322 THE PLUM. 



the following, on the authority of F. R. Elliott, of Cleve- 

 land. "A small tree of the Imperial Ottoman, six feet 

 high, and an inch and a half in diameter. About this 

 I placed last winter nearly two bushels of leached wood 

 ashes, and this entire season, (1848,) the foliage has kept 

 full and of good color, while trees all around and within 

 twenty feet, have uniformly cast theirs." The use of salt 

 as a manure has to some extent, contributed to a similar re- 

 sult, in some cases quite successfully. 



DRYING PRUNES. 



An article of considerable commerce is furnished by the 

 French prunes, or dried plums, inported into this country 

 The abundant crops of the plum tree, in some parts ol 

 our country, may render it desirable that the best means 

 of drying should be known. By a selection of the rich 

 est varieties, there is no doubt that prunes superior to 

 those of foreign preparation might be easily obtained. The 

 following description of an oven purposely built for prunes, 

 and doubtless with some modifications, well adapted to the 

 drying of other fruits, is given in Liegel's Treatise, (Ger- 

 man,) as quoted in the Horticulturist. The amount of heat 

 obtained by a small quantity of fuel, commends it to tjie 

 particular attention of those engaged in drying fruit: 



" Prunes, says Liegel, have become an important article 

 of commerce. In order to have them fair and glossy, they 

 must be suddenly cooled, when withdrawn from the oven. 



"The country people in this part of Germany, prepare 

 their prunes by putting them into their bread ovens. I have 

 .put up, for my own use, a very conveniently arranged drying 

 apparatus, which, after the experience of many years, I am 

 induced to recommend ; and for the construction of which I 

 give the annexed drawing and explanatory description. 



" The vault or exterior of the oven, four and a half feet 

 long, is surrounded by a brick wall one foot thick, so that 

 the whole stove, abed, (see figs. 247 and 248,) is exactly 

 six feet every way; the front wall, ?z, being only half a foot 

 in thickness. At the top, the vault is arched over with six 

 inches of brick work at the crown of the arch. The flues 

 * a, are about fourteen inches square. The hurdles or trays 

 TO m, for containing the prunes, rest upon shelves fixed 



