POPULAR AND VALUABLE VARIETIES OF FRUIT. 39 



this pest, the labor required to grow a few plums is worth more than the result. 

 Our native varieties, such as the Chickasaw and others, being less liable to be 

 injured by the curculio, have induced several horticulturists to experiment with 

 them ill order to produce improved varieties, which would at least possess one 

 great advantage over European varieties, in being ciirculio-in'ooi'. The ChicTc- 

 asaio type has furnished the best material to experiment with : its offsprings 

 are all very vigorous growers and abundant bearers. We name a few of the 

 most meritorious : 



Wild Goose — Originated in Davidson county, Tenn. Its name is claimed to 

 have been derived from the fact that a pit of a plum was found in the crop of 

 a wild goose, and being planted produced this variety. Other stories, equally 

 unfounded, give it a different origin. The fruit is large, 1^ to If inches long, 

 11 broad; color bright vermilion red, with numerous minute white dots 

 towards the apex; stalk very slender, short; flesh rather coarse, juicy, vinous 

 and pleasant. Compared with the finer foreign varieties can be classed as sec- 

 ond-rate in quality. Tree very vigorous ; leaves light green; very productive; 

 maturity beginning of June. * * * As a market fruit it is very desirable, 

 combining line size, beautiful color and good quality. * * * * 



Neioma7is — Another ofl'spring of the Chickasaw. Fruit medium, oblong; 

 smaller than the foregoing. Color bright vermilion. Flesh rather coarse, 

 juicy, and with a i^leasant vinous flavor. Adheres to the stone. * * Tree 

 vigorous. * * * Foliage smaller than the Wild Goose. In fertility it is 

 truly astonishing, and its fruit ripens about July 10th, lasting until the middle 

 of August. It can not compare in point of quality with the best foreign varie- 

 ties, but it is sutflciently good to merit extensive cultivation. Besides, it is 

 perfectly free from insects and ripens at a period unusual for this class of fruit, 

 — remaining in season nearly six months." — P. J. Berchmans, in Farmer and 

 Gardener. 



Langsdon — Identical with the cherry plum, except that it is more than a 

 month later in ripening: the cherry plum ripening the last of July, while the 

 Langsdon ripens in September. It differs from the Miner in being more glob- 

 ular, with a longer stem and having a deep suture, Avhich gives it the appear- 

 ance of a very large cherry. Tlie thick, tough skin common to this species 

 renders it nearly curculio-^^xooL There are one or more orchards of the Za;^^5- 

 <?ow near Louisville which are very profitable: all plums being out of season 

 they sell for eight to ten dollars per bushel in that market, and will bear ship- 

 ping to the most distant markets. — D. L. Adair, in Journal of Horticulture. 



Miner — This is also an improved variety of the Chickasaw, claiming the 

 same advantages in being exempt from' the attacks of the curculio as the above 

 varieties. Medium in size; dark, purplisli red, with a fine bloom. In quality 

 is similar to the foregoing. September. 



Cherry (Early Scarlet, etc.) — The origin of this species is in some doubt, and 

 while it may not prove to be a native variety, its freedom from the depredations 

 of the curculio, and its enormous fertility, gives it very properly a place in this 

 class. It is a beautiful, early fruit, ripening before most other plums, and this 

 comprises one of its chief merits as a market fruit. In size it measures about 

 an inch in diameter; is of a lively, red color, with a thin bloom. 



These varieties of native plums, planted in conjunction with the Damson, 

 form a list which the orchardist may accept with confidence. They are all 

 hardy, vigorous, abundant bearers, and cover a season of ripening from the first 

 of June to the last of September. 



