THE CHERRY 149 



upon the market as the Improved Dwarf Rocky 

 Mountain Cherry. This native tree has a fruit 

 nearly as large as the Richmond cherry and some- 

 times of fairly good flavor. The Primus besseyi 

 has always been considered a cherry by horticul- 

 tural and botanical writers. My experiments, 

 however, seem quite clearly to demonstrate that 

 it is more truly a plum. 



I have had the tree under cultivation for more 

 than twenty years. The fruits of the original 

 plant were black and bitter, almost as astringent 

 as a persimmon. By combining this plant with 

 various other American and Japanese plums, I 

 have produced abundant seedlings, and in 1904 

 had developed one especially promising variety. 

 The fruit of this hybrid seedling ripens in Cali- 

 fornia about August 10, and is extremely large 

 for this type. It is globular, and about one inch 

 and a quarter in diameter. The color is pure, 

 deep crimson, with a semitransparent amber 

 flesh, firm, juicy, and of rich, sweet flavor, re- 

 sembling that of the American plum. The tree 

 is intensely productive, even sometimes breaking 

 with its own weight of fruit. 



It has been suggested that this tree gives great 

 promise as an aid in the production of a hardy 

 type of fruit that will withstand the rigorous 

 climate and conditions of the cold northern plains 



