10 
under the name of French or Petite Prune, aud its system of roots might be better 
adapted to certain soils than the Myrobolan, on which stock that prune is grafted, it 
might just as well be planted elsewhere than in the snow belt of our mountains. 
We found out in the wet winter of 1889-90, through which so many prune trees 
throughout the State perished, that that D'Ente stock "true from root" withstood 
splendidly the deadly effects of the extra moisture brought down to the roots by the 
incessant rains of that winter. 
The advantage of grafted trees is that when a prune is found to be of exceptionally 
large size, or to be in some other ways superior to the common kind, all these character- 
istics are surely retained by grafting, and may be propagated on any kind of stock. 
Wherever prune trees grafted on the root do well, aud are not subject to the gum, they 
may be planted even in preference to trees " true from the root;" but in the snow belt 
of our mountains no other stock than "true from the root" should be planted. 
We will now give a description of the varieties of prunes imported, tested and 
propagated by us, these last eight years, and of which we have a few trees ready for 
market. 
Prune D'Ente, or D'Agen, or Robe 
De Sergent.— This is the kind that pro- 
duces the famous French Prune, shipped 
all over the world from Bordeaux, France, 
with the United States of America " for its 
best and most extensive market; and it is 
the very variety cultivated iu the great 
prune district of the Lot, with Agen for an 
entrepot. 
The D'Eute is of medium to large size, 
in some instances, quite large. The fruit 
is generally pear-shaped or pyriform, broad 
at the ceuter aud 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; 
juicy, though not to excess. It ripens 
from the latter part of August to the be- 
ginning of September. The tree is vigor- 
ous, very productive and a constant bearer. 
The best types of that prune are found in 
the valley of the Lot, iu 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, aud, if oared properly, will make a 
large, pulpy, soft, delicious prune. (See 
Fig. 19.) 
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 mountains 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'Eute was introduced 
from France into California iu 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- 
liug, thought at the time to belong to the 
same family, and which went and is going 
yet on some nurserymen's catalogue under 
the wrong name of "Grosse" Prune D'Agen. 
This type of the D'Eute is excellent for dry- 
ing; the fruit is from small to medium, 
more or less pyriform, according to locali- 
ties; reddish-purple, violet-red iu our mount- 
ains; very sweet, and juicy 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 place. The Prune D'Ente goes all over 
the world under no other name — not a box, 
canister or glass jar leaving the port of Bor- 
deaux, 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'Agen, that the city 
of Agen has tried pretty bad to have substi- 
tuted 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 markets, home or 
abroad, the French article, give to our 
prune its true name, "California D'Ente." 
Loire D'Ente.— The type commonly 
kept and propagated in the valley of that 
name, in the northwest of France, and 
which, for that reason, we have called 
"Loire" D'Ente; it is certainly a false 
type of the D'Eute proper, as is found in 
the valley of the Lot; its botanical char- 
acters, wood, buds, leaves and also fruit, 
vary considerably from those of the true 
D'Ente. It is a very prolific kind; the 
