196 



DOMESTIC NOTICES. 



thick, tough, easily stripped off, sour, bitter, and 

 not eatable. 



The flesh is bright yellow, very juicy, a little 

 hard, yet quite melting, of a very pleasant, high, 

 sweet and vinous flavor. The pit readily frees 

 itself from the flesh, except a little round the 

 edges; is round, streaked with red by the stringi- 

 ness of the pulp, (which strings are red.) 



It is 1 inch high, 3 lines broad, 5 thick, in- 

 verted eggshaped, rising in the back above, short 

 and sharp pointed below ; its blunted point pro- 

 jects a good deal. 



The cheeks are strong, rough and raised. 

 Three apricot stone-like edges separate, the mid- 

 dle one rather broad and sharp below, where the 

 pit is widest. The belly furrow is narrow, shal- 

 low and irregular, the back rising more than the 

 belly. 



The fruit ripens towards the end of August. 

 It is worthy of propagation from the size, beauty, 

 early ripening, from its pretty good taste, and 

 from the abundant bearing of the tree. When 

 over ripe, it becomes watery and vapid; is apt to 

 crack and rot in rainy weal her. Should be 

 plucked by hand, as it bursts when shaken from 

 the tree. Is distinguishable from all other red 

 plums by its size, short inverted eggshaped, red 

 flamed colour, and long stem. 



Violet Imperial — Imperiale Violette (Die Vio- 

 lette Kaiserpflaume,) Pr. dom. imperiale violacea. 

 Young twigs, straight, naked, buds rather crowd- 

 ed, pointing outwards; flower stems in pairs; 

 leaves eggshaped, acuminate, hairy, almost doubly 

 serrate; petioles hairy, two glanded; fruit large, 

 inverted short eggshaped, oval, red-blue; stem 

 hairy; pit free, irregularly ovate above, blunt 

 pointed below, projecting a little, truncatedly 

 pointed. 



The tree grows pretty large, sends out single, 

 spreading out branches, not thickly clothed with 

 leaves; tender as to aspect, soil and climate, 

 consequently does not often bear fully; requires 

 a warm, protected site. Distinguished by its 

 dark green foliage. 



The summer shoots are pretty stout and long, 

 of a violet biown, with yellow and grey specks, 

 and streaks set with broken interrupted spots of 

 silvery scarf-skin, naked and straight. The buds 

 are almost crowded, pointing out, large, stout, 

 naked, eggshaped, acuminate. The bud-bearers 

 narrow, low, short, weak, and curtly ribbed. 

 The leaves are middling large, 2 inches 4 lines 

 long, 1 inch 9 lines broad, rather drooping, thin, 

 soft, moderately ribbed, quite hairy, strongly 

 wrinkled (rugose,) dark green, eggshaped, acu- 

 minate on the edge, undulate, and deeply, doubly 

 serrate. The petioles are tender, 6 lines long, 

 covered with hairs, channeled in some measure, 

 rather reddish, with two unequal glands. 



The fruit is large — sometimes very large, 1 

 inch 7 lines high, 1 inch 4 lines thick, 1 inch 3£ 

 lines broad. The figure is inverted eggshaped, 

 oval, rounded off above, below dwindling off rather 



more, blunt pointed; the greatest thickness is in 

 the middle ; back and belly are about equally ele- 

 vated. The suture is rather deep, and presses 

 the back strongly, and divides it in tw r o unequal 

 halves. The pistil mark is grey, small, is pretty 

 much in the middle, almost flat, but not on the 

 point ; then the fruit often cracks open. The 

 stem is 9 lines long, slender, straight, hairy, 

 slightly rusty. The cavity of the stem is a little 

 elevated, askew, narrow, but rather deep. Bloom 

 thick, light blue. The colour is dark violet, 

 strewed over entirely with gold colour dots, — 

 leather-spots not unfrequent. The skin thick, 

 tasteless, and cannot be readily stripped off. The 

 flesh is firm, whitish yellow 7 , slightly transparent, 

 not too juicy, of a sweet, delicious taste. The 

 pit is completely enveloped in the pulp, but readi- 

 ly frees itself when fully ripe; is 10 lines high, 6 

 broad, 4 thick, unequally oval above, blunt pointed 

 below, compressed, projecting, truncate pointed. 

 The blunt back ribs are elevated, and have their 

 greatest curvature in the middle; the midrib is 

 slightly elevated. The belly furrow is shallow, 

 wide: the cheeks rather rough. 



The fruit ripens gradually, — about the first 

 decade in September. The Imperial Violet is a 

 beautiful, large, and good fruit, meriting recom- 

 mendation. The tree, however, is very sensitive 

 to frost, and consequently is not an abundant 

 bearer. The fruit cracks easily in rain, long be- 

 fore the time of ripening; it consequently rots on 

 the stem, does not therefore adhere firmly to the 

 tree, and is easily shaken off by the wind. May 

 be knowm by its size, its short, inverted egg- 

 oval shape, red-blue tint, and pretty firm flesh. 



The Red Imperiale, which is often mistaken for 

 it by writers and nurserymen, is much longer and 

 larger, and ripens about three or four weeks ear- 

 lier. The leaves of the tw r o trees differ strikingly. 

 This is short, eggshaped; that, spreading out, 

 long, eggshaped, (oblongo-ovatum.) 



The " German Fruit Gardener" describes and 

 figures under this head the Red Imperial. Christ, 

 another pomologist, erroneously styles this the 

 Princess plum — Prune de Flandres. which name, 

 in another work, he applies to the Violet Impe- 

 rial. We have a red and a violet Imperial, a 

 violet and a dark blue Imperatrice; both of which 

 last ripen late. Noisette speaks of a small Impe- 

 rial Violet, and terms the Blue Egg plum the 

 Great Imperial Violet, &c. Yours sincerely, /. 

 W. K. Fishkill Landing, N. Y. 



Vinery Correction. — Dear Sir : In the ar- 

 ticle I sent you, describing my vinery, a mistake 

 occurs which should be corrected; I did not in- 

 tend to have 100 bunches of grapes this year, but 

 next. You say I am trying sheet glass, which 

 every one knows has been a long time in use. It 

 is the rough glass, rolled, and very strong; the 

 same which the London Hort. Society tried, and 

 reported upon in the Gardeners' Chronicle of 

 April last. Yours, W.Resorr. Cincinnati, 0. 



