Chapter III: Leading Varieties of Plums (1)

ABUNDANCE

_Prunus triflora_

=1.= _Am. Pom. Soc. Rpt._ 96. 1887. =2.= _Am. Gard._ =9=:360.
1888. =3.= _Ga. Hort. Soc. Rpt._ 51, 52, 53, 99. 1889. =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. Bul._ =62=:19, 27, 32. 1894.
=9.= _Tex. Sta. Bul._ =32=:488. 1894. =10.= _Rev. Hort._ 160.
1895. =11.= _Mich. Sta. Bul._ =118=:52. 1895. =12.= _Cornell
Sta. Bul._ =106=:41, 43, 44, 47, 48, 49. 1896. =13.= _Va. Sta.
Bul._ =67=:96. 1896. =14.= _Cornell Sta. Bul._ =131=:195. 1897.
=15.= _Ibid._ =139=:37, 38, 39, 40. 1897. =16.= _Am. Pom. Soc.
Cat._ 26. 1897. =17.= _Cornell Sta. Bul._ =175=:141, 142, 143.
1899. =18.= Waugh _Plum Cult._ 132, 135. 1901. =19.= _Mich.
Sta. Bul._ =169=:242, 248. 1899. =20.= _Ont. Fruit Exp. Sta.
Rpt._ 15. 1902. =21.= _Ohio Sta. Bul._ =162=:254, 255. 1905.
=22.= _Texas Nur. Co. Cat._ 9. 1907. =23.= _Ga. Sta. Bul._
=68=:7, 28. 1905.

_Abundance_ 7. _Babcock_ (?) 15, 17. Babcock 12, 16, 18. Botan
1, 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 Abundance 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 undoubtedly several well marked strains could be selected, 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 plums 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 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 disseminated 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 distributed 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.[202] As this name had been applied to a native plum, R. H. Price, of the Texas Experiment Station, in 1894 renamed the variety calling it Douglas.[203] There have been two types of this Douglas plum disseminated; Bailey, in 1899, found no difference between it and Abundance 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 internodes, 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 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, conspicuous; 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. 1. 1796. =2.=
_Lond. Hort. Soc. Cat._ 143, 147, 152, 153. 1831. =3.= Prince
_Pom. Man._ =2=:75, 100. 1832. =4.= Poiteau _Pom. Franc._ 1.
1846. =5.= Downing _Fr. Trees Am._ 309. 1845. =6.= _U. S. Pat.
Off. Rpt._ 30. 1854. =7.= Thompson _Gard. Ass’t_ 519. 1859.
=8.= _Am. Pom. Soc. Cat._ 86. 1862. =9.= Oberdieck _Deut. Obst.
Sort._ 427. 1881. =10.= Hogg _Fruit Man._ 683. 1884. =11.= Mas
_Le Verger_ =6=:81, fig. 1866-73. =12.= _Cal. State Bd. Hort._
291. 1885-86. =13.= _Cat. Cong. Pom. France_ 343. 1887. =14.=
_Cal. State Bd. Hort._ 49, 50. 1887-88. =15.= _Ibid._ 233, 235,
340. 1890. =16.= _Ibid._ 96, 105, Pl. 1. 1891. =17.= _Guide
Prat._ 160, 353. 1895. =18.= _Oregon Sta. Bul._ =45=:24. 1897.
=19.= _Cornell Sta. Bul._ =131=:191. 1897. =20.= U. S. D. A.
_Div. Pom. Bul._ =7=:315, 316. Pl. IV, fig. 4. 1898. =21.=
_Mich. Sta. Bul._ =169=:241, 242. 1899. =22.= _Cal. Fr. Gr.
Con._ 29. 1901. =23.= Waugh _Plum Cult._ 94, 95 fig. 1901.
=24.= Baltet _Cult. Fr._ 495, fig. 331, 506, 507, fig. 336.
1908. =25.= Wickson _Cal. Fruits_ 225. 1908. =26.= _Cal. Fr.
Grower_ =40=:18, 19, fig. 1909.

