THE PLUMS OF NEW YORK. 95 



This plum has a number of qualities that commend it to the fruit- 

 grower. Since in the wild it grows on sandy soils it is not likely under cul- 

 tivation to make great demands on either the moisture or the fertility 

 of soils. It is very hardy and very productive and seldom fails to bear. 

 It seems to be free or nearly so from some of the pests of cultivated plums. 

 Lastly, the great number of wild varieties of the plums give many starting 

 points from which to breed cultivated varieties. Two objections to the 

 wild fruits are that when the fruit is harvested the juice often exudes 

 from the wound made by the parting from the stem, and secondly, the 

 secretion of some substance forming a dark colored, hard core in the pulp 

 which gives a very bitter taste to the fruit. The last defect is very common 

 in the wild plums and is probably due to the sting of an insect. Under 

 cultivation it may be possible to obtain fruits free from these faults. 



It would be desirable if some of the characters enumerated above 

 could be combined with those of other species. Burbank has hybridized 

 the Maritima plum with other species, with promising results. Of these 

 he writes under date of December 6, 1909, as follows: 



" I first began raising Prunus maritima about 1887 twenty-two 

 years ago collecting myself and having specimens sent me all the way 

 from the coast of Labrador to South Carolina, the finest of which were 

 obtained from the eastern coast of Massachusetts. Among the seedlings, 

 of which I raised and fruited several hundred thousands, were yellow, 

 red, purple and almost black ones, early and late, round, oval, oblate and 

 flattened, with big stones and little stones, free stone and cling stone, and 

 much variety in productiveness and growth of the young bushes, but 

 not one of them the first two or three generations were very much increased 

 in size probably the largest being about the size of a cranberry or a small 

 hazelnut and none of them of very exceptional quality, though their 

 habit of blooming late was a tremendous advantage, as they invariably 

 escaped our spring frosts. This, with their unusual hardiness induced 

 me to continue experimenting with them. Finally after some ten years 

 I obtained a very delicious variety, about an inch in length and three- 

 quarters of an inch in diameter, tree much increased in size, larger foliage 

 and more productive and producing enormous quantities of most delicious 

 fruit. From this I raised a great many thousand, almost as good and a 

 few of them even better, several hundred of which have been selected and 

 are now bearing on my Sebastopol place. Some of these improved seedling 

 trees grow five to ten times as large as the ordinary Maritima, with larger 

 leaves and in every possible way improved. My greatest success with 

 this species (and one of the most striking occurrences in my work with plums) 



