1. Downing Fr. Trees Am. 3rd App. 181. 1881. 2. Am. Pom. Soc. Cat. 39. 1899. 3. Mich. Sta. Bul. 169:245. 1899. 4. Waugh Plum Cult. 104. 1901. 5. Can. Exp. Farm Bul. 43:34. 1903. 6. Am. Pom. Soc. Rpt. 57. 1907.
Glass Seedling 2. Glass Seedling 4, 5, 6.
Although found in some collections in the United States, Glass has never attained commercial importance in this country, probably because its place is taken by the Quackenboss, which it very closely resembles. The fruit is large and attractive in color and shape, but it is not high in quality and it must be rated among Domestica plums as only a mediocre fruit. The tree is said generally to give better satisfaction than the fruit. This variety originated with Alexander Glass, Guelph, Ontario, and has been cultivated extensively by Canadian growers to whom its productivity and hardiness recommend it.
Tree large, vigorous, upright-spreading, open, productive, hardy; branches rough, stocky; branchlets rather slender, pubescent; leaves folded backward, obovate or oval, one and three-quarters inches wide, three and one-half inches long; margin finely serrate; petiole reddish, pubescent, with from one to three smallish, globose glands usually at the base of the leaf.
Fruit mid-season; one and one-half inches by one and three-eighths inches in size, oblong-oval, purplish-black, overspread with thick bloom; stem adhering firmly to the fruit; skin thin, tender, rather sour; flesh light yellow, juicy, firm, sweet, mild; of fair quality; stone clinging, one inch by five-eighths inch in size, irregular-oval, with oblique apex, the surfaces rough and pitted; ventral suture prominent, winged.
GOLDEN
GOLDEN
Prunus munsoniana × Prunus triflora
1. U. S. D. A. Rpt. 263. 1892. 2. Burbank Cat. 17. 1893. 3. Am. Pom. Soc. Rpt. 74. 1895. 4. Am. Gard. 18:715. 1897. 5. Cal. State Board Hort. 53. 1897-98. 6. Vt. Sta. Bul. 67:12. 1898. 7. Ohio Sta. Bul. 113:161. 1899. 8. Am. Gard. 21:36. 1900. 9. Vt. Sta. An. Rpt. 14:274. 1901. 10. Mich. Sta. Sp. Bul. 30:18 1905. 11. Mass. Sta. An. Rpt. 17:161. 1905. 12. Ga. Sta. Bul. 68:8, 36. 1905. 13. U. S. D. A. Yearbook 500. 1905.
Gold 3, 4, 7, 8, 10, 11. Gold 6, 9, 13. Late Klondike 5.
It would be hard to name another plum as showy as Golden. Large for its group, beautifully turned, it presents a most striking appearance long before it is ripe, with its bright yellow skin and crimson cheek, the whole plum turning to a brilliant currant-red with a delicate bloom at maturity. But the plum is little more than showy. The flavor is not good, the flesh is fibrous, excessively juicy and adheres to the stone, the skin is tough and astringent. In spite of the juiciness the plum ships well, owing to the tough skin, but the fruits are much attacked by brown-rot and the skin cracks badly under unfavorable conditions. The trees are rather small, uncertain in bearing, often enormously productive but do not hold the crop well, and the plums ripen unevenly. Strange to say, considering the parentage, the variety is hardy, according to Waugh standing the winters at Burlington, Vermont, almost perfectly. In tree and fruit the variety is more like its American parent than the Asiatic one. Golden can never be a money-maker in New York, but it is worth having in a home orchard for its handsome appearance.
The original tree of this variety was grown in 1887 or 1888 by Luther Burbank, Santa Rosa, California, from a seed of Robinson fertilized by pollen of Abundance. In 1892, the variety was erroneously described in the United States Department of Agriculture Report as a seedling of Kelsey fertilized by Burbank. The same year it was named Golden by Burbank and in 1893 it was offered for sale in his catalog, New Creations in Fruits and Flowers. Soon after, the original tree and the right of introduction were purchased by Stark Brothers Nurseries and Orchards Company, Louisiana, Missouri, and in 1894 the variety was catalogued and disseminated under the name Gold. This name was registered as a trade-mark in the United States Patent Office in 1905, but as the prior application and publication of Golden entitles it to precedence according to the nomenclature of the American Pomological Society, the name Gold has generally been dropped by pomologists. The confusion as to the origin and nomenclature of this variety has been increased by its parentage being published[214] as a cross of Robinson and Kelsey and by the California shippers labeling it Late Klondike.
