376 THE PLUMS OF NEW YORK. 



The White Pcrdrigon is a mid-season, medium-sized, oval plum, tapering slightly 

 towards the base; suture shallow; cavity small; stem slender; skin rather tough, pale 

 yellow, with thin bloom; dots numerous, small, whitish; flesh greenish-yellow, melt- 

 ing, juicy, sweet, aromatic; good; stone small, long-oval, free. 



WICKSON 



Prunus trijlora X Prunus simonii 



I. U. S. D. A. Rpt. 263. 1892. 2. Burbank Cai. 21 fig. 1893. 3. Gard. & For. 7:420. 1894. 

 4. Cornell Sta. Bui. 106:63. 1896. 5. Cal. State Bd. Hart. 53. 1897-8. 6. Cornell Sta. Bui. 139: 

 46 fig. 120. 1897. 7. Can. Hort. 21:30 fig. 1272. 1898. 8. Vt. Sta. An. Rpt. 12:229. 1899. 

 9. Coritell Sta. Bui. 175:148, 149 fig. 38. 1899. 10. Am. Pom. Soc. Cat. 41. 1899. 11. Kan. Sta. 

 Bui. 101:125. 1901. 12. Mich. Sta. Bui. 187:77, 80. 1901. 13. Waugh Plum Cidi. 227. 1901. 

 14. U. S. D. A. Rpt. 387. 1901. 15. Ga- Sta. Bui. 68:13, PI- IV, 37. 1905. 16. Md. Hort. Soc. 

 Rpt. 85. 1905. 17. Am. Pom. Soc. Rpt. on Plums etc. 65. 1905. 



Eureka 5. Perfection i, 2. Perfection 4, 14. 



It is difficult to estimate the value of Wickson in American pomology. 

 Probably no plum of recent introduction has been on the one hand so 

 highly lauded and on the other so condemned as this one. Its remarkable 

 size, the largest of the Oriental plums if not the largest of all plums; 

 its handsome color and distinct form; the firm flesh and peculiar flavor, 

 generally considered pleasant; the narrow upright tree with its long lance- 

 olate leaves, mark the variety as a new and for some parts of the country 

 a valuable addition to pomology. The contradictory evidence as to its 

 desirability arises from the fact that it can be well grown in comparatively 

 few plum-growing regions, most of these being on the Pacific Coast and 

 in the South. In New York, the Wickson has small value other than in 

 private collections. The variety is a little tender in tree and bud, hardy 

 only in favored parts of this State and not at all where the peach cannot 

 be grown; it blooms too early to be safe from frost; it is susceptible to 

 brown-rot; the trees are late in coming iti bearing and are not reliable 

 in fruiting; the fruits ripen unevenly; and the trees are not of good form 

 for heavy crops. In California, however, the Wickson is one of the leading 

 Japanese sorts, possibly the leading one, and is seemingly growing in favor. 

 Stames, one of the pomological authorities of the South, in his bulletin 

 on Japan and Hybrid Plums, speaks of Wickson as a " grand plum " and 

 as one of the best for Georgia. It is to be hoped that from the same cross 

 which produced Wickson or from breeding this variety Tvith some other, 

 a plum of this type well suited to New York may sometime be offered 

 the plum-growers of this State. 



