PLUM VARIETIES 289 



fruit. Few other plums of its class equal it, 

 but it is very difficult to grow because of 

 brown rot. The trees are neither vigorous nor 

 hardy and worthy only of the attention of ama- 

 teurs who will give them especial care. 



Damson 



The name Damson is applied to a group of 

 similar plums as well as to one member of that 

 group. They are all small dark blue or nearly 

 black fruits, characterized by rather astringent 

 flesh. Practically none of them is suitable for 

 eating from the tree, but they are all good for 

 making preserves. The Damson plums take 

 their name from the ancient city of Damascus 

 where they were first largely cultivated. From 

 old descriptions which we have of this fruit it 

 appears to have changed very little in char- 

 acter during the twenty-five centuries that it 

 has been grown. The best of the group is per- 

 haps the Shropshire Damson, a variety that is 

 hardy and very productive. The fruit is pos- 

 sibly a little less sour than most Damson plums 

 and is of better quality than most of them. It 

 originated in England in the seventeenth cen- 

 tury and was one of the first plums to be intro- 

 duced to this country by Prince, whose work on 

 Long Island has already been mentioned* 



