Chapter III: Leading Varieties of Plums (13)

=1.= Prince _Treat. Hort._ 24. 1828. =2.= _Pom. Mag._ =1=:16,
Pl. 1828. =3.= _Lond. Hort. Soc. Cat._ 154. 1831. =4.= Prince
_Pom. Man._ =2=:53. 1832. =5.= Floy-Lindley _Guide Orch. Gard._
298, 383, 418. 1846. =6.= Cole _Am. Fr. Book_ 210. 1849. =7.=
Thomas _Am. Fruit Cult._ 326 fig., 327. 1849. =8.= Hovey _Fr.
Am._ =1=:87, Col. Pl. 1851. =9.= _Am. Pom. Soc. Cat._ 54. 1852.
=10.= Elliott _Fr. Book_ 415. 1854. =11.= _Ann. Pom. Belge_
=4=:23, Pl. 1856. =12.= Thompson _Gard. Ass’t_ 520. 1859. =13.=
Downing _Fr. Trees Am._ 951. 1869. =14.= _Pom. France_ =7=: No.
24. 1871. =15.= Mas _Le Verger_ =6=:59. 1866-73. =16.= Hogg
_Fruit Man._ 729. 1884. =17.= Mathieu _Nom. Pom._ 453. 1889.
=18.= _Mich. Sta. Bul._ =103=:32, 33, fig. 1894. =19.= _Cornell
Sta. Bul._ =131=:193. 1897. =20.= _Va. Sta. Bul._ =134=:44.
1902. =21.= _Can. Exp. Farm Bul._ =43=:36. 1903.

_Anglesio_ 17. _Bolmar_ 3, 6, 7, 8, 10, 12, 13, 14, 16, 17.
_Bolmar’s Washington_ 3, 7, 8, 10, 11, 12, 14, 16, 17. Bolmar’s
Washington 5. _Bolmer_ 1, 4, 13, 17. _Bolmer’s Washington_
1, 4, 13. _Bolmore’s Washington_ 4. _Double Imperial Gage_
1, 4. _Franklin_ 3, 4, 5, 8, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 16, 17.
_Imperial Gage_ (of Albany) 4. _Irving’s Bolmar_ 10, 13, 16,
17. _Irving’s Bolmer_ 14. _Jackson_ 11, 13, 14, 17. _Louis
Philippe_ 14. _Louis Philipp_ 17. _New Washington_ 3, 4, 5,
8, 10, 11, 13, 14, 17. _Parker’s Mammoth_ 10, 13, 16, 17.
_Philippe_ 1, 11, 13, 14, 17. Prune Washington Jaune 11.
_Superior Gage_ 1, 4, 8. _Superior Green Gage_ 4, 8. The
Washington Plum 2, 8. _Washington_ 5, 8. _Washington Bolmar_ 8.
_Washington Gage_ 4. _Washington Jaune_ 13, 14, 17. _Washington
Mammot_ 14, 17. _Washington Yellow_ 17.

Washington holds high rank among the Reine Claude varieties, plums unsurpassed for dessert purposes. The fruits are large in size for one of this group; handsome in form and color (in the latter respect the color-plate does not do the variety justice); abundant in juice yet firm and meaty enough in flesh to keep and ship well; fine in flavor though not quite equalling some others of its group in this character. The trees are large, hardy, vigorous and healthy, remarkable for their broad, glossy, abundant leaves, bear bountiful crops annually and at a favorable period of maturity. Washington thus has a combination of characters which few of its group, with which only it must be compared, possess. The variety, however, is not without defects; the fruits are subject to brown-rot, so much so that its value as a commercial variety is greatly lessened; the quality varies greatly in different locations and even in different years,—the latter very noticeable on the Station grounds; the trees are slow in coming in bearing and the crops are small for some years after fruiting begins. From the above considerations it may be seen that while this variety is almost always worth planting in a home collection, the location for it as a commercial fruit needs to be chosen with some care.

There are two accounts of the origin of this variety. William Prince gives its history as follows (References, 1): “It has always been the custom at the establishment of the author, at Flushing, to plant annually the seeds of the finest fruits, for the purpose of originating new varieties; and, about the year 1790, his father planted the pits of twenty-five quarts of the Green Gage plum; these produced trees yielding fruit of every colour; and the White Gage, Red Gage, and Prince’s Gage, now so well known, form part of the progeny of those plums; and there seems strong presumptive evidence to suppose that the Washington Plum was one of the same collection.” Michael Floy gives a different history of the Washington (References, 5). He states that he received the variety in 1818 from a Mr. Bolmar of New York who in turn had purchased his trees from a market woman in 1814. The purchased trees were produced as suckers from the roots of a Reine Claude tree which had been killed below the graft by lightning on the Delancey farm, now the Bowery, in New York City. In 1819, a few of the trees, budded the previous year by Floy, were sent to England. The American Pomological Society added the Washington to its fruit catalog list in 1852. Taking in consideration the evidence of other writers and further facts offered in other accounts by the Princes, father and son, it seems almost certain that the first history is correct and that Bolmar’s trees had their origin in the Prince nursery.

Tree large, vigorous, round and open-topped, hardy, very
productive; branches dark ash-gray, rough becoming shaggy on
the trunk, with small lenticels; branchlets below medium in
thickness and length, with long internodes, green changing
to brownish-red, thinly pubescent, with small lenticels of
average number; leaf-buds of medium size and length, pointed,
free.

Leaves flattened, oval, two and one-half inches wide, four and
one-quarter inches long, leathery, somewhat velvety; upper
surface dark green, lightly pubescent, with a shallow groove
on the midrib; lower surface medium green, thickly pubescent;
apex abruptly pointed or acute, base abrupt; margin serrate,
eglandular; petiole five-eighths inch long, green, pubescent,
glandless or with one or two smallish, globose, greenish-yellow
glands at the base of the leaf.

Blooming season intermediate in time and length; flowers
appearing after the leaves, one and five-sixteenths inches
across, white, with yellow near the apex; borne on lateral buds
and spurs; pedicels three-eighths inch long, thick, covered
with fine pubescence, greenish; calyx-tube green, campanulate,
pubescent; calyx-lobes broad, obtuse, pubescent on both
surfaces, glandular-serrate and with marginal hairs, erect;
petals broad-ovate or oval, crenate, tapering into short, broad
claws; anthers yellow; filaments three-eighths inch long;
pistil glabrous, longer than the stamens.

Fruit intermediate in time and length of ripening season;
one and three-quarters inches by one and five-eighths inches
in size, roundish-oval, compressed, halves equal; cavity
shallow, narrow, flaring; suture shallow; apex roundish;
color greenish-yellow or light yellow, with green stripes and
splashes, occasionally with a faint blush on the sunny side,
covered with thin bloom; dots numerous, white, inconspicuous,
clustered about the apex; stem one-half inch long, covered
with thick pubescence, adhering strongly to the fruit; skin
thin, slightly sour, separating readily; flesh greenish-yellow,
juicy, firm but tender, sweet, mild, pleasant flavor; good to
very good; stone free, not filling the cavity, one inch by
three-quarters inch in size, oval, turgid, roughened, somewhat
blunt at the base and apex; ventral suture wide, marked by deep
furrows, with a distinct but short wing; dorsal suture widely
and deeply grooved.

WAYLAND

_Prunus hortulana_

=1.= _U. S. D. A. Rpt._ 573, Pl. 5 fig. 2. 1888. =2.= _Am.
Gard._ =10=:175 fig., 243. 1889. =3.= _Cornell Sta. Bul._
=38=:51, 87. 1892. =4.= _Wis. Sta. Bul._ =63=:24, 62. 1897.
=5.= _Vt. Sta. An. Rpt._ =10=:99, 103. 1897. =6.= _Ibid._
=11=:281, 286 fig. 1898. =7.= _Ia. Hort. Soc. Rpt._ 228. 1904.
=8.= _Ga. Sta. Bul._ =67=:283. 1904. =9.= _Ohio Sta. Bul._
=162=:258. 1905.

