PLUMS 



1693 



Top-Working: 



Top-working is not frequently resorted 

 to in the case of plums, but when this 

 becomes necessary the usual methods fol- 

 lowed in the case of apples are used. The 

 cleft graft is used in case of larger limbs 

 and the whip graft for smaller ones. 

 For ordinary grafting upon roots, the 

 whip graft is the method used. 



The Orchard 



Plum trees are set from 12 to 20 feet 

 apart, depending upon the locality, variety 

 and soil. Because of the fact that plums 

 are worked upon different stocks which 

 are adapted to many different kinds of 

 soils it is difficult to describe the one best 

 adapted to the production of plums. Plum 

 orchards carefully managed can be made 

 profitable over practically the area over 

 which apple orchards are proving com- 

 mercially successful. 



Varieties 



The choice of variety should be made 

 with reference to the bloom period for 

 any given latitude. 



For Bloom Charts, see under Fruits, 

 Blooming Periods of. 



Of the plums of the Old World the 

 Domesticas, Insititias and probably the 



Trifloras have been cultivated for 2,000 

 years or more, while the work of domesti- 

 cating the wild species of America was 

 only begun in the middle of the last cen- 

 tury. 



Among those generally grown in the 

 United States are the following: 



Primus americana, in the West Central 

 states north of Missouri, including the 

 varieties Brittlewood, De Soto, Forest 

 Garden, Hammer. Hawkeye, New Ulm, 

 Ocheeda, Stoddard, Surprise, Terry and 

 Wyant. 



In the Pacific Coast states, the Prunus 

 domestica. Prunus trifiora and hybrids, in- 

 cluding these varieties: Agen, Bradshaw, 

 Columbia, German, Giant, Golden Drop, 

 Golden Prune, Green Gage, Italian, Peach, 

 Pond, Sugar, Washington, Willamette, 

 Yellow Egg Burbank, Satsuma and Wick- 

 son. 



Pruning the Plum 



The habit of the plum to bear early 

 and abundantly under favorable condi- 

 tions limits its annual growth to such 

 an extent that after the bearing age is at- 

 tained little annual pruning is necessary 

 other than to remove dead or interfering 

 limbs or to head back an occasional 

 strong shoot which may appear from time 

 to time in the center of the crown. 



Dates of Ripening in Yakima Talley 



