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
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.
The characters of Yellow Egg were given in the discussion of the group which bears its name and but little more needs to be said of the variety. As the largest and handsomest of the yellow plums it is worth consideration by either the amateur or the commercial fruit-grower in New York. At best, however, it is fit only for cooking and is none too good for culinary purposes. The trees are very satisfactory on all but very light soils. As has been suggested before, this plum ought to be crossed with varieties of better quality with the hope of getting as handsome a fruit but one which could be used for dessert purposes.
The references and synonyms show that Yellow Egg is a plum with an interesting history, but unfortunately the accounts of its origin and subsequent history have been but poorly preserved. Rea, in 1676, described the Yellow Egg as the Bonum Magnum or Dutch Plum; we may infer from this that the English obtained the variety from Holland. Knoop of Holland, in 1771, described the variety under the name Prune d’Oeuf Blanche, indicating a French origin. Knoop describes the Prune De Monsieur as similar and this plum has ever since been held as doubtfully identical. Duhamel, in Traite des Arbres Fruitiers, 1768, described Yellow Egg as the Dame Aubert. Kraft in Pomona Austriaca, 1796, gave it as the Die Grosse Weisse Glanzende, oder Die Albertus Damenpflaume. These references show that Yellow Egg was well known at an early date. Because of its close resemblance to many varieties, probably due to the propagation of seedlings from it, much confusion exists in the nomenclature of Yellow Egg. White Imperial was separated by Duhamel and Prince; but Miller, Thompson and most of the subsequent writers give it as the same. Duhamel believed the Imperial Blanche (White Imperial) to be the Grosse Datte. So, too, the Wentworth was at first separated but, later, was recorded as identical. Koch calls Yellow Egg one of the Datterpflaumen (Date Plums) though he states that there is another Date Plum known by Tragus more than three hundred years ago as Prunidactyla. De Candolle seems to hold to the names Dame d’Aubert and Aubertina for this plum. Professor Budd in exploring southwest Russia and Poland found a Dame Aubert differing from our Yellow Egg only in minor characters which he was told came from central Asia.
The exact date of the importation of Yellow Egg to this country is unknown. Coxe, in 1817, described it as the Mogul and later Prince gave it the name Yellow Egg. Owing to this change in name, we find America now and then given as its place of origin by both American and English writers. In 1862, the American Pomological Society added it to its fruit catalog list under the name White Magnum Bonum but in 1871, the name was changed to Yellow Egg. The Darwin Peach, sent out by Fell, a nurseryman in England, has proved to be identical at this Station and its distributor, in a recent letter, states that this plum, which has been growing on his place thirty years, “is apparently identical to the White Magnum Bonum” which is of course Yellow Egg.
Tree, large, vigorous, round-topped, open, hardy, very productive; trunk roughish; branches numerous, ash-gray, nearly smooth, with rather large lenticels; branchlets slender, short, with long intemodes, greenish-red changing to dull brownish-red, dull, lightly pubescent throughout the season, covered with thin bloom, with few, inconspicuous, small lenticels; leaf-buds above medium in size, long, pointed, free.
Leaves flattened or somewhat folded backward, oval, two and one-half inches wide, four and one-quarter inches long, leathery; upper surface dark green, pubescent, slightly rugose, with grooved midrib; lower surface medium green, thickly pubescent; apex abruptly pointed or acute, base acute, margin doubly serrate, with few dark glands; petiole five-eighths inch long, thick, reddish-purple, pubescent, glandless or with one or two globose, yellowish-green glands variable in position.
Blooming season short; flowers appearing after the leaves, one inch across, white, with a yellowish tinge at the tip of the petals; borne on lateral buds and spurs, singly or in pairs; pedicels one-half inch long, covered with thick pubescence, greenish; calyx-tube green, campanulate, pubescent; calyx-lobes broad, obtuse, pubescent, glandular-serrate, reflexed; petals roundish-oval, crenate or sometimes slightly notched, tapering to short, broad claws; anthers yellow; filaments three-eighths inch long; pistil pubescent, longer than the stamens; stigma oblique.
Fruit late, season short; two inches by one and five-eighths inches in size, long-oval, compressed, halves nearly equal; cavity of medium depth, narrow, abrupt; suture shallow, often a line; apex roundish; color golden-yellow, covered with thick bloom; dots numerous, small, white, inconspicuous; stem slender, one and one-quarter inches long, pubescent, adhering well to the fruit, surrounded at the cavity by a fleshy collar; skin thin, slightly astringent, separating readily; flesh golden-yellow, rather juicy, moderately coarse, firm, of average sweetness, mild; good; stone semi-free or free, one and one-quarter inches by three-quarters inch in size, oval, rather flat, acute at the base and apex, with roughened and pitted surfaces; ventral suture wide, heavily ridged, often distinctly winged; dorsal suture widely and deeply grooved.