Wayland is of little interest to plum-growers who grow the Domestica varieties without difficulty but in the South and Middle West it is an important representative of a valuable species. The trees withstand the hot, dry weather in the region south of central Iowa and Nebraska rather better than do those of varieties of other species and its fruits are borne in such quantities and so late that this and its kindred sorts become important plums. The fruits are quite too firm of flesh, too sour and too small to be of value for dessert purposes but they are most excellent for jellies, marmalades and preserves—any of the uses to which the Damsons are commonly put. They are, too, best adapted for long-keeping and shipping of any of the native plums. Except in size, the plums are hardly surpassed in the characters that make a fruit handsome among the native plums. The trees are large, robust and hardy in central New York, usually free from attacks of insects and fungi and, with their abundant, glossy foliage, are strikingly ornamental. Wayland is of value for New York, however, when all characters are considered, only in furnishing variety, in extending the season for native plums and as an ornamental.

Wayland was found in a plum thicket on the premises of Professor H. B. Wayland, Cadiz, Kentucky. It was sent by him about 1875 to J. S. Downer and Sons, Fairview, Todd County, Kentucky, who named and introduced it. There has been much discussion as to the botanical status of this variety, various writers having put it in at least three distinct species and Waugh and Bailey have used it as the type of the Wayland group of _Prunus hortulana_.

Tree very large and vigorous, spreading, somewhat drooping,
flat-topped, open, hardy at Geneva, productive; trunk shaggy;
branches rough, dark ash-gray, with inconspicuous lenticels,
medium in number and size; branchlets slender, twiggy, long,
with internodes of average length, green, changing to light
chestnut-red, glossy, glabrous, with numerous, conspicuous,
large, raised lenticels; leaf-buds very small, short, obtuse,
plump, appressed.

Leaves folded upward, ovate or long-oval, peach-like, one and
seven-eighths inches across, five inches long, thin; upper
surface smooth and glossy, with a grooved midrib; lower surface
sparingly pubescent; apex acuminate, base abrupt, margin
unevenly serrate, glandular; petiole one inch long, slender,
pubescent along one side, with a tinge of red, with from one to
five very small, globose, brownish glands usually on the stalk.

Blooming season late and long; flowers appearing after
the leaves, thirteen-sixteenths inch across, white, with
disagreeable odor; borne in clusters on lateral buds and spurs,
in threes, fours or fives; pedicels fifteen-sixteenths inch
long, very slender, glabrous, green; calyx-tube greenish,
narrowly campanulate, glabrous; calyx-lobes narrow, acute,
erect, lightly pubescent within, serrate and with dark-colored
glands; petals ovate or oval, irregularly crenate, tapering
into long, narrow claws with hairy margins; anthers yellowish;
filaments three-eighths inch long; pistil glabrous, shorter
than the stamens.

Fruit very late, season long; one and one-eighth inches by one
inch in size, roundish-ovate narrowing somewhat toward the
stem, conical, slightly compressed, halves equal; cavity medium
to deep, narrow, abrupt; suture usually very shallow and wide,
often a distinct line; apex pointed; color dark currant-red,
with inconspicuous, thin bloom; dots numerous, small to
medium, conspicuous, densely clustered about the apex; stem
very slender, five-eighths inch long, glabrous, not adhering
to the fruit; skin thick, tough, clinging but slightly; flesh
attractive light yellow; moderately juicy, coarse, fibrous,
rather tender, mildly sweet next the skin but astringent
towards the pit; fair to good; stone clinging, five-eighths
inch by three-eighths inch in size, long-oval, somewhat
elongated at the base and apex, turgid, with rough and pitted
surfaces; ventral suture wide, blunt, faintly ridged; dorsal
suture acute, with a narrow, indistinct groove.

WEAVER

_Prunus americana_

=1.= _Mich. Pom. Soc. Rpt._ 267. 1874. =2.= _Am. Pom. Soc.
Cat._ 44. 1883. =3.= _Mich. Hort. Soc. Rpt._ 268. 1885. =4.=
_Minn. Sta. Bul._ =5=:36, 37 fig. 1889. =5.= _Cornell Sta.
Bul._ =38=:45, 86. 1892. =6.= _Can. Hort._ =16=:409, Pl. 1893.
=7.= _Mich. Sta. Bul._ =123=:21. 1895. =8.= _Wis. Sta. Bul._
=63=:24, 62. 1897. =9.= _Colo. Sta. Bul._ =50=:46. 1898. =10.=
_Ia. Sta. Bul._ =46=:291. 1900. =11.= Waugh _Plum Cult._ 166
fig. 1901. =12.= Budd-Hansen _Am. Hort. Man._ 302. 1903. =13.=
_Can. Exp. Farm Bul._ =43=:32. 1903. =14.= _Ga. Sta. Bul._
=67=:283. 1904. =15.= _S. Dak. Sta. Bul._ =93=:41. 1905.

Weaver is an old and well-known Americana, once one of the most popular of its species because of its hardiness and productiveness. It is still listed by many nurserymen and is widely distributed throughout the country but it is now rapidly passing out of cultivation, being superseded by sorts producing larger and better colored fruits.

This variety was found growing wild on the Cedar River, in Iowa, by a Mr. Weaver. In 1873, Ennis and Patten, Charles City, Iowa, began its sale to fruit-growers. The American Pomological Society placed the Weaver on its fruit catalog list in 1883, dropped it in 1891, and replaced it in 1897. The following description is partly compiled.

Tree large, vigorous, well formed, upright-spreading, unusually
hardy, productive; branches long, slender; branchlets slender,
long, with short internodes, reddish-brown, glabrous, with
numerous, conspicuous lenticels of medium size; leaf-buds
small, conical, of average length.

Leaves falling late, four and one-half inches long, two and
one-half inches wide, obovate or oval, firm, thick, leathery;
upper surface dark green, slightly roughened, glabrous, with
narrow midrib; lower surface pale green, pubescent on the
midrib and larger veins; apex acuminate, base somewhat acute,
margin deeply and coarsely serrate; petiole five-eighths inch
long, stout, reddish, slightly pubescent along one side,
usually with two large, globose, reddish-brown glands on the
stem.

Flowers large, prominently stalked; calyx-lobes conspicuously
glandular, lightly pubescent within.

Fruit mid-season or later; one inch by three-quarters inch in
size, large for a native, oval or roundish-oblong, compressed,
halves unequal; cavity medium to shallow, narrow, rather
abrupt; suture shallow, distinct; apex roundish or depressed;
color not uniform, yellowish overlaid with purplish-red,
mottled, covered with thin bloom; dots numerous, small, often
purplish, inconspicuous; skin thick, very tough, astringent,
adhering to the pulp; flesh deep yellow, juicy, firm and
meaty, sweet, mild; fair to good; stone variable in adhesion,
three-quarters inch by three-eighths inch in size, long and
narrow, somewhat oval, flattened, obscurely pointed at the base
and apex, smooth.

WHITE BULLACE

_Prunus insititia_

=1.= Parkinson _Par. Ter._ 576. 1629. =2.= Abercrombie _Gard.
Ass’t_ 13. 1786. =3.= Forsyth _Fr. Trees Am._ 21. 1803. =4.=
_Lond. Hort. Soc. Cat._ 344. 1831. =5.= Prince _Pom. Man._
=2=:105. 1832. =6.= Floy-Lindley _Guide Orch. Gard._ 300, 383.
1846. =7.= Hogg _Fruit Man._ 385. 1866. =8.= Downing _Fr. Trees
Am._ 952. 1869. =9.= Thompson _Gard. Ass’t_ =4=:160, 161 fig.
960. 1901. =10.= _Can. Exp. Farms Rpt._ 481. 1904.

