76 Lessons in Fruit Orowing. 



wounds, and flower more or less on wood of the previous 

 season's growth. The flower buds are generally lateral, 

 the flowers forming the first year of their life. The fruit 

 is a tender-fleshed, juicy, often highly-flavored drupe,' and 

 generally keeps but a short time after maturity. The trees 

 are naturally more fruitful than the pome fruits (41). 



91. The soil best adapted to the stone fruits is somewhat 

 lighter, warmer and drier than that which best suits the 

 pome fruits, and it should be abundantly fertile to give best 

 results. Certain species of the plum succeed admirably on 

 a moist, well-drained clay loam. 



92. Cultivation. The stone fruits are not subject to the 

 fire blight, and therefore respond more favorably to high 

 cultivation than the pome fruits. Seeding the ground about 

 the trees to grass, or cropping it for the crop's sake, is less 

 admissible than with the pome fruits. Cultivation early in 

 the season, with a cover crop sown about midsummer, should 

 be the rule. In orchards too closely planted to permit cul- 

 tivation, the ground has sometimes been mulched with ex- 

 cellent results. 



93. Picking and packing. The stone fruits do not carry 

 well if allowed to ripen on the 

 tree, but fortunately they ac- 

 quire most of their quality if 

 picked a little hard. They 

 should not be picked until full 

 grown, and as a rule, not earlier 

 than is necessary to insure that fig. 25. ciimax fruit basket. This 



they reach their destination is also made with a raised, slatted 

 •' cover. 



before becoming soft. Plums 



and cherries should not, as a rule, be picked until fully 



colored. 



* A drupe is a fleshy fruit containing a single seed with a bony covering. The 

 seed with its covering is called the pit or " stone." 



