THE PLUMS OF NEW YORK. 355 



pubescent throughout the season, with numerous, inconspicuous, small lenticels; leaf- 

 buds large, long, somewhat pointed, strongly appressed. 



Leaves folded backward, obovate or oval, two and one-half inches wide, five inches 

 long; upper surface dark green, rugose, covered with numerous hairs, the midrib 

 narrowly grooved; lower surface pale green, overspread with thick pubescence; apex 

 abruptly pointed or acute, base acute, margin serrate, with small dark glands; petiole 

 nearly one inch long, covered with thick pubescence, lightly tinged with red, glandless 

 or with from one to three small, globose, greenish -yellow glands at the base of the leaf. 



Flowers large, intermediate in time of bloom; calyx-tube green; stamens longer 

 than the pistil. 



Fruit intermediate in time and length of ripening season; small, ovate or oval, 

 halves equal; cavity shallow, narrow, abrupt; suture shallow, often a line; apex 

 roundish or pointed; color dark reddish-purple changing to purplish-black, covered 

 with thick bloom; dots numerous, small, light russet, inconspicuous; stem slender, 

 long, pubescent, adhering; skin thin, tender, separating readily; flesh golden-yellow, 

 juicy, coarse, fibrous, tender, sweet, mild; good to very good; stone light colored, 

 with a tinge of red, thin, of medium size, ovate, flattened, with rough and pitted sur- 

 faces, blunt at the base, acute at the apex; ventral suture rather narrow, distinctly 

 furrowed, slightly winged; dorsal suture with a wide, deep groove. 



SURPRISE 



Prunus hortidana mineri ? 



I. Wis. Sta. Bui. 63:61 fig. 30. 1897. 2. la. Hort. Soc. Rpt. 112. 1899. 3. Am. Pom. Soc. 

 Cat. 38. 1899. 4. Wis. Hort. Soc. Rpt. 69. 1900. 5. la. Sta. Bui. 46:289. 1900. 6. Wis. Sta. 

 Bui. 87:18. 1901. 7. Waugh Plum Cult. 175. 1901. 8. la. Hort. Soc. Rpt. 228. 1904. 9. III. 

 Hort. Soc. Rpt. 426. 1905. 10. S. Dak. Sta. Bui. 93:39. 1905. 



Surprise is one of the best of the native plums in the Station orchard. 

 The fruits are very attractive in appearance and while not of the rich 

 flavor of the Domesticas they are yet of pleasant flavor with an abundance 

 of juice which together make this a most refreshing fruit. The fruits keep 

 well and would probably ship well. The color is a peculiar red which 

 serves to identify the variety ; on the whole the fruits resemble the Amer- 

 icana s while the trees are rather more of the Miner type. The variety is 

 productive in New York and is so spoken of in Wisconsin by Goff, 1 but 



1 Emmett Stull Goff was born at Elmira, New York, Sept. 3, 1852. He was educated in the 

 public schools and in the Elmira Free Academy, graduating from the last named place in 1869. 

 The following years were spent on his father's farm until in 1880 he became Associate Editor of 

 an agricultural paper, but finding the work uncongenial he returned to the farm for a short time 

 leaving again to accept in 1882 a position at the New York Agricultural Experiment Station which 

 had just been established. Here for seven years Professor Goff gave his attention to vegetables. 

 His classification of a number of vegetables, the pea, tomato, cabbage and onion in particular, 

 are still standard in American vegetable culture. During his work at this Station he did much 



