700 



LIGHT FROM THE SOCIETIES. 



keep only a few trees to supply a few northern hot- 

 houses. Bontonkio No. i, another early bloomer, I be- 

 lieve would do well forced under glass. 



Next comes, in rotation of ripening, Hattonkin No. i, 

 which ripens the first days of June, and sometimes the 

 latter part of May. It is about twice the size of the 

 Wild Goose fruit, beautiful golden and transparent 

 in color. This variety was first imported by H. H. 

 Berger, of California; it is not so prolific as Hattonkin 

 No. 2. Hattonkin No. 2 ripens about 12 days later. 

 The fruit of this variety resembles Kelsey in shape, but 

 is a little more pointed and very prolific ; it was first in- 

 troduced by Frost & Burgess, of Riverside, California. 

 The two above came to me under the name of Hattonkin, 

 and when I saw that they were different in habit of 

 growth, fruit and time of ripening, I added No. i and 

 No. 2, so as to distinguish them in their order of ripen' 

 Next comes probably the finest of all, the True Sweet 

 Botan. The tree of this variety is a marvel of productive- 

 ness ; fruit large, flesh yellow, solid, reddish-purple on 

 the sunny side, 

 practically curculio - 

 proof. It would be 

 well to state here, in 

 answer to many in- 

 quiries and the pre- 

 vailing impression 

 that there is only one 

 variety of Botan, that 

 this is a mistake, as I 

 have three varietiesof 

 Botans that are differ- 

 ent in fruit as well as 

 foliage and size. 

 Abundance, or Y e 1 - 

 low-fleshed Botan, 

 Mr. Lovett, of New 

 Jersey, has renamed. 



Mr. Lovett was right, _ 



as the introducer, in 

 giving it a name. It 



is a good variety, smaller than True Sweet Botan, and 

 the shape of the fruit is a little pointed, whereas True 

 Sweet Botan is round, and White-Fleshed Botan has 

 white flesh. The leaves of Abundance are lanceolate, and 

 not so broad as those of the other two kinds ; these three 

 varieties of Botan ripen about the same time. Then 

 comes Normand Japan. This variety was imported by 

 myself. It came without a label, and in the absence of a 

 name I have named it Normand Japan. This is my 

 choice of all the oriental plums, and it fruited the last 

 two seasons for the first time in this country. The fruit 

 is a beautiful golden color, a little larger and better than 

 Burbank ; shaped like an apple and has a fine flavor ; 

 ripens just after Sweet Botan; tree of symmetrical growth, 

 and very prolific. Next follows Burbank No. i, much 

 like Sweet Botan in shape and color of fruit ; a fine va- 

 riety. Burbank, which is different, and which ripens 

 just after the above, was first introduced by the Cali- 

 fornia experimenter, Luther Burbank. Chabot and P. 



Simonii ripen next ; the latter is a shy bearer, but has a 

 fine fruit. Some years it bears better than others. 

 Shiro Smomo, imported by Berckmans, of Georgia, is 

 a fine, deep, purple plum, oblong and pointed in shape, 

 with a beautiful lilac bloom — the brightest-colored plum 

 of all, presenting an attractive appearance. H. H. 

 Berger describes this plum as being white. Next is 

 Bailey Japan ( see illustration ), which, like Normand, 

 came to me without any name. I have called this va- 

 riety after Professor Bailey, of Cornell University. It 

 begins to ripen the first days in July, and is different 

 from any of the 30 varieties I have on my experimental 

 grounds. It fruited here twice, this and last season, for 

 the first time, probably, in this country. The fruit is al- 

 most as large as Kelsey, nearly globular, and overspread 

 with a light cherry red ; tree a prolific 

 bearer, upright, and a vigorous grower. 



The Bailey Japanese Plum. 



Continumg in the rotation of ripening comes Satsuma 

 Blood plum. This is a vigorous grower, with dark red 

 bark and lanceolate leaves. It ripens fully two weeks 

 before Kelsey. The flesh of the fruit is solid, clear pur- 

 ple from pit to skin, and a fine shipping fruit. It in- 

 clines to overbear, grows as well from cuttings as Mari- 

 anna, and no doubt will be used largely as a stock on 

 which to work other varieties, because of its deep-rooting 

 propensity. Marianna roots too much on the surface of 

 the ground, and its roots are torn by working the orchard, 

 whereas Satsuma Blood strikes roots deep, like the Le- 

 conte pear. Lastly comes in Kelsey. This was the first 

 variety imported into the United States. It came by 

 way of California, and was received by Mr. Kelsey in a 

 bundle of Japanese persimmon trees, with no name at- 

 tached to it. It is the largest and latest of all the Japan- 

 ese sorts. It is too much inclined to rot in wet seasons, 

 and is not a sure cropper because of early blooming. 

 Like Bougoume, it yields a full crop every other year." 



