THE PLUMS OF NEW YORK. 151 



a Canadian writer says it is not hardy enough for Canada; and it is re- 

 puted in the prairie states to be not hardier than Lombard. The place 

 of its origin, where few plums are grown, and the fact that it is one of but 

 few that can be grown in parts of Canada and New Brunswick establish 

 the claim that it is one of the hardiest of the Domesticas, possibly not more 

 so, however, than Lombard, Voronesh and a few others. The small size 

 and mediocre quality of the fruit and the dwarfish trees should rule Arctic 

 out where less hardy varieties can be grown. 



This variety was first noted in 1881 by Downing who says it originated 

 on the grounds of A. T. Moore, Ashland, Maine, about forty miles north 

 of Bangor. The parentage of Arctic is unknown. According to the 

 originator, it was grown from a seed of a medium sized blue plum bought 

 at a fruit -stand in Boston. In 1881 Arctic was added to the American 

 Pomological Society catalog, where it still remains. 



Tree small, of medium vigor, upright-spreading, very hardy, productive, an early 

 bearer, subject to attacks of fungi ; branches somewhat rough, dark ash-gray, with small 

 lenticels; branchlets strongly inclined to develop spurs and blossom-buds, short, slender, 

 with short internodes, greenish-red changing to dark brownish-drab, dull, sparingly 

 pubescent, with inconspicuous, raised lenticels; leaf-buds short, obtuse, appressed. 



Leaves obovate or oval, two inches wide, three and three-eighths inches long; upper 

 surface dark green, covered with numerous hairs, the midrib grooved; lower surface 

 silvery-green, pubescent; apex abruptly pointed or acute, base acute, margin finely 

 serrate, with small, black glands; petiole five-eighths inch long, tinged red, pubescent, 

 with from one to four globose, green glands usually at the base of the leaf. 



Blooming season of medium length; flowers appearing after the leaves, one and 

 three-sixteenths inches across, in the bud creamy-yellow changing to white as the petals 

 expand; borne in clusters on lateral buds and spurs, singly or in pairs; pedicels five- 

 eighths inch long, pubescent, greenish; calyx-tube green, campanulate, pubescent; 

 calyx-lobes narrow, obtuse, pubescent on both surfaces, serrate, with ciliate margins, 

 reflexed; petals narrow-obovate or oval, crenate, short-clawed; anthers yellowish; 

 filaments one-half inch long; pistil pubescent at the base, shorter than the stamens. 



Fruit mid-season, ripening period long; one and three-eighths inches by one and 

 one-quarter inches in size, oval or ovate, slightly swollen on the suture side, compressed, 

 halves equal; cavity very shallow and narrow, abrupt; suture shallow, indistinct; 

 apex roundish; color dark purple becoming purplish-black at full maturity, covered 

 with thick bloom; dots numerous, small, russet, inconspicuous, clustered about the 

 apex; stem slender, seven-eighths inch long, pubescent, adhering to the fruit; skin of 

 medium thickness and toughness, separating readily; flesh light yellow, juicy, coarse 

 and fibrous, somewhat firm but tender, sweetish, mild; fair in quality; stone nearly 

 free, characteristically small, seven-eighths inch by one-half inch in size, oval, flattened 

 at the apex, acute at the base, rough and pitted; ventral suture ridged, faintly winged; 

 dorsal suture broadly and shallowly grooved. 