_Agen_ 22. _Agener Kaiserzwetsche_ 17. Agen Date 3. _Agen
Datte_ 5, 10. _Agener Pflaume_ 17. Agener Pflaume 9. Agen Prune
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_ 1, 13, 17. _Die Blaue Dattelpflaume_ 17.
Die Blaue Dattelpflaume 1. _Du Roi_ 17. _French_ 20. _French
Prune_ 15, 18, 23, 25. French Prune (?) 2, 12, 14, 15, 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, 19, 25. _Prune d’Agen_ 14, 16, 18,
23. _Prune de Brignole_ (of some) 5, 7, 17. _Prune d’Ante_ 3.
_Prune d’Ast_ 5, 7, 10, 11. _Prune d’Ente_ 7, 12, 18. _Prunier
d’Agen_ 3. Prunier d’Agen 6. Prune d’Ente 22. _Prune du Roi_
10. _Robe de Sergent_ 3, 5, 7, 8, 11, 13, 17, 18. _Robe de
Sargent_ 10, 12. Roi d’Agen 2. Saint Maurin 2, 4. _St. Maurin_
5, 7, 10, 17. _Saint Mauriniana_ 4. _Violette Dattelzwetsche_
17.

Agen is the plum par excellence for prune-making in France and America. Several qualities make it admirably fit for curing into prunes. To begin with, it has a high percentage of sugars and solids 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, abundantly and the plums are uniform in size,—productiveness, regular bearing and uniformity 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 prunes, the Agen is a very good dessert plum—one of the best—and ought to be in every home orchard and, where it attains sufficient 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 Bordeaux, 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 plum 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
internodes, greenish-red changing to dark brownish-drab, dull,
pubescent, 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, 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_

=1.= _Minn. Hort. Soc. Rpt._ 426. 1896. =2.= _Wis. Sta. Bul._
=63=:24, 27, 28 fig. 11, 43. 1897. =3.= _Jewell Nur. Cat._
1899-1906. =4.= Waugh _Plum Cult._ 169. 1901. =5.= _Can. Exp.
Farm Bul._ =43=:29. 1903. =6.= _Ia. Hort. Soc. Rpt._ 227. 1904.

Aitken 4. _Beatty_ 6 incor. Itasca 1 incor.

Aitkin is very favorably mentioned in the references given above and undoubtedly has value for the Northwest. It was listed in the catalog 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.

ALHAMBRA

[_Prunus triflora_ × _Prunus cerasifera_ × _Prunus domestica_] × [(_Prunus simonii_ × _Prunus triflora_) × (_Prunus americana_ × _Prunus nigra_)]

=1.= _Vt. Sta. Bul._ =67=:5. 1898. =2.= De Vries _Plant
Breeding_ 213. 1907.

Although it is over a decade since Alhambra was offered to fruit-growers, it has made little 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 Alhambra. 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

_Prunus domestica_

=1.= _Jour. Hort._ N. S. =17=:228. 1869. =2.= Lange _Allgem.
Garten._ =2=:419. 1879. =3.= Oberdieck _Deut. Obst. Sort._ 432.
1881. =4.= Lauche _Deut. Pom._ 19, Pl. IV. 1882. =5.= Hogg
_Fruit Man._ 692. 1884. =6.= Mathieu _Nom. Pom._ 420. 1889.
=7.= Gaucher _Pom. Prak. Obst._ 94, _Pl._ 1894. =8.= _Soc. Nat.
Hort. France Pom._ 550 fig. 1904. =9.= _Cat. Cong. Pom. France_
468, fig. 1906. =10.= Baltet _Cult. Fr._ 490, fig. 328. 1908.

_Althan’s Reine Claude_ 6, 7. Althann’s Reine Claude 2, 3,
4, 6. _Althahn’s Rote Reine-Claude_ 6, 7. _Althann’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-Claude_
7. Hathen’s Red Gage 1. _Reine-Claude Rouge de Hathen_ 1.
_Reine-Claude d’Althann_ 5, 6, 7. _Reine-Claude Comte Althan_
5, 6. _Reine-Claude de Comte Hathem_ 5, 6. _Reine-Claude
du Comte Hathem_ 6, 7. _Reine-Claude du Comte d’Althan_ 8.
_Reine-Claude Althan’s_ 5, 6, 7. _Reine-Claude Comte d’Althan_
6. Reine-Claude d’Althan 8. _Reine-Claude d’Althan_ 6, 7, 10.
_Reine-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 Claude 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 McLaughlin, which sells fairly well. The fruit is the type of the last named plum but is later. In Europe this variety is well known and highly esteemed for its quality, but unfortunately it is almost unknown in America. The variety is well worth trial in this country as a fine plum of the Reine Claude group. Altham is a seedling of Reine Claude, raised by Herr Prochaska, gardener to Count 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 prominent; leaves folded upward,
obovate, two and one-quarter inches wide, nearly four inches
long, very 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, yellowish 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

