178 THE PLUMS OF NEW YORK. 



or a line; apex roundish, somewhat oblique; color at first yellowish-green with a 

 light carmine blush changing to deep carmine on a yellow ground, covered with thin 

 bloom; dots numerous, very small, russet, inconspicuous, densely clustered about 

 the apex; stem slender, five-eighths inch in length, slightly pubescent, adhering to 

 the fruit; skin thick, tough, sour, separating readily; flesh deep yellow, very juicy, 

 fibrous, tender and melting, sweet next to the skin but tart at the center, not high 

 in flavor; fair in quality; stone adhering, seven-eighths inch by five-eighths inch in 

 size, broadly oval, distinctly flattened, blunt-pointed, with ridged and furrowed 

 surfaces; ventral suture acute, narrow; dorsal suture slightly furrowed. 



CLIMAX 



Prunus triflora X Prunus simonii 



1. Rural N. Y. 57:653, 818. 1898. 2. Cal. State Board Hort. 52. 1897-98. 3. Vt. Sta. Bui. 

 67:9. 1898. 4. Vt. Sta. An. Rpt. 12:222. 1899. 5. Burbank Cat. 2. 1899. 6. Nat. Nur. 8:117. 

 1900. 7. Vt. Sta. An. Rpt. 14:273. 1901. 8. Rural N. Y. 62:643. i9°3- 9- Mich. Sta. Sp. Bid. 

 30:18. 1905. 10. Ga. Sta. Bui. 68:8, 35. 1905. 11. Ga. Hort. Soc. Rpt. 66. 1907. 



Royal I. Royal i, 3, 4. 



It is hard to judge as to the merits of this variety. From the 

 behavior of the trees on the grotmds of this Station where we have had 

 fniit of it for eight years, we should say at once that Climax has no place 

 in the plum-growing regions of the East but others who have grown it 

 speak so well of it, the fruit in particular, that the unfavorable opinion 

 of the variety formed here may be unjust. Some of the expressions re- 

 garding this fruit in the foregoing references may be dismissed at once as 

 the most wildly extravagant and absurd to be found in plum literature. 

 From its behavior on these grounds and in the plum-growing regions of 

 the East in general, it seems certain that Climax cannot stand the 

 vicissitudes of the climate, suffering both in winter and summer. The 

 trees, in size, vigor and habit of growth, are inferior to those of most 

 Triflora varieties, and those under observation in this part of New York 

 are not as productive as the standard Trifioras with which Climax must 

 be compared. The fniit is handsome in shape and color, more so in 

 color than the accompanying illustration shows, and is of good quaUty. 

 Unfortunately it is very susceptible to the brown-rot, so much so that 

 because of this defect alone Climax could hardly become a profitable 

 commercial plum in this region. It has been quite well tested in vari- 

 ous parts of New York and has proved so uniformly disappointing in 

 tree-characters, in particular, that it cannot be recommended as other 

 than a plum for the home collection where, because of its beauty and 

 quality, it is most desirable. 



