230 THE PLUMS OF NEW YORK. 



and proved to be the Golden Drop." Robert Hogg, in his Fruit Manual, 

 published in 1884, described Waterloo as a separate variety, found at 

 Waterloo, Belgium, and introduced by Dr. Van Mons; the descriptions 

 of the two are practically identical. The Silver Prune, well known on the 

 Pacific Coast, at one time supposed to be a new variety, turned out upon 

 investigation to be Golden Drop, though the growers there continue to 

 call it by the new name they have given it. The variety under discussion 

 came to America in 1823, when Knight, of England, sent a tree of it to 

 John Lowell of Massachusetts. In 1852, the American Pomological Societv 

 valued it sufficiently to place it on the list of the fruits worthy of general 

 cultivation. 



Tree medium to large, vigorous, spreading or roundish, open-topped, hardy, pro- 

 ductive; branches ash-gray, roughish, with few, large lenticels; branchlets short, stout, 

 with internodes variable in length, greenish-red changing to dull brownish-red becoming 

 drab on the older wood, glabrous early in the season but becoming pubescent at maturity, 

 with numerous, small lenticels; leaf-buds large, long, pointed, free. 



Leaves folded upward, oval or obovate, one and three-eighths inches wide, two 

 and three-quarters inches long, thickish; upper surface dark green, slightly rugose, 

 pubescent, with the midrib but faintly grooved; lower surface silvery-green, pubescent; 

 apex abruptly pointed or acute, base acute, margin serrate, eglandular or with small, 

 dark glands; petiole one-half inch long, pubescent, tinged red, with from two to three 

 globose, greenish-yellow glands usually at the base of the leaf. 



Season of bloom medium, short; flowers appearing after the leaves, one inch across, 

 white, borne in clusters on lateral spurs, singly or in pairs; pedicels five-eighths inch 

 long, lightly pubescent, greenish; calyx-tube green, narrowly campanulate, pubescent; 

 calyx-lobes obtuse, sparingly pubescent on both surfaces, glandular-serrate, reflexed; 

 petals oval, dentate, tapering to short, broad claws; anthers yellowish; filaments five- 

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



Fruit very late, season of average length; two inches by one and one-half inches 

 in size, oval, tapering at the base to a short neck, slightly compressed, halves equal; 

 cavity very shallow and narrow, abrupt; suture shallow and wide; apex depressed; 

 color golden-yellow, occasionally with a faint bronze blush, showing greenish streaks 

 and splashes before full maturity, overspread with thin bloom; dots numerous, small, 

 russet, conspicuous; stem three-quarters inch long, thinly pubescent, adhering well 

 to the fruit; skin tough, rather adherent; flesh light golden-yellow, juicy, intermediate 

 in firmness and tenderness, rather sweet, mild, pleasant flavor; good to very good; 

 stone free, one and three-eighths inches by three-quarters inch in size, oval or 

 ovate, slightly flattened, irregularly ridged and roughened, acute at the base and apex; 

 ventral suture wide, often conspicuously winged; dorsal suture widely and deeply 

 grooved. 



