CHAPTER XXXI. 



PLUMS. 



IN no branch of pomology has greater progress been made 

 the past twenty years than in the improvement and develop- 

 ment of our native plums and in the introduction of foreign 

 varieties. The bringing in of the Japanese plums marks an era 

 in fruit culture in the United States. 



The number of new sorts of plums which have been added 

 to the list under cultivation makes it necessary, for their in- 

 telligent selection and propagation, to amplify the classifica- 

 tion of the varieties of this fruit from the simple division 

 according to color, to one more scientific and accurate. The 

 study and published conclusions of such leading investigators 

 as Bailey, of Cornell University, Goff, of Wisconsin, Waugh, 

 of Vermont, Craig, of Iowa, and Mr. Berckmans, of Augusta, 

 Ga. , have made this a comparatively easy matter. 



PROPAGATION. 



Seedlings. As with most fruits, plums rarely come true from 

 seed, although some varieties vary but little from the parent 

 stock. 



The stones should be selected from the choicest kinds and 

 treated in planting precisely as directed for the peach, but 

 greater care must be exercised to prevent their drying, which 

 occurs much in consequence of their smaller size and thinner 

 skin. It is better to crack them, without which many will not 

 vegetate the first year. 



Stocks. The stocks heretofore used for growing plums have 

 generally been seedlings of European type (especially the 

 Myrobalan or cherry plum), which when the varieties of the 

 European plums do well are usually satisfactory, although 

 upon light or unfavorable soils they are apt to produce feeble 

 and slowly growing seedlings. For the Southern States the 

 peach stock is generally used, and in the Northern States and 

 throughout the country generally seedlings of the best of the 

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