276 The Popular Prunes. 
Splendor.—Burbank seedling; medium size but larger than French 
prune; clear red, drying dark, does not shake from the tree; earlier than 
French prune. 
Sugar.—Burbank seedling, introduced in 1898; very large and very 
early for a prune; sugar in fresh fruit 23.92 per cent; very promising. 
Imperial Epineuse; syn. Clairac Mammoth.—\ntroduced in 1884 by 
Felix Gillet and in 1886 by John Rock. Described by Mr. Rock as follows: 
“Uniformly large size, reddish or light purple, thin skin, sweet aud high 
flavor.’”’ Described by Mr. Gillet: ‘‘ Uniformly large, more oval than the 
French prune; nearly of the same color but somewhat lighter or reddish 
purple; earlier than the French and with thinner skin.’ Fruit grown by 
Mr. Rock analyzed at the State University in 1898, showed 20.4 per cent of 
sugar against 18.53 per cent average of three analyses of French prune. 
Very profitable as far as tried, as a large dried’ prune, and very largely 
planted and grafted in, in the Santa Clara Valley. 
There has been quite widely planted another prune called Jmperial 
which is very inferior in sugar content and likely to prove much less 
satisfactory. 
Prune @ Agen, syn. Petite Prune d’ Agen; French Prune, etc.—This is 
the drying prune at present most widely grown in this State. Itis described 
by John Rock as follows: ‘Medium-sized, egg-shaped, violet purple, very 
sweet, rich and sugary; very prolific bearer.’’ The first trees of the kind 
were grown by Louis Pellier, at San Jose, about the year 1857, the graft 
having been brought from France by his brother in December, 1856. The 
identity of this variety (which was first largely grown in the neighborhood 
of San Jose) with the variety chiefly grown in the French district tributary 
to Agen, was first announced by W. B. West, of Stockton, in the year 1878, 
during his visit to France. Since that time there has been much discussion 
of the matter, and Mr. Felix Gillet, of Nevada City, has been to great pains 
to send samples of our fruit for examination by fruit experts. The conclu- 
sion at which Mr. Gillet arrives, is as follows: ‘‘ Our Petite prune is a true 
type of the d’Ente, its botanical characters being identical, and the fruit 
as richly flavored and sweet as that of its French ancestor.”’ 
Robe de Sergeant.—Though this term is given in Downing as a synonym 
of Prune d’Agen, and seems also to be in French a synonym for the d’Ente 
prunes; another prune grown in this State from an importation by John 
Rock, is quite distinct from the foregoing. Mr. Rock describes the variety 
as follows: ‘‘ Fruit medium size, oval; skin deep purple, approaching black, 
and covered with a thick blue bloom; flesh greenish yellow, sweet, and 
well-flavored, sugary, rich and delicious, slightly adhering to the stone.” 
This variety makes a larger, darker-colored dried prune than the Prune 
d’ Agen, and has sold in some cases at a higher price. It has recently been 
in disfavor in coast valleys for defective bearing, but is more satisfactory at 
some interior points. 
Bulgarian,—‘‘An undetermined variety grown under this name, chiefly 
in the vicinity of Haywards, Alameda County; above medium size; almost 
round; dark purple; sweet and rich, with pleasant acid flavor; tree a vigor- 
ous grower, and an early, regular, and profuse bearer.’’—/ohu Rock. 
Coe’s Golden Drop (English).—Very large, oval, suture distinct, one 
side more enlarged, necked; light yellow, often dotted red to the sun; stalk 
three-fourths inch, rather stiff; flesh yellowish, firm, juicy, and rich, closely 
adhering to the pointed stone; shoots smooth, rather glossy. A standard 
late variety for canning. 
Silver Prune (Oregon).—Originated with W. H. Prettyman, who says: 
“Tt is a seedling from Coe’s Golden Drop, which it much resembles, but it 
is much more productive.” Profitable as a bleached prune, but defective 
in bearing in some California districts. 
Golden Prune.—Originated from seed of Italian prune by Seth Lewell- 