_Prunus munsoniana_ × _Prunus triflora_

=1.= Burbank _Cat._ 3. 1898 =2.= _Vt. Sta. Bul._ =67=:5. 1898,
=3.= _Rural N. Y._ =59=:706. 1900. =4.= _Vt. Sta. An. Rpt._
=14=:273. 1900. =5.= _Mich. Sta. Bul._ =205=:37 1903. =6.=
_Del. Penin. Hort. Soc. Rpt._ 36. 1905. =7.= _Ohio Sta. Bul._
=162=:254, 255. 1905. =8.= _Ga. Sta. Bul._ =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 unusually 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 productive. 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, considering its parentage.

This variety is one of Luther Burbank’s productions, grown from a seed of Robinson fertilized by pollen from Abundance. It was introduced 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,
slightly zigzag, dark ash-gray, with numerous, conspicuously
raised lenticels; branchlets willowy, long, with short
internodes, 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. Bul._ =61=:17, 18. 1900.

American Seedling 1.

American originated with a Mr. Peterson of Elkton, Douglas County, Oregon, as a sprout from an old tree. It has never been extensively disseminated, but seems to be a variety of considerable promise. The fruit as grown on the Station grounds 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.

Tree 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_

=1.= _Cornell Sta. Bul._ =38=:36. 1892. =2.= _Am. Pom. Soc.
Cat._ 37. 1899. =3.= _Can. Exp. Farms Rpt._ 105. 1900. =4.=
Waugh _Plum Cult._ 142. 1901. =5.= _Can. Exp. Farm Bul._
=43=:28. 1903. =6.= _Ohio Sta. Bul._ =162=:254, 255. 1905.

Of the origin of this 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 until 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 characteristic Americana flavor; of good quality; stone
clinging, three-eighths inch by one-half inch in size,
roundish, turgid, conspicuously winged; surface smooth.

AMES

_Prunus americana_ × _Prunus triflora_

=1.= _Vt. Sta. An. Rpt._ =12=:220. 1899. =2.= _Ia. Hort. Soc.
Rpt._ 112. 1899. =3.= _Ia. Sta. Bul._ =46=:261. 1900. =4.=
Waugh _Plum Cult._ 203. 1901. =5.= Budd-Hansen _Am. Hort. Man._
293. 1903. =6.= _S. Dak. Sta. Bul._ =93=:9. 1905. =7.= _Ill.
Hort. Soc. Rpt._ 422. 1905. =8.= _Rural N. Y._ =65=:730. 1906.

_De Soto_ × _Oregon No. 3_ 6. _Japan Hybrid No. 3_ 2.

Though Ames has been known to the public 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 triflora_, the variety shows few, if any, traces of the Triflora parentage, except, possibly in the shape and color of the fruit. The variety is distinguished from other Americana plums by reddish dots on the fruit instead of the yellowish dots commonly found 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[204] 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 × 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 roughish, thorny, the trunk shaggy, dark
ash-brown, with numerous, large, raised lenticels; branchlets
willowy, thick, long, with long internodes, 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 surface dark green, glabrous,
slightly rugose; lower surface light green, pubescent; apex
taper-pointed, base abrupt, margin coarsely serrate, the
serrations ending in hair-like tips, eglandular; petiole
seven-eighths inch long, slender, pubescent, tinged red,
glandless 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, campanulate, 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 yellowish; 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

_Prunus triflora_ ×?

=1.= Burbank _Cat._ 2. 1898. =2.= _Vt. Sta. Bul._ =67=:6.
1898. =3.= _Vt. Sta. An. Rpt._ =12=:220. 1899. =4.= _Am.
Gard._ =21=:36. 1900. =5.= Waugh _Plum Cult._ 203. 1901. =6.=
_Ga. Sta. Bul._ =68=:12, 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 future 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 doubtful 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 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
internodes, 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, pubescent 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, clustered about the apex;
stem five-eighths inch long, glabrous; skin tough, bitterish,
separating 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