Tree variable in size and vigor, usually small, somewhat vasiform, medium dense, hardy in all but the coldest localities, an uncertain bearer unless grown under favorable conditions, when it becomes very productive, susceptible to attacks of shot-hole fungus; trunk shaggy, sometimes gnarly; branches strong, unusually rough, grayish-brown, with longitudinal cracks in the bark, with very numerous, small, raised lenticels; branchlets willowy, numerous, long, with short internodes, green changing to dull reddish-brown, marked with gray scarf-skin, glossy, glabrous, with numerous, conspicuous, large, raised lenticels; leaf-buds small, short, conical, free.
Leaves usually flattened, broadly lanceolate, peach-like, one inch wide by three and one-half inches long, thin, somewhat rigid; upper surface light green, smooth, glabrous, with deeply grooved midrib; lower surface pale green, thinly pubescent; apex taper-pointed, base acute, margin serrate or crenate, with numerous, small, dark red glands; petiole slender, three-eighths inch in length, tinged red, sparingly pubescent along one side, glandless or with from one to seven small, globose, yellowish-green glands usually on the stalk.
Blooming season long; flowers appearing after the leaves, three-quarters inch across, white; borne in clusters on short lateral spurs and buds, in pairs or in threes; pedicels seven-sixteenths inch long, slender, glabrous, green; calyx-tube greenish, campanulate, glabrous; calyx-lobes narrow, acute, sparingly glandular-serrate and pubescent, with scattering marginal hairs, erect; petals oval, entire, clawed; anthers yellowish; filaments one-quarter inch long; pistil glabrous, longer than the stamens.
Fruit mid-season, ripening period very long; medium to sometimes large, roundish-oblate, halves equal; cavity deep, flaring, regular; suture a line; apex roundish or pointed; color golden-yellow blushed or overspread with bright red, with thin bloom; dots numerous, very small, whitish, inconspicuous, thickly sprinkled around the apex; stem five-eighths inch long, glabrous, adhering fairly well to the fruit; skin rather tough, astringent, inclined to crack under unfavorable conditions, separating readily; flesh golden-yellow, unusually juicy and fibrous, tender and melting, sprightly, sweet next the skin but tart near the center; fair in quality; stone adhering, three-quarters inch by one-half inch in size, oval, turgid, flattened at the base, abruptly sharp-pointed at the apex, with pitted surfaces; ventral suture slightly winged; dorsal suture broadly grooved.
GOLDEN BEAUTY
GOLDEN BEAUTY
Prunus hortulana
1. Am. Pom. Soc. Rpt. 162. 1881. 2. Rural N. Y. 43:53. 1884. 3. Popular Gard. 4:38. 1888. 4. Am. Gard. 10:175. 1889. 5. Cornell Sta. Bul. 38:48, 49, 86. 1892. 6. Kerr Cat. 3. 1894. 7. Mich. Sta. Bul. 118:53. 1895. 8. W. N. Y. Hort. Soc. Rpt. 41:55. 1896. 9. Am. Pom. Soc. Cat. 26. 1897. 10. Wis. Sta. Bul. 63:39, 42, 48. 1897. 11. Vt. Sta. An. Rpt. 11:284. 1898. 12. Colo. Sta. Bul. 50:42. 1898. 13. Ohio Sta. Bul. 113:155. 1899. 14. Ibid. 162:247, 254, 255. 1905.
Honey Drop 8, 10, 14. Honey Drop 5, 11. Missouri Apricot 5, 6, 8, 10, 11, 12, 13.
