. THE NURSERY-LIST 399 



the sprouts will reproduce the variety ; and even in grafted or 

 budded trees this sometimes occurs, but it is probably because the 

 tree has become own-rooted from the rooting of the cion. It is a com- 

 mon notion that trees grown from suckers sprout or sucker worse 

 than those grown from seeds. 



Layers are also sometimes employed for the propagation of the 

 plum. Strong stools are grown, and the long and strong shoots are 

 covered in spring throughout their length the tips only being ex- 

 posed and every bud will produce a plant. Strong shoots of vigor- 

 ous sorts will give plants large enough the first fall to be removed 

 into nursery rows. Mound-layering is also employed with good re- 

 sults. 



Root-cuttings, handled like those of blackberry, grow readily, but 

 some growers suppose that they produce trees which sucker badly. 

 Many plums grow readily from cuttings of the mature recent wood, 

 treated the same as long grape cuttings. This is especially true of 

 the Marianna (which is a form of myrobalan, or a hybrid of it and 

 some native plum of the Wild Goose type), which is grown almost 

 exclusively from cuttings. Some kinds of the common garden plum 

 (P. domestica) also grow from cuttings. 



Plums are worked in various ways, but ordinary shield-budding 

 is usually employed in late summer or early fall, as for peaches and 

 cherries. Root-grafting by the common whip method is sometimes 

 employed, especially when own-rooted trees are desired. In the 

 North and East, the common plum (P. domestica). is worked on 

 stocks of the same species, and these are always to be preferred. 

 These stocks, if seedlings, are likely to be very variable in size and 

 habit, and sometimes half or more of any batch, even from selected 

 seeds, are practically worthless. Stocks from inferior or constant 

 varieties are, therefore, essential. Such stocks are largely imported ; 

 but some varieties can be relied on in this country. One of the 

 best of these domestic stocks is the Horse plum, a small and purple- 

 fruited variety of Prunus domestica, which gives very uniform seed- 

 lings. This is sometimes used in New York. It is simply a sponta- 

 neous or wilding plum, in thickets and along roadsides. The French 

 stocks in most common use are St. Julien and Black Damas. The 

 myrobalan (P. cerasifera), however, is chiefly used for plums, 

 because of its cheapness and the readiness with which all varieties 

 take on it. In large nursery centers it is the prevailing stock. In the 

 colder regions, P. americana stocks are used. The peach is often 

 used as a plum stock, and it is valuable in the South, especially for 



