THK 





Vol. XII. 



JULY. 1889. 



No. 7, 



SIMON S PLUM. 



^jjS^HE peach crop, 

 VlL; late years, h 



of 

 has 

 proved itself to be 

 so uncertain, even 

 in the most favor- 

 ed portions of 

 Ontario, that fruit 

 growers have be- 

 come much dis- 

 couraged with peach culture. Man}' 

 of us, who planted thousands of 

 peach trees some ten or fifteen 

 years ago, have now only hund- 

 reds; for the yellows have des- 

 troyed them wholesale, and the 

 winters have been so destructive of 

 the fruit buds that there was no en- 

 couragement to replant. 



This month we show our readers 

 a colored plate of a fruit which 

 promises to be a real acquisition to 

 fruit growers, who, like us in Ontario, 

 live on the Northern border of the 

 peach belt, because it may take the 

 place of the peach, at least in part. 

 Though commonly called a plum, 

 the fruit, espedally when cooked, re- 

 sembles that of the peach ; and the 

 tree itself, both in flower and foliage, 



more properly belongs to the peach 

 than to the plum family. 



It is named "Simon's Plum"' after 

 Eugene Simon, French minister at 

 Pekin, who found it growing in 

 North-eastern China, and forwarded 

 it to his brother-in-law, Simon Louis, 

 of Metz. 



Prof. Budd says he first saw it 

 bearing in the valley of the Moselle, 

 in Eastern France ; and being favor- 

 ably impressed with it, he introduced 

 it into Iowa for testing. He has found 

 it to be as hardy as the Chicasaw 

 plum, and recommends it for ex- 

 tended trial. Mr. A. M. Smith, of 

 St. Catharines, fruited it last sum- 

 mer, and was much pleased with the 

 quality of the fruit, whicli he con- 

 siders well represented in our frontis- 

 piece. In our experimental grounds, 

 we also have a half dozen trees which 

 we believe will be an ornament, even 

 if the fruit should not prove equal to 

 expectations. If we can secure good 

 stock, we hope to make arrange- 

 ments for placing it on our list 

 lor distribution in the spring of * 

 1890. 



