1376 



PLUM 



PLUM 



removing the pit. In most of the varieties of Plums 

 there occurs a fermentation around the pit in the pro- 

 cess of drying, which prevents their being successfully 

 dried without its removal; these are known as "Plums." 

 The prune varieties are, however, much sweeter and 

 contain less acid; but the main distinction is in their 

 adaptabilitj' of drying whole. As California has to find 

 distant markets for most of her immense fruit crops, it 

 follows, then, that by far the gi-eater portion of her 

 Plum areas are devoted to the production of prunes. 

 Some pitted dried Plums have been prepared, but the 

 small favor with which they have been received does 

 not warrant the extra expense and labor of pitting. 

 Some varieties are canned, and marketed in that way; 

 but by far the greater portion of the real Plum product 

 is marketed in the fresh (not canned) state both in local 

 and distant cities. See Prune. 



The Plum has an exceedingly wide range in Califor- 

 nia. It is not limited to any particular region of the 

 state, but is thrifty and healthy on the immediate coast, 

 in the interior and coast valleys and well up into the 

 foothills. This is perhaps most strikingly shown by 

 the fact that every county in the state, except two, per- 

 haps (one being the city of San Francisco), contains 

 Plum or prune orchards, or both. When it is considered 

 that this covers an area of nearly 160,000 square miles, 

 extending through 9}2 degrees of latitude, a fair esti- 

 mate of the adaptability of this fruit to varying condi- 

 tions of soil and climate will be obtained. By choosing 

 varieties ripening in succession, the California Plum 

 season may be extended from May to December. It is 

 not surprising, then, that the acreage devoted to Plums 

 and prunes is one of the largest in the state, reaching a 

 total of nearly 55,000 acres, an aggregate of nearly 

 6,090,000 trees, of which about seven-eighths are prunes. 

 Alameda county leads in the acreage of Plums with 

 2,000 acres and Santa Clara in prunes with 8,000 acres. 

 This great industry has developed since the discovery of 

 gold. The early Mission plantings (1769-182.3) included 

 varieties of European Plums, a few of which were able 

 to survive after the abandonment of the Missions in 1834 



1855. Voronesh Yellow, a Russian Plum of recent introduction. 



(X%.) (See page 1.372.) 



by reproducing themselves by suckers. One variety 

 found at Mission Santa Clara was grown and marketed 

 as the "Mission Prune " as late as 1870. The introduction 

 of improved Plum varieties, however, dates back to 1851, 

 when the first grafted fruit trees were brought to the 

 state by Seth Lewelling from Oregon, where he and his 

 brother had established nurseries in 1847. Prior to tliis 

 introduction, however, the miners were supplied with 

 fruit of the native Plums, and it is proliable, therefore, 

 that the nc^ed of introduced varieties of this fruit was 

 not at first felt; hence, the adaptability of Californa to 

 the production of the superior imported varieties was 

 not recognized until some years later. The first impor- 

 tation of prune cions from France by the IT. S. Patent 

 OflSce in 1854 did not reacli California. It was not until 

 two years later that Pierre Pellier brought with him to 



San Francisco a small package of cions from the fa- 

 mous prune district of Agen, in France. Notwithstand- 

 ing their long, perilous journey, the precious cuttings 

 arrived in fairly good condition and were at once sent to 

 Pellier's brother, Louis, who had already established a 

 nursery and fruit garden in the Santa Clara valley, 

 upon a portion of the site of the present city of San 

 Jose. From these cuttings a number of trees were pro- 

 duced which succeeded admirably, and eventually were 

 distributed through different sections of the state, but 

 principally in the Santa Clara valley, which to this day 

 remains the center of the California prune industry. In 

 1863 the first California-grown and -cured prunes were 

 exhibited at the State Fair in Sacramento; but it was 

 not until 1870 that planting on a commercial scale was 

 begun. Through the seventies, and especially after 

 1878, numerous orchards were set out, until in 1881 some 

 of the larger growers were producing between five and 

 six tons of cured fruit. Since 1881 the growth of the 

 prune industry has been marvelous, until now there are 

 growers whose annual products reach hundreds of tons. 

 The total output of the state was over 125,000,000 pounds 

 in 1900, with many young trees not yet in bearing. In 

 1888 the United States imported 83,000,000 pounds of 

 Plums and prunes. Since that time the importations 

 have steadily declined until at present they are less than 

 800,000 pounds. The home product, the greater part of 

 which, it is safe to say, comes from California, is thus 

 gradually replacing the foreign-grown article. 



Considerable difficulty was at first encountered in 

 the selection of the proper grafting stocks. Naturally 

 the native species were the first to suggest themselves 

 and were used to some extent. But they were soon found 

 to be unsatisfactory, mainly on account of their persist- 

 ent habit of suckering, and dwarfing effect. The oso- 

 berry, or False Plum, has also been used: it also dwarfs 

 the trees and causes earlier ripening of the fruit. Many 

 other American varieties have been tried as grafting 

 stocks, but the persistent root-cutting brought about by 

 the necessary summer cultivation in this state causes 

 such heavy suckering that they have been abandoned. 

 Peach, apricot and almond roots and suckers of the 

 Mission Prune and Damson were used, but consider- 

 able difiiculty was again encountered. The peach has 

 proved the best. The apricot and almond can only be 

 used in special cases, and double-working is almost 

 always necessary; for, although some Plums "take" 

 and grow on these stocks, the union is frequently im- 

 perfect, and instances are on record where the trees 

 have broken off at the graft after reaching the bearing 

 stage. The introduction of the Myrobalan or French 

 cherry-plum (Prunus cerasifera) and its adoption as a 

 grafting stock for Plums and prunes have greatly sim- 

 plified matters for the California orchardist. It does not 

 sucker, and experience has shown that in California it 

 succeeds in low, moist lands, in comparatively dry soils 

 and in stiff upland clay soils. It thus has become the all- 

 round Plum stock in California; despite the dwarfing 

 habit attributed to it by some, it has proved sufficiently 

 free-growing in this state to suit all purposes, and to 

 form a good foundation for full standard trees. On deep, 

 mellow loam soils, specially adapted to the peach, that 

 root is still preferred for Plum stock; but many varie- 

 ties, e.g., the Columbia, Yellow Egg and the Washing- 

 ton, do not unite well with it, and cannot, therefore, be 

 worked directly upon it. This is equally true of the 

 almond, which is used in loose, warm or rocky foothill 

 soils, and the deep, light valley loams where some ex- 

 cellent results with its use as a stock for the French and 

 Fellenberg prune have been reported. The Myrobalan, 

 then, is used almost entirely, except in special cases ; but 

 lately some murmurings of dissatisfaction with its last- 

 ing qualities (supposedly from the use of cuttings) 

 have been heard; so that the question of an all-satis- 

 factory grafting stock for the Plum in California may 

 be still considered an open one. 



There has been much discussion over the desirability 

 of propagating the Myrobalan stock from cuttings or 

 seeds. It is said that the roots from a cutting, be- 

 ing fibrous and coining from one point, cannot form 

 a projicr system for the support of the tree, though 

 some old orchards worked on cutting roots are still 

 thrifty. It must be admitted that the seedling gives a 



