2720 



PLUM 



PLUM 



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 Ore- 

 gon, where he and his brother had established nurseries 

 in 1847. Prior to this introduction, however, the miners 

 were supplied with fruit of the native plums. The first 

 importation of prune cions from France by the United 

 States Patent Office in 

 1854 did not reach Cali- 

 fornia. It was not until 

 two years later that Pierre 

 Pellier brought with him 

 to San Francisco a small 

 package of cions from the 

 famous prune district of 

 Agen, in France, which 

 arrived in fairly good con- 

 dition 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 por- 

 tion of the site of the 

 present city of San Jos6. 

 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 Cali- 

 fornia 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 especi- 

 ally 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. 



Considerable difficulty was at first encountered in 

 the selection of the proper grafting stocks. The native 

 species, first used to some extent, were soon found to be 

 unsatisfactory, on account of suckering, and dwarfing 

 effect. Peach, apricot, and almond roots were used, 

 the peach and almond proving best. The introduction 

 of the Myrobalan or French cherry-plum (Prunus 

 cerasifera) and its adoption as a grafting stock for plums 

 and prunes have greatly simplified matters. It does 

 not sucker, and experience has shown that in Cali- 

 fornia it succeeds in low moist lands, in comparatively 

 dry soils, if not too loose, and in stiff upland clay soils. 

 It thus has become the all-round plum stock in Cali- 

 fornia. On deep mellow loam soils, specially adapted 

 to the peach, that root is still preferred for plum stock; 

 but many varieties, e.g., the Columbia, Yellow Egg, 

 and the Washington, do not unite well with it, and can- 

 not, therefore, be worked directly upon it. The almond 

 is widely used in loose, warm, or rocky foothill soils, 

 and the deep light valley loams for the French and 

 Fellenberg prunes. The Myrobalan seedling, then, is 

 used almost entirely, except in special cases, as an 

 all-satisfactory grafting stock for the plum in Cali- 

 fornia. Propagating the Myrobalan stock from cuttings 



3076. Flowers of native plums. 

 Prunus americana on the left; P. 

 Munsoniana on the right. 



has been practically abandoned, and seedlings are now 

 the rule. This is all-important in California, for there 

 the roots of all plants must necessarily go deep for 

 their moisture and nourishment. In fact, deep-rooting 

 is the rule beyond all common expectation; thus almond 

 roots the thickness of one's thumb have been found at a 

 depth of 22 feet one of the many instances of the 

 characteristic conditions of California agricultural 

 practice. 



Propagation is by both buds and grafts. The usual 

 practice is to bud the young stock in July and August, 

 and then, in January and February following, all those 

 which have not taken can be grafted, thus securing two 

 chances. When peach or almond is used as stock, 

 budding alone is done, as these stocks have been found 

 to take the graft poorly. The trees are not allowed to 

 remain in nursery longer than one year after budding, 

 and in many cases are set out the spring following, as 

 "dormant buds." In early days the tendency was to 

 rather close planting, in some cases as close as 16 feet; 

 but later plantings were made with wider distances, 

 until from 20 to 24 feet has come to be the rule. The 

 laying out of orchards has caused much discussion, some 

 asserting that the quincunx, hexagonal, and triangular 

 systems secure better use of the land and allow better 

 access to plow and cultivator than do the plantings in 

 squares. The square system, however, has come to 

 be most generally used. The style of tree is the low- 

 headed vase-form. The rule is to cut back the young 

 trees at planting to 18 to 24 inches. Until the top is 

 formed the stems are protected, by whitewashing or 

 wrapping with burlap, from the hot afternoon sun. 

 The first year from three to five branches are allowed 

 to grow from the stem, and these used to form the 

 main limbs of the tree. From this time the pruning is 

 done according to the usual methods for the vase-form 

 tree. Many plums, owing to the brittleness of the wood, 

 are yearly pruned rather short but the French prune is 

 able to carry fruit on much longer branches. After 

 the third or fourth season, the growth of wood is much 

 less and usually the pruning operations are confined to 

 keeping the tree in shape, removal of dead or damaged 

 branches, and shortening-in the current season's 

 growth to keep the young twigs in a vigorous growing 

 condition and to prevent overbearing. The long slen- 

 der branches are not cut back. The long arching 

 "canes" are 

 allowed to re- 

 main until they 

 have produced 

 a crop (which 

 they do in the 

 second season 

 with the great- 

 est profusion), 

 the ends rest- 

 ing upon the 

 ground as the 

 fruit gains 

 weight. When 

 these droop too 

 low, they are 



3077. Wild Goose plum tree. 



cut back to the crown, when others will be produced to 

 take their places. 



Thorough and persistent tillage is one of the first 

 principles of the California orchardist, for with him 

 the absence of summer rains makes the conservation 

 of the winter rainfall an absolute necessity. Even in the 

 summer-irrigated districts the soil is tilled and kept 

 loose as soon as it is in proper condition, and no weeds 

 allowed to rob the trees. Formerly all the prune and 

 plum crop was produced without summer irrigation. 

 Winter irrigation was often practised and the water 

 conserved in the soil by the usual methods of tillage. 

 But regular bearing of fruit of good size requires ade- 

 quate moisture. The installation of pumping plants 



