THE DRUPE-FRUITS 137 



necked, blue, red or yellow; stem ^/^ inch or more in length, stout, pubes- 

 cent ; cavity shallow and narrow ; apex variable, usually rounded ; suture 

 prominent, a line or indistinct ; dots small, numerous, inconspicuous ; flesh 

 yellowish, firm, sweet or acid and of many flavors; stone free or clinging, 

 oval, flattened, blunt, pointed or necked, roughened or pitted; walls thick; 

 one suture ridged, the other grooved. 



195. Habitat and history of Domestica plums. — Domestica 

 plums came from the region about the Caucasus ^lountains and 

 the Caspian Sea. What seems to be the wild form of this species 

 is found in this region. Here the Huns, Turks, Mongols, and 

 Tartars, flowing back and forth in tides of war-like migration, 

 maintained in times of peace a crude agriculture long before 

 the Greeks and Romans tilled the soil. The plum was one of 

 their fruits and the dried prune a staple product. Here, still, 

 plums are among the common fruits, and prunes are ordinary 

 articles of trade. At about the time of Christ, or somewhat 

 before, communication had been opened between the Romans 

 and the countries about the Caspian Sea, and a few centuries 

 later hordes of Asiatics came westward and without doubt 

 brought the plum with them. Plums were introduced into 

 America by the first colonists, but were not much grown in 

 this country^ until toward the end of the eighteenth century. 

 Certainly, during the first two centuries of colonization in the 

 New World, there were no such plantations of the plum as there 

 were of the apple, pear, and cherry. Among the first importa- 

 tions of plums were those made by the French in Canada, in 

 Nova Scotia, Cape Breton, Prince Edward Island, and in favored 

 situations such as the L 'Islet County and the Island of ^lontreal 

 in the St. Lawrence River. In Massachusetts plums were 

 planted by the Pilgrims, according to Francis Higginson, writing 

 in 1629. The plum was early introduced in several of the south- 

 ern colonies ; so say Beverly, writing in 1722 of Virginia, and 

 Lawson in his history of North Carolina, written in 1714. 



196. The cultivation of Domestica plums in North America. 

 — Domestica plums have not attained in America the relative 

 importance among fruits that they hold in Europe. The plum 

 is grown less in this country than the apple, pear, peach, or 

 cherry, while in Europe it is a question whether it does not rank 

 first or second amongr the tree-fruits. The restricted area which 



