378 THE PLUMS OF NEW YORK. 



WILD GOOSE 



Primus mimsoniana 



I. Card. Mon. 9:105. 1867. 2. Am. Jour. Hort. 5:147. 1869. 3. Am. Pom. Soc. Rpt. 60. 

 1869. 4. Am. Hort. An. 78. 1870. 5. Country Gent. 35:166. 1870. 6. Am. Pom. Soc. Rpt. 116. 

 1871. 7. Ibid. 44. 1875. 8. Am. Pom. Soc. Cat. 36. 1875. 9. Am. Pom. Soc. Rpt. 152, 153, 

 154. 1883. 10. Mathieu Nom. Pom. 454. 1889. 11. Cornell Sta. Bui. 38:51, fig. 3, 86. 1892. 

 12. Tex. Sta. Bui. 32:482, fig. 4. 1894. 13. Vt. Sta. An. Rpt. 10:99, 104. 1897. 14. Wis. Sta. 

 Bui. 63:24, 63 fig. 31. 1897. 15. Ala. Col. Sta. Bui. 112:178. 1900. 16. Waugh Plum Cult. 189, 

 190. 1901. 17. Ga. Sta. Bui. 67:284. 1904, 18. S. Dak. Sta. Bui. 93:42. 1905. 19. Ohio Sta. 

 Bid. 162:258. 1905. 



Nolen Plum 10. Suwanee 9. Suwanee ?i6. 



Wild Goose is the first of the native plums to be generally grown as 

 a distinct variety though Miner was first known and named. Wild Goose, 

 too, is probably a parent of more sorts than any other variety of the several 

 cultivated native species, most of its offspring so strongly resembling it 

 that its name has been given to a group of its closely related sorts. In 

 spite of the great niimber of native plums that have been introduced in 

 recent years, Wild Goose is still a favorite — probably more trees of it are 

 now cultivated than of any other native pltun. Its good quaHties are: 

 bright attractive color; tender and melting fiesh with a sprightly and 

 refreshing flavor; a tough sldn which fits the variety well for shipment 

 and long-keeping; comparative freedom from brown -rot and ciirculio and 

 a large, hardy, healthy and, when cross-pollinated, a ver>^ productive 

 tree. Wild Goose has been more extensively planted in New York than 

 any other pltun of its kind and in a few cases has proved a fairly profitable 

 commercial sort. It is doubtfiil if it is now the best of its species for this 

 State but it can at least be recommended for home plantings and in some 

 localities as a market plimi. Wherever planted there should be some 

 other native sort blooming at the same time for cross -pollination. 



The following accoimt of the origin of this variety, more romantic 

 than credible, is told with several variations. About 1820, M. E. McCance, 

 who lived near Nashville, Tennessee, shot a wild goose on his farm; his 

 wife, in dressing the goose, found a plum seed in the craw, which, planted 

 in the garden, produced the Wild Goose tree. The merits of the new fruit 

 seem to have been discovered by J. S. Downer, Fairview, Kentuckv, and 

 James Harvey of Columbia, Tennessee. The former propagated, named 

 and began the dissemination of Wild Goose to fruit-growers. Many varie- 

 ties have been sent out for this plum and much confusion has arisen as to 

 what the true variety is. Since the characters of Wild Goose, even when 

 cross-pollinated, are transmitted to its offspring to a remarkable degree, 

 the name now applies to a class of plums rather than to a variety. The 



