170 FRUIT-GROWING 



While plum- and cherry-growing was slow in 

 reaching popular favor, there is no reason to 

 believe that these fruits were unknown to the 

 early settlers of the country. As a matter of 

 fact some of the first French explorers and pio- 

 neers carried both kinds of trees into the 

 American wilderness at a very early date. The 

 old settlement of Mackinac Island in Michigan 

 had its early plum and cherry trees as did Vin- 

 cennes, Kaskaskia and perhaps other middle 

 western points. As I have said, however, these 

 early plantings did not arouse the enthusiasm 

 that came from the other fruits which served 

 as the basis for the ''high life" of early days. 



The plums commonly grown in this country 

 to-day come chiefly from four sources — Europe, 

 Asia, America and hybrids among these three. 

 The native plums of the American woods have 

 served as the parents of a long list of varieties 

 of hardy sorts capable of withstanding many 

 vicissitudes in the way of climatic conditions. 

 Some of them are as resistant to cold as is the 

 apple ; some can be grown in soils so retentive 

 of moisture that others would quickly perish. 

 Altogether there are few places in the country 

 where plums of some sort can not be grown. 



Cherries are rather more particular as to 

 their environment than are plums, but in many 

 sections they can be grown with such little at- 

 tention that they should be in every farm door- 



