PLUM VARIETIES 279 



tion come in a hundred years earlier it is 

 almost certain that the fruit business in this 

 country would never have attained the magni- 

 tude which characterizes the industry to-day. 

 And yet, to-day, fruit-growers as a class have 

 the reputation of being the most temperate 

 citizens existing. Personally I do not recall 

 ever knowing a fruit-grower who was an habit- 

 ual drunkard. 



Certain it is that we have learned to eat 

 fruit only within the last century, and I think 

 this fact accounts for the general neglect 

 which the plum suffered until recently. Even 

 now plums are not grown nearly so extensively 

 as are other fruits, but the commercial plant- 

 ings are every year increasing — further proof 

 that our tastes in food and drink have under- 

 gone a tremendous revision. 



The plum is a cosmopolitan sort of fruit and 

 in some variety is to be found throughout the 

 temperate regions of the earth. In America 

 there are a number of wild species which were 

 used by the Indians to a limited extent before 

 the advent of the white race on this continent. 

 The Indian being "pure" by nature, did not 

 know alcohol and ate most of his fruit instead of 

 drinking it. These native plums have been 

 the source of a large number of improved vari- 

 eties that are now grown in our orchards. 

 Some of these named varieties which we 



