PLUM 



8. The Sand Plum, Priinux angtistifolia, var. Watsoni. 



Native to Kansas ami Nebraska. A bush-like species, 

 little known in cultivati..n. A hybri.l ..f llii- aii.l tbr 

 Western Saud Cberrv i- tin liah Ihlni.l i li. rr> . 



9. The Beach Plum. /■.■u„„s ,„„,;i,„n,. S■.,u^ ,■ u, t\„- 

 coast from New Brun-ui'k i" \ iis;iiii;.. In rulinain.u 

 represented by the uiiiiupurlauL iia.-s.^etl'.-^ Aiuuncau; 

 also as an ornamental plant. 



10. The Pacific coast Plum, Pruniis subcordata. 

 Native to Oregon and California. Sparingly known in 

 cultivation, chiefly in the form known as the Sisson 

 Plum (var. KeUoijijii.) 



The Plum ot history is Primus domestica. It is to 

 this species that general pomological literature applies. 

 It gives us the jn-uties (which see). Perhaps it would 

 be s.n i, . ,M, I., . l,,--ir> tin' D.imestica Plums into five 

 gen.M,' 'I. '. I 'i> classification is arbitrary 



best known. Sm,,.' ..f ih.' prun.- a... u-n.ivii in the 



fresh state. ,M st any riiiiii can be made into dried 



prunes, l)ut the varieties used commercially for this 

 jnirpose constitute a more or less distinct class of firm 

 and thi(^k-Heshe(l kinds. In the East, prune is nothing 

 more tlian a varietal name. See Prune. 



[b\ Danisunv ipri-ing very small, firm Plums of 



various coliirs. u'> m lally burne in clusters, the leaves 

 mostly small. Th'- run wild Plums of old roadsides 

 and farmvanU are in..stlv of the Damson tvpe. 

 Fig. IH.JIi. ' 



(c) The green gages, comprising various small, 

 green or yellow-gj-een Plums, of spherical form and 

 mostly of high quality. Beine Claude is the common- 

 est representative of this group in the East. The 

 name (ireen ttage often stands for a group rather than 



PLUM 



1373 



{d) La 



The .li 

 the Dom 

 mostly si 



Plums, such as Coe Golden Drop, 



'. . Ir,n„ni) differ from 



I . I ''::i'i' 1-, -I )th and 



■ ! tendency 



- ' ! i ... , ivith col- 



lardy as the Domestica 

 s are Important because 

 1 especially because they 

 1 the fruit is so firm that 



now believed to represent a hybrid class), represent a 



|iarenlaui' .!! .■ \ I r;, Ii;m-,1\ ;i ml :i iv a.I.t pi. .1 to regions in 

 \^iiicli :;.■ ['. : ,. .•,. . . ! .' ,!,:' . . • ,..■- are tender, 



n..rl|jrin I',, I.),- -!,.l... In... i-.i i.il.ini;' strongly of 

 1'. aiit/u^!iiu,ui p.iiviiiii^K, ,11.. I liic m,.iier part of the 



1852. Pli 



Hortulanas, thrive well in the South, where the climate 

 is too continuously hot for other Plums or where the 

 fruit-rot fungus is too prevalent. 



Plum-growing. — The Plum thrives on a variety of 

 soils. The Domesticas generally do best when planted 

 upon clay loam. They usually thrive best on lands 

 which are suited to pears, or on the heavier land.^ to 

 which apples are adapted. Yet there are many varie- 

 ties which grow well on lands that are comparatively 

 light or even almost sandy. The Americanas thrive 

 best in a rather moist soil, and mulching is often very 

 favorable to the size and quality of the fruit. 



The stocks upon which Plums are grown are very va- 

 rious. By far the greater number of the trees in the 

 North are now grown upon the Myrobalan stock, which 

 is a species of rather slow-growing Plum, native to 

 southeastern Europe and southwestern Asia. This is 

 the stock that is sometimes recommended in the older 

 fruit books for the making of dwarf trees; but unless 

 the top is kept well headed in, the trees generally make 

 normal growth upon it. Trees grown upon this root are 

 usually larger and finer at one or two years of age than 

 those grown upon other Plum stocks, and the probability 

 is that they are nearly as useful from the grower's stand- 

 point as any other. However, there are some varie- 

 ties that overgrow the Myrobalan, and the stock is 

 likely to sprout from the ground and thereby cause 

 trouble. Prnli.ihly the most ideal stock for Domesticas, 

 from file stainiiil.iiit nf the grower, is the Domestica 

 itself. In.i ...,i. ... ,, ;„;■ mure .Ijllicnlt to secure, the 

 sto.-k i- II • : ■ .1 .nil if IS mere likely t.. l.e injured 



iiitheni;i 'i ill" funtri: Iheri-ture. as .-I matter 



"t pracD.n .1(1. M;, li.l.:il:in li: 

 it. In the southern states t 

 a stock upon which to grov 

 gaining favor in the North. 

 excellent stock for sandv h 

 biy better for sn. li Imn- 



he pe; 



ited 



111 and French Dam- 

 II on the peach. The 

 rked upon the peach. 



1851. Plum-Peter Yellow Gage 



it carries well: aside from this, the trees are vigorous 

 and very productive, and they are less liable to injuries 

 from black-knot and curculio than the Domesticas are. 



The native Plums, chiefly offspring of Prunus Amer- 

 icana, P. angtistifolia and P. hortulana (the last name 



bard is no d<nibt the best stock for this purpose now 

 grown by nurserymen. The old Union Purple is one of 

 the best stocks, but it is not much grown at the present 



