86 THE PLUMS OF NEW YORK. 



Fruit two-thirds inch in diameter, globose, sometimes oblong, orange-red, bloom- 

 less, handsome; skin thin, rather tender; flesh yellow, juicy, tender, pleasant flavor; 

 of comparatively high quality; stone somewhat turgid, compressed at the apex, thick- 

 walled, rounded on the ventral and sometimes on the dorsal suture. 



Prunus angustifolia watsoni is the Sand plum of the plains, being an 

 inhabitant of southern and southeastern Nebraska and central and west- 

 em Kansas and possibly passing into western Oklahoma. It is ustmlly 

 foimd along the banks of streams and rivers where it often forms shrubby 

 thickets. The wild plioms are held in high esteem for dessert and culinary 

 purposes, becoming a commercial product in parts of the region in which 

 they grow, and are occasionally transplanted to the garden or orchard. 

 From such transplantings a half dozen varieties have arisen. The pro- 

 ductiveness, hardiness to heat and cold and the size and quality of the 

 fruits shotild attract plum-growers in the region of its habitat and experi- 

 menters elsewhere as well. Waugh ' gives the following interesting sketch 

 of the use to which this plum has been put in Kansas: 



" Early settlers in Kansas, before their own orchard plantings came 

 into bearing, used to find the sand pliuns well worth their attention. In 

 Jidy and August everybody for fifty miles back from the Arkansas sand 

 hills used to flock thither to pick, and it was an improvident or an tmlucky 

 family which came off with less than four or five bushels to can for winter. 

 Whole wagon loads of fruit were often secured, and were sometimes offered 

 for sale in neighboring towns. 



" The fruit gathered from the wild trees was of remarkably fine qiiality, 

 considering the conditions under which it grew. The plums were quite 

 uniformly large — I would say from memory that they often reached three- 

 fourths of an inch to an inch in diameter. They were thin-skinned and 

 of good flavor, not having the unpleasant astringency of the wild Ameri- 



Group of Plums, Hybrid Plums, Types of European Plums, Propagation of Plums, The Myrobalan 

 Plums, A Review of the Americana Plums and The Grouping of Japanese-Hybrid Plums. In 1901 

 he published Plums and Plum Culture, a popular presentation of the various phases of his botanical 

 and horticultural work with this fruit. The titles given do not represent the extent of his studies 

 with this fruit for there were third and fourth reports upon several of the subjects mentioned. In 

 particular he has been helpful to American pomology in the classification of native plums, in his 

 study of sex in plums and in setting forth the hardiness of the various species and groups. Besides 

 his papers on plums, Professor Waugh's chief contributions to horticulture have been a book en- 

 titled Fruit Harvesting, Storing, Marketing, another under the title Systematic Pomology and two 

 works on apples. He has also published two books on Landscape Gardening which have given him 

 high standing in this division of horticulture. Professor Waugh will long be remembered in 

 horticulture for the great extent of his work, for his versatility in the profession and for his ability to 

 present well to both readers and hearers, either technically or popularly, horticultural knowledge. 

 '"The Sand Plums" Country Gentleman, Jan. 37, 1898. 



