igo THE PLUMS OF NEW YORK 



De Soto was found on the bank of the Mississippi River near De 

 Soto, Wisconsin. The first settler to call attention to the plum was a 

 Mr. Tapper who settled on the land where it was found in 1853 or 1854. 

 The Trayer Brothers bought the place in 1855 and in clearing the farm 

 they removed all the plum trees except a grove of what was at first called 

 Trayer, afterwards De Soto. Later Stephen Heal came into possession 

 of the property and in 1864 Elisha Hale, Lansing, Iowa, commenced to 

 cultivate and disseminate the variety. De Soto was placed on the Amer- 

 ican Pomological Society frtiit catalog list in 1883, dropped in 1891, and 

 restored again in 1897. 



Tree small, intermediate in vigor, spreading, open-topped, perfectly hardy, pro- 

 duces heavy crops annually, bears young; branches rough and shaggy, somewhat 

 zigzag, thorny, dark ash-brown, with inconspicuous, small, raised, lenticels; branch- 

 lets numerous, long, green, changing to dull reddish-brown, pubescent at first, be- 

 coming glabrous late in the season, with conspicuous, large, raised lenticels; leaf-buds 

 below medium in size, pointed, appressed. 



Leaves falling early, folded upward, oval, one and three-quarters inches wide, 

 four inches long; upper surface dark green changing to greenish-yellow, glossy, with 

 scattering hairs and a narrow, grooved midrib; lower surface finely pubescent; apex 

 taper-pointed, base somewhat abrupt, margin very coarsely and deeply doubly serrate, 

 petiole five-eighths inch long, of medium thickness, pubescent, tinged red, glandless 

 or with one or two globose, brownish glands on the stalk. 



Blooming season medium to late and of average length; flowers appearing after 

 the leaves, one and one-eighth inches across, white; borne in clusters on lateral buds 

 and spurs, in twos and threes; pedicels eleven-sixteenths inch in length, below medium 

 in thickness, covered with short, thick pubescence, greenish; calyx-tube green, cam- 

 panulate, pubescent; calyx-lobes somewhat acute, eglandular, thickly pubescent on 

 both surfaces, with a swollen ring at the base of the lobes, semi-reflexed ; petals 

 oblong or ovate, erose, tapering abruptly into long, narrow claws; anthers yellowish; 

 filaments three-eighths inch in length; pistil glabrous, equal to or shorter than 

 the stamens. 



Fruit mid-season, ripening period short; one and one-half inches in diameter, 

 roundish, varying to oval or ovate, compressed, often strongly truncate at the base; 

 cavity shallow or medium, abrupt; suture very shallow or a line; apex roundish or 

 somewhat pointed ; color yellowish-red becoming a light or dark crimson over an orange- 

 yellow ground, overspread with thin bloom; dots very numerous, small, light russet, 

 inconspicuous; stem rather slender, three-quarters inch long, sparingly pubescent; 

 skin thick, tough, very astringent, clinging to the pulp; flesh golden-yellow, very juicy, 

 fibrous, tender and melting, of medium sweetness, mild; fair to good; stone nearly free, 

 seven-eighths inch in size, oval, turgid, blunt-pointed, smooth; ventral suture bluntly 

 acute and with slight furrows; dorsal suture acute, not furrowed. 



