PRUNE 



piles to sweat, which takes from one to three weeks; 

 they are theu ready for the finishing processes — grading 

 and packing. In grading, the Prunes are separated into 

 sizes indicating tlie number of Prunes required to make a 

 p(jund, as Ms to lOs, 40s to oOs and so on to tlie smallest 

 size. 12(ls to KiOs. Processiiii.' i- il ■!;■ !>. ^lipping the 

 Prunes in boiling water and ul i ' -ti-aming, 



or by using some special prt.-|i:n ■ , iiialdip,or 



bv rattling in a revolving cylin i' i - 1 i ■ i:i^ is repu- 



talil.-if it :,.1.N l..-:iiltytotllp'. ■.,!,,,■.,., i, i I U i,,-,rt eggs, OF 



sfrrii' ■ - ii'.- !■'- - : it i< .li-ii iniial.li' \i li.ii tlie object 



is I., -. ■ ■ I'ii-'kini.' i^ ;in ,irt wliirli niUSt be 



liMiii- : ' " ■! I- iiii.l levari..! ii. ~oit till' taste of 

 piMiln.'. r III. i .-ii -Hill. ■!■. Til.- l..-st I'ruiH-s an- packed in 

 1)1. \rs, 1I1..11-I1 iniicli of til.- pro.lui-t is put up in sacks. 

 Lining witli papi-r. filling, facing, pressing and label- 

 iTig are important details. A well-cured Prune is soft 

 and spongy, the pit is loose but does not rattle ; the 

 skin is bright, lively and free from drippings and exu- 

 dations; the flesh should be meaty, elastic, and of bright 

 color. 



All light-colored Prunes are bleached with sulfur 

 fumes. The process injures the quality of the Prunes, 

 and makes the product somewhat poisonous, but the 

 market is sometimes better for a light-colored, sul- 

 fured Prune than for the darker unsiilfured ones. In 

 other cases, however, ilie dark Prunes find the best 

 market. The <iill'uiiiii.- is done by placing the trays of 

 fruit, cured lo- urn or id, in a small chamber in which 

 sulfur is igiiiii il i.y Ih.t mals. or otherwise, the fumes 

 distributed liv v.iitilatcu-s, and the fruit allowed to be 

 fumigated for from a half hour to two hours. 



In curing, if all conditions are not right, several diffi- 

 culties are encountered. In a poor evaporator, the fruit 

 drips, i. e., a syrupy liquid oozes from the Prunes in 

 the process of curing. If a poor product is produced, or 

 if the conditions for keeping are poor, the Prunes be- 

 come covered with gloliules of sugar, rendering them 

 stii-ky and destroying the luster— called sugaring. 

 Fruit grown on poor soil, or on unhealthy trees, or 

 picked before ripe, may cure into small Prunes of an 

 abnormal shape, called "frogs;" or they may ferment 

 and swell up in large, soft Prunes called "bloaters." 



Varieties. -Tlien- is much confusion regarding the 



nomenelatiii 1 Ml. I'lUMiiiaking plums. In the seat 



of the iudu-i I ■ . ' nuts as well as the cured are 



called Pniih - :. iii.s of the varieties are in 



many .'asc-v .1 :. : : ,1 i;„,se given in other than the 



lia\' I i li region, as a rule, 



ha- ,. : I 1 . - 1 ^i..,.. 1 iiiN..-. i. 111.- exclusion of all 

 otlo 1,. 1 11, 1,41... Morf 1.- .1 .li.s.u.s-iuii of the varieties of 

 IViuie making plums now well kuowu in America. 



/V/;/c Prune (syns.. Prune d'Agen, Prune d'Ente, 

 French, California, Robede Sergeant, etc.). — Of medium 

 size, egg-shaped, violet-purple; flesh greenish yellow, 

 sugary, rich ; trees hardy, very prolific, sure bearers. 

 Well cured, it is of a lively, bright amber color. This is 

 the Prune most widely grown in California. It has a 

 large proportion of solids, cures the easiest of any 

 Pro 11.-, ,i.|.l -i;i-:ii;.. 1,1 It liii].. j„ ..iiriiiu'. In cooking, but 

 li"|. ; i poor man's Prune. 



'i'li'i. . i! 1 ..: : i V. differing mostly 



ill -I ■ I . . I . . ■.;, ill g soils and cli- 



iiiai... I I .... .. ..I .. . I . ... .. ..| 11,,. ,„i,rket. 



s.vi. r. I.. :i, . . . '.. ' .'i.. , I. ':::,.', "Ih.s",^: 



l"w, -'1, I . , |.. .... , II . . ■ .......what ten- 



d'T. -111....... Ii...,.|-,. ,,..,.,,.:.. ,...,- i.,.,.|,-,..|.., i_'ured, the 



fniit is v.TV dark re.l, a|.proa.-hing black in color. This 

 is till- leading sort in the Pacific northwest, more than 

 f..iir-tifths being of this variety; but it is now found 

 that it is difficult to grow, and that, while a better sort 

 has not yet been found for that region, yet one that 

 woulii produce as good a fruit without the weaknesses 

 of the Italian tree is very desirable. 



