268 THE PLUMS OF NEW YORK. 



cavity very shallow, narrow, abrupt; suture shallow; apex roundish or depressed; 

 color light or dark red over a yellow ground, overspread with thin bloom; dots numerous, 

 small, light russet; stem one inch long, lightly pubescent, adhering poorly to the fruit; 

 skin thick, rather sour, separating readily; flesh greenish-yellow, juicy, coarse and 

 fibrous, firm but tender, sweet, mild, pleasant; good to very good; stone nearly free, 

 one and one-eighth inches by five-eighths inch in size, long-oval, flattened, necked at 

 the base, blunt at the apex, with markedly rough and deeply pitted surfaces; ventral 

 suture narrow, distinctly furrowed, with a short wing; dorsal suture with a narrow 

 groove of medium depth. 



LOMBARD 



Primus domestica 



I. Kenrick Am. Orch. 268. 1832. 2. Ibid. 224. 1841. 3. Downing Fr. Trees Am. 303 fig. 

 124. 1845. 4. Thomas .Aw. FrMiV CmZ/. 345 fig. 265. 1849. 5. Goodrich. N. Fr. Cult. 84. 1849. 

 6. Elliott Fr. Book 412. 1854. 7. Am. Pom. Sac. Rpt. 190, 210. 1856. 8. Downing Fr. Trees 

 .Aw. 929 fig. 1869. 9. Mas 7> Verger 6:151, fig. 76. 1866-73. lo. Country Gent. ^Z:<)%i. 1883. 

 II. Mathieu Nom. Pom. 423. 1889. 12. Guide Prat. 160, 359. 1895. I3- Mich. Sta. Bui. 

 169:242, 246. 1899. 14- •''"• Si'^- Bui. 46:279. 1900. 15. Waugh Plum CuU. 114 fig. 1901. 16. 

 Can. Exp. Farm Bui. 43:34. 1903. 17. Ohio Sta. Bui. 162:240, 256, 257. 1905. 



Beekman's Scarlet 3, 6, 8, 11, 12. Bleecker's Scarlet 3, 4, 6, 8, 12. Bleeker's Scarlet 1 1. Bleeker's 

 Rotepflaume 11. Bleekers Rothe Pflaume 12. Bleeckers Rothe Pflaume 9. Lombard 11. Lombard 

 Plum I. Montgomery Prune 8, 11. Prune Rouge De Bleeker g, 11. Rouge de Bleecher 12. Spanish 

 King ? 14, 15. Variegated Plum i. 



The Lombard plmn is known by all. It is not as largely planted in New 

 York as a few other varieties, but it is probably more widely grown than 

 any other plum if the whole continent be considered. The preeminently 

 meritorious characters which enable it to take first place in American plum- 

 growing are: The elasticity of its constitution whereby it adapts itself 

 to widely different soils and climates; the robustness, healthiness, pro- 

 ductiveness and regularity in bearing of its trees; the fact that the frtiits 

 are comparatively free from the scourge of the crescent sign, plum-curculio ; 

 and, lastly, its showy fruits tempting to the eye and readily salable. 

 The tree-characters of Lombard are all good, making so superior a tree 

 that it, more than any other variety, is recommended as a stock upon 

 which to graft weak-growing plums. It is a virile variety and from it have 

 come a considerable number of offspring mostly from self -fertilized seeds 

 which have given us several nearly related varieties and strains. There 

 are also a few very good cross-bred plums of which Lombard was one 

 parent. Lombard would be preeminently the plum "for the millions" 

 were it not for a fatal fault — it is very poor in quality'. Canned, cooked, 

 preserved or spiced, it does very well, but as a dessert fruit it falls in a 



