216 



SIMON 



STODDARD 



productivity and reliability in bearing. It has 

 but one defect unless sprayed the foliage falls 

 prey to fungi and drops early. The trees are 

 easy to manage in pruning, spraying, and har- 

 vesting, as they are not so thick-topped, twiggy, 

 and spiny as other Damsons. The fruit is of 

 medium size, and, while in no sense a dessert 

 plum, may be eaten out of hand with relish 

 when fully ripe or after a light frost. Shrop- 

 shire is one of the best of the Damsons for 

 culinary purposes. It originated in England 

 sometime in the seventeenth century. 



Tree vigorous, vasiform, hardy, productive. Leaves 

 flattened, obovate, about 1 inch wide, 2 inches long, 

 thin ; apex obtuse or acute ; margin finely serrate, 

 eglandular ; petiole % inch long, slender, greenish-red, 

 with little pubescence, with 1 or 2 small, globose, 

 greenish-yellow glands. Flowers % inch across, white. 

 Fruit late, season long ; 1 % inches by 1 inch in size, 

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

 flaring ; suture an indistinct line ; apex roundish ; color 

 purplish-black, overspread with thick bloom ; dots nu- 

 merous, small, russet ; stem slender, % inch long, 

 glabrous, adhering to the fruit ; skin thin, tender, 

 adhering ; flesh golden-yellow, juicy, firm but tender, 

 agreeably tart, pleasant ; stone clinging, oval, acute 

 at the base, blunt at the apex, with nearly smooth 

 surfaces. 



SIMON. P. Simonii. Simon's Plum. The 

 Simon plum constitutes the species P. Simonii 

 and has been discussed in the chapter dealing 

 with the botany of the plum on page 123. 



SKUYA. P. americana X P- salicina. From 

 a cross between DeSoto, an Americana, and 

 Red June, a Japanese plum, Hansen of the 

 South Dakota Experiment Station grew eight 

 seedlings of which Skuya is the best. The trees 

 are described by the originator as very strong, 

 stocky, upright growers in the nursery, bearing 

 fruit-buds on one-year-old wood. The fruit is 

 dull, dark red and yellow, sweet and delicious, 

 with a very small pit. The fruits are said to 

 lack somewhat in size and brilliancy of color. 

 The variety was introduced in the spring of 

 1908 and is now grown more or less in the 

 northern states of the Great Plains. 



SMITH ORLEANS. P. domestica. In 

 the middle of the last century, Smith Orleans 

 was considered about the best purple plum in 

 America. But the fruit is not high in quality, 

 the texture of the flesh is coarse, and it ripens 

 at a time when fruits are plentiful, for which 

 reason Smith Orleans has ceased to be re- 

 garded with favor by the fruit-grower. The 

 trees, however, have some remarkably desirable 

 characters, and the variety should be retained 

 for some locations and purposes and to breed 

 from. Few plums are adapted to a greater 

 range of climates and soils than this one; the 

 trees, too, are of large size, vigorous, healthy, 

 productive, and hold the crop well. Smith 

 Orleans is a seedling of Orleans raised about 

 1825 by a Mr. Smith, Gowanus, Long Island. 



Tree large, vigorous, spreading, open-topped, very 

 productive. Leaves obovate, 2 inches wide, 3% inches 

 long, thick, velvety ; apex abruptly pointed or acute ; 

 base acute ; margin crenate, with few small, dark 

 brown glands ; petiole % inch long, heavily pubescent, 

 tinged red along one side, with 1 or 2 small, globose, 



yellow glands. Flowers l 1 ^ inches across, white, with 

 a yellow tinge. Fruit midseason, 1% inches by 1% 

 inches in size, oval, compressed, halves unequal ; cavity 

 shallow, narrow, abrupt ; suture very shallow or a line ; 

 apex roundish ; color dark purplish-black, overspread 

 with thick bloom ; dots numerous, small, russet ; stem 

 % inch long, pubescent, adhering to the fruit ; skin 

 below medium in thickness, tender, sour, separating 

 readily ; flesh pale yellow, juicy, tender, sweet, of 

 pleasant flavor ; good ; stone clinging, oval, with very 

 rough and deeply pitted surfaces, flattened, tapering 

 abruptly at the base, blunt at the apex. 



