ON NEW PLUMS AND PRUNES 



Professor N. E. Hansen, for example, of the South 

 Dakota Experiment Station, has been working for 

 many years, especially in crossing the Sand 

 Cherry with some of my best hybrid plums and 

 with other varieties. He has been successful in 

 producing several good varieties. 



It is to be hoped that others will enter into this 

 work, as hardy fruits are much needed in many 

 northern regions of our country. 



THE CALIFORNIA WILD PLUM 



Almost every imaginable flavor is to be found 

 among the California wild plums. Some are quite 

 sweet, some are sour, others are distinctly bitter. 

 A few are delicious. The fruit usually is small 

 and round, about the size of the wild plums of 

 the Mississippi Valley; and of brilliant red color, 

 or sometimes yellow, and rarely purple. 



Strange as it may seem, the best fruit is pro- 

 duced abundantly where the trees are growing 

 on rather poor soil. 



The trees in different localities (and the same 

 is true in a measure of each tree in the same lo- 

 cality) seem to have an individuality of their own, 

 a somewhat characteristic condition with our Cal- 

 ifornia wild trees and shrubs. Some of these 

 plum trees grow large and tall, with a straight, 

 upright habit. Others form spreading bushes of 

 low, compact growth that often bear abundantly 



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