IDENTIFICATION OF PLUM VARIETIES 3 



trees were seen in nurseries around Dansville, New York, which were indistin- 

 guishable from. Italian Prune trees in the same nurseries. Furthermore, when 

 planted in the orchard, these trees bore fruits which were indistinguishable 

 from Italian Prune. It would be most unusual for a variety as distinct as Ger- 

 man Prune to produce a bud sport so closely resembling another variety in both 

 fruit and tree characters. 



The York State Prune, which is supposed to have originated as a seedling, 

 has been reported by Hedrick and others to be identical in fruit with Italian 

 Prune and the writers have found the same to be true for its tree characters. 

 This being the case, one wonders whether it really originated as a seedling or 

 whether it may have been a nursery-grown tree which remained to fruit on 

 abandoned nursery land. Such trees are not too uncommon in a section that 

 has been in the nursery business as long as has that around Dansville. 



THE REINE CLAUDE OR GREEN GAGE PLUMS 



The nomenclature of this group of plums is notoriously filled with synonyms. 

 This fact is not surprising when one recalls that the term Reine Claude may be 

 used with reference to the group as a whole and is at least a part of the name of 

 several .of the varieties within the group, and furthermore that the term Gage 

 is the English synonym for Reine Claude as used in continental Europe. 



Hedrick noted that Bavay was called the true Reine Claude variety by many 

 nurserymen, and it is unfortunately true today that most nurserymen grow 

 Bavay under the name of Reine Claude or Green Gage. The Green Gage de- 

 scribed in this bulletin was obtained from the New York State Agricultural 

 Experiment Station at Geneva and is distinctly different from Bavay. This 

 Green Gage, which presumably is the genuine Reine Claude variety, has never 

 been fount! by the writers in a commercial nursery. 



SHROPSHIRE DAMSON PLUMS 



The Shropshire Damson plum in common cultivation in this country is de- 

 scribed in this bulletin under the name Shropshire. The English Shropshire 

 is grown in England but is practically non-existent in the United States. The 

 source of budwood of this variety was the Ontario Horticultural Experiment 

 Station at Vineland, Ontario, Canada. 



Inspection or Examination of Nursery Trees for Trueness-to-Name 



The inspection of nursery trees for trueness-to-name is done usually in mid- 

 summer. Experience has shown that, in general, varietal differences are most 

 apparent in trees that are in active growth. When growth slows down as it 

 often does in late summer and fall, some of the most useful distinguishing charac- 

 teristics of varieties are lost. However, some characters persist until frost and 

 freezing weather. Furthermore, it should be understood that there is no one 

 time when all of the important distinguishing characteristics are obvious. It 

 is often worth while to study trees throughout the growing season in order to 

 observe the degrees of variation in the prominence of certain vegetative charac- 

 teristics. For instance, the color of a growing tip or a shoot may vary con- 

 siderably from early to late summer depending on relative rates of growth, 

 temperature, amount of shading, and other factors of environment. Neverthe- 

 less, experience has again shown that when a character is altered by environ- 

 ment, the several varieties usually maintain their relative order for that charac- 

 ter. Hence, it is entirely feasible to examine nursery trees for trueness-to-name 

 over a rather extended period during the growing season. Since early-season 



