Moore Arctic 8, 15. Moore’s Arctic 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 9, 10, 11, 16. Moore’s Arctic, 13, 14.
Arctic is very generally supposed to be preeminent in two qualities, hardiness and productiveness. On the grounds of this Station it is both hardy and productive and from its behavior here it might well be recommended for these qualities, but as to its hardiness elsewhere pomologists do not agree. In the references given above, Downing says it is the hardiest plum known; in Michigan it is reported very tender in the nursery row; a Canadian writer says it is not hardy enough for Canada; and it is reputed in the prairie states to be not hardier than Lombard. The place of its origin, where few plums are grown, and the fact that it is one of but few that can be grown in parts of Canada and New Brunswick establish the claim that it is one of the hardiest of the Domesticas, possibly not more so, however, than Lombard, Voronesh and a few others. The small size and mediocre quality of the fruit and the dwarfish trees should rule Arctic out where less hardy varieties can be grown.
This variety was first noted in 1881 by Downing who says it originated on the grounds of A. T. Moore, Ashland, Maine, about forty miles north of Bangor. The parentage of Arctic is unknown. According to the originator, it was grown from a seed of a medium sized blue plum bought at a fruit-stand in Boston. In 1881 Arctic was added to the American Pomological Society catalog, where it still remains.
Tree small, of medium vigor, upright-spreading, very hardy, productive, an early bearer, subject to attacks of fungi; branches somewhat rough, dark ash-gray, with small lenticels; branchlets strongly inclined to develop spurs and blossom-buds, short, slender, with short internodes, greenish-red changing to dark brownish-drab, dull, sparingly pubescent, with inconspicuous, raised lenticels; leaf-buds short, obtuse, appressed.
Leaves obovate or oval, two inches wide, three and three-eighths inches long; upper surface dark green, covered with numerous hairs, the midrib grooved; lower surface silvery-green, pubescent; apex abruptly pointed or acute, base acute, margin finely serrate, with small, black glands; petiole five-eighths inch long, tinged red, pubescent, with from one to four globose, green glands usually at the base of the leaf.
Blooming season of medium length; flowers appearing after the leaves, one and three-sixteenths inches across, in the bud creamy-yellow changing to white as the petals expand; borne in clusters on lateral buds and spurs, singly or in pairs; pedicels five-eighths inch long, pubescent, greenish; calyx-tube green, campanulate, pubescent; calyx-lobes narrow, obtuse, pubescent on both surfaces, serrate, with ciliate margins, reflexed; petals narrow-obovate or oval, crenate, short-clawed; anthers yellowish; filaments one-half inch long; pistil pubescent at the base, shorter than the stamens.
Fruit mid-season, ripening period long; one and three-eighths inches by one and one-quarter inches in size, oval or ovate, slightly swollen on the suture side, compressed, halves equal; cavity very shallow and narrow, abrupt; suture shallow, indistinct; apex roundish; color dark purple becoming purplish-black at full maturity, covered with thick bloom; dots numerous, small, russet, inconspicuous, clustered about the apex; stem slender, seven-eighths inch long, pubescent, adhering to the fruit; skin of medium thickness and toughness, separating readily; flesh light yellow, juicy, coarse and fibrous, somewhat firm but tender, sweetish, mild; fair in quality; stone nearly free, characteristically small, seven-eighths inch by one-half inch in size, oval, flattened at the apex, acute at the base, rough and pitted; ventral suture ridged, faintly winged; dorsal suture broadly and shallowly grooved.
ARKANSAS
