Fruit intermediate in time and length of ripening season; one and three-quarters inches by one and five-eighths inches in size, roundish-truncate or roundish-oblong, with irregular surface which is somewhat ridged, halves equal; cavity narrow, abrupt, slightly compressed; suture variable in depth, distinct; apex deeply depressed; color dark reddish-purple, overspread with thick bloom; dots numerous, variable in size, whitish, conspicuous, clustered about the apex; stem thick, three-eighths inch long, pubescent, adhering well to the fruit; skin tough, adhering slightly to the pulp; flesh dark golden-yellow, somewhat dry, coarse, tough, firm, sweet, mild but pleasant; of good quality; stone clinging, seven-eighths inch by five-eighths inch in size, irregular-oval, flattened, obliquely necked, blunt at the apex, with deeply pitted surfaces, roughish; ventral suture prominent, heavily furrowed, not winged; dorsal suture usually with a narrow, shallow groove.
TRAGEDY
TRAGEDY
Prunus domestica
1. Cal. State Bd. Hort. 236, Pl. II fig. 5, 237. 1890. 2. Ibid. 109 fig. 8. 1891. 3. Wickson Cal. Fruits 358. 1891. 4. N. Mex. Sta. Bul. 27:125. 1898. 5. Am. Pom. Soc. Cat. 40. 1899. 6. Waugh Plum. Cult. 124. 1901.
Tragedy Prune 1, 3, 4.
Tragedy is another western plum which, like the Tennant, has not been well tested in the East. It is an older plum than the Tennant and somewhat better known in New York but still the reports of it are not sufficient in number or of great enough range to enable a fair opinion to be given as to its merits. As the variety grows at Geneva the fruits are very attractive in appearance—above medium size, a dark, rich purple color, and having the full, rounded form much liked by consumers in a dessert plum. The flesh is juicy, tender and sweet so that the quality may be called good; possibly the flesh is a little too soft for long shipping or long keeping as it grows here, though in one of the California references it is spoken of as “valuable for eastern shipment.” The trees are very satisfactory except that in New York they are not quite as reliable in bearing as could be wished. A fault, as the variety grows here and which may be local, is that a large proportion of the pits are cracked and all are soft and granular. The tree is reported by some as “scale proof” but unfortunately this statement can neither be denied nor affirmed. A plum with the good qualities possessed by Tragedy, should be better known in New York.
The following history is contributed by Professor E. J. Wickson, Berkeley, California. Tragedy originated as a chance seedling on the farm of O. R. Runyon, near Courtland, Sacramento County, California, probably in the late seventies. It was first offered to the trade in dormant buds by W. R. Strong and Company of Sacramento in 1887. Since the German Prune and Duane Purple grew on the place of its origin and as it shows characters of both, it has been noted as a probable cross of these varieties. The name Tragedy is understood to have been given to the fruit by Mr. Runyon because the plum was noted to be desirable on or about a day upon which a certain event held to be tragical occurred in the neighborhood. In 1899, the American Pomological Society considered Tragedy worthy a place in its list of fruits.
Tree large, vigorous, round-topped, hardy, variable in productiveness; branches ash-gray, usually smooth, with raised lenticels of various sizes; branchlets twiggy, thick, medium to short, with short internodes, greenish-red changing to dark brownish-drab, covered with thick pubescence, with obscure, small lenticels; leaf-buds intermediate in size and length, obtuse, plump, appressed.