YELLOW GAGE
Prunus domestica
1. Prince Treat. Hort. 25. 1828. 2. Prince Pom. Man. 2:108. 1832. 3. Downing Fr. Trees Am. 287, 288 fig. 115. 1845. 4. Thomas Am. Fruit Cult. 329. 1849. 5. Cole Am. Fr. Book 208 fig. 1849. 6. Horticulturist 7:403. 1852. 7. Am. Pom. Soc. Rpt. 36, 55. 1852. 8. Elliott Fr. Book 414. 1854. 9. Am. Pom. Soc. Rpt. 210. 1856. 10. Bridgeman Gard. Ass’t 3:126. 1857. 11. U. S. Pat. Off. Rpt. 190, Pl. XIII. 1865. 12. Mas Pom. Gen. 2:163, fig. 82. 1873. 13. Barry Fr. Garden 417. 1883. 14. Mathieu Nom. Pom. 443. 1889. 15. Waugh Plum Cult. 126. 1901.
American Wheat 10. American Yellow Gage of some 3, 4, 8, 11, 14. American Yellow Gage 10. Auserlesene Gelhe Reine-Claude 14. Harvest Gage 6, 8, 11, 14. Prince’s Gage 1. Prince’s Gelbe Reine-Claude 14. Prince’s Yellow Gage 2, 3, 4, 6, 7, 8, 9, 11. Prince’s Yellow Gage 5, 12, 13, 14, 15. Reine-Claude Jaune De Prince 12. White Gage of some 3, 8, 11, 14.
Yellow Gage belongs to the Reine Claude, or as it is so often called, the Green Gage group of plums. There are now a great number of these plums under cultivation in America, most of which have originated in this country and nearly all of which, as we have said before, are better than similar kinds from Europe. It is difficult to select from the numerous first-rate plums of this group the best varieties to retain in home or commercial orchards. Among these, however, Yellow Gage should be kept for the home orchard at least. It is a rather large fruit, with a beautiful color—golden-yellow often with a faint blush, with a firm and juicy yet tender flesh and a most refreshing admixture of sweet and sour together with the richness which characterizes the Reine Claude plums. The fruits come, too, at a time when the market is not overstocked with these fine plums and the season is particularly long. A review of the tree-characters in the description which follows shows that in the main they are good though some complain that the variety is not productive. This precariousness in bearing, together with the tender skin which keeps Yellow Gage from standing shipment well, probably precludes the variety from a high place in a commercial list but does not prevent its being a most desirable plum for home planting.
This excellent old variety was probably one of the first plums to originate in America. It came from a Reine Claude pit planted, with many others, by William Prince[226] in 1783 in the celebrated Prince nurseries at Flushing, Long Island. Despite its early origin and fine qualities it has never had much recognition from pomologists. Downing described it in 1845 but neither Manning nor Kenrick in their excellent books on fruits mention this plum. The American Pomological Society in 1852 listed it with the varieties of plums promising well and in 1856 placed it on the list of those worthy of general cultivation.
Tree very large and vigorous, spreading, dense-topped, hardy, productive; trunk roughish; branches dark ash-gray, smooth except for the numerous, raised lenticels of various sizes; branchlets medium to below in thickness, short, with internodes of average length, greenish-red changing to brownish-red, dull, lightly pubescent, with inconspicuous, small lenticels; leaf-buds large, long, conical, free; leaf-scars prominent.
Leaves long-oval or obovate, two inches wide, four and one-quarter inches long, thick, somewhat leathery; upper surface dark green, covered with fine hairs, the midrib grooved; lower surface silvery-green, sparingly pubescent; apex and base acute, margin serrate, with few small, dark glands; petiole five-eighths inch long, pubescent, tinged red, with from one to three smallish, globose, greenish-yellow glands variable in position.
Blooming season intermediate in time and length; flowers appearing after the leaves, one and one-eighth inches wide, white, fragrant; borne on lateral spurs, singly or in pairs; pedicels seven-eighths inch long, with short, thin pubescence, greenish; calyx-tube green, enlarged at the base, campanulate, lightly pubescent; calyx-lobes narrow, obtuse, lightly pubescent on both surfaces, glandular-serrate, reflexed; petals oval, entire, tapering to short, broad claws; anthers yellow; filaments one-quarter inch long; pistil glabrous, longer than the stamens.
Fruit mid-season, ripening period of medium length; one and one-half inches by one and three-eighths inches in size, oval, slightly compressed, halves nearly equal; cavity shallow, narrow, abrupt; suture shallow; apex roundish or depressed; dull yellow, faintly splashed and streaked with green, sometimes tinged on the sunny side with light red, overspread with thin bloom; dots numerous, small, white, inconspicuous, clustered about the base; stem three-quarters inch long, thinly pubescent, adhering well to the fruit; skin thin, rather sour, separating readily; flesh golden-yellow, juicy, firm but tender, sweet, mild, of pleasant flavor; very good; stone free, the cavity larger than the pit, one inch by five-eighths inch in size, oval, turgid, roundish, abruptly contracted at the base, blunt at the apex; ventral suture broad, blunt, faintly ridged; dorsal suture widely and deeply grooved.