SPECIAL THINGS NEEDED BY FRUITS 



of fruit, undersized yellow leaves that set at right angles to the 

 twigs, and tufty bunches of shoots anywhere on the tree. 



Black Peach Aphis are shiny black sucking insects Svhich 

 attack both roots and tops. For San Jose Scale, see apples. 

 This always is the same, wherever it appears, and remedies 

 need not be changed. Curculios that attack pears are about the 

 same as those that attack apples. In all stone fruits cherry, 

 peach, plum, etc. curculio larvae infest the flesh next the seeds, 

 causing the fruit to rot and drop. Fruit Bark Beetle, or Shot- 

 Hole Borer, attacks only weakened trees. The little black bugs 

 dig a channel an inch long under the bark. Lecanium Scale 

 is a large brown scale, hatching in midsummer and crawling 

 about for a short time; it is a chewing insect. 



PLUM 



There are four classes of plums, each having a predominating 

 characteristic for which it is valuable. The American or native 

 class, marked N, is very hardy. Its varieties bear many 

 individual fruits of the smaller sizes. The Japanese class, marked 

 J, bears choice fruit, and is adapted to the widest range of 

 territory. Trees of varieties in this class are hardier than peaches, 

 but not so hardy as apples. The European class, marked E, 

 bears the finest fruit of all. It succeeds over a more limited 

 area than the other types. 



Plums must not be grown on soil that is too wet, but they 

 ought to have plenty of moisture, as they will not stand dry 

 weather well. Heavy lands are better than light, although the 

 Japanese kinds do well on soils lighter than the others will 

 succeed in. Two-year trees are the best to plant. The work 

 to be done is much the same as with the cherry, peach or apple, 

 and you can safely follow the directions given in the chapter on 

 planting, in the distance tables, and elsewhere. 



Plums must be pruned. Some kinds need more than others. 

 The upright-growing varieties must be pruned by a system 

 entirely different from those used with the sprawling kinds. 

 Fruit is borne on wood two or more years old. Nearly all 

 kinds require tip pinching. Keep the head open so that light 

 can get in, and keep the bearing wood cut back enough to insure 

 that trees will not break with their loads of fruit after a reason- 

 able amount of thinning is done. 



Red June (J), Satsuma (J), Wickson (J), Burbank (J), 

 Abundance (J), Bradshaw (E), October Purple (N), Ogon (N), 

 and Shropshire Damson (E), all are good sorts. They will 

 overlap in blooming time enough to cross-fertilize. Two or 

 more varieties should be planted withing reach of one another 

 for this purpose. An individual plum tree will set fruit, but 

 it will not be so fine as that produced when another kind assists. 



Enemies to plums are overcome easily by proper treatment, 

 yet do serious damage when they are left alone. The bacteria 

 of Black Knot and of Crown Gall are the same with the plum 

 as with the cherry or apple. Brown Rot of plum is the same 

 fungous trouble that comes to peaches, while the Scales (suck- 



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