VARIETIES OF PLUMS 385 



waywardness in tree of most sorts of its species. The trees, also, 



are enormously productive. The fruits of 



De Soto, while not so large nor so brilliantly 



colored as those of some of the Americanas, 



are not surpassed in quality by the product 



of any, and keep and ship well. De Soto 



was found on the bank of the Mississippi 



River near De Soto, Wisconsin, by a ^Ir. 



Tupper, in 1853. 



Tree small, spreading, hardy, produces heavy crops 

 annually, bears young. Fruit midseason; l^/^ inches 

 in diameter, round, compressed, often strongly trun- 

 cate at the base ; cavity shallow, abrupt ; suture very 

 shallow or a line; apex round or somewhat pointed; 



color dark crimson over orange-yellow ground ; bloom i" ig- - • e o o- 

 light ; dots very numerous, small, light russet, incon- 

 spicuous; stem slender, % inch long, sparingly pubescent; flesh golden- 

 yellow, very juicy, fibrous, tender, melting, mild; fair to good; stone 

 nearly free, oval, turgid, blunt -pointed, smooth. 



