GERMAN PRUNE
GERMAN PRUNE
Prunus domestica
1. Knoop Fructologie 2:53, 61. 1771. 2. Coxe Cult. Fr. Trees 235, fig. 7. 1817. 3. Lond. Hort. Soc. Cat. 152. 1831. 4. Prince Pom. Man. 2:77, 78. 1832. 5. Downing Fr. Trees Am. 310. 1845. 6. Floy-Lindley Guide Orch. Gard. 286, 383. 1846. 7. Poiteau Pom. Franc. 1:1846. 8. Thomas Am. Fruit Cult. 335. 1849. 9. Am. Pom. Soc. Cat. 214. 1856. 10. Hooper W. Fr. Book 245. 1857. 11. Thompson Gard. Ass’t 519. 1859. 12. Hogg Fruit Man. 378. 1866. 13. Pom. France 7: No. 17. 1871. 14. Mas Pom. Gen. 2:171. 1873. 15. Lange Allgem. Garten. 2:418. 1879. 16. Lauche Deut. Pom. 1:1882. 17. Mathieu Nom. Pom. 434. 1889. 18. Wickson Cal. Fruits 355. 1891. 19. Guide Prat. 155, 362. 1895. 20. Cornell Sta. Bul. 131:185, fig. 43. 1897. 21. Oregon Sta. Bul. 45:29 fig. 1897. 22. Waugh Plum Cult. 102. 1901. 23. Ohio Sta. Bul. 162: 254, 255. 1905.
Altesse ordinaire 13, 17, 19. Backpflaume 17, 19. Bauernpflaume 17, 19. Common Quetsche 3, 5, 11, 17, 18, 19. Couetsche 4, 19. Couetche 17. Couetch 13, 19. Couetsche Ordinaire 17, 19. Covetche 5. Covetsche 17. Damas Gros 3, 5, 11, 17, 19. Damask 3, 5, 11, 17, 19. Damas Long 1. Damas Violet of some 3, 11, 17, 19. Damas Violet Gros of some 3, 5, 11, 17, 19. Deutsche Blaue Herbstzwetsche 17, 19. Die Hauszwetsche 19. D’Allemagne 19. Die Hauszwetsche 16. Dutch Prune 10. Early Russian 11, 12, 13, 17, 19. Enkelde Backspruim 17. Enkelde Blackpruim 19. Fellemberg 13, 17 incor., 19. Gemeine Zwetsche 13, 14, 17, 19. Gemeine Hauszwetsche 14. German Plum 4, 14. German Prune 3, 5, 11, 12, 13, 14, 17, 19. German Quetsche 12, 13, 17, 19. Grosse German Prune 3. Grosse Hauspflaume 17, 19. Hauszwetsche 15. Hauszwetsche 13, 14, 16. Hauspflaume 14, 17. Imperatrice Violette Grosse of some 3, 5, 11, 17, 19. Imperatrice Violette of some 3, 5, 11, 13, 17, 19. Koetsche 13, 17, 19. Large German Prune 4, 17. Leipzig 3, 12, 13, 17, 19. Leipzic 5. Leipziger Zwetsche 16, 17, 19. Monsieur tardif? 19. Monsieur Tardif 17. Prune d’Allemagne la commune 4. Prune d’Allemagne 3, 5, 11, 12, 13, 16, 17. Prune d’Altesse 1. Prune Imperatrice Violette 7. Prune Plum? 2. Prune Allemand 4. Prunier Allemand 4. Prune Plum 4. Prune Quetsch 7. Prunus Oeconomica 17. Prune Zwetschen 14. Quastche 7. Quetsch 7, 13, 19. Quetsche 4, 6, 8, 14, 17, 19. Quetsche? 1, 3, 5, 6, 11, 12. Quetsch Allemande 1. Quetsch Hongroise 1. Quetschen 4. Quetsche Commune 4, 13, 14, 16, 17. Quetsch Longue? 1. Quetsche d’Allemagne Grosse 3, 5, 11, 17, 19. Quetsche Commune 19. Quetsche d’Allemagne 3, 17, 19. Quetsche D’Allemagne 13. Quetsche des Allemands 7. Quetsche Grosse 3, 5, 17, 19. Quetsche de Lorraine 13, 14, 17, 19. Quetsche de Metz 13, 16, 17, 19. Quetsche Domestique 14. Quetsche de Malogne 13, 17, 19. Quetzen 6, 17. Sweet Prune 5, 11, 12, 13, 17, 19. Teutsche blaue Zwetsche 16, 17, 19. Wahre Zwetsche 16. Wetschen 13, 17, 19. True Large German Prune 4, 5, 17, 19. Turkish Quetsche 5, 11, 12, 13, 17, 19. Zwespe 17, 19. Zwetsche 3, 5, 7, 11, 12, 13, 14, 17, 19. Zwetschen 4. Zwetschke 3, 11, 17, 19.
