1. Prince Treat. Hort. 25. 1828. 2. Prince Pom. Man. 2:108. 1832. 3. Downing Fr. Trees Am. 287, 288 fig. 115. 1845. 4. Thomas Am. Fruit Cult. 329. 1849. 5. Cole Am. Fr. Book 208 fig. 1849. 6. Horticulturist 7:403. 1852. 7. Am. Pom. Soc. Rpt. 36, 55. 1852. 8. Elliott Fr. Book 414. 1854. 9. Am. Pom. Soc. Rpt. 210. 1856. 10. Bridgeman Gard. Ass’t 3:126. 1857. 11. U. S. Pat. Off. Rpt. 190, Pl. XIII. 1865. 12. Mas Pom. Gen. 2:163, fig. 82. 1873. 13. Barry Fr. Garden 417. 1883. 14. Mathieu Nom. Pom. 443. 1889. 15. Waugh Plum Cult. 126. 1901.
American Wheat 10. American Yellow Gage of some 3, 4, 8, 11, 14. American Yellow Gage 10. Auserlesene Gelhe Reine-Claude 14. Harvest Gage 6, 8, 11, 14. Prince’s Gage 1. Prince’s Gelbe Reine-Claude 14. Prince’s Yellow Gage 2, 3, 4, 6, 7, 8, 9, 11. Prince’s Yellow Gage 5, 12, 13, 14, 15. Reine-Claude Jaune De Prince 12. White Gage of some 3, 8, 11, 14.
Yellow Gage belongs to the Reine Claude, or as it is so often called, the Green Gage group of plums. There are now a great number of these plums under cultivation in America, most of which have originated in this country and nearly all of which, as we have said before, are better than similar kinds from Europe. It is difficult to select from the numerous first-rate plums of this group the best varieties to retain in home or commercial orchards. Among these, however, Yellow Gage should be kept for the home orchard at least. It is a rather large fruit, with a beautiful color—golden-yellow often with a faint blush, with a firm and juicy yet tender flesh and a most refreshing admixture of sweet and sour together with the richness which characterizes the Reine Claude plums. The fruits come, too, at a time when the market is not overstocked with these fine plums and the season is particularly long. A review of the tree-characters in the description which follows shows that in the main they are good though some complain that the variety is not productive. This precariousness in bearing, together with the tender skin which keeps Yellow Gage from standing shipment well, probably precludes the variety from a high place in a commercial list but does not prevent its being a most desirable plum for home planting.
This excellent old variety was probably one of the first plums to originate in America. It came from a Reine Claude pit planted, with many others, by William Prince[226] in 1783 in the celebrated Prince nurseries at Flushing, Long Island. Despite its early origin and fine qualities it has never had much recognition from pomologists. Downing described it in 1845 but neither Manning nor Kenrick in their excellent books on fruits mention this plum. The American Pomological Society in 1852 listed it with the varieties of plums promising well and in 1856 placed it on the list of those worthy of general cultivation.
Tree very large and vigorous, spreading, dense-topped, hardy, productive; trunk roughish; branches dark ash-gray, smooth except for the numerous, raised lenticels of various sizes; branchlets medium to below in thickness, short, with internodes of average length, greenish-red changing to brownish-red, dull, lightly pubescent, with inconspicuous, small lenticels; leaf-buds large, long, conical, free; leaf-scars prominent.
Leaves long-oval or obovate, two inches wide, four and one-quarter inches long, thick, somewhat leathery; upper surface dark green, covered with fine hairs, the midrib grooved; lower surface silvery-green, sparingly pubescent; apex and base acute, margin serrate, with few small, dark glands; petiole five-eighths inch long, pubescent, tinged red, with from one to three smallish, globose, greenish-yellow glands variable in position.
Blooming season intermediate in time and length; flowers appearing after the leaves, one and one-eighth inches wide, white, fragrant; borne on lateral spurs, singly or in pairs; pedicels seven-eighths inch long, with short, thin pubescence, greenish; calyx-tube green, enlarged at the base, campanulate, lightly pubescent; calyx-lobes narrow, obtuse, lightly pubescent on both surfaces, glandular-serrate, reflexed; petals oval, entire, tapering to short, broad claws; anthers yellow; filaments one-quarter inch long; pistil glabrous, longer than the stamens.
Fruit mid-season, ripening period of medium length; one and one-half inches by one and three-eighths inches in size, oval, slightly compressed, halves nearly equal; cavity shallow, narrow, abrupt; suture shallow; apex roundish or depressed; dull yellow, faintly splashed and streaked with green, sometimes tinged on the sunny side with light red, overspread with thin bloom; dots numerous, small, white, inconspicuous, clustered about the base; stem three-quarters inch long, thinly pubescent, adhering well to the fruit; skin thin, rather sour, separating readily; flesh golden-yellow, juicy, firm but tender, sweet, mild, of pleasant flavor; very good; stone free, the cavity larger than the pit, one inch by five-eighths inch in size, oval, turgid, roundish, abruptly contracted at the base, blunt at the apex; ventral suture broad, blunt, faintly ridged; dorsal suture widely and deeply grooved.