[47] Phillips, Henry Comp. Orch. 306. 1831.
[48] These are the plums which Linnaeus called Prunus domestica galatensis (Sp. Pl. 475. 1753); Seringe, Prunus domestica pruneayliana (DC. Prodr. 2:533. 1825); and Borkhausen, Prunus œconomica (Handb. Forstb. 2:1401. 1803).
[49] Prince, William A Short Treatise on Horticulture 27. 1828.
[50] “Of the prune, or, as they are termed in German, ‘Quetsche,’ there are a number of varieties, all which are of fine size, and considered as the best plums for drying as prunes; this is one of the largest of the varieties; the principal characteristic of these plums is that the flesh is sweet and agreeable when dried. I am informed that the ‘Italian Prune’ ranks highest as a table fruit when plucked from the tree. The process of drying prunes seems to be so very easy that I should suppose it might be undertaken in this country with a certainty of success, and so as to totally supersede the importation of that article.” Ibid.
[51] United States Patent Office Report: xxix. 1854. The following description of this distribution is of interest: “The scions of two varieties of prunes, ‘Prunier d’Agen,’ and ‘Prunier Sainte Catherine,’ have been imported from France, and distributed principally in the states north of Pennsylvania, and certain districts bordering on the range of the Allegany Mountains, in order to be engrafted upon the common plum. These regions were made choice of in consequence of their being freer from the ravages of the curculio, which is so destructive to the plum tree in other parts as often to cut off the entire crop. It has been estimated that the State of Maine, alone, where this insect is rarely seen, is capable of raising dried prunes sufficient to supply the wants of the whole Union.”
[52] Wickson, E. J. California Fruits Ed. 2:82. 1891.
[53] Hedrick, U. P. in Bailey’s Cyclopedia American Horticulture 1440. 1901.
[54] Miller says in his Gardener’s Dictionary of the variety Perdrigon, “Hakluyt in 1582, says, of later time the plum called the Perdigwena was procured out of Italy, with two kinds more, by the Lord Cromwell, after his travel.” Miller, Philip Gardener’s Dictionary. Edited by Thomas Martyn, 2: (no page). 1707.
[55] In the first edition of Species Plantarum Linnaeus called these plums Prunus domestica pernicona; in the second edition the varietal name was changed to “Pertizone.” In the Prodromus Seringe designates the group as Prunus domestica touronensis.
[56] The Prunus domestica aubertiana of Seringe. (DC. Prodr. 2:533. 1825.)