From the fruit-grower’s standpoint, Golden Beauty is of little interest. The plums are so small and the quality so poor that the variety is not worth planting either for the home or for money-making. It is true that the firm, juicy fruits are very good for table use, in jellies in particular, and that they may be shipped long distances, but these characters cannot offset the handicap of small size and poor quality. The variety is of interest to botanists because it seems to be a wanderer out of the range of the species to which it belongs. As the history which follows seems to show, Golden Beauty was found in a part of Texas where Prunus hortulana does not grow (see the discussion of this species) and quite as remarkable if it really comes from so warm a part of Texas is the fact that it should be perfectly hardy here and even farther north. There is a mystery yet to be cleared up about this plum. The variety is very ornamental in flower, foliage and fruit.
According to current account, Golden Beauty was found wild by a German on the Colorado River in western Texas during the Civil War. After the war, the German planted his new plum in a yard in Victoria County, Texas, where it attracted the attention of Gilbert Onderdonk, Mission Valley, southern Texas. Onderdonk, noting its merits, propagated and introduced it in 1874. In 1886, Stark Brothers, of Missouri, introduced the Missouri Apricot, the Honey Drop of some, which they claimed was found wild in Missouri. Several pomologists have noted the close similarity of this variety to Golden Beauty and as tested at this Station they are identical in all respects and are therefore placed under the older name. In 1897 the American Pomological Society placed this plum on its fruit catalog list.
Tree above medium in size, vigorous, somewhat irregular in habit, usually spreading, low, dense and flat-topped, hardy, variable in productiveness, somewhat subject to attacks of shot-hole fungus; trunk rough, shaggy; branches roughish, thorny, zigzag, dark ash-gray, with numerous lenticels of medium size; branchlets long, slender, twiggy, with short internodes, green changing to greenish-brown, shining, glabrous, with numerous, conspicuous, large, raised lenticels; leaf-buds small, very short, obtuse, plump, appressed.
Leaves folded upward, narrowly oval, one and seven-eighths inches wide, four inches long, thin; upper surface smooth, glabrous, with a grooved midrib; lower surface light green, sparingly pubescent along the midrib and larger veins; apex acuminate, base abrupt, margin irregularly and doubly crenate, with small, dark brown glands; petiole seven-eighths inch long, slender, green, thinly pubescent along one side, glandless or with from one to eight very small, globose, blackish glands scattered mostly below the base of the leaf.
Blooming season late and of medium length; flowers appearing after the leaves, seven-eighths inch across, white; borne in clusters on lateral buds and spurs, with from four to six flowers in each umbel; pedicels nine-sixteenths inch in length, slender, glabrous, greenish; calyx-tube green, obconic, glabrous; calyx-lobes acute, erect, thinly pubescent within, glandular-serrate, the glands reddish; petals ovate or roundish-oval, erose, tapering below into long, narrow, pubescent claws; anthers light yellow; filaments five-sixteenths inch in length; pistil glabrous, shorter than the stamens.
Fruit very late, season of medium length; one inch in diameter, roundish to roundish-oval, somewhat compressed, halves equal; cavity shallow, narrow, slightly flaring; suture very shallow or a line; apex roundish or pointed; color orange-yellow, mottled, overspread with thin bloom; dots characteristic, numerous, large and small, yellowish, decidedly conspicuous producing a somewhat mottled appearance, clustered about the apex; stem very slender, five-eighths inch in length, glabrous, adhering poorly to the fruit; skin thick, tough, adhering to the pulp; flesh golden-yellow, juicy, coarse, fibrous, tender, mildly sweet, with a faint apricot flavor, somewhat acid when cooked; fair in quality; stone adhering, five-eighths inch by one-half inch in size, turgid, oval, abruptly pointed at the base and apex, smooth and with a coating of yellowish-brown, cottony substance; ventral suture broad, lightly furrowed; dorsal suture acute or with a shallow furrow.
GOLDEN CHERRY
Prunus cerasifera
1. Hoffy Orch. Com. 2:1842. 2. Downing Fr. Trees Am. 295. 1845. 3. N. Y. Sta. Rpt. 15:293. 1896. 4. Bailey Ev. Nat. Fruits 212. 1898. 5. Can. Exp. Farms Rpt. 401. 1898.
