Frogmore may be considered among the best of the Damsons in quality for the culinary purposes to which this fruit is commonly put. The flesh is tender, sweet and good, but adheres rather too tightly to the stone. The tree of Frogmore is all that could be desired in productiveness and quite equals most other Damsons in general and probably surpasses them all, at least on the grounds at this Station, in length of time that the fruit hangs on the tree. The habit of growth of this variety varies from that of Prunus insititia as commonly found, the leaves being larger, the tops more spreading and the branches less thorny. The variety has hardly been tried enough in New York to warrant either recommending or condemning it. According to the Florist and Pomologist, published in 1876, this variety originated a few years previous to the date of publication in the Royal Gardens at Frogmore, England.
Tree inferior in size and vigor, round-topped, open, hardy, very productive; branches thorny, the bark on the older branches splitting transversely to the direction of growth, making grooves or rings about three inches apart and two inches or more in length; branchlets slender, almost glabrous throughout the season, covered with light bloom; leaves bright red on first opening, somewhat folded backward, obovate, one and three-eighths inches wide, three and one-half inches long; upper surface dark green, rugose; lower surface silvery-green, pubescent, margin eglandular; petiole five-eighths inch long, slender, greenish, glandless or with one or two small, globose, yellowish-green glands usually at the base of the leaf; blooming season intermediate in time and length; flowers appearing after the leaves, one inch across, white, in scattered clusters on lateral spurs; borne singly or in pairs; anthers yellow with tinge of red; filaments five-sixteenths inch long; pistil glabrous, equal to the stamens in length.
Fruit late, season of medium length; one and one-eighth inches by one inch in size, roundish-oval, compressed, purplish-black, overspread with thick bloom; flesh golden-yellow, juicy, tender, sweet; good; stone clinging, three-quarters inch by one-half inch in size, oval, smooth, somewhat acute at the base and apex; ventral suture blunt or with a short, narrow wing; dorsal suture with a narrow, shallow groove.
FROST GAGE
Prunus domestica
1. Prince Pom. Man. 2:52. 1832. 2. Mag. Hort. 4:45. 1838. 3. Hoffy Orch. Comp. 2:1842, 4. Downing Fr. Trees Am. 300. 1845. 5. Horticulturist 3:446. 1848. 6. Cole Am. Fr. Book 219. 1849. 7. Am. Pom. Soc. Rpt. 54. 1852. 8. Hogg Fruit Mun. 362. 1866.
American Damson 8. Frost Plum 4, 6, 8. October Gage 3.
Frost Gage is too small for market purposes and moreover the fruit withers rather quickly after picking; the quality is above the average. The plum is not a Gage, only green fruits being entitled to this name. At one time this was one of the most popular commercial varieties in the Hudson Valley, but because of its susceptibility to black-knot it has lost favor with growers. Downing in 1838 traced the history of this variety to a tree standing on the farm of a Mr. Duboise, Dutchess County, New York, Mr. Duboise stating that the original had been planted by his father. It is doubtful if this is the first tree, however, for in 1849 Charles Hamilton of Canterbury, Orange County, reported trees of Frost Gage thirty to forty years old on his place.
Tree of medium size, upright, very productive; branchlets thick; leaves flattened, oval or obovate, one and one-half inches wide, two and three-quarters inches long; margin crenate or serrate, with few, small, black glands; petiole short, usually with one or two glands; blooming season intermediate, short; flowers appearing after the leaves, white, with a little yellowish tinge; borne on lateral buds and spurs, singly or in twos.
Fruit late; about one and one-eighth inches in diameter, roundish, dark purplish-black, covered with thick bloom; stem slender, persistent; skin tough, sour; flesh greenish-yellow, juicy, firm, sweet, mild; fair to good; stone clinging, small, irregular-ovate, somewhat oblique.