THE PRUNE D'AGEN. 



565 



question has been already resolved. The 

 mountains of Auvergne, some valleys in 

 the Pyrrenees, several places in the ' Lan- 

 des' — localities differing in themselves, 

 but all cold, and where grapes scarcely 

 ripen, exhibit this tree in successful culti- 

 vation." 



*' It is already cultivated largely in the 

 United States. One o{ my neighbors, a 

 nurseryman, sent out to one person in Phila- 

 delphia all his remaining stock of this 

 plant, which was quite large." 



And again, he says, " I am informed by 

 a countryman, living in the vicinity of 

 New-York, to whom we had sent out a 

 parcel of about one hundred of this tree, in 

 1822, that they succeeded perfectly, and 

 were beginning to bear in abundance.* 

 (1832.) During the severe winter of 1829 

 and '30, almost all our apricots were killed, 

 together with a great number of other fruit 

 trees ; but the Robe de Sergent, on its own 

 stock, whether old or young, did not suf- 

 fer at all, but bore fruit as usual the en- 

 suing season. On the contrary, however, 

 grafted trees of this variety were much in- 

 jured." 



" The fruit is oval, compressed, {aplate,) 

 divided by a longitudinal suture on one 

 side. Its colour is a violet red, more or 

 less vivid on the sunny side ; the peduncle 

 is from five to ten lines in length, (rather 

 vague.) It begins ripening about the end 

 of July. The leaves are lanceolate, some- 

 times curled at the edges ; the colour a 

 pale green, and the petioles are, when 

 grooving, sometimes tinged with red." 

 ■ In Prince's Pom. Man'l, it is said — " the 

 skin is purple, approaching to black ; the 

 stone is very flat, and rather smooth. This 



* It would certainly be interestinpr to find out what has 

 become of the importation here specified; and we hope if 

 the gentlemen here referred to should see this number of 

 the Horticulturist, that they will communicate the result of 

 these important experiments, giving us a de-cription of tlie 

 tree, and its fruit, its quality, hardiuess, use, and any other 

 interesting details. 



plum is often confounded with the Royal 

 de Tours, but may be readily distinguished 

 by its darker colour, and by its stone being 

 more flattened. It ripens about the mid- 

 dle of July." 



Mr. Downing, in his book of Fruits, 

 mentions it in the following terms, which 

 does not agree with Mr. Prince's descrip- 

 tion : "A French prune of good quality, 

 (L. H. S., Col. No. 1,) chiefly used for prunes 

 or preserving. Branches smooth ; leaves 

 narrow; fruit of medium size ; skin purple, 

 with a blue bloom ; stalk short ; flesh 

 greenish yellow, sweet. It is a freestone, 

 and makes excellent prunes. It ripens 

 Iwe in September, and bears prodigious 

 crops." 



Liegel, (the German pomologist,) in his 

 Introduction, speaks of the Prune d'Agen 

 as a handsome variety of the Red Egg 

 plum, (not the Red Imperial,) having the 

 same habit, ripening at the same time, — 

 end of August, and of about equal value. 

 He adds, — " Some of the fruit are a little 

 more projecting at the stem, which is also 

 observable in the stone. Generally, they 

 are strikingly large, and a little larger 

 than their parent, the Red Magnum Bo- 

 num." In his " Survey of Plums," with- 

 out referring to this description in his for- 

 mer work, above quoted, and without giving 

 the synonym Pr. d'Agen, he describes the 

 Kobe de Sergent as a mediian, large, oblate 

 shaped plum, of very good flavor, &c. &c. 

 These discrepancies lead one to believe 

 that the same plum was not intended by 

 these writers, and that the Robe de Sergent 

 is not (always) used as synonymous with 

 the Prune d'Agen. 



" The fruitfulness of this tree," Mr, 

 TouBRES continues, " is extraordinary; one 

 of our friends and a neighbor, M. BouR- 

 DEY Beaulieu, of MoNCLATT, has One of 

 these trees, a large and superb specimen, 



