stone Fruits. 365 



north, it is of fairly good quality as produced in the south. It is said to 

 be a seedling of the Abundance, which it somewhat resembles, although 

 far earlier. — Rural Xew Yorker. 



COMMEECIAL VALUE OE JAP AX PLUMS.— HARDIXESS 

 COMPARED WITH PEACHES. 



They Stand the Cold. — I am growing these plums in orchards quite 

 extensively in Connecticut and in Georgia, and am convinced that many 

 of the varieties have points of merit that will make them permanently 

 valuable orchard fruits in these two sections, but in the central Atlantic 

 states, say from south Philadelphia to South Carolina, they bloom 

 so early that they are often liable to be caught by spring 

 frosts. At the north they will stand a great deal more freezing 

 than peaches. I think it is safe to plant them anywhere where the mer- 

 cury does not go mucli below twenty-five degrees below zero. In my 

 orchards in Connecticut at this time, peach buds, even on the most hardy 

 varieties, are all killed, and while the plum buds are hurt somewhat, there 

 are more than enough left for abundant crops; probably very severe 

 thinning will have to be resorted to to secure full size fruit. 



In the South. — In Georgia, the middle of February, after weeks of 

 warm weather, many of the plums coming out in bloom and peach trees 

 just showing the pink, peach huds entirely killed and trees badly injured, 

 yet enough buds Avere left alive on some of the varieties of Japan plums 

 so that there will be quite a little crop of fruit. For two or three years, 

 varieties like Red June, Abundance and Burbank have been shipped to 

 the northern markets from Georgia, and sold on an average twentv-five 

 per cent higher than peaches, with an increasing demand each year for 

 the fruit. In Xew England, they have been marketed for the last three 

 years to a considerable extent, have sold fifty per cent higher than peaches 

 in the same markets, and the demand has always been ahead of the 

 supply. They have thick, tough skins, and are not seriously injured by 

 the curculio. Trees will thrive on very light, thin soil, or on that quite 

 heavy and moist. The quality of the fruit is good, and they can be kept 



