JAPANESE PLUMS NOT RECOMMENDED 



J. G. MITCHELL, GEORGIAN BAY FRUIT STATION. 



AFTER a careful test of several years 

 with many of the leading varieties 

 of Japanese plums, I find them sufficiently 

 hardy, exceedingly strong growers, wonder- 

 fully productive and strikingly handsome 

 and attractive. Their quality or flavor, 

 however, is so much against th'em I could 

 not recommend them for extensive planting 

 in the commercial plum orchards of Ontario. 

 Where they are best known they are the 

 least wanted, in fact some of our lake trad- 

 ers will not buy them at any price if they 

 can obtain anything else. They say they 

 are poor plums and hard to sell. 



THE BEST VARIETIES. 



The following varieties I have found to 

 be the best, after full tests : Abundance, 

 tree a strong upright grower ; fruit, when 

 well grown, large and beautiful ; color, yel- 

 low or amber, overlaid on the sunny side 

 with dots and splashes of red; flesh, ex- 

 trerpely juicy, a delicious dessert plum to 

 eat fresh from the tree. That is about ail 

 it is good for. It is too poor for a shippe". 



Burbank: One of the strongest but mo it 

 spreading and sprawling growers in the or- 

 chard. It is a great bearer, but to produce 

 the finest fruit the tree should be severely 

 thinned. Quality of fruit fairly good. It 

 is attractive in color and a good shipper, 

 making it one of the best of the Japanese. 



Red June is the earliest good plum we 

 have ; also the most desirable of the Japan- 

 ese varieties. Tree is a strong grower, 

 forming a large well-shaped top, bears the 

 third or fourth year and abundantly. Fruit 

 is medium to large, color bright red, quality 

 fairly good. It is more like the European 

 than any other Japan plum, except Wick- 



son, which we have not fully tested yet, and 

 which we think will be too tender for here. 

 Season, first two weeks in August. 



Orient is a very handsome symmetrical 

 grower and fairly vigorous; fruit as large 

 as the Burbank, but much more even in size. 

 It resembles the latter variety closely. 



Chabot : This is a very hardy, strong 

 grower, forming a handsome and symmecri- 

 cal top. It bears the third or fourth year. 

 Fruit about the same size as Red June, not 

 quite as conical, sometimes very large when 

 trees are young. Skin is amber and well 

 covered with splashes and markings of red, 

 making it most attractive. In quality it is 

 about the best of the Japans, and it is a 

 regular and abundant bearer, in fact, in- 

 clined to overbear. September is its season. 



Hale's Japan is a strikingly handsome 

 fruit, but far too juicy for a shipping 

 plum ; good for dessert, and like Abundance, 

 one tree would be nice in the home grounds. 



Satsuma or Blood is a most remarkable 

 fruit tree, a strong spreading grower, but 

 not so much so as the Burbank. It is a 

 great bearer of fruit, and if not too heavily 

 loaded the plums will be large. The color 

 is dark maroon, covered with a light bloom. 

 Quality of fruit, when fully ripe, is fairly 

 good; season, middle of September. 



Although Japanese plums are proving 

 quite hardy, strong and vigorous, regular 

 and most abundant bearers, strikingly hand- 

 some and attractive in appearance, yet they 

 are indifferent in quality or flavor when 

 compared with the Europeans which ripen 

 their fruit at the same time. Were I plant- 

 ing another plum orchard, and I likely shall, 

 I would put very few, if any, Japanese 

 plums in it. 



I have taken The Canadian Horticulturist for You should receive The Horticulturist 



many years and like lit well. — (Kenneth Cam- promptly on or about the first of every month, 

 eron, Lucknow, Ont. Do you ? If you don't, let us know. 



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