192 



ARCTIC 



BLACK BULLACE 



Tree of medium size, upright-spreading, hardy, very 

 productive. Leaves oval, 1V& inches wide, SVz inches 

 long, thick, stiff ; apex and base acute ; margin doubly 

 serrate, with small, dark glands ; petiole % inch long, 

 pubescent along one side, tinged with red, usually with 

 2 large, globose, greenish-yellow glands. Flowers 1% 

 inches across. Fruit late; 1% by l J /4 inches, long-oval, 

 compressed, necked ; cavity shallow, narrow, compressed, 

 abrupt ; suture shallow, broad, prominent ; apex elong- 

 ated ; color dark blue ; bloom heavy ; dots numerous, 

 small, brownish-russet, inconspicuous ; stem often in- 

 serted at one side of the base, % inch long, glabrous, 

 adhering well to the fruit ; flesh deep golden-yellow, 

 often reddish, juicy, coarse, firm, tender, sweet, pleas- 

 ant ; good ; stone free, the cavity larger than the pit, 

 long-oval, necked, abruptly tipped at the apex, reddish, 

 rough. 



ARCTIC. P. domestica. Arctic is supposed 

 to be preeminent in two qualities, hardiness 

 and productiveness; but as to its hardiness 

 pomologists do not agree. Downing says it is 

 the hardiest plum known; in Michigan it is 

 reported very tender in the nursery row; a 

 Canadian writer says it is not hardy enough 

 for Canada; and it is reputed in the prairie 

 states to be not hardier than Lombard. The 

 place of its origin, where few plums are grown, 

 and the fact that it is one of but few plums 

 that can be grown in parts of Canada and 

 New Brunswick, establish the claim that it 

 is one of the hardiest of the Domesticas, pos- 

 sibly not hardier, however, than Lombard, 

 Voronesh, and a few others. The small size 

 and mediocre quality of the fruit and the 

 dwarfish tree rule Arctic out where less hardy 

 varieties can be grown. This variety was first 

 noted in 1881 by Downing, who says it origi- 

 nated on the grounds of A. T. Moore, Ashland, 

 Maine. 



Tree small, upright-spreading, very hardy, productive, 

 an early bearer, subject to attacks of fungi. Leaves 

 obovate, 2 inches wide, 3 % inches long ; acute ; base 

 acute ; margin finely serrate, with small, black glands ; 

 petiole ^ inch long, tinged with red, pubescent, with 

 1-4 globose, green glands. Flowers 1*4 inches across. 

 Fruit midseason; 1% by 1*4 inches, oval, slightly 

 swollen on the suture side, compressed, halves equal ; 

 cavity very shallow and narrow, abrupt ; suture shallow, 

 indistinct ; apex roundish ; color purplish-black ; bloom 

 heavy ; dots numerous, small, russet, inconspicuous, 

 clustered about the apex ; stem slender, 1 inch long, 

 pubescent, adhering to the fruit ; flesh light yellow, 

 juicy, coarse, fibrous, firm but tender, sweet ; fair in 

 quality ; stone nearly free, characteristically small, oval, 

 flattened at the apex, acute at the base, rough, pitted. 



BARTLETT. P. salicinaXP- Simonii. 

 Bartlett was grown by Burbank from a cross 

 of P. Simonii with Delaware, the latter one of 

 his earliest hybrids. The originator disposed 

 of the variety in 1899; it immediately became 

 popular with nurserymen, and was soon offered 

 for sale in all parts of the United States. 

 Fruit-growers have not received it so well, 

 however, and most of those who have tried it 

 have discarded it, or hold the variety as a 

 curiosity. The fruit is attractive in appear- 

 ance, and the Bartlett pear flavor is agreeable, 

 but the skin cracks badly, and the flesh is too 

 soft for shipping. The tree with its stiff, up- 

 right branches resembles a Lombardy poplar; 

 its bright, glossy-green foliage makes it an 

 attractive ornamental. It is further peculiar 

 in bearing thick clusters of flowers at the ends 

 of lateral spurs. 



Tree lacking in size and vigor, upright, open-topped, 

 not very hardy, productive. Leaves oblanceolate, 1* 

 inches wide, 3 J /4 inches long, thin ; margin finely ser- 

 rate, in 2 series, eglandular or with small, dark glands ; 

 petiole slender with 1-4 small glands. Flowers appear- 

 ing before the leaves. Fruit very early ; 1 % by 1 *4 

 inches, long-cordate, dark purplish-red over yellow ; 

 flesh yellow, tender, sweet, with a peculiar but pleasant 

 flavor ; good ; stone clinging, elongated-ovate, narrow, 

 blunt at the base, long drawn out at the apex, the 

 surfaces rough. 



BAVAY. Fig. 184. P. domestica. Envoy's 

 Green Gage. Bavay' s Reine Claude. Bavay 

 is one of the best of the green plums a 

 worthy rival in all respects and in some su- 

 perior to its parent Reine Claude. The fruit 

 is unexcelled for dessert, and its delicious flavor 

 is retained in cook- 

 ing, making the 

 somewhat rare 

 combination of a 

 first-rate dessert 

 and a first-rate 

 culinary plum. It 

 is also a good mar- 

 ket plum, keeping 

 and shipping well. 

 The flavor is not 

 quite equal to that 

 of Reine Claude, 

 but in tree charac- 

 ters Bavay sur- 

 passes the older 

 variety. The trees 

 bear young, annu- 

 ally, and heavily, 

 sometimes "too 

 heavily, and while 

 not so hardy, so 

 large, robust, or 

 long-lived as could 

 be wished, yet in these respects they are 

 superior to those of most of the varieties of 

 Reine Claude plums. Some horticulturists 

 recommend that Bavay be top-worked on a 

 more vigorous, hardy, and long-lived stock, 

 but the behavior of trees so treated makes 

 top-working a very doubtful expedient. Bavay 

 is indispensable in home orchards, and can be 

 recommended for much more general planting 

 in commercial plantations. This variety is a 

 seedling of Reine Claude produced by Major 

 Esperen, Mechlin, Belgium, about 1832. 



Tree of medium size and vigor, upright-spreading, 

 open-topped, hardy, very productive. Leaves oval, wide, 

 long, thick ; apex acute ; margin crenate, glandless ; 

 petiole thick, long, tinged with red, glandless or with 

 1-3 globose, greenish-yellow glands. Flowers 1% inch 

 across. Fruit late ; of medium size, round-oval, halves 

 equal ; cavity abrupt ; suture a line ; apex roundish ; 

 color straw-yellow, obscurely streaked and splashed ; 

 bloom light ; dots numerous, small, gray, obscure, clus- 

 tered about the apex ; stem thick, short, pubescent, 

 adhering to the fruit ; flesh rich golden-yellow, juicy, 

 fibrous, tender, sweet, pleasant ; very good ; stone free, 

 oval, necked, blunt at the apex, with pitted surfaces. 



BLACK BULLACE. P. insititia. This 

 variety is interesting as an early type of the 

 Insititia plums, its thorny branches, wayward 

 growth, small and austere fruit, all bespeaking 

 a wild fruit. The plums when ripened by 

 frost are not unpleasant to taste, and are borne 



184. Bavay. (XD 



