THE BUEBANK PLUM 



THE Japanese plums are proving of 

 much wider adaption than was 

 dreamed of on their first introduc- 

 tion. It was a surprise when a few years 

 ago, they were proven to be hardy at the 

 Central Experimental Farm, Ottawa, and 

 still greater when the Burbank was found 

 by Messrs. Hutt and Woolverton growing 

 and producing fruit in quantity away up in 

 St, Joseph Island, and even on the north 



cribed it in his report of that year, under 

 the name of Burbank, in honor of the in- 

 troducer. 



Mr, Willard of Geneva, N.Y, , was one of 

 the first fruit growers to become convinced 

 of the value of this plum for orchard plant- 

 ing, and stated before the Western New 

 York Horticultural Society in 1894 that he 

 had planted an orchard of 1500 trees, and 

 knew of no plum that was more profitable, 



Fig. 2351, Burbank Plum. 



shore of Georgian Bay, near the "Soo," 

 Prof. Bailey finds an explanation of this 

 hardiness in their Botanical relationship 

 with our native American species, and 

 notes herein another evidence that once 

 there was a land connection between North- 

 western America and Asia. 



It was in 1885 that Mr, Burbank imported 

 some plum trees from Japan and when they 

 fruited he selected this as one of the best, 

 and most worthy of propagation. In 1891 

 he sent samples to the Department of Agri- 

 culture at Washington, and Mr. H. E, Van 

 Deman, Pomologist of the Department, des- 



This plum has now been before us for about 

 ten years and notwithstanding the great 

 number of Japan varieties now sold by the 

 nurserymen, none seem to hold a higher 

 place for commercial purposes than the 

 Burbank. Next to it in value comes the 

 Abundance, which however is not a compet- 

 itor, being nearly a fortnight earlier in 

 season. 



Compared with the Domestica class, the 

 Japans are inferior in quality, but when fully 

 ripened are fairly good eating. Like the 

 Kieffer pear, the Burbank plum is making its 

 reputation rather on quantity than quality. 



