80 



BULLETIN OF 



Massachusetts Board of Agriculture. 



PLUM CULTURE IN MASSACHUSETTS. 



BylProf. F. A. Watjgh, Professor of Horticulture, Massachusetts Agricultural College. 



Next to the peach, the plum is the most important stone fruit grown 

 anywhere in the temperate regions. In many locaUties it is even 

 more important than the peach. This observation holds true in Massa- 

 chusetts, for while in some sections the peach is a valuable fruit and 

 even an important commercial crop, there are other sections where it 

 cannot be grown. Plums of some sort can be grown, however, in 

 every town in the State. 



This much wider adaptability of the plum is due to two causes: 

 first, there are many different varieties, derived from very different 

 species, some of which thrive on one soil and some on another, so that 

 plums may be selected for every kind of tillable soil; second, these 

 different species vary a great deal as regards hardiness. While some 

 of them are more tender than peaches, others are even hardier than 

 apples, so that they may be grown in cold districts and exposed situa- 

 tions. In spite of all its good points, the plum is sadly neglected ; in 

 fact, it is a rarity to find an adequate supply of good plums on any 

 farm in Massachusetts. There are a few trees on almost every farm, 

 but the sad fact is that a majority of them are mere breeding places 

 for black-knot; only a few ever bear fine, sound, clean fruit. 



Yet the plum is one of the most luscious fruits when properly grown 

 and well ripened on the tree. For eating out of hand it is surpassed 

 by the peach alone; as a dessert fruit it has no superior; while for 

 canning it easily ranks next to peach, and for jelly making competes 

 for first place with the red currant. 



Unfortunately, the general impression has grown up that the plum 

 is a difficult fruit to grow. In a certain sense this is so; but when 

 looked at fairly, the plum is found to be as easily managed as any 

 other crop. The difficulty is that men have considered it to be of 

 secondary importance, and therefore have not given the same careful 

 attention to it that they have to what they consider more important 