Golden Cherry Plum 2. Market Plum 1. Youngken Golden 3. Youngken’s Golden Cherry 4. Yunkin Golden 5.
This plum is one of the few cultivated representatives of Prunus cerasifera. It offers some attractions because of real merit and because it adds variety to the list of plums for fruit-growers. Some of its qualities are strongly marked and the variety might prove of value in plant-breeding. Golden Cherry originated with Samuel Reeves, Salem, New Jersey, as a seedling of Myrobalan, in the early part of the last century.
Tree large, vigorous, spreading, dense-topped, unproductive; branches slender, sparingly thorny; branchlets twiggy; leaves oval, one inch wide, one and seven-eighths inches long; margin finely serrate, with few small glands; petiole reddish, eglandular; blooming season early, of medium length; flowers appearing before the leaves, well distributed on lateral buds and spurs.
Fruit very early; one and one-quarter inches in diameter, greenish-yellow changing to pale yellow with a tinge of red, overspread with thin bloom; flesh pale yellow, very juicy, melting, sweet next to the skin but rather tart at the pit, aromatic; good; stone clinging, five-eighths inch by one-half inch in size, oval, with a nearly smooth surface.
GOLDEN DROP
GOLDEN DROP
Prunus domestica
1. Pom. Mag. 2:57, Pl. 1829. 2. Lond. Hort. Soc. Cat. 144. 1831. 3. Kenrick Am. Orch. 256. 1832. 4. Downing Fr. Trees Am. 273. 1845. 5. Floy-Lindley Guide Orch. Gard. 295, 383. 1846. 6. Thomas Am. Fruit Cult. 332, fig. 258. 1849. 7. Mag. Hort. 15:486, 487 fig. 42. 1849. 8. Hovey Fr. Am. 1:81. 1851. 9. Am. Pom. Soc. Cat. 54. 1852. 10. Elliott Fr. Book 410. 1854. 11. Ann. Pom. Belge 43, Pl. 1855. 12. Thompson Gard. Ass’t 515. 1859. 13. Mas Le Verger 6:29, fig. 15. 1866-73. 14. Hogg Fruit Man. 691, 729. 1884. 15. Mathieu Nom. Pom. 425. 1889. 16. Guide Prat. 155, 357. 1895. 17. Oregon Sta. Bul. 45:26 fig. 1897. 18. Colo. Sta. Bul. 50:34. 1898. 19. Am. Pom. Soc. Rpt. 211. 1899. 20. Ohio Sta. Bul. 113:158, Pl. XV. 1899. 21. Mich. Sta. Bul. 169:242, 244. 1899. 22. Waugh Plum Cult. 104 fig. 1901. 23. Va. Sta. Bul. 134:42. 1902. 24. Ohio Sta. Bul. 162:242, 254, 255. 1905.
Bury Seedling 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 7, 8, 10, 11, 12, 14, 15, 16. Coe 16, 21. Coe’s 1, 2, 7, 8, 14, 15, 16. Coe Golden Drop 16, 23. Coe Golden Drop 21. Coe’s Golden Drop Plum 1, 5, 11. Coe’s Golden Drop 5, 8, 13, 15, 16, 17, 22, 24. Coe’s Golden Drop 2, 3, 4, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 12, 14, 18, 20. Coe’s Golden Drop Plum 13. Coe’s Plum 12, 13, 16. Coe (Pride) 15. Coe’s Imperial 1, 2, 4, 5, 7, 8, 10, 11, 12, 14, 15, 16. Coe’s Rothgefleckte Pflaume 13, 16. Coe’s Rotgefleckte Pflaume 15. Coe’s Plum 5. Cooper’s Large 15, 16 incor. Coe’s Seedling 3. De Coe 16. Fair’s Golden 15, 16. Fair’s Golden Drop 2, 4, 5, 7, 8, 10, 11, 14, 15, 16. Golden Drop 1, 2, 7, 8, 12, 14, 15, 16. Golden Drop Plum 16. Golden Gage 2, 4, 7, 8, 10, 11, 12, 14, 15, 16. Goutte d’Or 13. Goutte d’Or 13, 16. Goutte d’Or de Coe 15, 16. King of Plums 8. New Golden Drop 1, 2, 4, 5, 7, 8, 10, 11, 12, 15 16. Nouvelle Goutte d’Or 15, 16. Parmentier? 15, 16. Prune Goutte d’Or De Coé 11. Semis de Bury 15, 16. Silver Prune 17, 19. Silver Prune 22. The Coe’s Plum 1. Waterloo of some 7, 8,? 14, 15.
