226 THE EVOLUTION OP OUR NATIVE FRUITS 



from the Americana plums nearly forty years ago, but 

 it was not described as a distinct species until 1877, 

 when Professor T. C. Porter named it Primus Alle- 

 ghcmiensis. According- to Sargent, "the fruit is col- 

 lected in large quantities, and is made into excellent 

 preserves, jellies and jams, which have a considerable 

 local consumption." He holds the opinion that it 

 "will probably be improved by selection and cultiva- 

 tion." As I have grown the Alleghany plum, it 

 makes an upright small tree, and bears rather freely 

 of small, hard, spherical plums (see Fig. ;JG) of dark 

 purple color, with a decided bloom, and acerb and 

 uneatable in quality. Its merits as a fruit -bearing 

 plant seem to be so inferior to those of the Ameri- 

 cana plums, that I do not look for any attempt to 

 ameliorate the species for many years to come. 



Note. — Persons who wish to follow the details of varieties 

 and methods of cultivation of the native plums should consult 

 Goff's excellent account of "The Culture of Native Plums in the 

 Northwest," Hull. <;:;, Wis. Exp. Sta. Oct. 1897; also Waugh's 

 "Pollination of Plums," Bull. 53, Vt. Exp. Sta. Aug. 1896, and 

 inn. Rep. Vt. Exp. Sta. L896 7. A good account <>t' the botany 

 of plums and cherries, by Bessey, may be found in Rep. Nebr. 

 Hmt. Soc. 1895. See, also, Waugh, Bot. Ga/... -Inly, 1808. 



Tin Xu/in Cherries 



North America lias little to attract the experi- 

 menter in the way of native cherries. Most of the 



tree cherries belong to the racemose type, the flowers 

 being borne in more or less elongated clusters, of which 

 the lowermost — those nearest the parent shoot — open 



first. This type of cherries has never given important 

 results iii the amelioration of the fruits in any part 



