The Plums and the Cherries 



primitive, hearty — like the work — closely interlinked with the 

 fight against starvation. There was nothing dull or uninteresting 

 about either. The plums and grapes were sweetened with molasses 

 made from sorghum cane. Each farmer grew a little strip, and 

 one of them had a mill to which everyone hauled his cane to 

 be ground "on the shares." 



Who will say that this "long sweet'nin'" was poor stuff, that 

 the quality of the spiced grapes suffered for lack of sugar, or 

 that any modern preserves have a more excellent flavour than 

 those of the old days made out of the wild plums gathered in the 

 woods? And this is also true: There is no more exhilarating 

 holiday conceivable than those half days when mother took the 

 children and "went a-plummin'." 



The Canada Plum (Prunus nigra, Ait.), which grows from 

 Newfoundland to Manitoba, and extends its range into the northern 

 tier of states, is called by Professor Waugh a variety, nigra, of 

 our common wild plum, instead of a separate species, as the 

 earlier authorities have set it down. The tree has a narrow head, 

 formed of stiff, angular branches. The leaves are broad and 

 large, with abruptly sharpened points. Flowers and fruit are 

 larger than in the common plum; the petals turn pink before 

 they fall. It is valuable to the North, furnishing the settler 

 a relish for his hard fare until his orchard comes into bearing. 

 It forms an excellent stock on which to graft cions of species 

 which are not hardy on their own roots through long Northern 

 winters. It is a tree well worth planting about one's premises, 

 as in some bare fence corner that needs brightening in early 

 summer, and in August and September when the bright orange- 

 coloured fruit shows its colour against the leafy background. 

 In winter the framework of the tree is picturesque by the angu- 

 larity of its thorny twigs. 



The Chickasaw Plum (Prunus angustijolia, Marsh.) is the 

 wild plum of the South. Its narrow leaves are shiny and strangely 

 trough-like, instead of flat. The small, round fruit is soft and 

 sweet, more like a cherry than a plum. One often sees it planted 

 near houses, and the crop in the woods is marketed by the Negroes. 

 It is unexcelled for jellies and preserves. 



The ^A(^ild-goose Plum {Prunus hortulana, Bailey) is a 

 natural hybrid between the species, Americana and angustijolia. 

 It is supposed to have originated in Kentucky. It grows wild 

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