Il6 THE PLUMS OF NEW YORK. 



of nursery stock in this region, express the opinion that " the right stock 

 for native plums is yet to be found." In Oklahoma, Texas and New Mexico 

 the Marianna is mentioned by several nurserymen as desirable, and is, 

 from these statements, rather more commonly used for stocks in these 

 states at present than in any other region. 



On the Pacific Coast propagators use Myrobalan and peach in about 

 equal quantities the first named for heavy soils and the last for the lighter 

 soils. The native plums are not grown in this region. The almond is 

 mentioned as being desirable in California under some conditions. Some 

 plum-growers in the states of the Pacific propagate their own trees from 

 suckers. 



The information given by nurserymen shows that by far the greatest 

 number of plums in the country are grown on Myrobalan stocks. In New 

 York this stock is used almost exclusively. In Europe the writer found 

 that the nurserymen hold that this is a dwarfing stock, and that the trees 

 on it are shorter-lived than on some other stocks. In the nurseries in 

 New York, plums in general, but more especially the Europeans, are larger 

 and finer trees at two years, the selling age, grown on Myrobalan roots 

 than trees grown on other stocks. Nurserymen lodge but two complaints 

 against it; these are that in the South it suckers badly and in the cold 

 states of the Great Plains the roots are killed by the winters. Its advan- 

 tages from the tree-growers' standpoint are: Cheapness of the stock, 

 which is usually imported from France, large handsome trees in the nursery, 

 ease of budding and a good union with nearly all varieties. Some growers 

 complain that certain varieties overgrow this stock making in the end a 

 badly mal-formed trunk. The Myrobalan plums are very variable, a fact 

 which finds record in nearly all the characters of tree and fruit and this 

 is somewhat against it as a stock. It is for this reason that there are so 

 many " true " and " false " Myrobalans among nurserymen. Many im- 

 porters hold that this stock is grown in France from cuttings. Such it 

 seems was the old practice but now, if information from France is correct, 

 most of these stocks are grown from seed. Hansen reports that in South 

 Dakota this stock is worthless because it winter-kills. He says 1 "in experi- 

 ments at this Station a very small per cent, of Myrobalan stocks sur- 

 vived the first winter and these died the ensuing summer." It is likely 

 that this stock would suffer in the coldest parts of New York. 



'Hansen, N. E. S. D. Sta. Bui. 93:67. 1905. 



