XIV 



The Sand Plum 



THE sand plum is a personal 

 friend of mine. This fact may 

 prejudice the following bio- 

 graphy, though I freely admit 

 that the sand plum is not a 

 pomological wonder. Still, this 

 was the first plum I knew, and 

 it was a good friend in those 

 days when we lived on the 

 untamed prairies of Kansas and went yearly into the 

 sand hills along the Arkansas river to the plum 

 harvest. 



The sand plum is a dwarf, rather unsymmetrical 

 bush, ranging from two to six feet in hight. Its 

 stature is what chiefly distinguishes it from the com- 

 mon Chicasaw plum. Besides being dwarfer than the 

 ordinary Chicasaws, it has smaller leaves and blos- 

 soms, and the stems have often a more zigzag ap- 



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