are inferior to those of most Triflora varieties, and those under observation in this part of New York are not as productive as the standard Trifloras with which CHmax must be compared. The fruit is handsome in shape and color, more so in color than the accompanying illustration shows, and is of good quality. Unfortunately it is very susceptible to the brown -rot, so much so that because of this defect alone Climax could hardly become a profitable commercial plum in this region. It has been quite well tested in vari- ous parts of New York and has proved so uniformly disappointing in tree-characters, in particular, that it cannot be recommended as other than a plum for the home collection where, because of its beauty and quality, it is most desirable. THE PLUMS OF NEW YORK. 179 Climax is another of Luther Burbank's plums, having been introduced in 1899. The originator states that it is a selected hybrid between the Simon and Botan plums. The variety was first described as the Royal but since this name had been previously given to a European plum it was renamed Climax. Tree large, vigorous, upright-spreading, somewhat straggling, dense-topped, semi- hardy, medium productive; branches dark ash-gray, short and stout, with numerous lenticels; branchlets short, with very short intemodes, brownish chestnut-red, glossy, glabrous, with numerous conspicuous, small, raised lenticels; leaf-buds small, short, obtuse, plump, free. Leaves folded upward, oblanceolate, peach-like, one and one-quarter inches wide, three and three-eighths inches long, thin; upper surface light green, smooth, with a grooved midrib, glabrous; lower surface light green, glabrous except on the midrib and larger veins; apex taper-pointed, base cuneate, margin finely serrate or crenate, with small, dark brown glands; petiole nine-sixteenths inch long, sparsely pubescent, tinged red, glandless or with from one to seven small, globose or slightly compressed, reddish glands. Blooming season early and of medium length; flowers appearing with the leaves, white; borne in clusters of three, on lateral spurs; pedicels, long, thick, glabrous, green; calyx tube greenish, obconic, glabrous; calyx-lobes obtuse, with a few hair-like glands, glabrous, erect; petals roundish-oval, entire; anthers deep yellow; filaments short; pistil glabrous, equal to the stamens in length; stigma very small. Fruit very early, season short; one and three-quarters inches in diameter, cordate or roundish, slightly compressed, halves unequal; cavity deep, abrupt, regular, marked with faint, reddish, radiating streaks; suture deep, broad; apex pointed; color dark red, mottled; bloom of medium thickness; dots numerous, variable in size, russet, con- spicuous, clustered about the base; stem thick, nine-sixteenths inch long, glabrous, parting readily from the fruit; skin thick, bitter, with a tendency to crack, separating easily from the pulp only when fully ripe; flesh yellowish, very juicy, somewhat fibrous, tender and melting, sweet, pleasant flavored, aromatic; good; stone adhering, seven- eighths inch by five-eighths inch in size, somewhat long-oval, pointed, roughish, con- spicuously winged and grooved on the ventral suture; dorsal suture slightly grooved. CLING STEM Primus domestica I. A^. Y. Sta. Rpt. 9:347. 1890. This plum belongs to the Reine Claude group, a group in which there is room for new varieties only at the top. Cling Stem is inferior, falling short chiefly in quality, for a plum of its type, and it is doubtful if it is worth general planting. This Station alone seems to have tested the l8o THE PLUMS OF NEW YORK. variety, hence the rather full description which follows of a plum which cannot be recommended. The variety was sent here in 1890 from North Ferrisburg, Vermont, by L. M. Macomber. Tree large and vigorous, spreading, dense-topped, very productive; branches rough, the bark marked by concentric rings, with numerous spurs and with many, small, raised lenticels; branchlets short, pubescent; leaf -scars swollen; leaves folded upward, oval, one and three-quarters inches wide, three inches long, rather thick and leathery; margin doubly crenate, eglandular or with small, dark glands; petiole pubes- cent, tinged red, glandless or with from one to three globose glands usually at the base of the leaf; blooming season of medium length; flowers over one inch across, white with yellowish tinge near the apex of the petals; borne on lateral buds and spurs, singly or in pairs. Fruit mid-season; one and one-half inches by one and five-eighths inches in size, nearly roundish, dull light yellow, sometimes mottled with red on the exposed cheek, overspread with thin bloom; skin thin, sour ; flesh greenish-yellow, tender and melting, sweet near the surface but acid at the center, mild, pleasant, but not high-flavored; stone clinging, three-quarters inch by five-eighths inch in size, nearly round, turgid; sur- faces pitted; ventral suture broad, heavily furrowed, with a short, distinct wing. CLYMAN Primus domestica I. U. S. D. A. Rpt. 574. 1888. 2. Cal. State Board Hon. 236, 239, PI. II figs. 3 .md 4. 1890. 3. Wickson Cal. Fruits 358. 1891. 4. Am. Pom. Sac. Cat. 25. 1897. 5. N. Mex. Sta. Bid. 27:124. iSgS. 6. Ohio Sta. Bui. 113:158. 1S99. 7. Waugh Plum Cult. 98. 1901. 8. Ohio Sta. Bui. 162:236, 237 fig., 254, 255. 