VARIETIES OF PLUMS 



Fifteen species of plums, several of which 

 are divided into sub-species, and varieties to 

 the number of more than 2,000, are now under 

 cultivation, most of which have at one time 

 or another been grown in North America. 

 From these figures, it is hardly too much to 

 say that, of all drupe-fruits, plums furnish 

 the greatest diversity of kinds. Species and 

 varieties give a greater range of colors, forms, 

 sizes, flavors, aromas, and textures than any 

 other hardy fruit. The plants are quite as 

 diverse as the fruits: some plums are true 

 trees with stout trunks and sturdy branches, 

 while others are shrubs with slender branches; 

 some species have thin, delicate leaves; others 

 coarse, heavy foliage; the flowers of some are 

 large and attractive, of others small, unat- 

 tractive, and possessing a disagreeable odor. 

 In geographical distribution, wild and culti- 

 vated plums encircle the globe in the North 

 Temperate Zone, the species and varieties be- 

 ing adapted to great diversities of soil and 

 climate. Varieties from twelve species are 

 described in the Cyclopedia of Hardy Fruits, 

 practically all of which have come under the 

 author's eye as grown at the Experiment 

 Station, Geneva, New York. 



ABUNDANCE. Fig. 181. P. salicina. 

 Abundance is the best known of the Japanese 

 plums. The two assets which have given the 

 variety great popularity are adaptability to 



181. Abundance. (XD 



a wide diversity of soils and climates, and, as 

 its name implies, abundance of fruit, for it 

 bears not only heavily but also yearly. As a 

 market plum, Abundance has several faults; 

 the fruits ship and keep poorly, are subject 



to brown-rot, mature unevenly, and drop rather 

 too readily as they ripen. The crop should 

 be picked before quite ripe, as the plums 

 develop in flavor best when picked early, and 

 the dropping and rot are thus avoided. The 

 variety is exceedingly variable, and undoubt- 

 edly several well marked strains could be se- 

 lected, some of which are not so hardy or 

 otherwise so valuable as others. Abundance 

 was imported from Japan by Luther Burbank 

 in 1884. 



Tree large, vigorous, vasiform, open-topped, hardy, 

 very productive. Leaves narrow-obovate, peach-like, l 1 /^ 

 inches wide, 3 ^4 inches long, thin ; apex taper-pointed ; 

 base cuneate ; margin very finely serrate, with small, brown 

 glands ; petiole % inch long, pubescent along one side, 

 red, glandless or with 1-5 small, globose, green or 

 reddish glands. Flowers appearing with the leaves, 

 medium in size. Fruit early ; 1 y 2 inches in diameter, 

 round-ovate, slightly, compressed ; cavity medium in 

 depth and width, abrupt, regular ; suture shallow, dis- 

 tinct ; apex pointed ; color dark red, mottled ; bloom 

 light ; dots numerous, russet, conspicuous ; stem tyj inch 

 long, glabrous, parting easily from the fruit ; flesh 

 yellow, very juicy, tender and melting, sweet, pleas- 

 antly aromatic ; good ; stone clinging, oval, compressed, 

 pointed, rough. 



AGEN. Fig. 182. P. domestica. D'Agen. 

 French Prune. Petite Prune. Agen is largely 

 grown for prune-making in France and Amer- 

 ica. Several qual- 

 ities admirably fit 

 the fruits for cur- 

 ing into prunes. 

 Thus, the plum has 

 a high percentage 

 of sugar and solids, 

 so that it cures 

 readily into a firm, 

 sweet, long - keep- 

 ing prune, which, 

 in cooking, needs 

 comparatively lit- 

 tle sugar; the 

 plums are uniform 

 in size; the trees 

 bear regularly and 

 abundantly ; the 

 crop hangs well on 

 the tree as it rip- 

 ens, so that the 

 curing really be- 

 gins on the tree. 

 Besides making 

 most excellent 

 prunes, Agen is a 



very good dessert , . 



plum and ought to 182- A e en - <XH 



be in every home 



orchard as well as in every commercial planta- 

 tion. Lack of size in the fruit is the defect in 



190 