Unfortunately this fine old plum, the largest, handsomest and best of the yellow plums, is fit only for the amateur in New York and in the hands even of the most careful of amateurs it does not reach the perfection in either appearance or quality that is expected of it in Europe or on the Pacific Coast of America. In spite of special efforts to obtain specimens for illustration which would do this variety justice, the color-plate of Golden Drop is far from satisfactory as regards either size or color of the fruit. In this region trees of Golden Drop lack constitution and while hardy in tree, the fruit-buds are often caught by the cold. From lack of vigor and from injury by freezing, the variety is not productive. The trees, too, are slow in growth and the fruit needs a long season to reach perfect maturity, often failing to ripen in parts of New York where other plums mature well. Again, the trees are subject to nearly all the ills to which plums are heir and have a somewhat precarious existence because of insects and diseases though the fruit is not as subject to brown-rot as is that of the Yellow Egg with which this variety is usually compared. Golden Drop is seemingly fit for all purposes to which plums are put—for dessert, cooking, canning, preserving and prune-making. For the last named purpose it is unsurpassed for a light colored prune of large size, readily selling at a fancy price in delicatessen stores. The fruit when carefully picked and handled keeps for a month or more, shrivelling somewhat but retaining its flavor and pleasing flesh-characters. A task for the plant-breeder is to breed a plum, of which one of the parents should be Golden Drop, which will give to this region a plum as good as the Golden Drop in regions where it is at its best. With all of its defects in the North and East, it is yet worth growing for the home and often for the late market.
Jervaise Coe, a market gardener, at Bury St. Edmunds, Suffolk, England, raised Golden Drop from a seed about 1809. Lindley (References, 5) says, “He [the originator] informed me it was from the stone of Green Gage, the blossom of which, he supposed, had been fertilized by the White Magnum Bonum, the two trees of which grew nearly in contact with each other in his garden.” From a study of the fruit-characters this supposition is very probable. C. M. Hovey in discussing the synonyms of this variety writes, “The French have disseminated it considerably under the name of Waterloo; trees received under that name have fruited in our collection this year, and proved to be the Golden Drop.” Robert Hogg, in his Fruit Manual, published in 1884, described Waterloo as a separate variety, found at Waterloo, Belgium, and introduced by Dr. Van Mons; the descriptions of the two are practically identical. The Silver Prune, well known on the Pacific Coast, at one time supposed to be a new variety, turned out upon investigation to be Golden Drop, though the growers there continue to call it by the new name they have given it. The variety under discussion came to America in 1823, when Knight, of England, sent a tree of it to John Lowell of Massachusetts. In 1852, the American Pomological Society valued it sufficiently to place it on the list of the fruits worthy of general cultivation.
Tree medium to large, vigorous, spreading or roundish, open-topped, hardy, productive; branches ash-gray, roughish, with few, large lenticels; branchlets short, stout, with internodes variable in length, greenish-red changing to dull brownish-red becoming drab on the older wood, glabrous early in the season but becoming pubescent at maturity, with numerous, small lenticels; leaf-buds large, long, pointed, free.
Leaves folded upward, oval or obovate, one and three-eighths inches wide, two and three-quarters inches long, thickish; upper surface dark green, slightly rugose, pubescent, with the midrib but faintly grooved; lower surface silvery-green, pubescent; apex abruptly pointed or acute, base acute, margin serrate, eglandular or with small, dark glands; petiole one-half inch long, pubescent, tinged red, with from two to three globose, greenish-yellow glands usually at the base of the leaf.
