THE PLUMS OF NEW YORK. 221 



that this plum was introduced into America from Prussia by a Mr. Latz 



about 1850. 



All of these German Prunes are characterized by large, hardy, vigorous, 

 healthy, productive trees, characters so marked that one can say at once 

 that it is the tree that gives the German Prune its great value. The fruit 

 is excellent for all culinary purposes, especially for canning, and cures 

 into a small but very good, tart, meaty, freestone, elastic prune. The 

 chief objection to the plum for these purposes is that the fruits run small. 

 The plums are too tart to have much value as dessert fruits. This variety 

 is likely to remain a standard for some time in New York but will eventually 

 be superseded by a larger fruit. 



The origin of this plum is uncertain. German writers very generally 

 hold that it came from Asia whence it was carried during the Crusades 

 to Europe. Lauche, a German authority, says, " In the Sixteenth Century, 

 the first dried prunes were introduced into Italy, Switzerland and Germany 

 from Hungary. The tree on the contrary is said not to have been intro- 

 duced by us until the end of the Seventeenth Century." A Prune Plum 

 was noted in America by Coxe in 1817, but it is impossible to say whether 

 he meant the German Prune. Prince, however, in 1832, described the 

 variety under its present name. In 1856, the American Pomological 

 Society placed the German Prune on the list of the varieties promising 

 well and six years later added it to its fruit catalog. The German Prune 

 is used only in the fresh state in New York, but on the Pacific Coast, in 

 some one of its several types, it is one of the half-dozen leading sorts 

 for curing. 



Tree medium to large, vigorous, round and dense-topped, hardy, usually very 

 productive; branches ash-gray, somewhat rough, with lenticels variable in size; branch- 

 lets slender, short, with internodes of medium length, green changing to brownish-red, 

 dull, glabrous, with numerous, small, obscure lenticels; leaf -buds intermediate in size 

 and length, conical, free. 



Leaves falling early, oval or obovate, one and one-half inches wide, three inches 

 long, thinnish, velvety; upper surface pubescent, slightly rugose, with a shallow groove 

 on the midrib; lower surface yellowish-green, heavily pubescent; apex abruptly pointed 

 or acute, base acute, margin finely serrate, with small glands; petiole one-half inch 

 long, pubescent, tinged with red, glandless or with one or two small, globose glands 

 usually at the base of the leaf. 



Blooming season intermediate in time and length; flowers appearing after the 

 leaves, nearly one inch across, inconspicuous on account of their greenish-yellow color, 

 which characterizes the variety; borne on lateral spurs, singly or in pairs; pedicels 



