NOTES ON FORCING PLUMS. 



283 



NOTES ON FORCING PLUMo. 



Translated from the German, by J. W. KNEVELS, Fishkill Landing, N. Y. 



The following account, translated from Lie- 

 geVs Anlietung zur Kentricss der Pjlaic7nen., 

 a standard German work on Pomology, 

 may not attract many of our readers on the 

 Hudson, where the finest plums are so 

 easily grown, but it is interesting as illus- 

 trating the fruit-culture of Germany. Our 

 intelligent fruit-growing readers will not, 

 however, allow to escape them the hint 

 thrown out by Liegel as to the admirable 

 effects of brewers^ grains, applied as a top- 

 dressing to the plum. It is quite new to us, 

 and deserves a trial in open culture. — Ed. 



Forcing is the term we apply to the has- 

 tening the maturity of fruits, by artificial 

 heat. This is effected by placing trees in 

 pots, during winter or spring, in heated 

 apartments; or covering trees on walls, by 

 sashes, ("with or without flues;") or, last- 

 ly, by planting them in glazed structures. 

 The latter is the most usual and profitable 

 mode. 



Forcing trees, however, requires a great 

 deal of attention, industry and experience, 

 so as not to give too little or too much heat, 

 or keep them too moist or too dry. In 

 general, the same rules apply to forcing 

 plums, as in forcing other fruits. During 

 their blossoming, the heat must not be 

 sufficient to sink below 6 to 8 degrees, 

 (Reaumur,) nor to rise above 15 to IS de- 

 grees; only towards the time of ripening, 

 should any higher temperature be applied. 

 At this period, (while in flower,) be careful 

 that they do not receive too much water; 

 especially avoid giving a great deal at once, 

 otherwise not only the blossoms, but even 

 the fruit itself, in an advanced stage, will 

 drop. You should therefore give water 

 every day, according to circumstances, but 

 never much at a time, for too much moisture 



will produce a yellowness of the leaves, 

 and mouldiness at the roots, aTid finally the 

 death of the tree. When the leaves and 

 branches of a tree standing in the sun, be- 

 gin to droop, this is a sign that it hns been 

 kept too dry. Notwithstanding, be not too 

 parsimonious with your watering, for the 

 Plum bears moisture better than any other 

 fruit tree, and you may therefore give it 

 a plentiful showering, in the morning of 

 bright summer days. 



If your trees are in tubs or pots, it is 

 requisite to give them proper nutriment. 

 Brewers' grains [malz-keirn) are best for the 

 purpose, as the experience of many years 

 has taught me. It is a strong and lasting 

 manure, and gives large, perfect, and splen- 

 did fruit. At first, when you commence 

 forcing, take a large handful of these 

 grains and scatter it over the surface of the 

 earth in your tubs ; it will soon form a sort 

 of crust, which must be broken up. In the 

 course of two or three months it will have 

 generally disappeared, mingling in its de- 

 cay with the soil, when another handful 

 may be added. It is hardly conceivable 

 what great effect so trifling a quantity has 

 upon the fruit. Your trees, in pots, will 

 send out shoots such as are seldom seen, 

 even from trees in the open ground, and 

 the fruit will also attain a state of high 

 perfection. 



The question now presents itself, " What 

 varieties shall we select for forcing ?" Since 

 forcing fruits, in Germany, is generally 

 practiced only in the establishments of the 

 nobility and gentry, and to add to the splen- 

 dor of the table, such plants are to be 

 chosen especially as are early, large, and 

 of varied tints; and as there are in a 

 forcing-house no frosty nights, no drench- 



