CHAPTER XXIII 



PLUMS AND PRUNES* 



The plums of California are exceptionally fine in appearance and 

 of high quality. Both tree and fruit have thus far escaped the 

 parasites which have wrought greatest injury on the eastern side 

 of the continent. The curculio has never been found here, and the 

 "black knot" has never been observed in our orchards. The tree 

 suffers, it is true, as do most other fruit trees, from various 

 pests and diseases, but their work is a light affliction compared with 

 the ravages of the curculio and black knot which Eastern plum 

 growers have to contend against. The plum stands first among the 

 deciduous fruit trees of California, as noted in Chapter VI. Of the 

 plums, nearly six-sevenths of the acreage are those varieties 

 designated as prunes. This is, of course, owing to the profitable 

 shipping demand for our prune product, while ordinary dried, pitted 

 plums are expensive in production and do not always command 



food prices. There is, however, a large trade at the East in our 

 ne plums in a fresh state. Some varieties stand shipment well and 

 are large, handsome and in some cases possessed of unique charac- 

 ters, resulting from Mr. Burbank's work with the Japanese species. 

 Considerable shipments of fresh plums have been made from Cali- 

 fornia to England. 



By choosing varieties ripening in succession, the plum season 

 extends from May to December, thus enabling the California plum 

 grower to strike the Eastern markets both early and late. It is on 

 record also, that second crop plums have ripened. In 1904 Judge 

 Leib, of San Jose, sent to Luther Burbank, on December 1, ripe 

 fruit from a tree which ripened its first crop on July 4, of the same 

 year but this fact is of no commercial account. 



There is also considerable demand for plums by the canners, who 

 do not use, however, the varieties in chief demand for shipping. 



LOCALITIES FOR THE PLUM 



The plum has an exceedingly wide range in California. The 

 trees are thrifty and profitable from the immediate vicinity of the 

 coast and in coast valleys, eastward across the great interior valleys, 

 and upwards upon the sides of the Sierra Nevada. In the upper 

 half of the State, at least, wherever there is sufficient moisture in 

 the soil, good plums can be grown. The tree is quite hardy, but in 

 situations open to the sweep of the winds there has been found to 

 be decided advantage in belts of sheltering trees for protection. 



be dr!l w r it^t a t r h plUmS ' i bU f S pl " ms a l c not P n es. A prune is a plum which can 

 with a hi*h cWrL nf 5 em val of the pit without fermenting the result being a fleshy pulp 



ic word m/v Yn . . sw< ;etness. All plums which will not do this are not prunes even though 



ic word may appear m their California common names 



Pomology 



Station SflSjrh- 1 * f fo-JVTl 1 &*%*?*&* P rune is ivn in California Experiment 

 Pomolo (JUnC ' 1921) by Prof ' A> M> Hendrickson of the University Division of 



