68 



Plums and Plum Culture 



ized by strong widespreading growth and mostly 

 smooth twigs; a firm, juicy, bright-colored, thin- 

 skinned fruit, which is never flattened; a clinging, tur- 

 gid, comparatively small, rough stone, which is some- 

 times prolonged at the ends but is never conspicu- 

 ously wing-margined, and by comparatively thin and 

 firm shining, smooth, flat, more or less peach-like, 

 ovate-lanceolate or ovate long-pointed leaves, which 

 are mostly closely and obtusely glandular-serrate, and 

 the stalks of which are usually glandular. 



BLOSSOMS OF SOPHIE 

 • Somewhat reduced 



"The varieties are intermediate between the 

 Americana and Chicasaw groups. The fruits lack 

 entirely the dull-colored, compressed, thick-skinned 

 and meaty characters of the Americanas, and ap- 

 proach very closely to the Chicasaws. They are 

 usually covered with a thin bloom and are more or less 

 marked by small spots. They are variable in period 

 of ripening, there being a difference of no less than 

 two months between the seasons of some of the culti- 

 vated varieties. In color they range from the most 

 vivid crimson to pure golden yellow. The botanical 

 features of the species are not yet well determined, and 



