Chapter III: Leading Varieties of Plums (6)

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

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

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

GUEII

_Prunus domestica_

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

GUTHRIE LATE

_Prunus domestica_

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

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

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

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

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

HALE

_Prunus triflora_

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

HAMMER

_Prunus hortulana mineri_ × _Prunus americana_

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

HAND

_Prunus domestica_

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

HARRIET

_Prunus domestica_

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

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

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

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

HAWKEYE

_Prunus americana_

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

HUDSON

_Prunus domestica_

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

HULINGS

_Prunus domestica_

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

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

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

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

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

HUNGARIAN

_Prunus domestica_

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

ICKWORTH

_Prunus domestica_

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

IMPERATRICE

_Prunus domestica_

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

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

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

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

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

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

IMPERIAL EPINEUSE

_Prunus domestica_

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

_Clairac Mammoth_ 1, 5. Imperial Epineux 3.

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

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

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

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

IMPERIAL GAGE

_Prunus domestica_

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

ITALIAN PRUNE

_Prunus domestica_

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