Bullace 5. _Bullace_ 7. White Bulleis 1.

The origin of this old sort is unknown. It was cultivated more than three hundred years ago for Parkinson described it as common in his time. He says of it “The White and the blacke Bulleis are common in most Countries, being small round, lesser than Damsons, sharper in taste, and later ripe.” It is probably one of the first of the cultivated plums. White Bullace is illustrated and described in full in _The Plums of New York_ chiefly as a means of comparison between the plums of three centuries ago and those of the present. It has little value now for any purpose, though the Europeans still grow it rather commonly and from seeds, cions or suckers as convenience may dictate.

Tree of medium size and vigor, upright-spreading, dense-topped,
hardy, unproductive; branches ash-gray, nearly smooth, with
numerous, small, inconspicuous lenticels; branchlets thick,
above medium in length, with short internodes, greenish-red
changing to dark brownish-red, dull, with thick pubescence
throughout the season, with few, small lenticels; leaf-buds
small, short, stubby, obtuse, strongly appressed.

Leaves flattened, obovate, one and five-eighths inches wide,
two and three-eighths inches long, thick; upper surface dark
green, rugose, with few hairs along the narrow, grooved midrib;
lower surface silvery green, pubescent; apex abruptly pointed
or acute, base acute, margin doubly serrate, eglandular;
petiole one-half inch long, green, pubescent, glandless or with
one or two small, globose, greenish-yellow glands variable in
position.

Blooming season medium to late, of average length; flowers
appearing after the leaves, three-quarters inch across, white,
scattered on lateral spurs; usually borne singly; pedicels
one-quarter inch long, thick, densely covered with short
hairs, green; calyx-tube reddish-green, campanulate, glabrous;
calyx-lobes acute, lightly pubescent on both surfaces,
glandular-serrate, reflexed; petals obovate, entire, with
short, broad claws; anthers yellow with red tinge; filaments
five-sixteenths inch long; pistil glabrous, nearly equal to the
stamens in length.

Fruit late, ripening season of medium length; about one inch in
diameter, roundish, compressed, truncate at the base; cavity
rather deep and wide, abrupt; suture a line; apex flattened or
depressed; color deep amber-yellow, sometimes with faint pink
blush on the exposed cheek, overspread with moderately thick
bloom; dots numerous, white, inconspicuous; stem one-half inch
long, covered with scant pubescence, adhering strongly to the
fruit; skin thin, astringent, slightly adhering; flesh deep
golden-yellow, juicy, coarse, fibrous, firm, sour; poor in
quality; stone clinging, five-eighths inch by one-half inch
in size, ovate, turgid, blunt at the base, acute at the apex,
slightly roughened; ventral suture broad, blunt, shallowly
furrowed; dorsal suture with a wide, shallow groove.

WHITE DAMSON

_Prunus insititia_

=1.= Parkinson _Par. Ter._ 578. 1629. =2.= Quintinye _Com.
Gard._ 67, 69. 1699. =3.= M’Mahon _Am. Gard. Cal._ 588. 1806.
=4.= Coxe _Cult. Fr. Trees_ 238, fig. 15. 1817. =5.= _Lond.
Hort. Soc. Cat._ 146. 1831. =6.= Prince _Pom. Man._ =2=:88.
1832. =7.= Downing _Fr. Trees Am._ 287. 1845. =8.= Floy-Lindley
_Guide Orch. Gard._ 300. 1846. =9.= Thomas _Am. Fruit Cult._
334. 1849. =10.= Elliott _Fr. Book_ 430. 1854. =11.= _Am. Pom.
Soc. Rpt._ 190, 214. 1856. =12.= Hogg _Fruit Man._ 385. 1866.
=13.= Downing _Fr. Trees Am._ 952. 1869. =14.= Waugh _Plum
Cult._ 131. 1901.

_Frost Plum_ 6, 13. _Late Cluster_ 6, 13. Late White Damson 6.
_Late Yellow Damson_ 7, 9, 10, 13. _Shailer’s White Damson_ 7,
10, 12, 13. Shailer’s White Damson 5. _Small Round Damson_ 5.
White Damascene 4. _White Damascene_ 6, 7, 10, 13. White Damask
2. _White Damson_ 6. _White Prune Damson_ 7, 8, 10, 13. _White
Winter Damson_ 6, 13. White Winter Damson 3. _Winter Damson_ 6.
_Yellow Damson_ 9.

This old plum, known since the beginning of the Seventeenth Century, is chiefly of historic interest. Downing thought this a very desirable addition to our list of plums but nearly all other pomologists who have seen the fruit of the variety think it of small importance. Unfortunately it is not in the collection at this Station and can be neither recommended nor condemned from first hand knowledge. This plum was first noted in America by M’Mahon in 1806, and fifty years later it was added to the American Pomological Society list of promising varieties. For some reason, perhaps for its color, it has never become so well known as the purple Damsons. Perhaps from the division of _Prunus insititia_ made in _The Plums of New York_, this variety should be known as a Mirabelle rather than as a Damson. The following description is a compilation:

Tree vigorous, very productive; branches long, slender. Fruit
matures the last of September, season long; small, oval, pale
yellow sprinkled with reddish-brown dots, covered with thin
bloom; flesh yellowish, sprightly, pleasant flavored; good to
very good; stone clinging.

WHITE IMPERATRICE

_Prunus domestica_

=1.= Kraft _Pom. Aust._ =2=:33, Tab. 181 fig. 2; =2=:44, Tab.
197 fig. 2. 1796. =2.= Duhamel _Trait. Arb. Fr._ =2=:106. 1768.
=3.= _Pom. Mag._ =1=:38, Pl. 1828. =4.= Prince _Pom. Man._
=2=:61. 1832. =5.= Downing _Fr. Trees Am._ 285. 1845. =6.=
Floy-Lindley _Guide Orch. Gard._ 300, 383. 1846. =7.= Poiteau
_Pom. Franc._ =1.= 1846. =8.= Thomas _Am. Fruit Cult._ 329.
1849. =9.= Hogg _Fruit Man._ 730. 1884. =10.= Mathieu _Nom.
Pom._ 454. 1889.

_Die Weisse Kaiserpflaume_ 3, 4, 6, 10 incor. Die Weisse
Kaiserpflaume 1. Die Weisse Kaiserinnpflaume 1. _Imperatrice
Blanche_ 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 8, 9, 10. The White Imperatrice Plum
3. Prune Imperatrice Blanche 7. _White Imperatrice_ 3, 10.
_White Empress_ 5, 8, 10. Weisse Kaiserpflaume 10.

Kraft in his _Pomona Austriaca_, 1796, described a Weisse Kaiserpflaume and a Weisse Kaiserinnpflaume and gave Imperatrice Blanche as a synonym to both of them. The latter he gave as a variety of the Weisse Kaiserpflaume but it is probable that they are the same since no other author noted the distinction, and, in fact, the differences mentioned are wholly insignificant. According to Downing this variety was little known in this country in 1845 and it is doubtful if it is now known at all. It is described as follows:

Compared with the Saint Catherine, which it resembles, it
is found to differ in that its stone is free and its flavor
less high; branches smooth; leaves smaller and less shining;
fruit matures in September; of medium size, obovate; suture
indistinct; cavity narrow; skin yellow, spotted with a little
red; bloom thin; flesh yellow, crisp, juicy, sweet.

