Cultivar 377: Aitkin

Aitkin is a northern plum in the Prunus nigra class. It was described as a wild selection found in the woods of Aitkin County, Minnesota, by D. C. Hazelton in 1896. It was first known as Itasca and was introduced in 1898 by the Jewell Nursery Company of Lake City, Minnesota. Early accounts treated it as a notable northern variety, and one report said it stood out at the Minnesota fair as about the largest plum on exhibition. [S3]

Sources describe the fruit as large, oval, deep red, and thin skinned, with yellow flesh that was juicy and sweetish. Quality was usually rated only fair, though one station note called the flesh firm and fairly sweet. South Dakota grower A. Norby gave a less favorable judgment. He called the fruit soft and rather poor in quality despite its large size and good color. The pit was reported large. [S4] [S3]

Its season was consistently early. Prairie notes place it around mid August. South Dakota reports give about August 10 to 20 in some seasons and August 24 at the station. That earliness seems to have been its main advantage in South Dakota, where one bulletin said it had value chiefly for ripening early. [S4] [S3]

Accounts of the tree are mixed. A prairie orchard note describes it as spreading, vigorous, and productive, and says it was dependable in Saskatchewan. [S4] South Dakota reports were less favorable. They describe it as a slow grower that set only a small crop or was simply unproductive. The same South Dakota sources say it was too subject to plum pocket and scab to be valuable there, and station fruit was badly spotted with scab. [S3]

Hardiness evidence also varies by region. Aitkin was recommended for trial in several South Dakota districts and was later listed by the Minnesota State Horticultural Society as one of the most promising plums for trial in Minnesota. [S1] [S3] In St. Charles, Manitoba, D. W. Buchanan reported that Aitkin was one of the only plums he had ripened and perhaps one of the two hardiest northern named plums he had tested. [S3] But a separate 1904 report on plums worked on sand cherry stock said Aitkin had suffered winter injury, with survival doubtful. [S2]

In the broader archive, Aitkin matters as an example of the northern Prunus nigra plum tradition that prairie growers kept testing for earliness and hardiness. South Dakota authors treated that class cautiously and even said it had little or no value in one part of the state. Manitoba and Saskatchewan evidence shows why growers farther north continued to pay attention to it. [S3] [S4]

Summary source basis

• S1: A Study of Northwestern Apples
• S2: The Western Sand Cherry
• S3: Plums in South Dakota
• S4: TreeFruitsGrownInPrairieOrchards WRLeslie 1946 HQ

This summary currently draws chiefly from Plums in South Dakota, with 3 additional supporting sources linked below.

Featured source descriptions

“Aitkin was described as a wild variety from Aitkin county, Minnesota, found by D. C. Hazelton.”
— ^[1]

“When first introduced at the Minnesota fair it was distinguished as being about the largest variety on exhibition.”
— ^[1]

“At first this variety was known as Itasca.”
— ^[1]

“Aitkin was said to have suffered winter injury similar to Wolf, with survival doubtful.”
— ^[3]

Direct parent cultivars

• No direct linked parent cultivars promoted yet.

Parentage claim text

• No direct breeding_cross claim text yet.

Derived or downstream cultivar links

• No derived or downstream lineage links yet.

Source-story quotations

• The Prunus nigra class of plums, to which the Cheney and Aitkin belong, has little or no value for this particular section.Plums in South Dakota, p13
• The Prunus nigra class of plums, to which the Cheney and Aitkin belong, has little or no value for this particular section.Plums in South Dakota, p13
• Aitkin, nigra.Plums in South Dakota, p9
• Aitkin, nigra.Plums in South Dakota, p9

Taxonomy context: Genus: Prunus | open genus tree

Related cultivars mentioned in source context