THE HERALD'—NEW TYPE OF PRUNE 
L. R. DETJEN 
Delaware College and Agricultural Experiment Station, Newark 
HE commercial prune which is 
I now grown so abundantly in the 
Pacific Northwest finds its origin 
in a group of European plums collec- 
tively known as Prunus domestica. 
No other species or group of plums, so 
far as the writer is aware, has ever b>- 
fore produced fruit that might properly 
be termed a prune. A variety, however, 
has receatly been discovered which 
seems to disclaim all specific relation- 
ship with any of the European species. 
It presumably originated from one of 
the native American species, probably 
from that of Prunus munsoniana 
(Wight and Hedrick) and, notwith- 
standing this fact, it dries, cures and 
keeps indefinitely. Fresh specimens of 
fruit of this Herald prune, gathered on 
July 7, 1916, were laid away in the lab- 
oratory in cloth bags, and later, when 
air-dried, they were placed in a bottle 
with a tight-fitting cork stopper. Here 
they are today, after a period of three 
and one-half years, in as good condition 
as when first stored. The aroma from 
this fruit is pleasant and not unlike that 
of the common commercial product. 
The original tree of the Herald 
variety was discovered in 1916 growing 
in the garden of Mr. W. F. Marshall 
of Raleigh, N. C., under the name of 
Milton plum. That is the name under 
which the owner had purchased the 
tree five or six years earlier from the 
Stark Bros. Nursery, Louisiana, Miss. 
The tree apparently belongs to the 
Prunus munsoniana species, of which 
the Milton is said to be a variety. It 
was critically studied for signs of hy- 
bridity with Prunus domestica, but no 
such traces, outside of the prune 
character, were observed. The variety 
seems to have originated from the 
native American species without any 
trace of foreign blood; and this is the 
most interesting feature of its account. 
GENERAL DESCRIPTION OF THE 
VARIETY 
In habit of growth the tree is spread- 
ing and has all of the bark, leaf, bud 
and flower characteristics pertaining to 
the Wild Goose group of plums. The 
fruit taken from the original tree meas- 
ures from 30 to 35 mm. in length and 
28 mm. in width. In general, it might 
be said to be oblong in shape and bright 
red in color, with a light coat of blue 
bloom. The dots are large, white and 
very numerous. The flesh is yellow, 
soft, juicy, sweet, and clings tenaciously 
to the pit. The stem, unlike that of 
other native species, clings to both 
branch and fruit, which fact prevents 
the latter from dropping to the ground 
as soon as ripe. The fruits on the tree 
are not crowded but hang free in the 
sunshine and wind, where they shrivel 
and dry naturally, after which they can 
be easily gathered and _ thoroughly 
cured indoors. 
The pits from the original tree meas- 
ure about 20 mm. in length, 12 to 14 
mm. in width and 8 to 9 mm. in thick- 
ness. The surface is smooth and their 
shape is that of typical prune pits, that 
is, with one of the edges depressed and 
the other more rounded. All of the 
above measurements and descriptions 
are of the original tree and fruits. A 
remarkable difference was noted in the 
fruit taken from scions top-grafted to 
another species of plum, Prunus angus- 
tifolia. 
OF HERALD PRUNE WITH 
MILTON PLUM 
COMPARISON 
In the spring of 1917, scions from the 
original Herald prune tree were pro- 
cured, and top-grafted 6 feet high to a 
Prunus angustifolia tree. Scions of the 
Milton variety of plum were also se- 
cured during the same year from the 
‘This new variety I have named the ‘“‘Herald” because, although utterly worthless in itself 
as a prune, it may be the forerunner heralding a new strain for eastern America. 