WHITE PERDRIGON

_Prunus domestica_

=1.= Rea _Flora_ 208. 1676. =2.= Langley _Pomona_ 92, 93, Pl.
XXIII figs. V & VI. 1729. =3.= Miller _Gard. Dict._ =3.= 1754.
=4.= Duhamel _Trait. Arb. Fr._ =2=:84, Pl. VIII. 1768. =5.=
Kraft _Pom. Aust._ =2=:41, Tab. 193 fig. 1. 1796. =6.= _Lond.
Hort. Soc. Cat._ 151. 1831. 7. Prince _Pom. Man._ =2=:52, 64.
1832. =8.= Downing _Fr. Trees Am._ 287. 1845. =9.= Floy-Lindley
_Guide Orch. Gard._ 298, 301, 383. 1846. =10.= Hogg _Fruit
Man._ 386. 1866. =11.= Mathieu _Nom. Pom._ 454. 1889.

_Brignolle_ 11. _Brignole_ 6, 8, 10, 11. Die weisse Duranzen
pflaume 5. _Diaprée Blanche_ 11. Maître Claude 2, 3, 7, 9.
Perdrigon blanc 4. _Perdrigon blanc_ 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11.
_Maître Claude_ 8, 10, 11. Weisser Perdrigon 11. _Weisse
Diaprée_ 11. _Weisses Rebhuhnerei_ 11. _Prune-Pêche_ (of some)
11. _White Perdrigon_ 11.

White Perdrigon is an old French variety grown extensively in the vicinity of Brignoles, France where it is used in the manufacture of the famous Brignoles Prunes. Because of its use for this purpose, it has been badly confused with a similar variety, the Brignole, which derived its name from the town of Brignoles, where it was first grown. The variety is probably not known in America and might be worth introducing. It is described as follows:

The White Perdrigon is a mid-season, medium-sized, oval plum,
tapering slightly towards the base; suture shallow; cavity
small; stem slender; skin rather tough, pale yellow, with thin
bloom; dots numerous, small, whitish; flesh greenish-yellow,
melting, juicy, sweet, aromatic; good; stone small, long-oval,
free.

WICKSON

_Prunus triflora_ × _Prunus simonii_

=1.= _U. S. D. A. Rpt._ 263. 1892. =2.= Burbank _Cat._ 21 fig.
1893. =3.= _Gard. & For._ =7=:420. 1894. =4.= _Cornell Sta.
Bul._ =106=:63. 1896. =5.= _Cal. State Bd. Hort._ 53. 1897-8.
=6.= _Cornell Sta. Bul._ =139=:46 fig. 120. 1897. =7.= _Can.
Hort._ =21=:30 fig. 1272. 1898. =8.= _Vt. Sta. An. Rpt._
=12=:229. 1899. =9.= _Cornell Sta. Bul._ =175=:148, 149 fig.
38. 1899. =10.= _Am. Pom. Soc. Cat._ 41. 1899. =11.= _Kan. Sta.
Bul._ =101=:125. 1901. =12.= _Mich. Sta. Bul._ =187=:77, 80.
1901. =13.= Waugh _Plum Cult._ 227. 1901. =14.= _U. S. D. A.
Rpt._ 387. 1901. =15.= _Ga. Sta. Bul._ =68=:13, Pl. IV, 37.
1905. =16.= _Md. Hort. Soc. Rpt._ 85. 1905. =17.= _Am. Pom.
Soc. Rpt._ on Plums etc. 65. 1905.

_Eureka_ 5. Perfection 1, 2. _Perfection_ 4, 14.

It is difficult to estimate the value of Wickson in American pomology. Probably no plum of recent introduction has been on the one hand so highly lauded and on the other so condemned as this one. Its remarkable size, the largest of the Oriental plums if not the largest of all plums; its handsome color and distinct form; the firm flesh and peculiar flavor, generally considered pleasant; the narrow upright tree with its long lanceolate leaves, mark the variety as a new and for some parts of the country a valuable addition to pomology. The contradictory evidence as to its desirability arises from the fact that it can be well grown in comparatively few plum-growing regions, most of these being on the Pacific Coast and in the South. In New York, the Wickson has small value other than in private collections. The variety is a little tender in tree and bud, hardy only in favored parts of this State and not at all where the peach cannot be grown; it blooms too early to be safe from frost; it is susceptible to brown-rot; the trees are late in coming in bearing and are not reliable in fruiting; the fruits ripen unevenly; and the trees are not of good form for heavy crops. In California, however, the Wickson is one of the leading Japanese sorts, possibly the leading one, and is seemingly growing in favor. Starnes, one of the pomological authorities of the South, in his bulletin on _Japan and Hybrid Plums_, speaks of Wickson as a “grand plum” and as one of the best for Georgia. It is to be hoped that from the same cross which produced Wickson or from breeding this variety with some other, a plum of this type well suited to New York may sometime be offered the plum-growers of this State.

Wickson is one of the best known of Burbank’s many plums. The variety was first described in the report of the Secretary of Agriculture in 1892 under the name Perfection and as a seedling of Kelsey crossed by Burbank. In 1893 and 1894 Burbank offered for sale the control and the stock of this variety but found no buyers and in 1895 introduced it himself. The parentage of the variety is in doubt. Burbank considered it a Kelsey-Burbank cross; the _Pacific Rural Press_ described it as offspring of Kelsey and Satsuma; Bailey, Waugh and the workers at this Station believe it to have _Prunus simonii_ characters. The foliage, flowers, the tree, the fruiting habit, the texture of the flesh, all indicate Simon as one of its parents. According to the report of the Secretary of the California State Board of Horticulture shipments of this plum were made to New York in the season of 1897 under the name of Eureka. In 1899 it was placed on the fruit catalog list of the American Pomological Society.

Tree medium to large, vigorous, with narrow, upright head,
dense-topped, tender to cold, an uncertain bearer; branches
medium in smoothness, the fruit-spurs numerous, dark ash-gray
with tinge of brown, with lenticels of medium size; branchlets
thick and long, with short internodes, greenish-red changing to
light chocolate-brown, glossy, glabrous; lenticels numerous,
raised, variable in size; leaf-buds small, short, obtuse, free.

Leaves folded upward, lanceolate or oblanceolate, one inch
wide, three inches long, thin; upper surface dark green,
glossy, glabrous, with a slightly grooved midrib; lower
surface pale green, glabrous, except along the midrib; apex
taper-pointed, base cuneate, margin finely serrate, with
reddish glands; petiole three-eighths inch long, lightly
pubescent along one side, faintly tinged red, glandless or with
from one to nine small, reniform, greenish or yellow glands
variable in position.

Blooming season early and of medium length; flowers
appearing after the leaves, intermediate in size, white;
borne in clusters on lateral spurs, in pairs or in threes;
pedicels of medium length and thickness, glabrous, greenish;
calyx-tube green, obconic, glabrous; calyx-lobes acute, erect,
glandular-ciliate; petals oval, entire, short-clawed; anthers
yellowish; filaments below medium in length; pistil glabrous,
longer than the stamens.

Fruit early mid-season, period of ripening long; variable in
size, the larger fruits about two and one-eighth inches in
diameter, obliquely cordate, halves unequal; cavity deep,
abrupt, with yellowish concentric rings; suture often prominent
and deep, with a prolonged tip at the apex; color dark red over
a yellow ground, indistinctly splashed with darker red, mottled
with thin bloom; dots numerous, small, yellow, inconspicuous,
densely clustered about the apex; stem thick, eleven-sixteenths
inch long, glabrous; skin thin, tender, separating easily;
flesh amber-yellow, juicy, coarse, somewhat fibrous, firm,
sweet, pleasant but not high in flavor; good; stone clinging,
one inch by five-eighths inch in size, oval or ovate, pointed,
with pitted surfaces; ventral suture winged; dorsal suture
grooved.

