GO SYSTEMATIC POMOLOGY 



In cherries they are wholly absent or are not 

 worth considering. 



The bloom on stone fruits is nearly always 

 conspicuous and often highly characteristic. 

 Under this head one would describe the "fuzz" 

 on peaches, which maybe coarse and heavy, or 

 li<r/it, or thin, or scant. Other descriptive 

 terms will occur to any one who has a sample 

 of peaches in hand. On plums the bloom is 

 of entirely a different sort. It is usually best 

 to describe it as thin or heavy, though occa- 

 sionally it is characteristically waxy. It is the 

 time-honored custom to describe the bloom 

 of plums as to color, calling it white, or pur- 

 plish, or blue. Such terms, however, are quite 

 misapplied in this connection, for the bloom 

 really has no color at all, or is merely waxy- 

 gray. Any one can readily satisfy himself on 

 this point by scraping off a quantity of this 

 bloom with a knife blade and examining it by 

 itself. It will then be seen at once that the 

 blue or purplish color attributed to the bloom 

 really belongs to the fruit alone, and that it is 

 the color of the fruit showing through the 

 waxy covering which gives it' its chromatic 

 look. 



The skin may be thick or thin, tender, 