SOPHIE. P. Munsoniana. Without any 

 very distinct merits, Sophie stands high among 

 plums of its kind. The variety is a seedling 

 of Wild Goose, at first supposed by the origi- 

 nator, J. W. Kerr, Denton, Maryland, to have 

 been pollinated by a German Prune which stood 

 near. This is hardly the case, however, as no 

 trace of Domestica blood can be detected in 

 the variety. It was introduced about 1890. 



Tree large, very vigorous, spreading, open-topped, 

 productive; branches thorny, shaggy, with long and 

 unbranched limbs. Leaves oval, 1% inches wide, 3^4 

 inches long, thin ; margin shallowly crenate, with small 

 glands. Flowers % inch across, white, pinkish as they 

 open, with a disagreeable odor. Fruit late ; large, 1 % 

 inches by 1% inches in size, obovate, slightly necked, 

 pear-shaped, bright red, covered with thin bloom ; dots 

 conspicuous ; stem slender, long ; flesh deep yellow, 

 juicy, coarse and fibrous, subacid, flat ; of fair quality ; 

 stone clinging, angular, irregular-obovate, with a pe- 

 culiar elongated, flattened, oblique base; apex abruptly 

 acute ; surfaces rough. 



SPAULDING. P. domestica. Spaulding'ia 

 of the Reine Claude group, and, while its 

 fruits are of high quality, the variety is not so 

 good a dessert plum as several similar sorts. 

 Besides being not quite up to the mark in 

 quality, the plums are small and too light in 

 color. Fruit and tree are susceptible to brown- 

 rot and other fungi by which plums are at- 

 tacked. The tree-characters of this variety are 

 in the main very good but not at all out of the 

 ordinary. Spaulding was brought to notice by 

 J. T. Lovett, Little Silver, New Jersey, in 1888. 



Tree large, vigorous, upright-spreading, dense-topped. 

 Leaves 2 inches wide, 3 %, inches long, thick ; apex 

 abruptly pointed or acute ; base acute ; margin serrate 

 or crenate, with small, dark glands ; petiole % inch 

 long, thick, pubescent, tinged red, with 1-4 small, 

 globose, greenish glands. Flowers 1 inch or more 

 across, white. Fruit midseason; 1% by 1% inches in 

 size, oblong-oval or ovate, compressed, halves equal ; 

 cavity small, shallow, abrupt ; suture shallow, often a 

 line ; apex roundish ; color dull greenish-yellow, with 

 stripes and splashes of light green, overspread with 

 thick bloom ; dots numerous, small, whitish ; stem % 

 inch long, lightly pubescent, adhering well to the 

 fruit ; skin thin, tender, separating readily ; flesh 

 greenish-yellow, juicy, fibrous, tender, sweet, mild, pleas- 

 ant ; very good ; stone semi-free or free, ovate, turgid, 

 slightly pitted, blunt at the base, acute at the apex. 



STODDARD. P americana. Baker. Stod- 

 dard is rated as one of the best of the Ameri- 

 cana plums in both fruit- and tree-characters. 

 The firmness of the fruit makes it a good 

 shipping plum of its kind and season. This 

 variety was discovered by B. F. Stoddard, 

 Jesup, Iowa, about 1875. 



Tree large, vigorous, spreading, open-topped, pro- 

 ductive. Leaves falling early, flattened, oval or obovate, 

 2 ^4 inches wide, 4 inches long ; margin coarsely serrate, 

 eglandular ; petiole tinged red, glandless or with 1-3 

 glands. Flowers 1 inch across. Fruit midseason; 1% 



