LINCOLN 



McRAE 



207 



telle is certain to prove a valuable variety, and 

 it may have a place for the general market. It 

 is an old European sort having several syno- 

 nyms in the pomologies of continental Europe. 



Tree of medium size and vigor, upright-spreading, 

 dense-topped, hardy, productive. Leaves drooping, 

 obovate, 1% inches wide, 3^ inches long, leathery; 

 margin crenate, with few, small, dark glands ; petiole 

 thick, pubescent, with 1-3 glands. Flowers 1 inch 

 across, usually in pairs. Fruit late, season short ; me- 

 dium to large in size, round, truncate, purplish-brown, 

 splashed and mottled with russet about the base, over- 

 spread with thick bloom ; skin rather tough, separating 

 readily from the pulp ; flesh greenish-yellow, firm, juicy, 

 aromatic, rich, sweet ; very good ; stone small, free, 

 reddish, flat, irregular-oval, with pitted surfaces. 



LINCOLN. P. domestica. In Pennsylvania 

 and New Jersey, Lincoln is well thought of for 

 home use and the markets. The fruit is un- 

 usually attractive in size and color, and for 

 quality it may be named among the best of 

 the red plums. Unfortunately, the variety is 

 readily infected by the brown-rot, which, when 

 epidemic, cannot be controlled. This plum 

 originated in York County, Pennsylvania, soon 

 after the Civil War, supposedly from seed of 

 Reine Claude. 



Tree of medium size, vigorous, upright-spreading, 

 dense-topped, hardy, productive. Leaves obovate, 2 

 inches wide, 4 inches long, stiff ; petiole 1 inch long, 

 pubescent, reddish, with 1-4 large, globose or reniform, 

 yellow glands. Flowers over 1 inch across, white. 

 Fruit early, season short ; 2 by 1 % inches in size, 

 oblong-oval, slightly necked, halves equal ; cavity very 

 shallow, narrow, abrupt ; suture shallow ; apex depressed ; 

 color light or dark red over a yellow ground, with thin 

 bloom ; dots numerous, small, light russet ; stem 1 inch 

 long, parting readily from the fruit ; skin thick, sour, 

 separating readily ; flesh greenish-yellow, juicy, coarse 

 and fibrous, firm but tender, sweet, pleasant ; good to 

 very good ; stone free, long-oval, flattened, necked at 

 the base, blunt at the apex, with markedly rough and 

 deeply pitted surfaces. 



200. Lombard. (XD 



LOMBARD. Fig. 200. P. domestica. Lom- 

 bard is probably more widely grown in 

 America than any other plum. The meritori- 

 ous characters which enable it to take high 

 place in American plum-growing are: the 



elasticity of its constitution, whereby it adapts 

 itself to widely different soils and climates; 

 the robustness, hardiness, healthiness, produc- 

 tiveness, and regularity in bearing of its trees; 

 the fact that the fruits are comparatively free 

 from plum-curculio ; lastly, its showy fruits 

 tempting to the eye and readily salable. Lom- 

 bard would be preeminently the plum "for the 

 millions" if its fruits were not so poor in qual- 

 ity. Canned, cooked, preserved, or spiced, the 

 product does very well, but as a dessert fruit, 

 Lombard falls in a category with the Ben 

 Davis apple and Kieffer pear, "good-looking 

 but poor." Lombard was raised by Judge 

 Platt, Whitesboro, New York, about 1830. 

 Several varieties, as Communia, Tatge, Spanish 

 King, and Odell, are very similar, if not iden- 

 tical with Lombard. 



Tree of medium size, round-topped, very hardy, pro- 

 ductive. Leaves long-obovate, 1% inches wide, 3^ 

 inches long, thick ; apex acute ; base tapering ; margin 

 often doubly serrate, with small, dark glands ; petiole 

 % inch long, thick, tinged red, pubescent, with 1 or 2 

 globose, yellowish-green glands. Flowers 1 inch across, 

 white. Fruit midseason ; 1% by 1^ inches in size, 

 round-oval, compressed, halves unequal ; cavity narrow, 

 abrupt, round ; suture a line, apex flattened ; color 

 light to dark purplish-red, overspread with thick bloom ; 

 dots numerous, small, light russet ; stem slender, % 

 inch long ; skin thin, tender, separating readily ; flesh 

 yellow, juicy, fibrous, firm and sweet, mild ; inferior in 

 quality ; stone semi-free to free, dark colored, oval, 

 flattened, roughened. 



McLAUGHLIN. P. domestica. The fruits 

 of McLaughlin stand well up with the best 

 plums in quality, and when well grown are 

 very attractive in appearance. The flavor is 

 rich and delicate, and has a savor quite its 

 own; there are few other plums in which the 

 characters pleasing to the taste exist in such 

 nice proportions. The fruit is a little smaller 

 than that of some other sorts of its group, but 

 is quite large enough for a dessert fruit. The 

 fruits have imperfections, however. The flesh 

 clings tenaciously to the stone, is too melting 

 to keep or ship well, and rots badly on the 

 tree. The tree is above average in size and 

 vigor, and is as hardy as any; it comes in 

 bearing early and is productive. The place 

 for this plum is apparent at once in the home 

 orchard. McLaughlin was raised by James 

 McLaughlin, Bangor, Maine, first fruiting 

 about 1840. 



Tree of medium size, variable in vigor, spreading, 

 open-topped, hardy, productive. Leaves oval, 2 inches 

 wide, 3 % inches long, thick ; apex abruptly pointed ; 

 base acute ; margin crenate, with small, black glands ; 

 petiole % inch long, thick, pubescent, tinged red, with 

 1 or 2 small, globose, yellow glands. Flowers 1 inch 

 across, white, with yellow tinge near the apex of the 

 petals. Fruit early ; 1 % by 1 inch in size, round-oblate, 

 compressed, halves equal ; cavity shallow, narrow, 

 abrupt ; suture shallow ; apex depressed ; color greenish- 

 yellow, blushed and mottled with red, with thick bloom ; 

 dots numerous, small, light colored ; stem thick, % 

 inch long, pubescent ; surrounded at the cavity by a 

 fleshy ring ; skin tough ; flesh light yellow, juicy, 

 sweet, mild and pleasant ; very good ; stone clinging, 

 broad-oval, very blunt at the base and apex ; heavily 

 wrinkled and deeply pitted. 



McRAE. P. salicina. This variety is grown 

 only in the Gulf states and more especially in 

 Florida, where it seems to be one of the most 

 promising new sorts. It is said to have origi- 



