504 



AMYGDALACE.E. IV. PRUNUS. V. CERASUS. 



full south aspect, on which they are subject to shrivel and be 

 very dry, and many sorts will be extremely mealy if exposed 

 too much to the heat of the sun ; but most sorts will ripen ex- 

 tremely well as espaliers if rightly managed. Some, he adds, 

 plant plums for standards, in which method some of the ordinary 

 sorts will bear very well, but then the fruit will not be near so 

 fair as those produced on espaliers, and will be more in danger 

 of being bruised or blown down by strong winds. Abercrombie 

 says, " have some choice sorts against south walls for earlier and 

 superior fruit ; others on east and west walls, and espaliers to 

 ripen in succession, with full and half standards in the orchard." 

 Choice of plants. Miller recommends trees of not more than 

 one year's growth from the bud, for if they are older they are 

 very subject to canker, or if they take well to the ground com- 

 monly produce only two or three luxuriant branches. Aber- 

 crombie and Nicol take plants from one to five years old. For- 

 syth chooses " clean straight plants, with single stems, and of 

 two or three years' growth." 



Final planting. Miller says it is common to see plum trees 

 planted at the distance of 14 or 16 feet, so that the walls are in 

 a few years covered with branches, and then all the shoots are 

 cut and mangled with the knife, so as to appear like a stumped 

 hedge, and produce little fruit ; therefore the only way to have 

 plum trees in good order is to give them room, and extend their 

 branches at full length. Abercrombie directs full and half stan- 

 dards to be planted at 40, 30, 25, and 20 feet distance ; dwarfs 

 generally 20 feet apart, and wall trees or espaliers 1 5, 20, or 25 

 feet from stem to stem. Forsyth says plums and cherries thrive 

 best by themselves, and he prefers a wall for each, placing plums 

 on walls 10 feet high, 8 yards apart, and at 7 yards distance on 

 12 feet walls. 



Mode of bearing. All the sorts produce their fruit on small 

 natural spurs, rising at the ends and along the sides of the bear- 

 ing shoots, on one, two, or three years' growth. In most sorts 

 new fruit branches are 2 years old before the spurs bear. The 

 same branches and spurs continue fruitful in proportion to the 

 time which they take to come into bearing. After the formation 

 of the head is begun, it takes from 2 to 6 years before the dif- 

 ferent sorts come into bearing. Miller trains horizontally, and 

 is against shortening the branches of plum trees, since the more 

 these trees are pruned, the more luxuriant they grow, until the 

 strength of them is exhausted, and then they gum and spoil ; 

 therefore the safest method to manage these trees, is to lay in 

 their shoots horizontally, as they are produced at equal dis- 

 tances, in proportion to the length of their leaves, pinching off 

 the points of young shoots, where lateral branches are desired, 

 and displacing foreright and irregular shoots, or such as shade 

 the fruit. With thus carefully going over these trees in the 

 growing season, there will be but little work to do to them in 

 the winter. Abercrombie agrees with Miller in not shortening 

 the fruitful branches. Standards, he says, must be allowed to 

 " expand in free growth, occasionally pruning long, rambling, 

 and cross-placed or other irregular branches. Thin crowded 

 parts, cut away worn out bearers, also decayed and cankery 

 wood." Forsyth says, " never cut the stems of young plum 

 trees when first planted, but leave them till the buds begin to 

 break, then you may head them down to 5 or more eyes, always 

 observing to leave an odd one for the leading shoot ; remember 

 to cut sloping towards the wall, and as near to an eye as pos- 

 sible : thus managed, the shoots will soon fill the wall with fine 

 wood. If you find that some of the shoots are too luxuriant, you 

 may pinch the tops off with your finger and thumb about the be- 

 ginning of June, in the first year after planting ; by doing which 

 you will obtain plenty of wood to fill the bottom of the wall. 

 A great deal depends on the first and second years' management 

 of your trees." 



Renovating decaying trees. Proceed as directed for the 

 peach, but observe that the plum tree, when cut down, is very 

 apt to run to wood, therefore the new soil must neither be very 

 rich nor laid on in a very deep stratum. 