Although one of the oldest plums under cultivation, probably the oldest of the prune type, the German Prune is still as largely grown, the world over, as any; and is seemingly more widely disseminated than any other plum. It is a little difficult, in America at least, to see why this fruit holds its popularity so long, for it is surpassed by other plums in many horticultural characters, and when all of its characters, most of which are very good, are combined there are still plums which it does not excel. In most of the attributes which gratify the senses, color, size, shape, taste and smell, it falls below expectations for a plum so universally planted. Undoubtedly the wide distribution of this plum is due somewhat to its many variations. The fruit comes almost true to seed and is often propagated by planting pits, a practice which has given many slightly different strains of this variety, each with somewhat different adaptations.
In the Old World the number of strains of this plum, especially in Germany, is legion, so many that it is probably impossible to segregate them at this late date. In America, while there are a number of these more or less distinct strains it is yet possible to distinguish the chief ones. In New York, the most commonly grown German Prune is the Rochester strain and since it agrees most closely with the fruit described in the best works on pomology, it is the strain described and illustrated in this work. The trees from which this description was made came from Ellwanger and Barry, Rochester, New York, who have long maintained a stock tree of this strain. Another German Prune, fruit of which we have not been able to obtain, is the Dansville strain grown in the nurseries of Dansville, New York. Still another of these plums is the Weedsport German Prune[213] so like the Rochester type as to be hardly worth distinguishing. The Latz German Prune is a very distinct strain; it is larger, thicker and broader than the type here described and is more of a clingstone. In some respects this is the best of the German Prunes. All accounts agree that this plum was introduced into America from Prussia by a Mr. Latz about 1850.
All of these German Prunes are characterized by large, hardy, vigorous, healthy, productive trees, characters so marked that one can say at once that it is the tree that gives the German Prune its great value. The fruit is excellent for all culinary purposes, especially for canning, and cures into a small but very good, tart, meaty, freestone, elastic prune. The chief objection to the plum for these purposes is that the fruits run small. The plums are too tart to have much value as dessert fruits. This variety is likely to remain a standard for some time in New York but will eventually be superseded by a larger fruit.
The origin of this plum is uncertain. German writers very generally hold that it came from Asia whence it was carried during the Crusades to Europe. Lauche, a German authority, says, “In the Sixteenth Century, the first dried prunes were introduced into Italy, Switzerland and Germany from Hungary. The tree on the contrary is said not to have been introduced by us until the end of the Seventeenth Century.” A Prune Plum was noted in America by Coxe in 1817, but it is impossible to say whether he meant the German Prune. Prince, however, in 1832, described the variety under its present name. In 1856, the American Pomological Society placed the German Prune on the list of the varieties promising well and six years later added it to its fruit catalog. The German Prune is used only in the fresh state in New York, but on the Pacific Coast, in some one of its several types, it is one of the half-dozen leading sorts for curing.