WILD GOOSE

_Prunus munsoniana_

=1.= _Gard. Mon._ =9=:105. 1867. =2.= _Am. Jour. Hort._
=5=:147. 1869. =3.= _Am. Pom. Soc. Rpt._ 60. 1869. =4.= _Am.
Hort. An._ 78. 1870. =5.= _Country Gent._ =35=:166. 1870. =6.=
_Am. Pom. Soc. Rpt._ 116. 1871. =7.= _Ibid._ 44. 1875. =8.=
_Am. Pom. Soc. Cat._ 36. 1875. =9.= _Am. Pom. Soc. Rpt._ 152,
153, 154. 1883. =10.= Mathieu _Nom. Pom._ 454. 1889. =11.=
_Cornell Sta. Bul._ =38=:51, fig. 3, 86. 1892. =12.= _Tex.
Sta. Bul._ =32=:482, fig. 4. 1894. =13.= _Vt. Sta. An. Rpt._
=10=:99, 104. 1897. =14.= _Wis. Sta. Bul._ =63=:24, 63 fig. 31.
1897. =15.= _Ala. Col. Sta. Bul._ =112=:178. 1900. =16.= Waugh
_Plum Cult._ 189, 190. 1901. =17.= _Ga. Sta. Bul._ =67=:284.
1904. =18.= _S. Dak. Sta. Bul._ =93=:42. 1905. =19.= _Ohio Sta.
Bul._ =162=:258. 1905.

_Nolen Plum_ 10. _Suwanee_ 9. Suwanee ?16.

Wild Goose is the first of the native plums to be generally grown as a distinct variety though Miner was first known and named. Wild Goose, too, is probably a parent of more sorts than any other variety of the several cultivated native species, most of its offspring so strongly resembling it that its name has been given to a group of its closely related sorts. In spite of the great number of native plums that have been introduced in recent years, Wild Goose is still a favorite—probably more trees of it are now cultivated than of any other native plum. Its good qualities are: bright attractive color; tender and melting flesh with a sprightly and refreshing flavor; a tough skin which fits the variety well for shipment and long-keeping; comparative freedom from brown-rot and curculio and a large, hardy, healthy and, when cross-pollinated, a very productive tree. Wild Goose has been more extensively planted in New York than any other plum of its kind and in a few cases has proved a fairly profitable commercial sort. It is doubtful if it is now the best of its species for this State but it can at least be recommended for home plantings and in some localities as a market plum. Wherever planted there should be some other native sort blooming at the same time for cross-pollination.

The following account of the origin of this variety, more romantic than credible, is told with several variations. About 1820, M. E. McCance, who lived near Nashville, Tennessee, shot a wild goose on his farm; his wife, in dressing the goose, found a plum seed in the craw, which, planted in the garden, produced the Wild Goose tree. The merits of the new fruit seem to have been discovered by J. S. Downer, Fairview, Kentucky, and James Harvey of Columbia, Tennessee. The former propagated, named and began the dissemination of Wild Goose to fruit-growers. Many varieties have been sent out for this plum and much confusion has arisen as to what the true variety is. Since the characters of Wild Goose, even when cross-pollinated, are transmitted to its offspring to a remarkable degree, the name now applies to a class of plums rather than to a variety. The American Pomological Society placed this variety on the fruit catalog list of the Society in 1875, dropped it in 1891, and replaced it in 1897.

Tree very large and vigorous, wide-spreading, flat-topped,
hardy in New York, productive; branches rough and shaggy, dark
ash-gray, with numerous, large, elongated lenticels; branchlets
slender, long, with internodes of medium length, greenish-red
changing to dull reddish-brown, glossy, glabrous, with many,
conspicuous, large, raised lenticels; leaf-buds small, short,
obtuse, free.

Leaves folded upward, lanceolate, peach-like, four and
one-quarter inches long, one and one-half inches wide, thin;
upper surface light or dark green changing to reddish late in
the season, smooth, glabrous, with a grooved midrib; lower
surface pale green, glabrous except along the midrib and larger
veins; apex taper-pointed, base abrupt, margin finely serrate,
with small, reddish-black glands; petiole five-eighths inch
long, slender, pubescent along one side, tinged red, glandless
or with from one to six globose, yellow or reddish-brown glands
on the stalk and base of the leaf.

Blooming season late and long; flowers appearing after the
leaves, three-quarters inch across, white, with disagreeable
odor; borne in clusters on lateral buds and spurs, in threes
or fours; pedicels five-eighths inch long, slender, glabrous,
green; calyx-tube greenish, narrowly campanulate; calyx-lobes
narrow, glabrous on the outer surface, lightly pubescent
within, entire, heavily pubescent and with reddish glands on
the margin, erect; petals ovate, entire, long and narrowly
clawed; anthers yellow, with a tinge of red; filaments
five-sixteenths inch long; pistil glabrous, equal to the
stamens in length.

Fruit very early, season of medium length; one and
three-eighths inches by one and three-sixteenths inches in
size, oval, halves equal; cavity small, narrow, shallow, rather
abrupt; suture an indistinct line; apex roundish or pointed;
color bright red, with thin bloom; dots few in number, light
russet, somewhat conspicuous, clustered about the apex; the
stem attached to a stem-like growth from the fruit-spurs gives
the appearance on the tree of a jointed stem, very slender,
three-quarters inch long, glabrous, not adhering well to the
fruit; skin tough, slightly astringent, separating readily;
flesh yellowish, very juicy and fibrous, tender and melting,
sweet next the skin but sour at the center, sprightly; fair
to good; stone adhering, seven-eighths inch by three-eighths
inch in size, long and narrow-oval, flattened, slightly necked
at the base, acute at the apex, roughened; ventral suture
wide, blunt, ridged; dorsal suture acute or with a shallow,
indistinct groove.

WILLARD

_Prunus triflora_

=1.= _Ohio Hort. Soc. Rpt._ 81. 1893. =2.= _Cornell Sta. Bul._
=62=:31. 1894. =3.= _Ibid._ =106=:64. 1896. =4.= _Ibid._
=131=:194. 1897. =5.= _Am. Pom. Soc. Cat._ 26. 1897. =6.=
_Mich. Sta. Bul._ =177=:42, 43. 1899. =7.= _Cornell Sta. Bul._
=175=:134 fig. 27. 1899. =8.= _Rural N. Y._ =57=:515, 530, 595.
1898. =9.= Waugh _Plum Cult._ 140. 1901. =10.= _Ga. Sta. Bul._
=68=:33. 1905. =11.= _Ill. Hort. Soc. Rpt._ 420. 1905.

_Botan No. 26_ 2, 3, 9. _Botan_ 1. Botan No. 26 1. _Willard
Plum_ 1. Willard Japan 8.

Willard is about the earliest of the Triflora plums that can be shipped to the markets. When this is said all is said; as the variety has little else to recommend it, being very inferior in quality and having a reputation of being subject to shot-hole fungus. S. D. Willard, Geneva, New York, procured cions of this variety from California about 1888 from an importation made by Burbank from Japan. According to Willard, the plum was received under the name Botan and he labelled it No. 26 to avoid confusion; in 1893, it was named Willard by W. F. Heikes of the Huntsville Nurseries, Huntsville, Alabama. The American Pomological Society placed the variety on its fruit catalog list in 1897.

Tree medium to large, vigorous, vasiform, productive;
leaves falling early, folded upward, oblanceolate, one and
three-eighths inches wide, three and three-quarters inches
long, thin, glabrous; margin finely and doubly serrate, with
very small glands; petiole three-quarters inch long, with from
one to five reniform glands usually on the stalk.