Protecting blossoms. This is sometimes done with the ten- 

 derer sorts, in the same way as for peaches and apricots. 



Taking the crop. The different sorts of the plum ripen in 

 succession for about 3 months in summer and autumn. Some 

 early sorts begin to ripen in July ; the main varieties reach full 

 maturity in August and September ; late sorts continue ripening 

 till the end of October or beginning of November. Each kind 

 should^be brought to table presently after being gathered, as 

 tjiey will not keep long in a natural state. 



Insects and diseases. See peach. The gum and canker are 

 the most common diseases, and, as in almost every other case, 

 the acarus is the most noxious insect. As a remedy for the 

 former, Abercrombie directs to head down. The insects are de- 

 stroyed by the common means. The gages, or reine Claudes, 

 when nearly ripe, are very apt to be eaten by wasps. 



Forcing plums. Mr. J. Aiton (Hort. trans. 4. p. 531.) says, 

 when an early crop of plums is desired, they are best forced in 

 large tubs or pots, as this method admits of their being removed 

 at pleasure into different temperatures ; but for a general crop 

 to ripen by the end of May or beginning of Juno, he prefers 

 having the trees planted in the forcing house. The tempera- 

 ture required for cherries answers well for plums, and plenty 

 of air must be admitted. He prefers, for forcing, the Precoce 

 de Tours, green gage, azure Jidtive, white perdrigon, Orleans, nen< 

 Orleans, and Morocco. 



Domestic or Garden-plum. Fl. April, May. Britain. Tree 

 10 to 20 feet. 



10 P. DIVARICA'TA (Led. fl. ros. alt. ill. 1. 13. fl. alt. 2. p. 211.) 

 branches unarmed ; petioles glandless ; leaves oblong-elliptic, 

 attenuated at both ends, convolute, serrated, glabrous, having 

 the middle rib beneath bearded longitudinally ; peduncles soli- 

 tary ; calyx reflexed ; fruit elliptic, yellow. J? . H. Native of 

 Caucasus. Flowers white, very numerous. 



Divaricate Plum. Fl. April. Clt. 1820. Shrub 8 to 10 ft. 



1 1 P. MICROCA'RPA (Meyer, verz. pfl. p. 166.) unarmed ; leaves 

 quite glabrous, conduplicate, ovate-elliptic, or oblong, obtuse, 

 sharply serrated ; serratures immarginate and glandless ; umbels 

 many-flowered; calyx tubular ; drupe and nut oblong. Tj . H. 

 Native of Caucasus, on mount Bechvarmak. 



Small-fruited Plum. Shrub 



12 P. CHINE'NSIS (Blum, bijdr. p. 1104.) leaves oblong, acu- 

 minated, furnished with 2 glands at the base, and unequally and 

 glandularly serrulated, gla"brous, except in the axils of the veins 

 beneath , where they are pubescent ; flowers rising from the buds 

 in umbellate fascicles ; sepals glandularly serrulated ; fruit round, 

 yellowish red. Pj . G. Native of China. 



China Plum. Tree. 



Cult. All the species grow in any kind of soil, and are either 

 increased by seeds, by suckers from the roots, or by grafting or 

 budding for to continue rare sorts. 



V. CE'RASUS (said to have been first brought from Cerasus, 

 a town in Pontus, in Asia). Juss. gen. 340. D. C. fl. fr. 4. 

 p. 479. D. C. prod. 2. p. 535. Cerasus and Lauro-cerasus, 

 Tourn. Prunus species of Lin. 



LIN. SYST. Icosandria, Monogynia. Drupe globose or um- 

 bilicate at the base (f. 64. rf.), fleshy, quite glabrous, destitute of 

 bloom, containing a smooth, rather globose, compressed stone 

 (f. 64. /.). Trees. Leaves when young conduplicate. Flowers 

 white. Pedicels 1 -flowered, rising before the leaves in fascicled 

 umbels (f. 64.) from scaly buds, but sometimes rising after the 

 evolution of the leaves in racemes from the tops of the branches. 



