THE 



Canadian Horticulturist 



Vol XVI. 



1893. 



No. 12. 



ilw^ 



WEAVER PLUM. 



$&£k 



'_'_'■ v ~i_. •• ' '■>'■ ' - y '• 



|P to the present very little attention has been given in Canada to 

 the cultivation and improvement of our native plums. Few lines 

 ., in horticulture, offer greater inducements, however. Com- 

 paratively little has been accomplished in the United States by 

 systematic effort, yet since the introduction of the Wild Goose 

 plum about forty years ago, more than 150 varieties have been 

 named and disseminated. This remarkable increase in num- 

 ber of varieties is only surpassed by the marvellous progress 

 made in the development of the American grape. The value 

 of the native plum has not yet been recognized to any extent, 

 except in sections where the severity of the climate precludes the easy or profit- 

 able culture of varieties belonging to the Prunus domestica class. Without 

 doubt, however, there are improved varieties of our native plums which may be 

 profitably grown in all portions of the Dominion, including the most favored 

 localities. There is a wide variation in regard to the hardiness of these varie- 

 ties, due principally to climatic conditions prevailing in the place of origin. 

 Thus De Soto, belonging to the Americana group and originating in Wisconsin, 

 may be taken as the type of hardiness, while Pottawattamie of the Chickasaw 

 family, and introduced from Tennessee, is not hardy at Ottawa. 



The Weaver plum belongs to the same American family of plums as that 

 which includes the I )e Soto and Wolf, and seems to inherit all the hardiness of 



