STATE HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 139 



NATIVE PLUMS. 



liY F.DW. H. liEEBE, GENEVA, ILL. 



Mr. President : 



In the Chicago Tribune of May 7th, 1873, we find, under the head 

 of " Farm and Garden," an article on the Phun, by '• Rural." He states, 

 in regard to a variety called the Wild Goose : 



" Some years ago it was said that a wild goose alighted in a garden in the State of 

 Tennessee ; and that, a few days later, on the very spot that she had rested, up sprung 

 a Plum tree, and in time this tree produced a prolific crop of Plums; and those Plums 

 were never to be attacked by the curculio or the fungus. The marvel went forth as 



" The Wild Goose Plum, and to-day the nurserymen tell us that it is the long- 

 sought-for Plum ; that it is to be to plum-growing what the Wilson is to the Strawberry, 

 the May or Early Richmond among Cherries, or the Winesap among Apples. With 

 these assurances, it has gone into many gardens of the Northwest as a coveted treasure, 

 where its habit of sprouting will soon make Plum thickets, if not Plum pies, Plum mar- 

 malade, and Plums canned and dried. Some of these Plums are mottled, sometime- 

 red, and again yellow or white ; in short, it partakes so nearly of the nature of the Wild 

 Plum of Tennessee and other Southern States, that we might be led to suppose that the 

 tree had been indiscriminately taken from the thickets of red, yellow and mottled Plums, 

 instead of a single variety that some foolish goose had eaten somewhere, and, not being 

 able to digest the seed, buried it in the garden of some honest planter, to become famous 

 in Plum tree history. What became of the mother goose, is not related in this history ; 

 and the facts as above stated remain, and are just as true to-day as they were the first 

 time that they were repeated. 



" I have a dozen of the trees, that for the first time are filled with bloom, and there 

 are at least eight distinct varieties, if the habits of the trees are any indication. The fruit 

 is small, of little or no value for the table, but very good for canning, and, though not 

 curculio-proof in this part of the State, are little injured — whether from the small size of 

 the Plums when the curculio is intent on egg-laying, or from the toughness of the skin, I 

 shall not attempt to decide. On the whole, the tree has been a good thing for some 

 nurserymen and tree dealers, and it has yet to be proved whether it will pay for planting 

 north of the Ohio river. In Tennessee the fruit is much larger and of considerable value, 

 and begins to ripen the last of June. On the whole, we would advise nurserymen to be 

 careful, and select from this family of Plums one or two of the best, and thus at least 

 protect their reputations from unpleasant suspicion." 



In the same paper, under date of May 15, Mr. D. L. Adair, of 

 Hawesville, Ky., says in reply to " Rural " : 



" IIawksvillk, Hancock Co., Ky., May 15, 1873. 

 "Sir : Noticing your article in The Chicago Tiibzine of the 7th, I take the liberty 

 of sending you a copy of the American yournal of Horticulture for March, 1869, con- 

 taining an article of mine on 'The Plum, and its Improvement.' Since that time, I 

 have paid consideraVjle attention to the Plum, and am making its cultivation a specialty. 

 The Miner (Townsend) I find of no value here. The true Wild Goose is a superb 

 Plum. The Newman I place at the head of the list. Hattie Porter, De Caradenc, and 

 a number of others promise well. The Newman and Chicacherry are the only Plums 

 that are entirely exempt from the depredations of curculios on my grounds. The Miners 

 were all stung last year. 



" Yours truly, " D. L. ADAIR." 



Never having seen this variety, we do not consider that we are 

 " sound upon the goose ;" persuming that those who have grown it are so, 

 we shall leave the disputed points in regard to it to be .settled by the 

 ganders. 



