Fruit intermediate in time and length of ripening season; two inches by one and five-eighths inches in size, ovate, halves equal; cavity shallow, narrow, flaring; suture shallow, indistinct; apex bluntly pointed; color bluish, overspread with thick bloom; dots small, brown, conspicuous, clustered about the apex; stem thick, one-half inch long, pubescent, adhering well to the fruit; skin thin, tough, separating readily; flesh pale golden-yellow, juicy, firm, sweet, spicy; good; stone free, one inch by five-eighths inch in size, flattened, irregularly broad-oval, obliquely contracted at the base, blunt at the apex, with rough and pitted surfaces; ventral suture narrow, with numerous deep furrows, usually blunt; dorsal suture widely and deeply grooved.
PALATINE
Prunus domestica
This plum, scarcely known outside of two counties in New York, is of distinctly good quality and if all accounts are true is fairly immune to black-knot. In size and appearance the fruits are superior to many other Reine Claude plums, with which it must be compared, so much so that the variety is probably worth growing outside the region where the following interesting history shows it has been cultivated for nearly a century and a half.
Palatine, according to Mr. Washington Garlock of New York, originated in 1760 when a family of Palatines by the name of Best came from Germany to the United States and settled in Livingston Manor (East Camps) now Columbia County, New York. They brought with them plum pits which they planted and from them secured one tree. In 1762 they moved to Schoharie County, New York, taking with them the seedling tree. In their new home they propagated the variety, which they named Palatine, and disseminated it so industriously that it became thoroughly established throughout Montgomery and Schoharie counties and attained great popularity because of its apparent freedom from black-knot. That this popularity is merited is attested by the fact that after one hundred and fifty years it is still extensively grown in that vicinity.
Tree large, vigorous, spreading, dense-topped, productive; branches thick; branchlets lightly pubescent; leaves flattened, slightly drooping, obovate, one and five-eighths inches wide, three and one-quarter inches long, thick, rugose; margin coarsely crenate, eglandular or with few, small glands; petiole pubescent, glandless or with one or two small glands; blooming season intermediate in time, short; flowers appearing after the leaves, more than one inch across, white with yellow tinge at the apex of the petals; borne singly; calyx-lobes thickly pubescent on both surfaces, strongly reflexed.
Fruit intermediate in time and length of ripening season; about one and one-half inches in diameter, roundish or roundish-oval, dull yellowish-green becoming greenish-yellow at full maturity, mottled and indistinctly blushed on the sunny side, overspread with thin bloom; skin thin, slightly sour; flesh light golden-yellow, juicy, fibrous, firm, sweet, pleasant in flavor; good to very good; stone dark colored, free or nearly so, seven-eighths inch by one-half inch in size, oval, with thickly pitted surfaces; ventral suture blunt or with a short, narrow wing; dorsal suture wide, shallow.
PAUL EARLY
Prunus domestica
1. N. Y. Exp. Sta. Rpt. 12:611. 1893. 2. W. N. Y. Hort. Soc. Rpt. 42:83. 1897.