Season of bloom medium, short; flowers appearing after the leaves, one inch across, white, borne in clusters on lateral spurs, singly or in pairs; pedicels five-eighths inch long, lightly pubescent, greenish; calyx-tube green, narrowly campanulate, pubescent; calyx-lobes obtuse, sparingly pubescent on both surfaces, glandular-serrate, reflexed; petals oval, dentate, tapering to short, broad claws; anthers yellowish; filaments five-sixteenths inch long; pistil glabrous, equal to the stamens in length.
Fruit very late, season of average length; two inches by one and one-half inches in size, oval, tapering at the base to a short neck, slightly compressed, halves equal; cavity very shallow and narrow, abrupt; suture shallow and wide; apex depressed; color golden-yellow, occasionally with a faint bronze blush, showing greenish streaks and splashes before full maturity, overspread with thin bloom; dots numerous, small, russet, conspicuous; stem three-quarters inch long, thinly pubescent, adhering well to the fruit; skin tough, rather adherent; flesh light golden-yellow, juicy, intermediate in firmness and tenderness, rather sweet, mild, pleasant flavor; good to very good; stone free, one and three-eighths inches by three-quarters inch in size, oval or ovate, slightly flattened, irregularly ridged and roughened, acute at the base and apex; ventral suture wide, often conspicuously winged; dorsal suture widely and deeply grooved.
GOLIATH
Prunus domestica
1. Prince Treat. Hort. 26. 1828. 2. Lond. Hort. Soc. Cat. 147, 153. 1831. 3. Kenrick Am. Orch. 260. 1832. 4. Mag. Hort. 9:164. 1843. 5. Downing Fr. Trees Am. 300. 1845. 6. Floy-Lindley Guide Orch. Gard. 287, 383. 1846. 7. Thomas Am. Fruit Cult. 343. 1849. 8. McIntosh Bk. Gard. 2:531. 1855. 9. Hooper W. Fr. Book 245. 1857. 10. Cultivator 8:25 fig. 1860. 11. Am. Pom. Soc. Cat. 86. 1862. 12. Hogg Fruit Man. 363. 1866. 13. Mas Pom. Gen. 2:15, fig. 8. 1873. 14. Mathieu Nom. Pom. 432. 1889. 15. Waugh Plum Cult. 105 fig. 1901.
Caledonian 1, 2, of some 5 & 8, 11, 12, 13, 14. Emperor 9. Goliath 1, 3. Goliath 9, 13. Nectarine 1, of some 2 & 8, 11 & 14 incor. Pfirschenpflaume 14. Prune-Pêche? 14. Saint Cloud 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 8, 12, 13, 14. Steer’s Emperor 2. Steers’ Emperor 4, 5, 8, 12, 13, 14. Wahre Caledonian 13, 14. Wilmot’s Late Orleans 2, 5, 8, 12, 13, 14.
This old English plum has never been popular in America and is now scarcely known on this continent. It is a large, handsome, purple plum, as the illustration well shows, but seldom fit for dessert. “Seldom fit” because it is quite variable in quality in some seasons and under some conditions. It is an excellent culinary plum and its firm, thick, meaty flesh fits it well for shipping. On the grounds of this Station the trees behave very well in all respects and usually bear very full crops of plums that would tempt purchasers in any market. It has all of the characters usually ascribed to a money-maker variety of any fruit and why not more grown in commercial orchards cannot be said.
Nothing is known of the origin of this plum except that it is English. William Prince, in 1828, wrote: “This plum is of very large size, and has attracted much notice in England; but it is only recently introduced to this country, where it has not yet produced fruit that I am aware of.” The Nectarine plum was confused with the Goliath in the early part of the Nineteenth Century, but Robert Thompson,[215] the English horticulturist, separated them so satisfactorily that they have ever since remained distinct in plum literature. He found that this variety had pubescent shoots and fruit-stalks, while the same parts of the Nectarine were glabrous, and that the season of Goliath is considerably later. The American Pomological Society placed Goliath on its fruit list in 1862, but dropped it in 1871.
