214 



DESCRIPTION OF THE MADISON PLUM. 



six feet hurdles, which are still cheaper. 

 The horizontal rods to these are made of 

 three-eighths inch iron, and quite firm ; 

 they have two feet, and are pinned to their 

 neighbors by screws. These are very use- 



ful in temporary divisions to your fields, 

 and in temporary protection to shrubberies 

 and plantations. I am, my dear sir, faith- 

 fully yours, Henry W. Sargent. 



Wodenetlu, Fishlcill Landing, Oct. 11, 1849. 



DESCRIPTION OF THE MADISON PLUM. 



BY DR. H. WENDELL, ALBANY. 



A. J. Downing — Bear Sir : I wish to call 

 the attention of pomologists, through the 

 Horticulturist, to a new accidental seed- 

 ling plum, which has originated in the gar- 

 den of Isaac Deniston, Esq., of this city, 

 and which we have determined to call the 

 Madison Plum. It was first publicly ex- 

 hibited at the annual autumn show of the 

 Albany and Rensselaer Horticultural So- 

 ciety, on the 20th of September; but the 

 fruit was not sufficiently mature at that 

 time, to enable the committee to judge of 

 sts character. Allusion to it, however, will 

 be found in their report. I annex an out- 

 line and description of the fruit. Yours 

 very truly, Herman Wendell, M. D. 



67. — Madison. Plum 



Size — medium ; being usually an inch 

 and four-tenths in depth, by an inch and 

 three-tenths in breadth. 



Form — roundish oval. 



Exterior colour — light golden orange, 

 slightly tinctured with a greenish cast, and 

 faintly marked with pale yellow; the ex- 

 posed side beautifully blotched and spotted 

 with deep, rich, lake carmine, and the 

 whole surface faintly suffused with a deli- 

 cate bloom. Such specimens as are shaded 

 from the sun's rays have very few, or none 

 of these blotches or spots. 



Colour of flesh — deep golden yellow. 



Texture — somewhat firm, though not in 

 the least tough ; but, on the contrary, ra- 

 ther melting, and well supplied with rich, 

 delicious juice. 



Flavor — richly saccharine, and very 

 agreeable. 



Stoue — irregularly oval, rather pointed, 

 small, and non-adherent to the flesh. 



Stem — about three-fourths of an inch in 

 length, not very stout, curved, and inserted 

 in a regular, but not deep, depression, usu- 

 ally a little on one side of the base. 



Suture — quite shallow, frequently no- 

 thing more than a line, but uniformly visi- 

 ble, and extending from apex to base. 



Colour of wood. — The young summer 

 shoots are green, the old wood greenish 

 brown, and not in the least downy. 



Giowth. — The tree is upright and rather 

 spreading, as well as quite thrifty in its 

 growth ; the stems and branches are some- 

 what slender; the leaves are of a light 



