DRAP O'OR 



ENGLEBERT 



197 



that can be found with the tree is that the 

 foliage is rather susceptible to shot-hole fungus. 

 The fruit is particularly attractive, with its 

 bright, solid, garnet-red skin, golden flesh, and 

 sweet, pleasant flavor. Unfortunately, the 

 flesh is a little too fibrous, and clings too 

 tenaciously to the stone for pleasant eating. 

 Downing adds a pleasing variety to any col- 

 lection of plums, and in some regions ought to 

 sell with profit. H. A. Terry, Crescent, Iowa, 

 grew Downing from seed of Wild Goose. It is 

 reported as first fruiting in 1885. 



Tree large, spreading, flat-topped, hardy, variable in 

 productiveness. Leaves broadly lanceolate, peach-like, 

 1 % inches wide, 3 inches long, thin ; apex taper-pointed ; 

 margin finely serrate, eglandular or sometimes with 

 small dark glands ; petiole % inch long, slender, tinged 

 with red, pubescent along one side, glandless or with 

 1-5 small, globose, yellowish-red glands. Flowers 1-fa 

 inches across, with a strong, disagreeable odor. Fruit 

 midseason ; 1 % inches in diameter, round-ovate, halves 

 equal ; cavity shallow, narrow, flaring ; suture obscure ; 

 apex round ; color garnet-red ; bloom light ; dots nu- 

 merous, variable in size, grayish-yellow, conspicuous, 

 clustered around the apex ; stem slender, about % inch 

 in length, glabrous, parting readily from the fruit ; 

 flesh golden-yellow, juicy, coarse, fibrous, tender, melt- 

 ing, aromatic ; good ; stone clinging, oval, oblique, 

 turgid, rough. 



DRAP D'OR. P. insititia. Cloth of Gold. 

 Yellow Damask. Yellow Gage. Drap d'Or is 

 one of the Mirabelle plums, representing a 

 type hardly known in America but very popu- 

 lar in continental Europe, and the most popu- 

 lar of all plums in France. No doubt the 

 division of P. insititia represented by Drap 

 d'Or will thrive in America as well as the com- 

 mjnly grown Damsons of the same species. 

 Drap d'Or is one of the best of the yellow, 

 sweet Insititias, and is well worth trial. The 

 variety was cited by Merlet, 1675, and is of 

 old and uncertain origin. 



Tree small, upright-spreading, dense-topped, hardy, 

 productive. Leaves oval, 1% inches wide, 2^ inches 

 long ; apex pointed ; base abrupt ; margin serrate or 

 crenate, eglandular or with small dark glands ; petiole 

 Vz inch long, pubescent, tinged red, glandless or with 

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

 across. Fruit midseason ; 1 inch in diameter, round- 

 oval, compressed, halves equal ; cavity shallow, narrow, 

 flaring ; suture very shallow, often a line ; apex round 

 or depressed ; color golden-yellow, mottled and blotched, 

 occasionally wi h a faint bronze blush on the exposed 

 cheek ; bloom light ; dots numerous, small, white ; stem 

 slender, sparingly pubescent, adhering to the fruit ; 

 flesh light golden-yellow, juicy, firm but tender, sweet, 

 mild ; of good quality ; stone free, oval, flattened, 

 smooth, blunt at the base and apex. 



DUANE. P. domestica. Purple Magnum 

 Bonum. Purple Egg. Duane was once known 

 the country over and in Europe as well. Its 

 popularity was due to the large size, royal 

 purple color, and firm golden flesh of the 

 fruits characters which fit it admirably for the 

 store and the stand.- But appearance is the 

 only asset of the fruit so far as the consumer 

 is concerned the flesh is dry, tough, sour, 

 and clings to the stone, making a plum unfit 

 for dessert, although it does very well for 

 culinary purposes. The fruits ripen slowly and 

 color a week or more before ripe. The trees 

 excel in size, vigor, and productiveness, are 

 usually hardy, and bear their crop well dis- 



tributed. In minor characters, the trees are 

 distinguished by large leaves, pubescent on 

 the under side, and by grayish drab shoots 

 covered with dense pubescence. The popu- 

 larity of the variety is now on the wane. 

 Duane originated as a seedling in the garden 

 of James Duane, Duanesburgh, New York, 

 about 1820. 



Tree large, vigorous, round and dense-topped, hardy 

 and productive. Leaves obovate, 1% inches wide, 3% 

 inches long ; apex acute ; base cuneate ; margin serrate, 

 eglandular or with small amber glands ; petiole % inch 

 long, pubescent, tinged with red, eglandular or with 

 1 or 2 small, globose, greenish-brown glands. Flowers 

 1 inch across. Fruit midseason ; 1 % by 1 % inches, 

 broadly oblong-oval, compressed, halves unequal ; cavity 

 shallow, narrow, abrupt ; suture variable in depth ; 

 apex round or depressed ; color purplish-black ; bloom 

 heavy ; dots numerous, light russet ; stem % inch long, 

 pubescent, adhering well to the fruit ; flesh pale yellow, 

 firm, sour ; of fair quality ; stone adhering, oval, with 

 pitted surfaces, blunt at the base and apex. 



ENGLEBERT. Fig. 190, P. domestica. 

 Prince Englebert. Englebert is a prune, its 

 origin, shape, color, and firm golden-yellow 

 flesh all marking it as such, but in prune- 

 making regions the crop is usually marketed 



190. Englebert. (XD 



in the green state. The fruits cannot be said 

 to be much more popular as plums than as 

 prunes, chiefly because they are not of high 

 quality, but also because they are not attrac- 

 tive in color, size, or shape, cutting a poor 

 figure in comparison with a great number of 

 other Domestica plums. The variety fails in 

 tree as well as in fruit. The trees are variable 

 in size, suffer from cold in exposed situations, 

 and, while productive, bear their crops in 

 clusters hard to pick and so placed as to insure 

 infection from brown-rot when that disease is 

 epidemic. Englebert grew from a seed of the 

 Date prune, on the grounds of M. Scheidweiler, 

 Ghent, Belgium. 



