VARIETIES OF PLUMS 375 



excellent prunes, Agen is a very good dessert plum and ought 

 to be in every home orchard. Lack of size 

 in the fruit has kept it from being more 

 largely grown outside of prune-making re- 

 gions. The name is derived from Agen, a 

 region in France where the variety is ex- 

 tensively cultivated. 



Tree of medium size, upright-spreading, dense- 

 topped, hardy, very productive. Fruit late; 1^2 by 

 1 inch, obovate, the base necked, halves equal; 

 cavity shallow, narrow, flaring ; suture very shallow, 

 indistinct ; apex roundish or flattened ; color violet- 

 purple; bloom light, dots numerous, small, brown, 

 obscure; stem thick, 1 inch long, glabrous, adhering 

 to the fruit; flesh greenish-yellow, tender, sweet, 

 aromatic ; very good to best ; stone semi-free or free, 

 oval, flattened, with pitted surfaces, abrupt at the 

 base and apex. Fig. 207. Ageu. 



578. Lombard (Fig. 208) is probably more widely grown in 

 America than any other plum. The meritorious characters are : 

 it adapts itself to widely different soils and 

 climates; the robustness, hardiness, healthi- 

 ness, productiveness, and regularity in bear- 

 ing of its trees; the fact that the fruits are 

 comparatively free from plum-curculio ; last- 

 ly, its showy fruits tempting to the eye and 

 readily salable. Canned, cooked, preserved, 

 or spiced, the product does very well, but as 

 a dessert fruit, Lombard falls in a category 

 with the Ben Davis apple and Kieffer pear, 

 "good-looking but poor." Lombard w^as 



raised by Judge Piatt, Whitesboro, New York, 

 Fig. 208. Lombard. , . -loorv 

 about 1830. 



Tree of medium size, round-topped, very hardy, productive. Fruit mid- 

 season; 1% by 1^2 inches in size, round-oval, compressed, halves unequal; 

 cavity narrow, abrupt, round; suture a line, apex flattened; color light to 

 dark purplish-red, overspread with thick bloom; dots numerous, small, light 

 russet; stem slender, % inch long; skin thin, tender, separating readily; 

 flesh yellow, juicy, fibrous, firm and sweet, mild; inferior in quality; stone 

 semi-free to free, dark colored, oval, flattened, roughened. 



