132 



ULACK WART IN THE I'LUM. 



who want somclhint^ of stronc: and liand- 

 some growth, to cover a large space rapidly 

 in one season, there is, perhaps, nothing so 

 good as the Climbing Cobca, Cobea samdens. 

 It is very luxuriant, and will often make 



shoots forty feet long during the season, from 

 June to November. Its blossoms are some* 

 what like large purple Canterbury Bells, and 

 it has altogether a very agreeable effect. 

 Yours, An Ajmateur Flokist. 



Remarks on the Black Wart of the Plum Tree. 



BY JOHN M. IVES, SALEM, MASS. 



In a recent number of the Boston Cultiva- 

 tor, there appeared a reply to the question 

 of a correspondent, "for a remedy for warts 

 Oil Plant trees" in which the editor recom- 

 mends the use of salt, and cites the prac- 

 tice of Dr. S. A. Shurtliff of Brookline, 

 who, he says, " excels in raising plums, his 

 trees being free from black warts," etc. I 

 may fairly claim to have had some expe- 

 rience with salt, as I have probably used 

 as much or more of this article in the culti- 

 vation of the plum as any individual, hav- 

 ing applied in February, 1845, ^we hogsheads 

 on an acre, and the year previous about one- 

 third of this quantity ; and for the last two 

 seasons, my trees have produced greatly, 

 particularly the Green Gage Plum. 



My main object, however, in Avritingyou 

 at this time, is to give you an account of my 

 trees as they appeared this spring. Soon 

 after the flowering season, I observed a great 

 number of the warts or excrescences, of a 

 light brown colour, upon the branches, (in 

 many cases, to an extent of at least ten in- 

 ches in length,) breaking out generally upon 

 the joints. They are not confined to those 

 shoots of small growth, but I find them upon 

 strong and weak shoots indiscriminately. I 

 have carefully cut at least fifty of these ex- 

 crescences, and have not bee7i able to detect a 

 single icorm or insect. That an insect may 

 be sometimes found in these knots, would 

 not be surprising, as they are of a softer na- 



ture when they first appear than the bark, 

 and insects may then find it a good situation 

 for their eggs. But I do not believe they 

 are produced by one, and least of all the 

 Curculio. My fruit has been most satisfac- 

 torily preserved for two years past, from the 

 Cureulio, by the use of salt. 



The varieties of plums which have been 

 the most affected by knots this season with 

 me, are the Frost Gage, Prince's Imperial, 

 and the Red Gage ; the Green Gage but 

 little affected ; Roe's Autumn Gage only 

 somewhat touched by the disease. Those 

 not at all affected are Dana's Yellow and the 

 Wilkinson Prune, a large oblong blue free- 

 stone, a native of Beverly, Mass. 



I ventured to suggest, in the " Book of 

 Fruits," that these knobs may be produced 

 somewhat as the excrescences are, which 

 we find upon the Azalea or Swamp Pink, 

 by an extravasation of sap. My opmion, 

 (and we all have aright to that,) now is, that 

 it is caused by a diseased state of the sap; 

 and as Governor Lincoln said of the potato 

 rot, " it is death to the plant at last, if not 

 cut ofl^." I trust that the Horticulturist will 

 contain the opinions of your cultivators and 

 yourself on this subject. I have cut from 

 about fifteen trees as much as could be 

 wheeled in a common garden barrow, of 

 limbs, &c., containing these unsightly ex- 

 crescences. Yours truly, John M. Ives. 



Salem, Mass.) July 20, 1846. 



