THE PLUM. 



PLUMS are natives of the United States, and have 

 for many years been propagated from the stones with 

 little variation from the original fruit. The kinds 

 cultivated in our gardens have chiefly been brought 

 from Europe or produced from the stones of imported 

 plums. To insure a choice kind it is necessary to en- 

 graft or inoculate on peach or plum stocks. The soil 

 should be a rich mould and their whole management 

 should be the same as already detailed for other stone 

 fruit trees. Plum trees have for a number of years 

 been greatly annoyed by an insect called by the late 

 Professor Peck, the cherry weevil which has proved fa- 

 tal to a large proportion of our stock. The disease 

 first appears in the form of black irregular tumours 

 on the branches and twigs which increase in number 

 and size until the whole tree becomes affected. The 

 seat of this disease is in the bark, in consequence of 

 its being perforated by the insect. The sap being 

 diverted from its regular course is absorbed entirely 

 by the bark, which is very much increased in thick- 

 ness, the cuticle bursts, and rough irregular tumours 

 are formed. "The wood besides being deprived of its 

 nutriment, is very much compressed and the branch 

 above the tumour perishes. The cherry tree is af- 

 fected in a similar manner." The insect which proves 

 so destructive to our cherry and plum trees, Profess- 

 or Peck ascertained, is found in the bark in the month 

 of June, and it leaves its residence before the end of 

 that month. The only remedy in our power, there- 

 fore, is to cut off every diseased branch before the 

 last of June, or as soon as discovered, and commit 

 them to the flames. If this method were adopted and 

 persevered in with all the trees in a neighbourhood, 

 the destructive enemy might be in a great measure 



