1847. 



GENESEE FARMER. 



197 



The Cherry Plum. 



That remarkably early, very pretty, and very 

 distinct little fruit, the Cherry Plum, better 

 known, in some gardens in the United States, as 

 the Early Scarlet, and in the collections of Eu- 

 rope a-s the Myroholan, is perhaps deserving of 

 a few remarks from us, and of more attention at 

 the hands of fruit cultivators, than it has hitherto 

 received. 



The Cherry Plum is not a high flavored fruit; 

 it is only what may safely be called one of pleas- 

 ant flavor. But it is, we believe, the earliest of 

 plums; it ripens at a season when fruit of every 

 kind is exceedingly scarce ; and it is quite an 

 ornamental as well as acceptable addition to the 

 in the month of July. 



The Cherry Plum. (Fig. 45.) 



This variety is a rapid grower, and soon makes 

 a neat bushy tree, remarkable for the great num- 

 ber of its small pointed leaves. It always blos- 

 soms nwst profusely, but it is considered by many 

 as a very poor bearer, and therefore rejected as 

 of little value. It is on this point, that we wish 

 to offer a suggestion of some practical importance. 

 Mr. Samuel Reeve, of Salem, N. J., is the 

 most successful grower of this plum, that we 

 know; and the method he pursues, is worthy of 

 attention, since he finds the Cherry Plum the 

 most profitable variety, as a market fruit. 



Mr. Reeve attributes the usual non-pi*oduc- 

 tiveness of the Cherry Plum, to the fact that it is 

 inclined to too great a production of leaves and 

 wood. He therefore Iransplajits his bearing 

 trees, every five or six years. In this way, the 

 over-luxuriance is checked, and an abundaiit 

 crop of fruit sets and ripens every year. As he 

 is able to send this variety to the Philadelphia 

 markets early in July, when there are no other 

 plums to be found, he usually realizes from five 

 to eight dollars per bushel for them. This, of 

 course, makes a plantation of the Cherry Plum 

 more profitable than one of any other variety, 

 unless, perhaps, we except Coe's Golden Drop, 

 or some such fine variety, equally valuable, fi-om 

 the usually late season at which it matures. 



We presume root-pruning, performed every 

 two or three years, would answer the same pur- 

 pose, in rendering the Cherry Plum productive, 

 as transplanting, and it would be attended with 

 less labor and expense. — Horticulturist. 



Culture of Sea Kale— ( Cr«/rtZ>e Maritima.) 



[in answer to J. TV., OF LYONS.] 



Your seeds may have been unsound. Soaking 

 in boiling water for a few hours is better than 

 cracking ; but if the seed be fresh, neither i^ 

 necessary. 



The culture is quite simple. Any good, dri> 

 rich, and mellow loam is suitable. The seed.?. 

 may be planted as soon in the spring as the ground 

 maybe in good working condition, and the weath- 

 er favorable for vegetation. Your seeds, by being 

 cracked and planted while tJie soil was yet wet 

 and cold, may have rotted. The seeds may be^ 

 sown in a seed bed, in drills a foot apart, and 

 allowed to remain there the first season. The 

 second they may be transplanted into rows two 

 feet apart, and six or eight inches in the row^. 

 Or, the seeds may be sowed in rows where the 

 plants are intended to remain. The seeds ^ould 

 be covered about two inches deep, and when 

 they have made three or four leaves may be 

 thinned out to proper distances, leaving the best 

 pknts, of course. 



Some prefer the mode of planting in clumps, 

 three or four plants to the clump, with space 

 enough around each clump for walking and work- 

 ing. Pots or boxes can in this way be easilv 

 placed over the plants in the spring, to facilitate 

 the blanching process, which greatly improves 

 the quality of this vegetable for the table. 



In the fall, before heavy frosts set in, the beds shonld ?>e 

 covered with a good coat (six or eight inches) of rotten ma- 

 nure, and in the spring, as soon as the leaves begin to pu.sh. 

 through this, the pots or boxes for blanching may be placed 

 over them. The time to cut for use is when the leaves have 

 attained three or four inches above the covering, and it 

 should be cut at the surface of the ground, taking care not 

 to injure the crown of the plant. 



It should not be cut till the third year. Those who can. 

 not wait for the slower process of raising from seed can al- 

 ways procure roots at the nurseries, that may be cut from 

 the year after planting. Fifty roots, or thereabouts, will 

 be found sufficient to supply an ordinary family. It is boil-^ 

 ed, dressed, and served up like a^iaragus. 



