246 STATE HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 



they are of but little value in most parts of Michigan. Even when pro- 

 ductive, they are generally small in size, with a tough skin and firm flesh, 

 and many of them are of an acrid nature. 



Until recently our cultivated native plums have been grouped into two 

 species, the American or Canadian wild plum {Primus Americana, 

 Marshall) and the Chickasaw plum (P. Chickasa, iA\c\i.) A few years 

 ago they were carefully studied by Prof. Bailey of Cornell University, 

 and a new classification made as follows: 



Group A. The Americana Group {Primus Americana, Marshall). — This 

 species is found from New England to the Rocky mountains and extends 

 from Manitoba to Texas. In the group are placed a number of hardy, 

 strong-growing varieties " characterized by a firm, meaty, usually com- 

 pressed, dull-colored, late fruit, with thick and usually very tough, glau- 

 cous skin, and large, more or less flattened stone which is often nearly or 

 quite free, and by large, obovate, thick, veiny, jagged, dull leaves." " The 

 fruits are somewhat flattened at the ends, and are commonly marked by a 

 distinct suture. All of the varieties have a light purple bloom." 

 Among the best varieties of this group are Cheney, De Soto, Forest 

 Garden, Hawkeye, Louisa, Maquoketa, Purple and Yellow Yosemite, 

 Rolling-stone, and Weaver. Wolf and Van Buren are classed as Primus 

 Americana var. Mollis, from the fact that they have pubescent shoots and 

 foliage. 



B. Wild Goose Group {Primus hortulana, Bailey). — This embraces 

 all varieties with a " wide-spreading growth and mostly smooth twigs, a 

 firm, juicy, bright colored, thin skinned fruit which is never flattened, a 

 clinging, turgid, comparatively small, rough stone, which is sometimes pro- 

 longed at the ends, but is never conspicuously wing-margined, and by 

 comparatively thin and firm, shining, smooth, flat, more or less peach-like, 

 ovate-lanceolate or ovate, long- pointed leaves which are mostly closely and 

 obtusely glandular serrate, and the stalks of which are usually glandular." 

 This species is found in the Mississippi valley from Illinois southward. 



The species seems to be more closely allied to the Chickasaw than to the 

 Americana group. " The fruits are usually covered with a thin bloom and 

 are more or less marked by small spots. In color they range from a vivid 

 crimson to pure golden yellow." On the other hand, the varieties of P. 

 Americana seldom or never bear fruits of a pure yellow color, being more 

 or less clouded and splashed with red. They are also generally thin- 

 skinned and of a dull color. Prof. Bailey recognizes two types in this 

 group, one of which is characterized " by thin and very smooth, peach-like 

 leaves, which are very finely and evenly serrate " (Wild Goose), while the 

 other is distinguished by "thicker, duller, and more veiny leaves, which 

 are more coarsely and more or less irregularly serrate." (Moreman, Way- 

 land and Golden Beauty. ) The latter type seems to connect the plums of 

 the Miner type quite closely with those of the Wild Goose group. 



C. Miner Group (P. hortulana, var. Mineri.) — It differs from the 

 species " by the dull and comparatively thick leaves, which are conspicu- 

 ously veiny below and irregularly, coarsely toothed and more or less obovate 

 in outline, by a late, very firm fruit, and by a more or less smooth and Amer- 

 icana-like stone." Most of the varieties are quite hardy and are among the 

 best of the native plums for southern Michigan. The best varieties are 

 Clinton, Forest Rose, Miner, and Prairie Flower. 



D. Chickasaw Group (P. angttstifolia, Marshall), (P. Chicasa, 

 Mich). — The trees of this group have a slender, spreading, and irregular 