_Prunus domestica_

=1.= Parkinson _Par. Ter._ 578. 1629. =2.= Rea _Flora_
209. 1676. =3.= Quintinye _Com. Gard._ 67, 69. 1699. =4.=
Duhamel _Trait. Arb. Fr._ =2=:93, Pl. XIII. 1768. =5.= Knoop
_Fructologie_ =2=:52, 53, 54. 1771. =6.= Kraft _Pom. Aust._
=2=:28, Tab. 173 fig. 1; =2=:34, Tab. 183 fig. 1. 1796. =7.=
Prince _Pom. Man._ 71. 1832. =8.= Kenrick Am. _Orch._ 255.
1832. =9.= Thomas _Am. Fruit Cult._ 327. 1849. =10.= Elliott
_Fr. Book_ 424. 1854. =11.= Noisette _Man. Comp. Jard._
=2=:498. 1860. =12.= _Downing Fr. Trees Am._ 896, 952. 1869.
=13.= _Mas Pom. Gen._ =2=:133. 1873. =14.= _Le Bon Jard._ 338.
1882. =15.= Hogg _Fruit Man._ 684, 1884. =16.= Mathieu _Nom.
Pom._ 421, 431, 454. 1889.

Apricocke 1. Apricock Plum 2. Abricot de France 5. _Abricot
Blanc_ 16. _Abricot Blanche_ 5. Abricot ordinaire 5. _Abricote_
5. _Abricote blanc_ 7, 12. Abricotée 4, 13. _Abricotée_ 6,
7, 10, 12, 16. _Abricotée Perdrigon_ 6. _Abricotée Blanche_
7, 12, 15, 16. Apricot Plum of Tours 7. _Abricote de Tours_
7. _Abricotée de Tours_ 7, 10, 12, 13, 15, 16. Apricot Plum
8. _Apricot Plum of Tours_ 10, 12, 16. _Abricotée Blanc_ 12.
_Aprikosenartige Pflaume_ 13. _Apricot_ 13. Aprikosenartige
Pflaume 16. _Apricot Plum_ 16. _Aprikosen Perdrigon_ 16.
Die Abrikosenartige Pflaume 6. Die Morillenpflaume 6.
_French Apricot_ 9. _Frühe 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 Abricotée 14. Prune
Abricotée Blanche 11. _Prune Abricotée de Tours_ 8. _Prune
Abricote_ 8. _Prune d’Abricot Ordinaire_ 5. _Prune d’Abricot
Blanch_ 5. _Prune 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_ 5. 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 “Abricotée” of Duhamel, and should be considered the true Apricot. Little is known of the early history of this variety other than that it was very generally distributed throughout Europe 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

_Prunus domestica_

=1.= Hogg _Fruit Man._ 684. 1884. =2.= _Ont. Fr. Gr. Assoc.
Rpt._ 35. 1891. =3.= _U. S. D. A. Pom. Rpt._ 45. 1895. =4.= _W.
N. Y. Hort. Soc. Rpt._ =42=:83. 1897. =5.= _Cornell Sta. Bul._
=131=:182. 1897. =6.= _Mich. Sta. Bul._ =169=:241, 242. 1899.
=7.= _Ibid._ =187=:77, 78. 1901. =8.= _Waugh Plum Cult._ 95.
1901. =9.= _Thompson Gard. Ass’t_ =4=:156 1901. =10.= _Ohio
Sta. Bul._ =162=:242, 243 fig., 254, 255. 1905.

_Late Diamond_ 1.

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 commercial 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 plum-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, Sawbridgeworth, 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 imported into the United States by S. D. Willard[205] 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.

Leaves folded upward, oval or obovate, 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

_Prunus domestica_

=1.= 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. 1887. =5.= _Mich. Pom. Soc. Rpt._ 289,
290. 1889. =6.= _Gard. & For._ =6=:526. 1892. =7.= _Can. Hort._
=16=:301. 1893. =8.= _Mich. Sta. Bul._ =103=:35. 1894. =9.=
_Ont. Fr. Exp. Sta. Rpt._ 120. 1896. =10.= _Cornell Sta. Bul._
=131=:189. 1897. =11.= _Ohio Sta. Bul._ =113=:160. 1899. =12.=
_Mich. Sta. Bul._ =169=:241, 242. 1899. =13.= _Can. Exp. Farm
Bul._ =43=:33. 1903. =14.= Budd-Hansen _Am. Hort. Man._ 304.
1903. =15.= _Ga. Sta. Bul._ =67=:278. 1904. =16.= _Ohio Sta.
Bul._ =162=:256, 257. 1905.

Moore Arctic 8, 15. Moore’s Arctic 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 9, 10,
11, 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 recommended for these qualities, but as to its hardiness elsewhere pomologists do not agree. In the references given above, Downing says it is the hardiest plum known; in Michigan it is reported very tender in the nursery row; a Canadian writer says it is not hardy enough for Canada; and it is reputed 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 fruit 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 internodes, 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 light 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.

