The plums of New York

by U. P. Hedrick

[137] Frank A. Waugh was born in Sheboygan Falls, Wisconsin, July 8, 1869. On his father’s side he is of Scotch descent, though the family has long been in America; his mother came from Germany. He was educated in the public schools of Kansas and in the Kansas State Agricultural College, graduating from the latter place in 1891. In 1893 he became professor of horticulture in the Oklahoma Agricultural College and horticulturist at the Experiment Station, a place which he held for nearly three years, going late in 1895 to take the same position in the University of Vermont. After eight years of arduous service in Vermont, during which time he became well known by his writings on horticultural, botanical and agricultural subjects, he left Vermont to take charge of horticulture in the Massachusetts Agricultural College and the Hatch Experiment Station. Professor Waugh’s study of plums began in the West, Kansas and Oklahoma, but his reports in regard to this fruit have come from Vermont where his work has been mainly done. The chief titles under which his studies have been published in the bulletins and annual reports of the Vermont Station are: The Pollination of Plums, Classification of Plums, A Monograph of the Wayland Group of Plums, Hybrid Plums, Types of European Plums, Propagation of Plums, The Myrobalan Plums, A Review of the Americana Plums and The Grouping of Japanese-Hybrid Plums. In 1901 he published Plums and Plum Culture, a popular presentation of the various phases of his botanical and horticultural work with this fruit. The titles given do not represent the extent of his studies with this fruit for there were third and fourth reports upon several of the subjects mentioned. In particular he has been helpful to American pomology in the classification of native plums, in his study of sex in plums and in setting forth the hardiness of the various species and groups. Besides his papers on plums, Professor Waugh’s chief contributions to horticulture have been a book entitled Fruit Harvesting, Storing, Marketing, another under the title Systematic Pomology and two works on apples. He has also published two books on Landscape Gardening which have given him high standing in this division of horticulture. Professor Waugh will long be remembered in horticulture for the great extent of his work, for his versatility in the profession and for his ability to present well to both readers and hearers, either technically or popularly, horticultural knowledge.

[138] “The Sand Plums” Country Gentleman, Jan. 27, 1898.

[139] Thomas Volney Munson, after whom it has been a pleasure to name this species, though best known as a viticulturist, has also rendered invaluable service to plum-culture. A sketch of his life appeared in The Grapes of New York (page 122) in which his services to viticulture were briefly mentioned. While his name is not commonly connected with the study of plums, it is not too much to say that without his aid the publications of those who have written during the last quarter century on native plums would have lacked much of the information they contain in regard to the species of the Southwest. He has an intimate knowledge of the wild plums of Texas and has freely given of it to all who have asked, often supplementing information with herbarium specimens or plants. The authors of The Plums of New York wish to give him credit for much of the information, furnished directly or indirectly, in regard to the wild and cultivated plums of the region in which he lives, in recognition of which his name is given to one of the most important species of native plums. Mr. Munson has grown and introduced a number of hybrid plums of note, chief of those of his own growing being Nimon, Minco and Burford. Many of his experiments in hybridizing plums, though unproductive of new varieties, are of much value as a guide to other workers with this fruit.

[140] Lawson, John History of Carolina 105. 1714.

[141] Waugh Vt. Sta. An. Rpt. 12:235. 1899. Bailey Cyc. Am. Hort. 1449. 1901.

[142] Cont. Bot. Lab. University of Pa. 2:216. 1899-1900.

[143] DeVries, Hugo Species and Varieties, etc. 57. 1905.

[144] The references given contain these quotations.

[145] Waugh, F. A. Vt. Sta. An. Rpt. 11:273. 1897-98.

[146] Hedrick. U. P; The Relation of Weather to the Setting of Fruit. Bul. 299. 1908.