Fruit early, of medium size, roundish or somewhat oblong, blunt
at the apex, dark red when well grown, covered with thick
bloom; stem short, thick, adhering poorly to the fruit; skin
sour; flesh greenish-yellow, rather firm, sweet, low in flavor;
poor in quality; stone variable in adhesion, of medium size.

WOLF

_Prunus americana mollis_

=1.= _Ia. Hort. Soc. Rpt._ 367. 1883. =2.= _Rural N. Y._
=44=:645. 1885. =3.= _Am. Pom. Soc. Cat._ 40. 1889. =4.=
_Cornell Sta. Bul._ =38=:45 fig. 2, 87. 1892. =5.= _Mich. Sta.
Bul._ =118=:54. 1895. =6.= _Wis. Sta. Bul._ =63=:24, 64. 1897.
=7.= _Colo. Sta. Bul._ =50=:47. 1898. =8.= Waugh _Plum Cult._
167. 1901. =9.= _Ga. Sta. Bul._ =67=:284 fig. 1904. =10.= _S.
Dak. Sta. Bul._ =93=:42. 1905. =11.= _Ia. Sta. Bul._ =114=:148
fig. 1910.

_Wolf Free_ 4, 6. _Wolf Freestone_ 11.

Wolf has long maintained a high place among the standard Americana plums, with which it is usually classed though put in a sub-species, and from which it differs chiefly in having much more pubescence on foliage, floral organs and branchlets. It is noted for its great hardiness, reliability in bearing, attractive and well-flavored fruits and in being one of the few freestones of its kind. This plum is remarkably well adapted for the northern part of the Mississippi Valley and there alone it is worth planting extensively. In New York it might prove valuable in the coldest parts of the State where the Domesticas and Insititias cannot be grown.

This variety was raised from a pit of a wild plum planted on the farm of D. B. Wolf, Wapello County, Iowa, about 1852. Professor J. L. Budd of the Iowa Agricultural College stated in 1885 that for over a quarter of a century the original tree had not failed to produce a partial or large crop annually on the grounds of the originator. A spurious clingstone type of the Wolf has been propagated in some nurseries but this false plum is readily distinguished from the true freestone type. The variety was added to the American Pomological Society fruit catalog list in 1889, dropped in 1891, and replaced in 1897.

Tree large, vigorous, spreading, low, and open-topped, hardy,
productive, healthy; branches rough and shaggy, thorny, dark
ash-gray, with numerous, small lenticels; branchlets somewhat
slender, short, twiggy, with internodes below medium in length,
green changing to dull brownish-drab, overspread with thick
pubescence, with numerous, small lenticels; leaf-buds very
small, short, conical, strongly appressed.

Leaves falling early, oval, one and seven-eighths inches wide,
three and seven-eighths inches long, thin; upper surface medium
green, lightly pubescent, with a narrow groove on the midrib;
lower surface silvery-green, pubescent; apex taper-pointed,
margin coarsely and doubly serrate, eglandular; petiole
one-half inch long, velvety, tinged red, glandless or with one
or two small, globose, yellowish glands on the stalk or base of
the leaf.

Blooming season of average length, late; flowers opening after
the leaves, one inch across, the buds tinged yellow changing to
white as the flowers expand; borne on lateral buds and spurs;
pedicels nine-sixteenths inch long, thickly pubescent, green;
calyx-tube greenish-red, campanulate, covered with short,
fine pubescence; calyx-lobes narrow, acute, heavily pubescent
on both surfaces, with few marginal glands, reflexed; petals
inclined to curl, long-oval, fringed, long and narrowly clawed;
anthers yellowish; filaments three-eighths inch long; pistil
sparingly hairy on the ovary, equal to or shorter than the
stamens, frequently defective.

Fruit mid-season, ripening period short; less than one inch in
diameter, roundish-oval or somewhat obovate, compressed, halves
equal; cavity frequently yellowish, shallow, narrow, abrupt;
suture an indistinct line; apex roundish or flattened; color
dull crimson, thickly mottled, overspread with thick bloom;
dots numerous, small, russet, inconspicuous; stem slender,
glabrous, adhering poorly to the fruit; skin thick, tough,
slightly roughened, astringent, adhering; flesh golden-yellow,
very juicy, fibrous, tender and melting, sweet next the skin,
but astringent toward the center; fair to good; stone semi-free
to free, five-eighths inch by three-eighths inch in size,
roundish-obovate, tapering at the base, blunt at the apex, with
smooth surfaces; ventral suture winged; dorsal suture acute, or
with a faint, narrow groove.

WOOD

_Prunus americana_

=1.= _Minn. Hort. Soc. Rpt._ 60. 1894. =2.= _Wis. Sta. Bul._
=63=:64. 1897. =3.= _Minn. Hort. Soc. Rpt._ 433. 1898. =4.=
Waugh _Plum Cult._ 168. 1901.

Wood is one of the comparatively new Americanas and seems to have considerable merit, especially for cold climates. It is attractive in color; above the average size; good in quality, though not the best of its species; and the trees in habit of growth and in productiveness are better than most Americanas. It is sufficiently early to fit into the short seasons of northern latitudes very well. Wood is one of the sorts that can be recommended for the coldest parts of this State.

This variety, according to a letter from the originator and introducer, Joseph Wood of Windom, Minnesota, is a seedling from a choice plum found growing on the bank of the Des Moines River, Cottonwood County, Minnesota. It was not mentioned in pomological literature previous to 1894 and is of too recent origin to be widely distributed or well known.

Tree of medium size, spreading, hardy, dense-topped, an annual
and abundant bearer; trunk shaggy; branches roughish, thorny,
zigzag, brownish ash-gray, with numerous, small lenticels;
branchlets slender to medium, above the average length, twiggy,
with short internodes, greenish-red changing to dark brown,
lightly pubescent when young becoming glabrous in the fall,
with numerous, conspicuous, large, much raised lenticels;
leaf-buds of medium size and length, conical, appressed.

Leaves falling early, ovate, two inches wide, four inches
long, thin; upper surface light green, rugose, glabrous, with
a narrow groove on the midrib; lower surface silvery-green,
pubescent; apex taper-pointed, base abrupt, margin coarsely
serrate, with long, taper-pointed teeth, eglandular; petiole
five-eighths inch long, slender, tinged red, lightly pubescent,
glandless or with one or two small, globose, greenish-red
glands on the stalk.

Blooming season intermediate in time and length; flowers
appearing after the leaves, eleven-sixteenths inch across,
white; borne in clusters on lateral buds and spurs, in threes
or fours; pedicels three-eighths inch long, slender, glabrous,
green; calyx-tube greenish, narrowly campanulate, glabrous;
calyx-lobes narrow, acute, lightly pubescent, occasionally
tipped with red, serrate, with many marginal hairs, reflexed;
petals oval, notched, tapering at the base to narrow claws of
medium length; anthers light yellow; filaments five-sixteenths
inch long; pistil glabrous, longer than the stamens, often
defective.

Fruit mid-season, ripening period short; one and one-quarter
inches in diameter, oblate, compressed, oblique, halves equal;
cavity of average depth and width, flaring; suture a line; apex
flattened or depressed; color dark red over a yellow ground,
mottled, with thin bloom; dots numerous, minute, light russet,
inconspicuous; stem one-half inch long, glabrous, detaches
from the fruit when ripe; skin thick, tough, sour, adhering;
flesh orange-yellow, juicy, coarse, fibrous, tender and
melting, sweet, lacking in flavor; fair in quality; stone free,
three-quarters inch by five-eighths inch in size, roundish,
flattened, slightly oblique, blunt and flattened at the base,
roundish at the apex, smooth; ventral suture acute, not ridged;
dorsal suture acute, sometimes indistinctly grooved.