Tree large, vigorous, round-topped, dense, hardy, very productive; branches stocky, with fruit-spurs numerous, ash-gray, smooth except for the large, raised lenticels; branchlets somewhat thick, short, with internodes of medium length, green changing to dull brownish-drab, heavily pubescent throughout the season, with few, inconspicuous, small lenticels; leaf-buds of average size and length, conical, free.
Leaves somewhat flattened, obovate, two inches wide, three and five-eighths inches long; upper surface dark green, nearly glabrous, with a grooved midrib; lower surface heavily pubescent; apex obtuse or acute, base acute, margin finely serrate, eglandular or with few, small dark glands; petiole one-half inch long, thick, heavily pubescent, with a faint red tinge, glandless or with from one to three large, globose, greenish-yellow glands usually at the base of the leaf.
Blooming season early to medium, short; flowers appearing after the leaves, one inch across, white; borne on lateral spurs, singly or in pairs; pedicels nine-sixteenths inch long, pubescent, greenish; calyx-tube green, campanulate, lightly pubescent; calyx-lobes, broad, obtuse, somewhat pubescent, glandular-serrate, erect; petals unusually large, roundish, finely crenate, not clawed; anthers yellowish; filaments five-sixteenths inch long; pistil glabrous, longer than the stamens, with a large style and stigma.
Fruit mid-season, ripening period short; one and five-eighths inches by one and one-half inches in size, roundish-oblong, somewhat oblique, truncate, compressed, halves unequal; cavity narrow, abrupt, usually russeted; suture a line; apex flattened or depressed; color dark purplish-red, lighter colored on the shaded side, overspread with thick bloom; dots characteristic, numerous, large, russet, conspicuous, clustered about the apex; stem thick, three-quarters inch long, thickly pubescent, adhering well to the fruit; skin thin, sour, separating readily; flesh golden-yellow, rather dry, firm, sweet, of mild, pleasant flavor; fair to good; stone free, seven-eighths inch by three-quarters inch in size, roundish-oval, somewhat flattened, blunt at the base and apex, roughened and irregularly furrowed; ventral suture wide, winged, heavily furrowed; dorsal suture with a wide groove variable in depth.
GONZALES
GOLIATH
Prunus triflora ×
1. Kerr Cat. 1899-1900. 2. Vt. Sta. Bul. 67:13. 1898. 3. Ohio Sta. Bul. 162:252. 1905. 4. Penin. Hort. Soc. Rpt. 36. 1905. 5. Stark Bros. Cat. 1906.
Gonzales 5. Red Gold 4. Red Gold 5.
Judging from the several published descriptions, Gonzales is a very promising plum, for the South at least. The writers have not seen the variety in the North, but there appear to be no reasons why it should not succeed in some northern soils and climates. It is a chance seedling found in Gonzales, Texas, about 1894, and was introduced by F. T. Ramsey, Austin, Texas, in 1897. About all that can be determined regarding its parentage is that it is the product of some Japanese variety pollinated by a native. In 1901, Waugh used this variety to typify a new species, Prunus hortulana robusta, composed of a number of hybrids between Prunus triflora and native species. The following description is compiled:
Tree vigorous, upright-spreading, open; leaves narrow, oval, tapering at both ends; upper surface glabrous; margin minutely glandular, finely crenulate; petiole short and slender, with two glands.
Fruit mid-season; resembles Burbank in size and shape; skin toughish; color bright red, sometimes striped and splashed with dark red; flesh yellow, tinged red, firm, sweet; good; stone of medium size, oval, clinging.
GRAND DUKE
GRAND DUKE
Prunus domestica
1. Hogg Fruit Man. 703. 1884. 2. Mathieu Nom. Pom. 432, 434. 1889. 3. W. N. Y. Hort. Soc. Rpt. 39:100. 1894. 4. Can. Hort. 18:117, Pl. 1895. 5. Cornell Sta. Bul. 131:186, fig. 40 IV. 1896. 6. W. N. Y. Hort. Soc. Rpt. 42:83. 1897. 7. Am. Pom. Soc. Cat. 25. 1897. 8. Mich. Sta. Bul. 169:245. 1899. 9. Ohio Sta. Bul. 113:159, Pl. XVI. 1899. 10. Can. Exp. Farm Bul. 2nd Ser. 3:52. 1900. 11. Waugh Plum Cult. 106 fig. 1901. 12. Ohio Sta. Bul. 162:243 fig., 244, 254, 255. 1905.
