MINER 



MONARCH 



209 



tenaciously to the stone, even after cooking. 

 Milton, a seedling of Wild Goose grown by 

 H. A. Terry, Crescent, Iowa, fruited first in 

 1885. 



Tree of medium size and vigor, round and dense- 

 topped, hardy, productive, healthy. Leaves oblanceolate, 

 peach-like, 1 inch wide, 3 inches long, tain ; apex taper- 

 pointed ; base slightly acute ; margin serrate or crenate, 

 with numerous, minute, dark glands ; petiole % inch 

 long, slender, reddish, pubescent, glandless or with 1-4 

 small, globose, yellowish-brown glands. Flowers % 

 inch across, the buds creamy when opening, changing 

 to white, odor disagreeable. Fruit very early; 1% 

 inches by 1 inch in size, oval, compressed, halves equal ; 

 cavity shallow, narrow, abrupt, regular ; suture a dis- 

 tinct line ; apex slightly pointed ; color dark red, with 

 thin bloom ; dots very numerous, large, russet ; stem 

 slender, 1 inch long ; skin thin, tough, astringent ; flesh 

 yellow, pulp fibrous, sweet next the skin, acid at the 

 center ; fair to good ; stone adhering, long-oval, 

 elongated at the base and apex, somewhat flattened, 

 surface broken into irregular ridges. 



MINER. P. hortulana Mineri. In the Mid- 

 dle West, Miner is probably as widely dis- 

 seminated and as largely grown as any other 

 plum, being particularly adapted to the north- 

 ern limits of the cultivation of its species. 

 The tree is robust, healthy, better in habit of 

 growth for orchard management than that of 

 any other of the native plums, and usually 

 productive. The fruits are good in quality, 

 attractive in appearance, comparatively cur- 

 culio-proof, and are especially suited for 

 culinary uses. The variety is unproductive 

 unless cross-fertilized. In 1813, William Dqdd 

 found this plum growing in a Chicasaw Indian 

 plantation on the Tallapoosa River, Alabama. 



Tree large, vigorous, spreading, hardy, unproductive 

 unless cross-pollinated. Leaves falling late, long-oval 

 or obovate, peach-like, l l / 2 inches wide, 4 inches long, 

 thick ; apex acuminate ; base abrupt and nearly acute ; 

 margin serrate, with small glands ; petiole y 2 inch long, 

 often tinged red, with 2-4 reniform or globose, dark 

 amber glands. Flowers late, medium to large. Fruit 

 late ; medium in size, round-ovate ; cavity shallow, 

 narrow, regular ; suture indistinct ; apex pointed ; color 

 dull, dark red, with thin bloom ; dots numerous, minute, 

 yellowish ; stem slender, long, adhering strongly to the 

 fruit ; skin thick, tough, astringent ; flesh pale amber 

 yellow, juicy, tender, mild, aromatic ; good ; stone 

 adhering, small, round-oval, flattened, with nearly 

 smooth surfaces. 



MIRABELLE. P. insititia. In Europe, 

 especially in France, Mirabelle is one of the 

 favorite varieties, and its fruits are in great 

 demand for canning, preserves, compotes, 

 tarts, and prunes. The trees grow very well, 

 producing fine crops of fruit wherever the 

 Damsons can be grown. The small, round, 

 yellow fruits are attractive in appearance and 

 sweet and pleasant in flavor. The trees are 

 small but vigorous and healthy; the last two 

 qualities suggested in Europe their use as 

 stocks, to which purpose they are sometimes 

 put in France when a dwarfing stock is wanted. 

 Mirabelle was first noted by pomological 

 writers of the seventeenth century. 



Tree small, round, open-topped, hardy. Leaves falling 

 early, 1 *& inches wide, 3 inches long, oval, thin ; apex 

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

 glands ; petiole % inch long, tinged red along one 

 side, glandless or with 1-3 small, globose glands. Flow- 

 ers 1 inch across, white with a yellow tinge as the buds 

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

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



abrupt ; suture indistinct ; apex depressed, color light 

 golden-yellow, with thick bloom ; dots numerous, small, 

 white ; stem slender, % inch long, pubescent, parting 

 readily from the fruit ; skin thin, tough ; flesh light 

 yellow, firm, tender, sweet, mild ; good to very good ; 

 stone free, oval, blunt, broadly ridged along one edge, 

 rough. 



MIRACLE. P. domestica. About 1887, 

 Luther Burbank imported from a French 

 nurseryman a tree of a stoneless plum known 

 as a curiosity in Europe for three centuries. 

 With this fruit he crossed several of the best 

 European varieties, producing hybrids which 

 first fruited in 1893. Although there were 

 several stoneless fruits in this lot, none was 

 of any value and it was not until 1899 that 

 one appeared worthy of consideration. In this 

 seedling, developed from Agen pollen, the 

 stone is represented by a small, hard scale near 

 the base of the kernel. Burbank sold the new 

 plum in 1903 to the Oregon Nursery Company, 

 Salem, Oregon, by whom it was introduced in 

 1906. The following description is compiled: 



MONARCH. Fig. 202. P. domestica. Out 

 of a great number of plums imported from the 

 Old World, Monarch is one of the few which 

 has proved worthy of a place with the best 

 American varieties for American conditions. 



202. Monarch. (XD 



The nicely turned form and the rich purple 

 color make the fruits handsome; and, while 

 the quality is not of the best, it is good as 

 compared with other purple varieties, as few 

 plums of this color are especially palatable 

 to eat out of hand. Monarch is not remarkable 