WORLD BEATER

_Prunus hortulana_

=1.= _Cornell Sta. Bul._ =38=:52. 1892. =2.= _Wis. Sta. Bul._
=63=:65. 1897. =3.= _W. N. Y. Hort. Soc. Rpt._ =41=:54. 1896.
=4.= Waugh _Plum Cult._ 182. 1901.

World Beater is very similar to Wayland, differing chiefly in being a week earlier and, as the color-plate shows, the plums are a little smaller and more oval. In tree-characters, as the two grow at this Station, World Beater is perhaps the better plum. This variety has the same place in pomology as Wayland, a place which it fills possibly a little better. It may be recommended for culinary purposes and as a late plum for regions where the peach is hardy. Plums of this species have small value in New York except for the sake of variety.

World Beater was grown from a seed of a plum found near Nashville, Tennessee, in 1838, by J. H. Tinsley and planted in Lincoln County, Kentucky. About ten years later trees of the variety were taken to Clay County, Missouri, and were further propagated but the variety remained practically unknown until the fall of 1890 when it was introduced by Stark Brothers of Missouri.

Tree large, vigorous, spreading, open and flat-topped, hardy
where the peach can be grown, productive; branches rough and
shaggy, somewhat thorny, dark ash-gray, with numerous, large
lenticels; branchlets medium to above in thickness and length,
twiggy, with internodes of average length, green changing to
dark chestnut-red, glossy, glabrous, with few, conspicuous,
large, raised lenticels; leaf-buds very small and short,
obtuse, plump, appressed.

Leaves folded upward, broadly lanceolate, peach-like, one and
three-quarters inches wide, four and one-half inches long,
thin; upper surface smooth, glossy, with a shallow groove on
the midrib; lower surface pubescent on the midrib and larger
veins; apex acuminate, base abrupt, margin serrate, glandular;
petiole one inch long, slender, tinged red, pubescent on one
side, with from two to six small, globose, brownish glands
scattered on the stalk or base of the leaf.

Blooming season late and long; flowers appearing after the
leaves, three-quarters inch across, white, with a disagreeable
odor; borne in clusters from lateral buds, in twos, threes
or fours; pedicels three-quarters inch long, very slender,
glabrous, green; calyx-tube greenish, campanulate, glabrous;
calyx-lobes narrow, acuminate, slightly pubescent towards the
base of the inner surface, serrate and with reddish glands,
erect; petals ovate, crenate, fringed, with pubescent claws of
medium width; anthers yellowish; filaments five-sixteenths inch
long; pistil glabrous, equal to the stamens in length.

Fruit very late, season short; one inch by seven-eighths inch
in size, roundish-ovate or oval, not compressed, halves equal;
cavity narrow, shallow, rather abrupt; suture a line; apex
pointed; color carmine, bloomless; dots medium in number,
small, whitish or sometimes reddish, somewhat conspicuous; stem
slender, medium to above in length, glabrous, not adhering to
the fruit; skin thick, tough, astringent, adhering slightly;
flesh light yellow, juicy, coarse, melting near the skin but
firmer and fibrous next the pit, sweet except near the center,
strongly aromatic; fair to good; stone often tinged red,
adhering, three-quarters inch by three-eighths inch in size,
oval, turgid, angular, pointed at the base and apex, roughish;
ventral suture wide, blunt, ridged; dorsal suture acute or with
an indistinct, shallow groove.

WYANT

_Prunus americana_

=1.= _Ia. Hort. Soc. Rpt._ 327. 1885. =2.= _Ibid._ 85. 1890.
=3.= _Cornell Sta. Bul._ =38=:46. 1892. =4.= _Ia. Hort.
Soc. Rpt._ 448. 1893. =5.= _Ia. Sta. Bul._ =31=:345. 1895.
=6.= _Kan. Sta. Bul._ =73=:192. 1897. =7.= _Wis. Sta. Bul._
=63=:24, 65 fig. 32, 66. 1897. =8.= _Am. Pom. Soc. Cat._ 24.
1897. =9.= _Colo. Sta. Bul._ =50=:47. 1898. =10.= _Ia. Sta.
Bul._ =46=:292. 1900. =11.= Waugh _Plum Cult._ 167 fig., 168.
1901. =12.= _Can. Exp. Farm Bul._ =43=:32. 1903. =13.= _Ga.
Sta. Bul._ =67=:284, 285 fig. 1904. =14.= _S. Dak. Sta. Bul._
=93=:44, 49 fig. 1905.

Wyant is one of the standard Americana plums, ranking well with the best of them in both fruit and tree-characters. While it is almost beyond question a true Americana (from its history it could hardly be otherwise,) it has a number of characters that mark it as a departure from the usual type of _Prunus americana_. The calyx-tube is bright red, a character found only in a few other varieties of this species; the stamens are much longer than is usual in the species and much more numerous; the pistils are often defective; the flowers are borne in greater profusion; the plums do not have the distinctive Americana taste; the flesh is less juicy than usual; the skin is free and the stones are nearly free and have pitted surfaces. Some of these characters are so valuable in a native plum that Wyant may well be used to breed from. The trees from which the description here given was made came from C. L. Watrous, Des Moines, Iowa, and to the best of our belief are true to name.

This variety, according to a letter from J. E. Wyant, Shellsburg, Iowa, was found by J. B. Wyant of Janesville, Iowa, while hunting for wild plums in 1866 on the Cedar River near his home. The following year he transplanted the tree to his yard. About 1874, J. E. Wyant told R. Royce of Shellsburg, Iowa, proprietor of the Benton County Nursery, of this tree. Royce secured cuttings from the original tree and began propagating the plum. Fruits were sent to Professor J. L. Budd, Ames, Iowa, who named it Wyant. The variety was introduced by Mr. Royce and was disseminated by him and by Professor Budd. In 1897 it was added to the fruit catalog list of the American Pomological Society.

Tree small, spreading and straggling, flat-topped, very hardy,
productive, healthy; branches rough and shaggy, zigzag, thorny,
dark ash-gray, with numerous, large lenticels; branchlets
willowy, slender, long, with long internodes, greenish-red
changing to reddish-brown, glossy, glabrous, with conspicuous,
raised lenticels of average size and number; leaf-buds small,
pointed, strongly appressed.

Leaves falling early, folded upward, oval, one and five-eighths
inches wide, three and one-quarter inches long, thin; upper
surface green, smooth, glabrous, grooved on the midrib and
larger veins; lower surface silvery-green, lightly pubescent;
apex acuminate, base abrupt, margin coarsely and doubly
serrate, the serrations sharp-pointed, not glandular; petiole
one-half inch long, tinged red, pubescent, glandless or with
from one to five globose, yellowish-green glands on the stalk.

Blooming season medium to late, of average length; flowers
appearing with the leaves, showy on account of the many
blossoms and peculiar appearance caused by the numerous long
stamens, whitish, with disagreeable odor; borne in dense
clusters on lateral buds and spurs, one to four flowers in
each cluster; pedicels one-half inch long, slender, glabrous,
green, faintly tinged with red; calyx-tube red, obconic,
glabrous; calyx-lobes narrow, acute, lightly pubescent on
the inner surface, serrate and with numerous marginal hairs,
erect; petals small, narrow-ovate, crenate, with narrow, long
claws; stamens very numerous; anthers yellowish; filaments
three-eighths inch long; pistil slender, glabrous, shorter than
the stamens, often defective.

