PLUMS AND PLUM CULTURE IN 3IICIIIGAN. 247 



weekly shows of the Massachusetts Horticultural Society the same season. 

 The editor of the Ilorticulturist (the late A. J. Downing) says of it : "The 

 McLaughlin we consider a very excellent fruit, perhaps of the first rank. It is 

 not unlike, in form, to the Purple Gagi-, and has a high flavor." We also 

 (juote the description of Mr. Noursc : 



" The tree is of rapid growth, making stout, vigorous shoots of four to six 

 feet in a season. The top is round, low, spreading, and, as its grower says, it 

 makes a regular apple tree top. Leaves long, broad, and glossy ; bark smooth 

 and clean, and on the new shoots, dark ; fruit above medium, nearly round but 

 flattened at either end, being of greater breadth than length ; suture obscure ; 

 stalk about three-fourths of an inch long, inserted in a small cavity ; skin thin 

 and tender, russet yellow, sprinkled with a red tinge, which deepens to a pur- 

 plish hue around the stalk, where there is considerable bloom; flesh dull 

 yellow, juicy, rather firm, very sweet, and of luscious flavor, surpassing all 

 varieties that have yet fruited here. Ripens the last of August." 



131 PERI A L GAGE. 



is recommended for planting in the family orchard, at the rate of fifteen in one 

 hundred ; and also by amateurs, in the proportion of ten in one hundred. 



The history and description of this superior fruit is so graphically given in 

 Downing's "Fruits and Fruit Trees," that we indulge in another verbatim quo- 

 tation. After giving some eight or ten synonyms of this variety, he charac- 

 terizes it as follows: " The Imperial Gage has long enjoyed the reputation of 

 one of the most excellent and productive of plums. It was raised at Prince's 

 Nursery, Flushing, New York, from the seed of the Green Gage, and the fact 

 of the fruit of a single tree, near Boston, having produced fruit to the value of 

 nearly fifty dollars annually, has often been repeated as a proof of the profit 

 of its cultivation for market. The tree grows freely and rises rapidly, and has 

 long dark shoots, slightly downy. Fruit rather above medium size, oval, with 

 a distinct suture. Stalk nearly an inch long, slightly hairy and pretty stout, 

 inserted in an even hollow. Skin pale green, until fully ripe, when it is tinged 

 with yellow, showing a peculiar marlling of dull green stripes, and covered 

 with copious white bloom. Flesh greenish, very juicy, melting and rich, with 

 a very agreeable flavor. It separates freely from the stone. The latter is oval, 

 and pointed at both ends. Best. Early September." 



SHELDOX 



is recommended only as a market fruit, and at the rate of only eight in one 

 hundred. 



We extract the following from the work previously quoted : " Originated on 

 the farm of Wareham Sheldon, Huron, Wayne county, New York. Tree a 

 rapid grower, and very productive. Branches smooth, stout. Fruit large, 

 oval ; suture shallow. Skin deep purple, with a thick blue bloom. Stalk 

 short, in a small cavity. Flesh greenish, juicy, slightly acid; separates from 

 the stone. Good. September." 



COE's GOLDEN DROP 



appears in each of the society's lists, being proposed in that for market pur- 

 poses at the rate of twenty in one hundred ; in the family list at fourteen in 

 one hundred, and in that for amateurs in the ratio of thirteen in one hundred. 

 This plum is an English contribution to our collections of fruits, having 

 been produced by Mr. Coe, a gardener near London, who raised it from the 