1905. Clyman has special merit as one of the earliest good Domesticas. The fruit resembles that of Lombard somewhat, but is smaller and is much better in quality. As grown in California the Clyman commands high prices for shipping eastward. Whether it could be grown profitably in the East remains to be seen but it deserves to be rather widely tested for an early home and market plum. In New York it has a few serious faults : the plums are susceptible to rot, they drop as soon as ripe and the trees seem not to be quite hardy at Geneva; though in the Ohio reference given above they are said to be " rather hardier than those of most other European sorts." Otherwise than in hardiness the trees at this place are quite satisfactory. The variety is characterized by very long stamens. Clyman is well deserving of trial with the possibility that it may prove to be the best of our early Domesticas. This plum was raised from a Peach plum stone planted in 1866, by Mrs. Hannah Cl>Tnan, Napa City, Napa Valley, California. The original THE PLUMS OF NEW YORK. l8l tree was cut down but several suckers were taken from the roots and planted in an orchard. These bore fruit for many years, never failing to mature a crop. In 1886, Leonard Coates, a nurseryman and fruit-grower of Napa City, became interested in the plum on accoimt of its extreme earliness and offered it to his customers. The American Pomological Society added Clyman to its fruit catalog list in 1897. Tree rather large, vigorous, round and dense-topped, semi-hardy in New York, productive; branches ash-gray, nearly smooth, with numerous, small, raised lenticels; branchlets thick, rather long, with intemodes of medium length, greenish-red changing to brownish-red, dull, heavily pubescent throughout the season, with numerous, indis- tinct, small lenticels; leaf -buds of medium size and length, conical, appressed; leaf- scars prominent. Leaves folded backward, obovate, one and seven-eighths inches wide, three and one-quarter inches long; upper surface dark green, rugose, sparingly hairy; lower surface pale green, pubescent; apex abruptly pointed or acute, base acute, margin serrate or crenate, covered with small dark glands; petiole nearly seven-eighths inch long, pubescent, reddish, glandless or with from one to three globose, greenish-yellow glands variable in size and position. Blooming season early and short; flowers appearing after the leaves, one and one- eighth inches across, white, the buds creamy at the apex when unfolding; borne in clusters on lateral spurs, singly or in pairs; pedicels about one-half inch long, thick, pubescent, greenish; calyx-tube green, campanulate, pubescent; calyx-lobes narrow, obtuse, pubescent on both surfaces, serrate, reflexed; petals obovate, dentate, tapering to short, broad claws; anthers yellow; filaments about seven-sixteenths inch long; pistil pubescent near the base, equal to the stamens in length. Fruit very early, season short; one and one-half inches by one and three-eighths inches in size, oval, halves equal; cavity narrow, abrupt, regular; suture shallow and often indistinct; apex roundish or slightly depressed; color dark purplish-red, covered with thick bloom; dots numerous, small, russet, inconspicuous; stem five-eighths inches long, pubescent, adhering poorly to the fruit; skin tender, sour, separating readily; flesh pale yellow, dry, firm, sweet, mild but pleasant; of good quality; stone free, seven-eighths inch by five-eighths inch in size, somewhat flattened, irregular-oval, with pitted surfaces, tapering abruptly at the base, nearly acute at the apex; ventral suture of medium width, usually rather blunt; dorsal suture with a wide, deep groove. COLUMBIA Prunus domestica I. Mag. Hort. 8:90. 1842. 2. Downing Fr. Trees Am. 292. 1845. 3- Cole Am. Fr. Book 216. 1849. 4- Thomas Am. Fruit CuU. 334. 1S49. 5- ■^'«- Pom. Soc. Cat. S6. 1S62. 6. Mas Pom. Gen. 2:159. '873. 7. Hogg Fruit Man. 691. 1884. 8. Wash. Hort. Soc. Rpt. 135. 1893. Columbian Gage 2, 4. Columbia Pflaume 6. Columbia Gage 7. I82 THE PLUMS OF NEW YORK. When grown on strong soils and in some climates, Columbia is possibly a plum of value and sometimes of superiority, but in New York in the average plantation it falls far short of other fruits of its type — that of the Reine Claude. The trees are productive and the fruit large and handsome but not of highest quality and moreover drops badly and is very susceptible to the brown-rot. Columbia originated early in the second quarter of the Nineteenth Century with L. V. Lawrence of Hudson, New York, from seed of Reine Claude. Tree large, medium in vigor, upright-spreading, open-topped, productive; trunk stocky, rough; branches thick; branchlets pubescent; leaves folded upward, one and seven-eighths inches wide, four and one-quarter inches long, oval, thick, leathery; upper surface rugose; margin serrate or crenate, with small, dark glands; petiole thick, tinged red, pubescent, with from one to three globose glands. Fruit mid-season; when well grown nearly one and one-half inches in diameter, roundish-oval, the smaller specimens rather ovate, dark purplish-red, overspread with thick bloom; stem surrounded by a fleshy ring at the cavity; skin tender, sour; flesh golden-yellow, dry, firm, sweet, mild; of good quality; stone semi-free or free, seven-eighths inch by three-quarters inch in size, roundish-oval, flattened; ventral suture prominent; dorsal suture widely and deeply grooved. COMPASS Primus besseyi X Primus horttdana mineri 1. Northwestern A^r. 2,^?,. 1895. 2. Vt. Sta. Bui. 6t.io. 1898. 3. /a. S/a. Sj(i. 46:266. 1900. 4. Budd-Hansen Am. Hort. Man. 294. 1903. 5. S. Dak. Sta. Bui. 93:13. 1905. Compass Cherry 2. Heidetnan Sand Clierry. In 1891 H. Knudson of Springfield, Minnesota, poUinated the Sand Cherry with pollen from the Danish Morello cherry and the Miner plum. The seed of the resulting cross, beyond question that of the Sand Chewy and the plum, was planted on August seventh of the same year and, in 1894 produced fruit for the first time. In 1893 C. W. H. Heideman of New Ulm, Minnesota