62 
PLUMS 
SHUUPSUIRE DAMSON 
Leading Varieties of Plums 
Plum trees thrive in a great diversity of soil, but seem 
to require that the soil have good drainage; warmth of 
soil is a factor towards perfection. Plums require little 
pruning but thinning the fruit on all varieties should be 
the regular practice—Japanese Plums particularly are 
much inclined to overbear. Plum fruit for market pur¬ 
poses should be picked just previous to reaching the 
edible condition, or for distant shipment picked greener. 
The general demand for the fruit is to “eat-out-of- 
hand," for pie, drying, canning, sauces, preserves, plum 
butter, marmalades and jelly. 
The Plums below are in two general classes, Japanese 
and European. The Japanese varieties are so noted, fol¬ 
lowing the name. Those not designated, are European. 
Prunes are free-stone Plums, suitable for dr 5 dng or 
canning. 
Abundance, Japanese. Skin pinkish-red, changing to 
darker red, mottled, with thin bloom; flesh yellow, 
very juicy, tender and melting, sweet, pleasantly 
aromatic; season early (late August or early Septem¬ 
ber) ; fruit medium size, roundish. Abundance is one 
of the best known Plums in America and its great 
popularity is due to its adaptability to a wide diver¬ 
sity of soils and climates, as well as its great abun¬ 
dance of fruit and that it usually bears yearly. It 
develops in flavor best when picked before it is quite 
ripe. The tree is large, vigorous, hardy, very pro¬ 
ductive. One of the very best of the Japanese varie¬ 
ties. 
Bradshaw. Skin purplish-red, covered with thick 
bloom, thin; flesh dull yellow, often with trace of red 
when fully matured, juicy, somewhat tender, sweet, 
pleasant, good; mid-season; stone semi-free; fruit 
very large. Tree grows rather slowly, but is large and 
well formed, bears regularly and heavily, hardy, 
robust, healthy. Fruit is large, attractive in appear¬ 
ance, keeps and ships well, especially if picked before 
fully ripe. 
Burbank, Japanese. Skin dark red over a yellow 
ground, mottled, with thick bloom; flesh deep yellow, 
juicy, tender, firm, sweet, good; and of the best as to 
quality—handsomely colored, keeps and ships well; 
ripens a week or more later than Abundance. Fruit 
begins to color some days before ripe and should be 
picked before fully matured if it is to be kept or is to 
be shipped; also its fruit must be fairly severely thin¬ 
ned to get it in perfection. Tree is large, vigorous, 
very productive. 
Fellenburg (Italian Prune, French Prune). Skin 
purplish-black with very thick bloom; flesh greenish 
yellow changing to yellow; juicy, firm, sub-acid, free 
stone; season late and short; fruit medium size. The 
leading Plum of the Pacific Northwest. It is finely 
flavored whether eaten out of hand, stewed or cured. 
Keeps and ships well. Trees are large, fairly hardy, 
productive, well formed and bear regularly. Origi¬ 
nated in Italy. 
German Prune. Skin purphsh-black with thick 
bloom; flesh yellowish-green, medium juicy, firm, 
sweetish, mild, pleasant flavor, good to very good, 
stone free; season late with ripening period very long; 
fruit large. Largely grown all over the world. Tree 
fairly hardy, vigorous, healthy, productive. Origin 
uncertain, probably Asia. Good market for fruit, 
valuable for canning, preserving, drying. 
Imperial Gage. Skin dull greenish-yellow with obscure 
green streaks, mottled, thick bloom; flesh golden- 
yellow, juicy, firm but tender, sweet, mild, good to 
very good, stone nearly free. Last of August. Fruit 
rather large. Is best adapted to light sandy soils. The 
trees are vigorous, hardy, healthy, productive. On 
suitable soils this is one of the best—for dessert, can¬ 
ning, home and market. Very agreeable flavor. 
Italian Prune. See Fellenburg. 
Lombard. Skin light to dark purplish-red, with thick 
bloom; flesh yellowish, juicy, firm and sweet, mild, 
stone semi-free to free; mid-season, ripening period 
long; fruit roundish-oval, medium size. Lombard is 
weU known everywhere, is very widely grown all over 
the continent. Tree medium size, round-topped, very 
hardy, productive; fruit showy, tempting to the eye 
and readily salable; regular bearer; fruit should be 
thinned and allowed to fully ripen on the tree. 
Relne Claude. Skin golden-yellow at maturity, some¬ 
times mottled on sunny side with red, thin bloom; 
flesh greenish-yellow or golden-yellow, juicy, firm, 
sweet, mild, very good; semi-cling stone; mid-season; 
fruit large, roundish-oval. For richness of flavor, con¬ 
sistency and texture of flesh, abundance of juice and 
pleasant aroma, Reine Claude ranks high. When well 
grown, fruit thinned and fruits sufficiently exposed to 
the sun to color weU, it is a beautiful fruit, its size, 
form and color all adding to its beauty. The tree is 
only of moderate size, and trees when delivered from 
nursery are smaller than the trees of other varieties, 
but the trees, though small, are productive and bear 
regularly. 
Red June, Japanese. Skin garnet-red, mottled, bloom 
thin; flesh light yellow, somewhat meaty, sweet, good; 
season early, ripens a week or so before Abundance; 
fruit large, roundish-ovate. Among the Japanese 