ARKANSAS

_Prunus munsoniana_

=1.= _Am. Pom. Soc. Rpt._ 162. 1881. =2.= _Cornell Sta. Bul._
=38=:60, 86. 1892. =3.= _Tex. Sta. Bul._ =32=:478. 1894. =4.=
_Wis. Sta. Bul._ =63=:27. 1897. =5.= Waugh _Plum Cult._ 192,
194 fig. 1901. =6.= Budd-Hansen _Am. Hort. Man._ 293. 1903.
=7.= _Ia. Hort. Soc. Rpt._ 488. 1904.

Arkansas Lombard 1, 2, 3, 4, 7. _Arkansas 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, conspicuous, 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 disagreeable
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 surface,
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 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 clinging, 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 domestica_

=1.= McIntosh _Bk. Gard._ =2=:533. 1855. =2.= _Gard. Chron._
=26=:364. 1866. =3.= Hogg _Fruit Man._ 351. 1866. =4.= Downing
_Fr. Trees Am._ 897. 1869. =5.= Mas _Le Verger_ =6=:71, fig.
36. 1866-73. =6.= Hogg _Fruit Man._ 685. 1884. =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. Autumn 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 internodes,
greenish-red changing to dark brownish-red, dull, sparingly
pubescent early in the season, becoming 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.

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 furrowed; dorsal suture acute or faintly
furrowed.

BARTLETT

_Prunus triflora_ × _Prunus simonii_

=1.= _Cal. State Bd. Hort._ 53. 1897. =2.= _Vt. Sta. Bul._
=67=:7. 1898. =3.= Burbank _Cat._ 1899. =4.= _Can. Hort._
=25=:411. 1902. =5.= _Ga. Sta. Bul._ =68=: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 nurserymen 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 fruit 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 tender, 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.

BASSETT

_Prunus maritima_

=1.= _Gard. Mon._ =17=:335. 1875. =2.= _Cornell Sta. Bul._
=38=:75. 1892. =3.= Bailey _Ev. Nat. Fruits_ 214. 1898. =4.=
Waugh _Plum Cult._ 229. 1901. =5.= _Ohio Sta. Bul._ =162=:254,
255. 1905. =6.= _S. Dak. Sta. Bul._ =93=:10. 1905.

Bassett’s American 2, 3. _Bassett’s American_ 4.

Bassett, the best known of the few cultivated varieties of _Prunus maritima_, was found growing wild in New Jersey and was turned over to a nurseryman, Wm. F. Bassett of Hamilton, New Jersey, who introduced it in 1872. After its introduction it became somewhat popular in the West, gaining quite a reputation as being “curculio 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 description 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

_Prunus domestica_

=1.= _Gard. Chron._ =6=:65. 1846. =2.= _Mag. Hort._ =12=:340.
1846. =3.= _Horticulturist_ =1=:527. 1846. =4.= Lee _Gen.
Farmer_ =10=:241. 1849. =5.= Thomas _Am. Fruit Cult._ 328.
1849. =6.= Elliott _Fr. Book_ 423. 1854. =7.= _Am. Pom. Soc.
Cat._ 210. 1856. =8.= Downing _Fr. Trees Am._ 370. fig. 1857.
=9.= _U. S. D. A. Rpt._ 190, Pl. XII. 1865. =10.= Hogg _Fruit
Man._ 379. 1866. =11.= Downing _Fr. Trees Am._ 897. 1869.
=12.= _Pom. France_ =7=: No. 6. 1871. =13.= Mas _Le Verger_
=6=:93, fig. 47. 1866. =14.= Oberdieck _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. Bul._ =129=:32, 33. 1896. =19.= _Cornell Sta.
Bul._ =131=:191. 1897. =20.= _Mich. Sta. Bul._ =169=:241, 242.
1899. =21.= Waugh _Plum Cult._ 96. 1901. =22.= _Va. Sta. Bul._
=134=:40. 1902. =23.= _Ohio Sta. Bul._ =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_
13. _De Bavay_ 15. _Monstreuse de Bavay_ 15. _Monstrueuse de
Bavay_ 10, 11, 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 1. _Reine-Claude Monot_ 17. Reine-Claude von Bavays 14.
_St. Claire_ 10. _Saint Clair_ 11, 17. _Sainte-Claire_ 17.
_Saint-Claire_ 12.