228 HORTICULTURE, FORESTRY, FLORICULTURE 



the peach. The Japanese plums are commonly worked upon the 

 peach stock and they seem to make an excellent union with it and to 

 give every promise of being hardy and durable. The Marianna 

 stock is much recommended in the south. 



Many of the varieties of plums are such slow and crooked grow- 

 ers in the nurseries that it is advisable to graft them or bud them 

 upon some strong and straight stock. The Lombard is no doubt 

 the best stock for this purpose which is now grown by nurserymen. 

 The old Union Purple is one of the very best of stocks, but it is 

 not grown much at the present time. All such varieties as Reine 

 Claude, German Prune, Copper, etc., are probably best when top- 

 worked upon some such stock. 



Plum trees are usually planted when two years old from the 

 bud, although some of the strong-growing kinds may be planted 

 at a year old with the very best results. As a rule, plum trees are 

 planted about as far apart as peaches are, that is, from 15 to 18 feet 

 apart each way. Many growers prefer to plant them closer one way 

 than the other and eventually to stop cultivation in one direction. 

 If this system is used, they may be placed 18 or 20 feet apart one 

 way, and from 10 to 12 feet the other way. The trees are pruned 

 in essentially the same way that apple trees are, when planted. It is 

 generally advisable to start tops as low as possible and yet allow of 

 the working of the curculio catcher below them. This means that 

 the limbs should start out from three or four feet above the ground. 

 With the modern implements and methods of tillage, there is no 

 inconvenience in working the land if tops are started as low as this. 



The subsequent pruning of the plum tree has no special difficul- 

 ties. About four or five main limbs are allowed to form the frame- 

 work of the top, and in most varieties, especially those which are not 

 very tall growers, the central trunk or leader may be allowed to 

 remain. There is constant demand for information as to whether 

 young trees should be headed in. There can be no positive answer 

 to this question. If the trees are growing very vigorously, so that 

 they become too tall and whip-like, it is best to head them in; but 

 it must be remembered that this redundant growth commonly ceases 

 and the tree begins to spread when the bearing time arrives. If trees 

 are making too vigorous growth, the real corrective of the difficulty 

 is to stop the growth by withholding fertilizers or cultivation rather 

 than by heading in the tree. Vigorous heading in only makes the 

 growth the stronger. All this is a very different matter from the cus- 

 tomary heading in of old trees. Some growers prefer to let a plum 

 tree take its natural open, spreading growth, whilst others desire to 

 keep it sheared in to allow the trees to oe planted closer together and 

 to keep the fruit nearer the center of the tree. This is very largely a 

 matter of personal preference and there are probably no very decided 

 advantages in either system when it is carried out systematically and 

 conscientiously. It should be said that the plum tree needs careful 

 attention from year to year to keep the top in shape, to cut out and 

 paint over all injured places and in other ways to protect the tree 

 from accidents and from injuries of storm and insects. 



