18 



ROBBING'S FRUIT GROWERS' GUIDE 



THE PLUM 



The plum in its geographical distribution on this 

 coast, particularly in California, covers a wide range 

 of soils and climates, being both thrifty along the coast 

 regions and the interior valleys, and well up into the 

 foothills. Indeed, so wide is its range that it is safe to 

 say that every county in the state boasts of its plum 

 orchards. The very fact that the plum has such a wide 

 range of usage should cause plums to be more widely 

 planted than they have been in recent years. It is very 

 rarely indeed that there is a failure of a crop, and this 

 is largely accounted for by the fact that practically all 

 the varieties, with the exception of some of the Japanese 

 types, flower late in the spring when all danger from 

 frost is over. 



There are two distinct lines in the classification of 

 plums: those which are especially shipping sorts and 

 the other types which are primarily used for canning. 

 The very fact that plums may be picked considerably 

 riper than many other fruits makes them very valuable 

 for long distance shipments, due to their fine shipping 

 qualities. Plums need not be peeled when canned, a 

 great point in their favor as a preserving fruit. Under 

 no consideration should plum trees be planted closer 

 than twenty-four feet apart. This, of course, refers 

 to planting in orchard form. For gardens or in small 



Two-year-old Plum 

 tree showing frame- 

 work branches short- 

 ened in. The greater 

 diameter of the frame- 

 work branches indi- 

 cates how far the tree 

 was cut back the first 

 year. 



A three-year-old Plum tree already giving evidence of the 

 much desired goblet form. 



plots of ground, the trees may be planted very much 

 closer than this. By pruning regularly every year and 

 then holding the annual growth of the trees in check, it 

 is not only practicable to have trees as close as twelve 

 feet apart, but to harvest very good crops of fruit. 



STOCKS 



The peach and myrobolan root are the standard 

 stocks for the plum and these two roots seem to meet 

 practically all the conditions where the plums are 

 raised, the peach root being given the preference on the 

 sandy, loamy soils, and the myrobolan on the heavier 

 and damper soils. It is quite possible within a few 

 years that other roots, such as the Mussel, so exten- 

 sively used in Great Britain and on the continent of 

 Europe for so many of the stone fruits, will find con- 

 ditions equally as congenial with us. The only way to 

 raise this stock is by layering, making it rather expen- 

 sive. Several varieties of plums including the following, 

 lack affinity for the peach root: Yellow Egg, Jefferson 

 and Washington. On very gravelly soils the almond 

 root could be used to advantage, nearly all varieties 

 doing well on this root. It has not been used to any 

 extent, however. 



PRUNING 



To deliberately say that a plum tree should be 

 pruned regularly every year would be just as non- 

 sensical as a recommendation never to prune the plum. 

 No absolutely fixed rule can be adopted when it comes 

 to pruning, whether it be a plum or anything else, for 

 in the final analysis the grower must study his condi- 

 tions and decide for himself the policy to pursue. 



There cannot possibly be any argument, however, 

 in shaping the trees when they are young and training 

 the branches which will eventually be the main supports 

 of the tree I have no patience with the man who will 

 not cut his trees back to at least twenty inches after 

 they are planted and who will not endeavor to have the 

 framework branches properly distributed around the 

 body of the tree. If, in after years, larger crops are 

 produced by allowing the trees to grow at their own 

 sweet will, except to cut out" interfering branches, this 

 is a matter of judgment. 



The planting and the bringing of an orchard into 

 bearing is no small undertaking. It not only taxes the 

 average man's purse strings to the limit but in addition 

 it means the employment of every resource at his com- 

 mand in labor and brains to reach the goal for which 

 he is aiming. Therefore he must have returns for the 

 combination of forces which have caused him to build 

 vigorous, substantial trees. 



If I were growing the orchard my decision would be 

 to prune the trees regularly every year even after they 

 reach the four-year age limit. 



It is not possible to say definitely how much of the 

 annual growth should be removed, but that the trees 

 should be pruned to promote fruit spurs, according to 

 my idea, is the only practicable and sensible plan in the 

 handling of a plum tree. As I see it, a tree with fruit 

 from the very crotches to the tip ends and evenly 

 distributed throughout, is preferable to having a total 



