CLYMAN 



DE CARADEUC 



195 



pressed, reddish glands. Fruit very early; 1% inches 

 in diameter, cordate, compressed, halves unequal ; 

 cavity deep, abrupt, regular, marked with faint, reddish, 

 radiating streaks ; suture deep, broad ; apex pointed ; 

 color dark red, mottled ; bloom heavy ; dots numerous, 

 variable in size, russet, conspicuous, clustered about 

 the base ; stem thick, T 9 S inch long, glabrous, part- 

 ing readily from the fruit ; flesh yellow, very juicy, 

 fibrous, tender, melting, sweet, aromatic ; good ; stone 

 adhering, long-oval, pointed, rough. 



CLYMAN. P. domestica. Clyman has spe- 

 cial merit as one of the earliest good Do- 

 mesticas. The fruit resembles that of Lom- 

 bard, but is smaller and much better in quality. 

 As grown in California, the product commands 

 high prices for shipping eastward. The variety 

 has a few serious faults: the plums are sus- 

 ceptible to rot; they drop as soon as ripe; and 

 the trees seem not to be quite hardy in New 

 York, although in Ohio they are said to be 

 "rather hardier than those of most other 

 European sorts." The variety is characterized 

 by flowers bearing very long stamens. Clyman 

 well deserves trial, with the possibility that 

 it may prove to be the best of our early Do- 

 mesticas. This plum was raised from a Peach 

 plum-stone planted in 1866 by Mrs. Hannah 

 Clyman, Napa City, California. 



Tree large, vigorous, round and * dense-topped, semi- 

 hardy, productive. Leaves obovate, 2 inches wide, S 1 ^ 

 inches long ; apex abruptly pointed, base acute ; margin 

 serrate or crenate, covered with small, dark glands ; 

 petiole 1 inch long, pubescent, reddish, glandless or 

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

 inches across. Fruit very early ; 1 % by 1 % inches, 

 oval, halves equal ; cavity narrow, abrupt, regular ; 

 suture shallow and often indistinct ; apex roundish or 

 slightly depressed ; color dartc purplish-red ; bloom 

 heavy ; dots numerous, small, russet, inconspicuous ; 

 stem % inch long, pubescent, parting readily from the 

 fruit ; flesh pale yellow, dry, firm, sweet, mild, pleasant ; 

 of good quality ; stone free, flattened, irregular-oval, 

 with pitted surfaces, tapering abruptly at the base, acute 

 at the apex. 



COLUMBIA. P. domestica. When grown 

 on strong soils and in some climates, Columbia 

 is possibly a plum of value and sometimes of 

 superiority, but in the average plantation it 

 falls far short of other fruits of its type that 

 of Reine Claude. The trees are productive, 

 and the fruits are large and handsome, but not 

 of highest quality; moreover, they drop badly 

 and are very susceptible to the brown-rot. Co- 

 lumbia originated early in the second quarter 

 of the nineteenth century with L. V. Lawrence, 

 Hudson, New York, from a seed of Reine 

 Claude. 



Tree large, medium in vigor, upright-spreading, open- 

 topped, productive. Leaves 2 inches wide, 4^4 inches 

 long, oval, thick, leathery; margin serrate or crenate, 

 with small, dark glands; petiole thick, tinged red, 

 pubescent, with 1-3 globose glands. Fruit midseason ; 

 1% inches in diameter, round-oval, small specimens 

 ovate, dark purplish-red ; bloom heavy ; stem surrounded 

 by a fleshy ring at the cavity; flesh golden-yellow, dry, 

 sweet, mild ; good ; stone semi-free or free, round-oval, 

 flattened. 



COMPASS. P. BesseyiXP- hortulana 

 Mineri. Compass Cherry. Heideman Sand 

 Cherry. In 1891, H. Knudson, Springfield, 

 Minnesota, pollinated Sand cherry with pollen 

 from the Miner plum. The seed of the result- 

 ing cross was planted, and in 1894 produced 



fruit. In 1893, C. W. H. Heideman, New 

 Ulm, Minnesota, took cions from this tree. 

 In 1895, Heideman introduced the Heideman 

 Sand cherry, "a hybrid between the Sand 

 cherry and a plum." Subsequently, C. W. 

 Sampson, Eureka, Minnesota, introduced 

 Knudson's plum under the name Compass. 

 The variety is of interest to plant-breeders, 

 and may have some commercial value in the 

 Northwest. 



Tree small, spreading, open-topped, productive ; 

 branchlets marked by very conspicuous, large, raised 

 lenticels. Leaves 1 inch wide, 3 inches long ; margin 

 serrate ; petiole tinged red, glandless or with 1-3 globose 

 glands on the base of the leaf. Flowers % inch across. 

 Fruit early ; 1 by % inch, ovate, dark red, the skin 

 speckled with small red dots before fully ripe ; skin 

 tough, astringent ; flesh light yellow, very juicy, melt- 

 ing, subacid except near the skin ; poor ; stone clinging, 

 large, elongated-oval, with smooth surfaces. 



DAMSON. P. insititia. The common Dam- 

 son, the Damson of the ancients, probably 

 little changed since before Christ's time, is 

 still worthy of cultivation, even though a 

 score or more of its offspring are offered to 

 take its place. In productiveness, vigor of 

 tree, and hardiness, it surpasses any of its kind, 

 and while its fruits are smaller and more 

 astringent than those of the best of its off- 

 spring, they are not surpassed for the chief 

 uses of all Damsons the making of preserves. 

 The great asset of Damson is its adaptability 

 to various soils and climates, as it surpasses 

 in this respect all newcomers of its type. So, 

 while undoubtedly some of the improved Dam- 

 sons are better than the parent variety under 

 many conditions, there yet remain localities in 

 which the original stock is possibly most valu- 

 able. Damson takes its name from Damascus, 

 whence it was brought into Italy at least a 

 century before the Christian era. What is a 

 Damson? In England and America it is an 

 oval, black Insititia. The European continental 

 countries have an entirely different conception 

 of a Damson. The Germans speak of all com- 

 mon plums as "Damson-like" while the French 

 use the term "Damas" indiscriminately. The 

 English have not always sharply distinguished 

 Damson, for Parkinson, in 1629, speaks of "the 

 great Damaske or Damson Plummes" as sweet 

 prunes imported from France; and Gerard, in 

 1636, described the Damson tree as synony- 

 mous with the plum. 



DE CARADEUC. P. cerasijera. Cara- 

 deuc. De Caradeuc is one of the few repre- 

 sentatives of P. cerasijera cultivated for fruit. 

 The plums are garnet-red, very attractive in 

 appearance, and are borne so much earlier 

 than those of other species that the variety 

 may be worth planting in home orchards to 

 lengthen the season and for the sake of va- 

 riety. De Caradeuc is grown rather commonly 

 in the South, where the fruits are said to keep 

 well and not to rot. The trees are handsome 

 ornamentals bearing remarkably rich, green 

 foliage, and a profusion of white flowers, which 

 are followed by beautifully colored fruits. The 

 variety can be recommended for lawns or 



