IV 



The Damsons 



THE Damson plums have always 

 been classed with the Domes- 

 ticas in this country. They are, 

 however, almost as distinct 

 from the Domesticas as the 

 Myrobalan plums are, and the 

 two groups are much more 

 easily separated than are the 

 Wildgoose and the Chicasaw 

 groups, for instance. They are sufficiently dis- 

 tinct to have been given specific rank by many 

 botanists, particularly on the continent of Europe, 

 where they are better known. The great botanist 

 Linnaeus made this group a botanical variety of 

 Prnnus domcstica, a disposition which seems to the 

 writer to be still the best one. 



From the horticultural standpoint they are to be 

 looked upon as a group apart from the Domesticas, 

 though closely related to them, just as the Nigra 

 30 



