Other Kinds of Plums 91 



come." Professor Sargent, however, presents a more 

 hopeful view. He says that "the fruit is collected in 

 large quantities, and is made into excellent preserves, 

 jellies and jams, which have a considerable local con- 

 sumption. It . . . possesses considerable culi- 

 nary value, and . . . will probably be improved 

 by selection and cultivation." It seems to me to be 

 one of the least promising of the native species. 

 There are no cultivated varieties. 



The Southern Sloe. — The few specimens of the 

 Southern sloe, Primus umbellata, which I have seen, 

 were not prepossessing. The fruit is small and hard 

 and bitter. It grows on a small tree of ten to twenty 

 feet in hight, with leaves resembling the narrow-leaved 

 forms of the Beach plum. It is distributed from South 

 Caro!ina*to southern Arkansas and Texas. The fruits 

 are sometimes gathered and used, but are generally 

 held in small esteem, and is suggested by one of the 

 vernacular names, Hog plum. I have never seen this 

 plum in cultivation. 



The Dwarf Cherries. — Mr. Pennock's Improved 

 Dwarf Rocky Mountain cherry is about the only va- 

 riety in cultivation representing another interesting 

 type of plum, or dwarf cherry. This is derived from 

 the western form of the dwarf sand cherry, Primus 

 pumila besseyi. This type, which grows from Nebraska 

 eastward, has been the subject of many experiments. 

 Numerous selections have been made from it, and 

 several hybrids have been produced. None of the for- 

 mer has been named, so far as I know, except the one 

 mentioned above. Of the hybrids, the one which has 

 attracted the most attention is the so-called Compass 

 cherry, described in this work among the hybrid plums. 



The plant is dwarf, bushy, variable and fruitful. 

 It has many of the qualities which a plum breeder 

 would naturally look for. Besides this, it is exceed- 



