PLUM. 



201 



The European, Japan and American plums are mostly grown 

 by budding or grafting on seedling plums. Crown-grafting in 

 spring on well established seedlings, is a common practice. 

 Root-grafting on whole roots in winter is practiced the same 

 as root-grafting the apple, and is successful but not as reliable 

 as crown grafting in early spring, and the plants start slowly 

 when grown in this way. 



Stocks for the plum. The Myrobalan plum is in common 

 use as a stock for the plum. The Mariana, a nearly allied stock, 

 is also used and both make good stocks for the plum in the 

 milder sections. For the colder sections, as in Minnesota, the 

 Dakotas, northern Iowa, Wisconsin and adjacent states, seed- 

 lings of the native Prunus 

 americana are much to be pre- 

 ferred. Seedlings of the Wild 

 Goose type of plums, as well as 

 those of Prunus americana, 

 make excellent stocks for 

 southern Iowa, Missouri and 

 Kansas. Peach seedlings are 

 largely and successfully used 

 as stocks for the plum in mild- 

 er plum-growing sections, while 

 for the colder states they are 

 to be avoided. The apricot 

 has been tried as a stock for 

 the American varieties of the 

 plum but fails to make a per- 

 manent union with it. 



The soil for the plum should 

 preferably be one that is thor- 

 oughly well drained and rea- 

 sonably retentive of moisture, 

 but it will succeed in any good agricultural soil. The trees hold on 

 well, even on quite gravelly ridges, but in such situations in 

 dry years the fruit is exceedingly small and the trees make but 

 little growth and are short lived. 



Trees and planting. It is best to set only young trees, that 



Fig. 93. Sprout of a plum 

 root taken off with a piece of 

 a parent root; the best way. 



