2l6 THE PLUMS OF NEW YORK. 



leaves bright red on first opening, somewhat folded backward, obovate, one and three- 

 eighths inches wide, three and one-half inches long; upper surface dark green, rugose; 

 lower surface silvery-green, pubescent, margin eglandular; petiole five-eighths inch 

 long, slender, greenish, glandless or with one or two small, globose, yellowish-green 

 glands usually at the base of the leaf; blooming season intermediate in time and length; 

 flowers appearing after the leaves, one inch across, white, in scattered clusters on lateral 

 spurs; borne singly or in pairs; anthers yellow with tinge of red; filaments five-sixteenths 

 inch long; pistil glabrous, equal to the stamens in length. 



Fruit late, season of medium length; one and one-eighth inches by one inch in 

 size, roundish-oval, compressed, purplish-black, overspread with thick bloom; flesh 

 golden-yellow, juicy, tender, sweet; good; stone clinging, three-quarters inch by one- 

 half inch in size, oval, smooth, somewhat acute at the base and apex; ventral suture 

 blunt or with a short, narrow wing; dorsal suture with a narrow, shallow groove. 



FROST GAGE 



Prunus domestica 



I. Prince Pom. Man. 2:52. 1832. 2. Mag. Hort. 4:45. 1838. 3. Hoffy Orch. Cowtp. 2:1842. 

 4. Downing Fr. Trees Am. 300. 1845. 5. Horticulturist 3:446. 1848. 6. Cole Am. Fr. Book 219 

 1849. 7- Am. Pom. Soc. Rpt. 54. 1852. 8. Hogg Fruit Man. 362. 1866. 



American Damson 8. Frost Plum 4, 6, 8. October Gage 3. 



Frost Gage is too small for market purposes and moreover the fruit 

 withers rather quickly after picking; the quality is above the average. 

 The plum is not a Gage, only green fruits being entitled to this name. At 

 one time this was one of the most popular commercial varieties in the 

 Hudson Valley, but because of its susceptibility to black-knot it has lost 

 favor with growers. Downing in 1838 traced the history of this variety 

 to a tree standing on the farm of a Mr. Duboise, Dutchess County, New 

 York, Mr. Dubois stating that the original had been planted by his father. 

 It is doubtful if this is the first tree, however, for in 1849 Charles Hamilton 

 of Canterbury, Orange County, reported trees of Frost Gage thirty to 

 forty years old on his place. 



Tree of medium size, upright, very productive; branchlets thick; leaves flattened, 

 oval or obovate, one and one-half inches wide, two and three-quarters inches long; 

 margin crenate or serrate, with few, small, black glands; petiole short, usually with one 

 or two glands; blooming season intermediate, short; flowers appearing after the leaves, 

 white, with a little yellowish tinge; borne on lateral buds and spurs, singly or in twos. 



Fruit late; about one and one-eighth inches in diameter, roundish, dark purplish- 

 black, covered with thick bloom; stem slender, persistent; skin tough, sour; flesh 

 greenish-yellow, juicy, firm, sweet, mild; fair to good; stone clinging, small, irregular- 

 ovate, somewhat oblique. 