Silver Prune (syn., Coe Golden Drop). Very large, 

 oval, one side enlarged, necked, light yellow, dotted 

 with red; flesh yellow, tirm. .iuicy. sweet, rich; tree pre- 

 carious grower, but very pr.Hluefive when all conditions 

 are favorable. I'roperly ,-ure,l. the .Silver is of a beau- 

 tiful golden hue. The cured product is larger than that 



PRUNING 



1441 



of any other variety, is of superior flavor, and brings 

 the highest market price. Must be bleached. Always in 

 demand as a fancy product. 



Most of the other varieties now grown are sold when 

 cured as one of the above three varieties. All black 

 Prunes are sold as Italians; all amber ones as Petite; 

 and all light-colored ones as Silver. The Italian will 

 usually grade three or four sizes higher than the Pe- 

 tite, and the Silver two or three sizes higher than the 

 Italian. The price paid the producer is usually from 

 one-tenth to one-half cent greater for each higher 

 size. Extras, as the very large sizes of any variety are 

 called, command an additional premium. The follow- 

 ing is a list of plums grown more or less for Prune- 

 raaking: Green 1 i,i_i . .,\ ii n-l, in.,:,., a l.iii.-\ |.,.,..luct; 

 Yellow Egg, sell . - I : I I; Ger- 



man Prune, a ,1:. i . . 1 1 ikiiig a 



product much hi,,, ih,. l,.iii.i,i; I i imi..,i,.|;i,i r,iiiie, a 

 very large sort making a fancy proiliu-r, hut hard to 

 cure; Robe de Sergeant, much like the Petite aud con- 

 sidered the same by some; Bulgarian Prune, of the 

 Italian class; Tragedy Prune, a very early sort of the 

 Italian type; Golden Prune, much like the Silver and 

 possibly better; Champion Prune, an early strain of the 

 Italian. The Willamette, Paciflc, Tennant, Steptoe, and 

 Dosch, are all of the Italian type; the Dosch has much 

 to recommend it as a substitute for the Italian. St. 

 Martin's Quetsche is a late sort which sells as the Sil- 

 ver, as do also the Brignole and Datte de Hongrie. The 

 Giant, one of Burbank's seedlings, is much like but 

 larger than the Petite. Imperiale Epineuse is popular 

 in California ( Fig. 1963 ) . Sugar Prune, one of Burbank's 

 seedlings, is also becoming popular. 



See also Plum and Evaporation of Fruits. 



U. P. Hedrick. 



PEUNfiLLA. See Brxmella. 



PRUNING. Under this denomination are > 



multitude of practices and ideals. It is impossible to 

 give any ;,,!'-i,'i f.,,- pruning until one has analyzed the 

 subjei't :■ ! '• '1 . ,,b,iects for which he is to work 



and tin I'liiiciples on which his practices 



must n I I ,1! . I part of the writing on pruning 



gives 11,1. i... ;,.[■. i.;.j ..[ ilirec- 



son's experience, without 

 analyzing or elucidating the 

 subject. The practice must 

 differ with every person and 

 every condition : the princi- 

 ples are universal. The 

 ideals that are associated 

 with pruning may be 

 grouped around three cen- 

 ters: (1) pruning proper, or 

 the removal of a part of a 

 plant for the purpose of bet- 

 tering til,, n iii:iiiiiii_' isirt or 

 itspr„.ii,.- 

 thedis]. 



■ . . ; 1111; of 

 the in.liM.liiiil l.,;iii. 1,,-s. a 

 practice which is ordinarily 

 coincident with pruning pro- 

 per; (3) trimming, or the 

 shaping of a plant into some 

 definitf. .,■ r,i-;ti..i:.l f,.i-ni. 

 The pin ■ I. •' I- ';i,,ler- 



theless.i.u.;; .,1 Hi-, .-uuggle 

 for existence amongst the 

 parts of a plant, and the cut- 

 ting away of certain parts i^t'''- 

 for the purpose of producing More limbs have perished 

 some definite effect in the ^Ture'rprum[,r 

 formation of fruit-buds or 



leaf -buds or in modifying the habit of the plant. There 

 are more liranches in the top of any plant than can per- 

 sist; tlifi-. f ■•■ tt,. ,-, i, -iii_'^Ii- for existence. Those 

 which I. ■' : ' ,• • pi.-ition, persist. Nature 



prune-. l> : ! III. lies in any neglected 



tree-t,,p ,.;. ..:. :liis fact. Whenever the 



struggle lur 1 :..:-u i.i,, lo yi, ally lessened, the remain- 