Grossherzog’s Pflaume 2. Grand-Duc 2. Grand Duke 2.
Grand Duke, now probably the favorite late shipping plum in this region, is, as stated in the history given below, a comparatively new plum in America. Its great popularity, gained in less than a quarter of a century, is due to much advertising by nurserymen coupled with such intrinsic qualities as large size, the true prune shape which seems most pleasing in some markets, handsome plum-purple and more than all else a firm, meaty flesh which fits the variety excellently for shipping. The flavor, as seems most often to be the case with these large blue plums, is not pleasant and the plum is not more than a second rate dessert fruit though it is very good in whatever way cooked for the table. The trees grow poorly in the nursery and even in the orchard are seldom large and vigorous enough to be called first class, though usually hardy. Some years ago plum-growers were advised to top-work this and other weak-growing plums on stronger stocks, but those who have tried such top-working usually condemn it because it is expensive and ineffective and because it so often gives a malformed tree. The trees come in bearing slowly but bear regularly and abundantly and hold the crop well, the plums being unusually free from rot and hanging in good condition a long time. Grand Duke deserves its popularity as a market plum and probably no better variety can be selected in New York for the last of the season.
Grand Duke is another of the many valuable plums produced by Thomas Rivers, of Sawbridgeworth, England. It was grown from an Autumn Compote stone and was sent out in 1876. When it was first introduced into America is not known, but in 1888 cions of it were distributed by Ellwanger and Barry[216] of Rochester, New York. In 1897, the American Pomological Society added this variety to its fruit catalog list and recommended it for this State and neighboring regions with similar climatic conditions.
Tree above medium in size, moderately vigorous, upright to slightly spreading, usually hardy, productive; branches ash-gray, with small, numerous lenticels; branchlets slender, short, with internodes of medium length, greenish-red changing to brownish-red, many twigs retaining a tinge of green, shining, glabrous, with numerous, small lenticels; leaf-buds large, long, pointed, strongly appressed; leaf-scars large.
Leaves nearly flat, obovate, one and one-half inches wide, three inches long, thick; upper surface shining, slightly rugose, pubescent only along the grooved midrib; lower surface yellowish-green, lightly pubescent; apex taper-pointed, base acute, margin serrate, eglandular or with small, dark glands; petiole three-quarters inch long, nearly glabrous, slightly tinged red along one side, glandless or with from one to three globose yellowish glands on the stalk and base of the leaf.
Blooming season intermediate, short; flowers appearing after the leaves, one inch across, white; borne in clusters on short lateral spurs and buds, singly or in pairs; pedicels one-half inch long, slender, glabrous, greenish; calyx-tube green, campanulate, glabrous; calyx-lobes lightly pubescent, glandular-ciliate, slightly reflexed; petals obovate, entire, short-clawed; anthers yellowish; filaments one-quarter inch long; pistil pubescent at the base, longer than the stamens.
Fruit late, season medium; unusually large when well grown, two and one-eighth inches by two inches in size, elongated-oval or slightly obovate, halves unequal; cavity shallow, narrow, abrupt; suture wide, variable in depth; apex flattened, somewhat depressed or occasionally with a short, blunt tip; color dark reddish-purple or purplish-black, overspread with thick bloom; dots numerous, small, brownish, inconspicuous; stem three-quarters inch long, adhering well to the fruit; skin variable in toughness, somewhat astringent, separating readily; flesh golden-yellow, juicy, firm, sweet, mild, not high in flavor; good; stone clinging, sometimes tinged red, one and one-eighth inches by seven-eighths inch in size, irregularly oval, slightly flattened, roughish, acute at the base and apex; ventral suture broad, slightly winged; dorsal suture with a broad, shallow groove.
GUEII
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
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.