1. Wis. Hort. Soc. Rpt. 15, 38. 1885. 2. Minn. Hort. Soc. Rpt. 126. 1890. 3. Cornell Sta. Bul. 38:36, 86. 1892. 4. Ia. Sta. Bul. 31:346. 1895. 5. Wis. Sta. Bul. 63:24, 31 fig. 13. 1897. 6. Am. Pom. Soc. Cat. 24. 1897. 7. Gard, & For. 10:367. 1897. 8. Colo. Sta. Bul. 50:33. 1898. 9. Minn. Hort. Soc. Rpt. 412. 1899. 10. Waugh Plum Cult. 169. 1901. 11. Budd-Hansen Am. Hort. Man. 294. 1903. 12. Can. Exp. Farm Bul. 43:29. 1903. 13. Ia. Hort, Soc. Rpt. 488. 1904. 14. Ohio Sta. Bul. 162:254, 255. 1905. 15. S. Dak. Sta. Bul. 93:11. 1905. 16. Ia. Sta. Bul. 114:129. 1910.
Cherry 16 incor.
Cheney is of little value except towards the northern limits of fruit culture in America where, because of its great hardiness, it is a most desirable fruit-plant. Of the varieties illustrated and described among the leading plums in this text, Cheney is the sole representative of Prunus nigra, the wild plum of Canada and of northern United States. The accompanying description shows that while the fruit of this variety is not such as to recommend it where other species can be grown, the tree has some characters most desirable wherever plums are grown—hardiness, vigor, productiveness and good form—so that this variety might well be used in breeding plums. The trees are very ornamental whether in flower, full leaf or fruit, but especially when in full bloom as they bear a great profusion of large white flowers which change to a pleasing pink before falling.
This plum, according to a letter from the discoverer, E. Markle, of La Crosse, Wisconsin, was found in the brush on a ridge, in Vernon County, Wisconsin, about twenty-five or thirty years ago. Mr. Markle thought it must have sprung from a seed dropped by an early voyager of the Mississippi River as there were no similar plums in the region. Noting its good qualities Mr. Markle introduced the variety, the date of introduction being about 1887. The American Pomological Society added Cheney to its fruit catalog list in 1897, where, however, it remained but two years.
Tree large, vigorous, spreading, dense-topped, hardy, productive, bears early, somewhat susceptible to disease; branches numerous, dark brownish-gray, very thorny, with large lenticels; branchlets long, with long internodes, greenish-red changing to dull reddish-brown, dull, thickly pubescent early in the season, the pubescence decreasing at maturity, with raised lenticels which are variable in size; leaf-buds smallish, short, conical, free.
Leaves folded upward, oval, one and three-quarters inches wide, three and five-eighths inches long, thin; upper surface dark green, nearly smooth, pubescent only along the midrib which is deeply grooved; lower surface yellowish-green, pubescent along the midrib and larger veins; apex taper-pointed, margin crenate, usually in two series, sometimes with small, dark glands; petiole one-half inch long, rather slender, pubescent, tinged red, glandless or with from one to three small, globose, greenish-yellow glands usually on the stalk.
Blooming season intermediate in time and length; flowers appearing after the leaves, showy, about one inch across, white changing to pink; borne in clusters on lateral spurs, in pairs or in threes, very fragrant; pedicels nine-sixteenths inch long, pubescent, green with a trace of red; calyx-tube obconic, glabrous, red on the outer surface but green within and pinkish along the margin; calyx-lobes obtuse or acute, serrate, with small red glands and with marginal hairs, narrow, sparingly pubescent on the inner surface, reflexed; petals broadly oval, crenate, often toothed, tapering below to long narrow claws; anthers yellowish; filaments nearly one-half inch in length; pistil glabrous, shorter than the stamens.
Fruit mid-season, ripening period very long; medium in size, irregular roundish-oval, strongly oblique, halves equal; cavity shallow, regular, flaring; suture shallow or a line; apex roundish, somewhat oblique; color at first yellowish-green with a light carmine blush changing to deep carmine on a yellow ground, covered with thin bloom; dots numerous, very small, russet, inconspicuous, densely clustered about the apex; stem slender, five-eighths inch in length, slightly pubescent, adhering to the fruit; skin thick, tough, sour, separating readily; flesh deep yellow, very juicy, fibrous, tender and melting, sweet next to the skin but tart at the center, not high in flavor; fair in quality; stone adhering, seven-eighths inch by five-eighths inch in size, broadly oval, distinctly flattened, blunt-pointed, with ridged and furrowed surfaces; ventral suture acute, narrow; dorsal suture slightly furrowed.
CLIMAX
