1376 



PIA^M 



ing the i>i 



ost of the varieties of riums 

 there occurs u t'ermeututiuu around the pit iu the pro- 

 cess of drying, which prevents their being successfully 

 dried without its removal; these are known as "Plums." 

 The prune varieties are, however, much sweeter and 

 contain less acid; but the main distinction is in their 

 adaptability of drying whole. As California has to tiiid 

 distant markets for most of her immense fruit crops, it 

 follows, then, that by far the greater portion of lur 

 Plum areas are devoted to the production of prums. 

 Some pitted dried Plums have been prepared, but thr 

 small favor with which they have been received dois 

 not warrant the extra expense and labor of pittiutr. 

 Some varieties are canned, and marketed in that w:i.\ ; 

 but by far the greater portion of the real Plum product 

 is marketed in the fresh (not canned) state both in local 

 and distant cities. See Prune. 

 The Plum has an exceedingly wide range in Califor- 



nia. It is not li 

 state, but is thril 

 iu the interior :• 

 foothills. This 

 the fact that c^- 



haps (oil.' M. :ii : 



Plum Ml- i 

 that thi- 

 exteudiiiL' , 



tions of soil aud climate will be obtained. By choosing 

 varieties ripening in succession, the California Plum 

 season may be extended from May to December. It is 

 not surprising, then, that the acreage devoted to Plums 

 and prunes is one of the largest in the state reaching a 

 t( tal of nearly o5 000 acres an a" r ate of nei ly 

 G OJO 000 trees of wh ch about seven e ghth are pr ne 

 Alanel 1 1 tl f PI 1 



2 000 1 I 



Th 

 goU I 



by reproduc ng themselves by suckers One v t 

 fo nd at M bs on Santa Clara was grown and m k 1 

 as the M ss on Prune as Ute as 18 The tro I 

 of nproved PI m var et es howeve 1 te b ck t 1 1 

 when tl e flr t o-rafte 1 f ru t trees w ere bro 1 1 1 



sta e by '^eth Lewell g from Oregon where I e 11 

 brother had establ she 1 r r 184 Pr r t 1 



i trpl ct n h w r tl I 1 1 w 1 



fru I of the t ve PI t re 



tl at tl e n e 1 f nt I was 



not at first felt; hence, III ■ uiato 



the production of the sni.-n. r iii,i".ii,,| n-h.iks was 

 not recognized until some y.«rs later. Tlie lirst impor- 

 tation of prune cions from Prance by the V. S. Patent 

 Office in 18.'54 did not reach California. It was not until 

 •two years later that Pierre Pellier brought with him to 



PLUM 



San Francisco a small package of cions from the fa- 

 mous prune district of Agen, in France. Notwithstand- 

 ing their long, perilous journey, the precious cuttings 

 arrived in fairly good condition and were at once sent to 

 Pellier's brother, Louis, who had already established a 

 nursery and fruit garden in the Santa Clara vallcv, 

 upon :i i.urtiiin iif the site of the present city of Siiu 

 .losi-. KrnTii tlicse cuttings a number of trees were pro- 

 cliici-a whicli succ'i<'il.-<l udniirably, and eventually were 

 ilistriliutiil thn.uitli dillVrent sections of the state, but 



begun. Through the seventies, and especially after 

 1878, numerous orchards were set out, until in 1881 some 

 of the larger growers were producing between five and 

 six tons of cured fruit. Since 1881 the growth of the 

 liiiiiir industry l];is been marvelous, until now there are 

 Liiiwris « li..s. annual products reach hundreds of tons. 

 'i'lir inial uuiimt .if the state was over 125,000,000 pounds 

 m liiiiH, Willi nianv vcmng trees not yet in bearing. In 

 1- - '■ , In: .1 Stad- uiiii.ilut sn.flOO.OOO pounds of 

 I" ,i I ! ; ^i- ■' .: HUH' the importations 



lit they are less than 



,-.':, |.,.,.;,.,-. ; ii. I.. en-, ...a, the greater part of 



.■.Uali, ;L 1.. .-.aiL Iu sa;, , .uu.i., In.iu California, is thus 

 gradually replacing tlie foreigu-gro\vn article. 



Considerable difficulty was at first encountered in 

 the selection of the proper grafting stocks. Naturally 

 the native species were the first to suggest themselves 

 a 1 ere used to ome cxt nt But th yw re soon found 

 t I e n at factorj u 1} o a t of tl r i r t 



e t hab t of sucker nail tin ff t Tl e o 

 1 False Plu h 1 1 1 lit 



n a t e I 

 the pe tent 

 y s u er c 1 

 II \ u ke ng that h 1 I II 



1 1 I c t an 1 almon 1 t an 1 u 1 11 



M u P e ud Damson we e used b t c 1 

 al 1 i flh It w ag n en o ntere 1 Tl e p 11a 

 pr 1 tl 1 Tl ] t n 1 almond can onl) I e 



u 1 I 1 111 work ng s al o t 



al a I I 1 ue Plun s take 



an 1 t, 1 s fre juently n 



It 1 wl e e the tre 



111 I I ft reach ng the bea j, 



II 1 f the Mj obalan or Frencl 



I I I / fa) and ts adopt on a 



I II 1 tr ne 1 tl 



1 



s ker a 1 exper e e has 1 ow 

 succeeds low mo st Ian Is n c 

 nnl n t fP il d cliy ol It tl 



Yellow Egg an 1 the W 

 th t and a ot ther fo 

 t Tl lually tr 



f tl 



t 11 



■ rock} f otl II 

 where s e e 

 r the French a d 

 Tl e Myrol ala 

 spec il cases but 

 t on th ts last 

 u e of cutt ngs) 

 n of an all sat s 

 n Cal torn a may 



There has been mu h d cus on over the de rab 1 ty 

 of propagating the Myrobalan stock from cnttmgs or 

 seeds. It is said that the roots from a cutting, be- 

 ing fibrous and coming from one point, cannot form 

 a proper system for the support of the tree, tliougli 

 some old orchards worked on cutting roots are still 

 thrifty. It must be admitted that the seedling gives a 



