10 
It is to aay that that class of plums that are juicy and which, when dried, are too 
acid should be rejected as unfit to make a good prune, and should be used according to 
theii respective qualities, green or in jams. For instance the Hu ngarian or Pond s seed- 
ling Duane's Purple, Tragedy (a seedling of Duane's Purple , Coe's Golden Drop and 
others of the juicy kinds, or which when dried are acid, as are all the above-named kinds, 
might make good plums to eat green and for shipping, but are unfit to be cured as prunes; 
to be eaten out of hand, such dried plums are unpalatable; and stewed, they require too 
much sngMj.^^ with "Prunes " as it is with " Eaisins;" both, to be palatable, have to 
be sweet pulpy that is, soft, and well flavored; and the juicy and acid class of plums are 
as little fit to make prunes as the same class of grapes are fit to make msins; Pnines 
and Raisins is one thing. Dried Plums and Dried Grapes is another. Ihe Prune D tnte, 
or French Prune, may therefore be regarded as the prune par excellence, either as a 
Dessert Prune or for stewing, and the very kind to be planted in preference to all others. 
We will now give a description of the leading varieties of Prunes, some of them intro- 
duced by ourselves into this country, and of which we have more or less trees for market 
this season. . 
Prnne D'Ente, or D'Ageii, or Robe 
De Sergent.— 'Ihis is the kind that pro- 
duces the famous French Prune, shipped 
all over the world from Bordeaux, France, 
with thg "United States of America" for 
its best and most extensive market; and it 
is the very variety cultivated in the great 
prune district of the Lot, with Agen for an 
entrepot. 
The D'Ente is of medium to large size, 
in some instances, quite large. The fruit 
is generally pear-shaped or pyriform, broad 
at the center and tapering towards the 
stem. The suture is slight, the skin thin, 
covered with heavy bloom; violet red. The 
pulp is yellow, sweet, but little flavored; 
juioy, though not to excess. It ripens from 
the latter part of August to the beginning 
of September. The tree is vigorous, very 
productive and a constant bearer. The 
best types of that prune are found in the 
valley of the Lot, in France, where that 
celebrated prune originated. 
Mont Barbat D'Ente.— We secured this 
type from the orchard of that name, which 
means Barbat Hill, a type that obtained 
thirty-two first premiums for the beauty 
and size of its prunes, at the District Fairs 
of the Lot, in France. This variety is ad- 
mirably adapted to be cured as a dessert 
prune, to be eaten out of hand, it being of 
a very large size and drying fine. The 
fruit is pyriform and quite broad through 
the center, and, if cured properly, will 
imake a large, pulpy, soft, delicious prune. 
I Lot D'Ente.— The type the most propa- 
gated in the great prune District of the 
Lot, in France. The fruit is not so broad 
as that of the Mont Barbat, but more oval 
in shape. (See the above description of 
Prune D'Ente ) This is the type which, 
propagated " true from the root, "and not 
by grafting, proves such a good " gum re- 
sistant " stock, and the only one we would 
advise fruit growers living in the snow-belt 
of the monntaina to plant, as being better 
able to withstand the attacks of the gum 
than budded trees. 
California D'Ente, or Petite Prune, 
or French Prune.- This good and pretty 
type of the Prune D'Ente was introduced 
from France into California in the year 
1857, by Mr. Pierre Pellier, of San Jose, 
and has since been propagated all over the 
State, under the name of Petite or French 
Prune. The name of Petite (small) was 
given to it so as to distinguish it from a 
larger type, the Hungarian or Pond's Seed- 
ling, tijought at the time to belong to the 
same family, and wbich went and is going 
yet on some nurserymen's catalogue under 
the wrong nume of "Grosse" Prune D'Agen. 
This type of the D'Ente is exeelleut for 
drying; the fruit is from small to medium, 
more or less pyriform, according to locali- 
ties ; reddish-purple, violet-red in our 
mouutains; very sweet, and juioy enough. 
That name of French or Petite Prune 
should be entirely dropped off by nursery- 
men, prune growers and packers, and its 
real name, California D'Ente, substituted 
in its iilace. The Prune D'Ente goes all 
over the world under no other name— not 
a box, canister or glass jar leaving the port 
of Bordeaux, which ships away millions of 
them, but under that name. "French" 
Prune is no name at all, for the Saint 
Catherine, a fair rival of the D'Ente and 
yellow when fresh, is as much French as 
the D'Ente and as old, too. Prune D Ageu, 
that the city of Agen has tried pretty bad 
to have sul)Stituted to the true name of 
that prune (D'Ente), has been rejected by 
the shippers of that prune in France. So 
let us, if we are to meet on the same mar- 
kets, homo or abroad, the French article, 
give to our prune its true name, "Califor- 
nia D'Ente." 
J 
■f Loire D'Ente, or False Kobe De Ser- 
gent. — This is the tpye commonly kept and 
propagated in the Valley of the Loire, in 
France, under the very name of D'Agen, 
D'Eute or Robe De Sergent, which it is not; 
and which goes presently in California un- 
der the wrong name of Robe De Sergent. 
The true Robe De Sergent is nothing else 
