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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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