7 
spring frosts spare it— though the gum is the worst of the two. Now since the kind 
■" true from the root" is such an excellent gum-resistant stock, people will see at a glance 
that, with such a stock, Prune growing might become possible and profitable in the very 
midst of our mountains, and where trees budded on the root do so badly. 
The chief qualities and advantages of prune trees, true from the root, may be sum- 
med up as follows: To be good gum-resistant stock (the very reason why this kind is so 
•extensively planted in its home, in France), more long-lived than trees budded on the 
root; very vigorous growers, and heavy and regular bearers; last, in case of an accident 
happening to the body of the tree, enabling the latter to grow back true from the root. 
'The fruit of our Lot D'Ente, or type true from the root, compares very well with the 
finest French prunes grown so far in California. Still, wherever prune trees grafted on 
the root do well and are not attacked by the gum, they might very well be planted, 
■everything else being equal ;but where they do not, and are liable to be injured by the 
gum, the kind "true from the root" should, by all means, be preferred. 
We will now give a description of the varieties of Prunes imported, tested and propa- 
:gated by us, and of which we have this season 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 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 (see Fig. 29, rep- 
resenting the largest prune of this kind 
grown in ita home, in France). 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, sprinkled 
with little dots of darker color. The pulp 
is yellow, sweet, but little flavored; juicy, 
though not to excess. It ripens from the 
latter part of August to the beginning of 
September. The tree is vigorous, very pro- 
■ductivp, and a constant bearer. The most 
igeuuine 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. Figure 29 represents the largest 
fruit of this kind grown on Mont Barbat, 
and Pig. 30, the size of that prune as grown 
on our imported trees this season (1887). 
Whether in California this type will yield 
as fine fruit as it does in France, is only a 
surmise of ours; though it is a question 
that we will probably be able to settle next 
season. In the meantime we do offer for 
sale, and that for the first time since we 
■secured this type, one and two-years old 
trees of this type, mostly grafted on My- 
Tobolau stock, some on almond and St. 
Julien; with the guarantee only that such 
trees have been propagated from genuine 
Miint Barbat stock, and not with the guar- 
antee or assurance that they will bear in 
California as large fruit as they do in their 
.original place in France. 
Lot D'Ente, or D'Ente " true from the 
root." — This is the type of the Prune 
D'Ente, the most propagated in the valley 
of the Lot, three-fourths of the prunetrees 
in that valley being so propagated. That 
name of Lot, is only conventional, and was 
given by us to that type merely to distin- 
guish it from our other types propagated 
Ijy grafting. The Lot D'Ente is altogether 
propagated but true from the root; by 
grafting, only the size and quality of the 
fruit are retained, and its other character- 
istics done away with. We have beauti- 
fully rooted trees, one, two and three jears 
in our grounds, of this valuable type. (See 
.Fig. 26.) 
» California D'Ente, or Petite 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 Hun- 
garian or Pond's Seedling, thought at the 
time to belong to the same family, and 
which went and is going yet on some nur- 
serymeus' catalogue under the wrong name 
of "Grosse" Prune D'Agen. This type of 
the D'Ente is excellent for drying; the fruit 
is from small to medium, more or less pyri- 
form, according to localities; reddish-pvir- 
ple, violet-red in our mountains; very 
sweet, and juicy enough. Fig. 2S repre- 
sents the fruit ol this tyx^e, as grown upon 
t our place. 
^ 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'Ente proper, as is found in the 
valley of the Lot; its botanical characters, 
wood, buds, leaves and also fruit, vary 
