108 THE PLUM IN KANSAS. 



attempt will serve to classify and fix our knowledge of the varieties, 

 and I hope that it will lead others to make a more prolonged study of 

 them. It is particularly difficult to determine which is the proper 

 type of any variety in those cases in which two or three fruits pass 

 under the same name, and I presume that some of the following names 

 may be found to be wrongly applied. On the other hand, it is very 

 probable that some of the varieties which are here kept distinct may 

 prove to be identical. Some of the varieties I know only from printed 

 descriptions, but I have added them for the purpose of making the 

 monograph complete. Many growers have given me great aid in the 

 preparation of this descriptive list, among whom I should mention 

 P. J. Berckmans, of Augusta, Ga., and S. D. Willard, Geneva, N. Y., 

 without whose cooperation I could scarcely have attempted this 

 essay. 



It has seemed best to discard entirely the Japanese class names, as 

 Botan, Botankio, Hattankio, Sumomo, and the like, as they only 

 lead to confusion. I have therefore renamed some of the varieties 

 which are passing under indefinite names or numbers. The introduc- 

 tion of the name Abundance for the plum first known as Yellow- 

 fleshed Botan has been severely criticized in some quarters, but I have 

 always felt that the renaming was not only justifiable but essential to 

 lucid nomenclature. If the other Japanese generic names had been 

 supplanted several years ago, much of the present confusion would 

 have been avoided. 



In rating the size of the varieties, Kelsey, of course, must stand 

 ten ; and in comparison with this standard even seven or eight repre- 

 sents a large plum. 



It does not seem to be necessary to adopt any classification of these 

 plums, and I have therefore listed them alphabetically. The most 

 serviceable classification would be one founded upon color of skin and 

 flesh. The varieties might be arranged as follows : 



A. — Yellow-skinned plums: Georgeson, Kerr, Normand, Ogon. 



B. — Ked-skinned plums: (1) Yellov^ flesh. — Abundance, Bab- 

 cock, Bailey, Berckmans, Berger, Burbank, Chabot, Kelsey, Long 

 Fruit, Maru, Munson, Orient, Perfection, Red Negate, Strawberry, 

 Willard, Yosebe. (2) Bed flesh. — Delaware, Hale, Heikes, Late 

 Blood, Satsuma, Uchi-Beni. 



Abundance ( Yellow-fleshed Botan ). Medium in size ( but large when thinned ), 

 varying from nearly spherical to distinctly sharp-pointed, the point often oblique; 

 ground color rich yellow, overlaid on the sunny side with dots and splashes of 

 red, in some specimens nearly uniformly blush-red on the exposed side; flesh 

 deep yellow, juicy and sweet, of good quality when well ripened; cling. A strong- 

 growing upright tree, with rather narrow leaves, and a decided tendency to over- 

 bear. This is the best known of all Japanese plums in the North, and its 



