! 



CHAPTER II. 



THE PRUNING, RENOVATION, AND TRAINING OF THE 



PLUM. 



It is useless to attempt to grow good Plums in a cold, 

 water-holding, clay subsoil. The soil should be gravelly, 

 or one having a subsoil of a very porous texture, and 

 dry, with an abundance of sand in it. The Plum will 

 bear frequent removals, and this is a good way of 

 treating a strong-growing young tree, whether it is a 

 trained tree or not. 



In some parts of the country the Plum, like the 

 Apricot, will not kindly bear fruit. The soil is not 

 always at fault in this matter, for the climate does not 

 perhaps suit it. It is a rare thing to get Apricots in 

 the county of Devon, and as seldom can a crop of some 

 of our choice Plums be had there. The reason is chiefly 

 attributable to the pollen of the flower getting glued 

 by the dampness of the locality ; the consequence is 

 that the fructification is imperfect, The stigma does 

 not get fertilised by the pollen froin the anthers, 

 simply because it is glued by the prevailing damp, and 

 so cannot disperse. As a consequence the fruit cannot 

 stone, hence a failure of the crop. In such cases there 

 is no remedy for Plums planted as standards or dwarfs 

 in the open ground, away from dry, warm walls, except 

 one, and that is to grow them in pots upon Mr. Rivers's 

 plan. When the climate suits them, and still they will 

 not bear freely, but make wood, lift them every other 

 season in the month of October. Merely dig round 

 the tree and cut off the lacerated roots, and then plant 