Fruit mid-season, ripening period short; one and one-quarter
inches in diameter, not symmetrical in shape, oblong-obovate
to nearly ovate, oblique, somewhat truncate, halves equal;
cavity shallow, narrow, flaring; suture a line; apex slightly
flattened; color dark carmine over a yellow ground which
largely disappears as maturity advances, with thin bloom;
dots numerous, very small, light russet, inconspicuous; stem
slender, one-half inch long, glabrous, dehiscent; skin thin,
tender, separating readily; flesh dark golden-yellow, juicy,
tender and melting, sweet, with the Americana flavor less
marked than in other varieties; of fair quality; stone nearly
free, seven-eighths inch by five-eighths inch in size, broadly
oval, flattened, blunt at the base, somewhat pointed at the
apex, with pitted, dark colored surfaces; ventral suture blunt
or slightly winged, shallowly ridged; dorsal suture acute, with
shallow, narrow, distinct groove.

YELLOW EGG

_Prunus domestica_

=1.= Rea _Flora_ 209. 1676. =2.= Ray _Hist. Plant._ =2=:1528,
1529. 1688. =3.= Langley _Pomona_ 95, Pl. XXV fig. VI. 1729.
=4.= Miller _Gard. Dict._ 3. 1754. =5.= Duhamel _Trait. Arb.
Fr._ =2=:107, Pl. XX fig. 10. 1768. =6.= Knoop _Fructologie_
=2=:59. 1771. =7.= Kraft _Pom. Aust._ =2=:29, Tab. 175 fig.
1; 38, Tab. 188 fig. 1. 1796. =8.= Forsyth _Treat. Fr. Trees_
20, 21. 1803. =9.= Coxe _Cult. Fr. Trees_ 233, fig. 8. 1817.
=10.= _Lond. Hort. Soc. Cat._ 149. 1831. =11.= Prince _Pom.
Man._ =2=:57, 58. 1832. =12.= Kenrick _Am. Orch._ 258, 269.
1832. =13.= Floy-Lindley _Guide Orch. Gard._ 299, 301. 1846.
=14.= Poiteau _Pom. Franc._ =1=: fig. 1846. =15.= Thomas _Am.
Fruit Cult._ 333. 1849. =16.= Elliott _Fr. Book_ 424. 1854.
=17.= Thompson _Gard. Ass’t_ 520. 1859. =18.= _Am. Pom. Soc.
Cat._ 88. 1862. =19.= Downing _Fr. Trees Am._ 954 fig. 1869.
=20.= _Pom. France_ =7=: No. 18. 1871. =21.= Koch _Deut. Obst._
560. 1876. =22.= Hogg _Fruit Man._ 730. 1884. =23.= Mathieu
_Nom. Pom._ 431. 1889. =24.= Fell _Cat._ 49. 1893. =25.= _Guide
Prat._ 163, 354. 1895. =26.= _Cornell Sta. Bul._ =131=:193.
1897.

_Aechte Gelbe Eierpflaume_ 25. _Albert’s Damascene_ 23, 25.
_Albertus Damen Pflaume_ 20, 23, 25. _Askew’s Golden_ 20.
_Askew’s Golden Egg_ 16, 19, 22, 23, 25. _Aubertiana_ 21.
_Bonum Magnum_ 11, 20, 22, 23, 25. Bonum Magnum 1, 2. _Col.
Young’s Seedling_ 16. _Dame Aubert_ 10, 11, 13, 17, 19, 22, 23,
25. _Dame Ambert_ 16. Dame Aubert 5, 12. _Damas Aubert_ 7, 23,
25. _Dame Aubert Blanche_ 10, 17, 19, 20, 22, 23, 25. _Dame
Ambert Blanche_ 16. _Dame Aubert Grosse Luisante_ 11. _Dame
Ambert Jaune_ 16. _Dame Aubert Jaune_ 10, 11, 17, 19, 20, 23.
Darwin Peach 24. _Die Albertus Damenpflaume_ 7. _De Besançon_
25. _De Monsieur_ 25 incor. Die Grosse Weisse Glanzende 7. Die
Kaiserliche Weisse Pflaume ?7. _D’OEuf_ 25. _D’OEuf Blanche_
25. _Dutch Plum_ 1, 11. _Dutch Plumb_ 3. _Echte Gelbe Eier
Pflaume_ 23. _Edle Gelbe Eger Pflaume_ 20. _Edle Gelbe Eier
Pflaume_ 23, 25. _Egg Plum_ 4, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 16, 17,
19, 20, 22, 23, 25. _Eier Pflaume_ 23, 25. _Gelbe Eger Pflaume_
20, 23, 25. _Gelbe Egg_ 20, 23, 25. _Gelbe Malonke_ 23, 25.
_Gelbe Ungarische Eier Pflaume_ 23, 25. _Gelbe Marunke_ 23,
25. Gelbe Eierpflaume 23. _Gelbe Eierpflaume_ 20, 25. _Grosse
Weisse Glanzende_ 20, 23, 25. Great Mogul ?2. Grosse Datte ?5.
_Grosse-Luisante_ 5, 7, 10, 11, 13, 14, 16, 17, 19, 20, 22,
23, 25. _Gros Luisante_ 12. _Gelbe Ungarische Eyerpflaume_
20. _Grosse Prune Blanche_ 20, 23, 25. _Grosse Maronke_ 25.
_Grosse Marouk_ 20, 23, 25. _Grosse Glanzende Alberts Pflaume_
23, 25. _Grosse Glanzende_ 20, 25. _Grosse Glanzende Pflaume_
23. _Grosse Gelbe Eier Pflaume_ 23, 25. _Grosse Marunke_ 23.
_Grünliche Dattel Pflaume von Besançon_ 23, 25. _Hick’s large
Egg?_ 11. Impériale Blanche ?5. _Impériale Blanche_ ?7, 10, 11,
12, 13, 17, 19, 20, 22, ?23, 25. _Imperial Blanc_ 11. _Large
Yellow Egg_ 11. _Magnum Bonum_ 19. Monsieur’s Plum ?4, ?8.
_Monsieur’s Plum_ ?4. Mogul 9. _Monsieur_ 11. _Mogul_ 4, 8, 11,
23. _Mogul Plum_ 25. Mogule Plumb 3. _Mogule_ 11. _Mogol Plum_
20, 23, 25. _Mogols Pflaume_ 20, 23, 25. _Mogul’s Pflaume_ 23,
25. Prune de Monsieur? 4, 6. _Prune de Monsieur_ 23 incor.
_Prune OEuf_ 20. Prune Dame Aubert 14, 20. _Prune d’Oeuf_ 20,
23. _Prune d’Oeuf blanche_ 6, 23. _Prune d’Inde Blanc_ 19.
_Prune De Besançon_ 20, 23. Prune Dame d’Aubert 21. _Prune
d’Inde Blanche_ 23. Supreme ?14. Wentworth 13. _Wentworth_ ?8,
10, 11, 12, 16, 17, 19, 23, 25. Wentworth Plumb ?3. _White
Imperial_ 9, 11, 15, 16, 19, 23. White Imperial 11. White
Imperial Bonum Magnum 4, 8. _White Holland_ 3, 4, 8, 10, 11,
12, 16, 17, 19, 23, 25. _White Magnum Bonum_ 9, 11, 13, 15,
16, 19, 20, 23, 25. _Weisse Kaiser Pflaume_ 23, 25. _Weisse
Hollandische Pflaume_ 23, 25. _White Bonum Magnum_ 3, 11, 20,
23, 25. _White Egg Plum_ 11. White Magnum Bonum 10, 12, 17, 18,
22, 23. _White Mogul_ 10, 12, 13, 16, 19, 20, 22, 23, 25. White
Egg 15. _White Egg_ 16, 19, 23, 25. _Weisser Kaiser_ 23, 25.
_Weisse Magnum Bonum_ 20, 23, 25. _Weisse Kaiserin_ 23 incor.
_Yellow Magnum Bonum_ 10, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 22, 23, 25.
_Yellow Bonum Magnum_ 20, 23, 25. _Young’s Superior Egg_ ?11.
_Yellow Egg_ 18, 23, 25.