THE MINNESOTA 



HORTICULTURIST. 



VOL. 31. JULY, 1903. No. 7. 



PLUMS. 



W. W. PENDERGAST, HUTCHINSON. 



If I could exercise my own volition in the growing of fruit in the 

 state of Minnesota my personal preference would be cherries, the 

 large, black, heart-shaped, sweet varieties. To me they are the most 

 wholesome of fruits ; the flavor is the most agreeable, and the amount 

 which may be safely eaten at a time is practically unlimited. The 

 time is surely coming when the people of the state who can afford to 

 eat tomatoes can easily supply themselves with cherries. But that 

 time is far in the misty future. 



The plum, which has been given me for a subject, is not only 

 indigenous to Minnesota, but it already stands fully abreast the culti- 

 vated plums of olden states. Young as we are, much has already 

 been done by way of improvement along the line of hybridization 

 and artificial selection, while the results so far attained are full of 

 promise for even this generation. There are members of this so- 

 ciety, here today, who will witness a large export of the best quality 

 of plums in response to the constantly increasing demand from older 

 states to the east and south of us. 



It must not be supposed that any of our domestic fruits were al- 

 ways grown in our fields and gardens or that any of them were ever 

 found in a wild state so beautiful and delicious as we have them now. 

 The progress made in the past has required skill, patience and a prac- 

 tical knowledge of the science of breeding. So it will be with the 

 improvement of all our native fruits. Careful selection of parents, 

 or soil, slope, altitude, moisture and general environments will, year 

 by year, show wonderful results, just as patient and persistent cross- 

 ing of the best Florida oranges with a hardy hedge plant, known as 

 one of the Japanese trifoliata, has this year gladdened the hearts 

 of the patient botanists in charge of the experiments by the produc- 

 tion of- a fruit equal to the orange but much hardier and almost seed- 

 less : an orange which, it is claimed, can be grown without danger 



