PROMISING NEW FRUITS. 



The Laire plum appears to have been brought into cultivation in 

 the spring of 18TG l by Mr. Abram Laire, living near Kirwin, Phil- 

 lips County, Kans., and for whom it was named. It began fruiting 

 two years after being brought in from the wild state. In a personal 

 interview with Mr. Laire in September, 1910, he informed Mr. Wight 

 that the original trees were obtained about 1878 or possibly a year 

 or two later, the exact date apparently not being a matter of definite 

 record. Mr. Laire, with his son, collected a number of young plum 

 trees from various localities along Bow Creek. When these trees 

 came into bearing there were about half a dozen which produced fruit 

 of superior merit. The fruit of these trees was apparently the same, 

 the trees probably all having developed as suckers from a single 

 parent tree. This variety is the one to which the name " Laire " was 

 subsequently applied. 



The thicket from which these trees were obtained could not be re- 

 located after they fruited, though Mr. Laire 's son is inclined to think 

 that they came from one which meanwhile had been destroyed by 

 cuttle. 



DESCRIPTION. 



Form roundish; size medium for a native variety; cavity regular, 

 small, of medium depth, with gradual slope; stem short, very 

 slender; suture very shallow, extending from cavity to apex; apex a 

 small russet dot in a small basin at end of suture; surface smooth, 

 glossy under bloom; color bright crimson yellow to dark red; dots 

 numerous, russet; bloom profuse; skin thick, tenacious, slightly 

 astringent; flesh yellow with whitish veins, meaty, juicy; stone 

 roundish, cling, medium in size; flavor mild subacid, rich; quality 

 good to very good ; season September. 



The Laire plum is a prolific bearer and is apparently especially 

 well adapted to the central and western portions of Kansas and the 

 corresponding regions of adjacent States. It was estimated in 1910 

 by Mr. E. Bartholomew that there were 100,000 trees of this plum 

 growing in the northern central portion of Kansas. 



That a fruit variety should have developed to so great a degree 

 of importance in the region of its origin and remain largely un- 

 known elsewhere is a rather remarkable occurrence in the recent 

 annals of American pomology ; that it represents, or is very closely 

 related to, a species not recognized heretofore as possessing horti- 

 cultural value is of interest, especially to those who are concerned 

 in the amelioration of our native plums. 



The specimen shown in Plate LIV was furnished by Mr. E. Bar- 

 tholomew, of Stockton, Rooks County, Kans. 



1 Letter from Mr. E. Bartholomew, September, 1908. 



