108 BIGGIE ORCHARD BOOK 



A clay-loam, rather moist but without stagnant sub- 

 soil water, would be ideal for the European and 

 native varieties. The Japanese kinds do very well 

 on a lighter soil. 



VARIETIES WHICH ARE OFTEN SEL.F-STERIL.E. 

 S. W. Fletcher says under this heading in Bulletin 

 181, Cornell Experiment Station: "Coe's Golden 

 Drop, French Prune, Italian Prune, Kelsey, Miner, 

 Marianna, Ogon, Peach Plum, Satsuma, Wild Goose, 

 and (according to Waugh and Kerr) all other varieties 

 of native plums except Robinson." 



PRUNING. The plum requires more pruning than 

 the cherry, and not so much as the peach. Upright- 

 growing varieties require one style of pruning ; 

 sprawling kinds (like Burbank) require another. 

 The trees may have a central leader, or be trained in 

 the open-centre, vase-like style. Some varieties 

 require more cutting-back than others. Study your 

 trees. Plum fruits, like cherries, are mostly borne 

 on fruit spurs which are at least two years old. 



PRINCIPAL INSECT PESTS. Aphis (lice): See 

 Chapter X. 



Borers : The plum-tree borer sometimes infests the 

 base of main limbs and the upper part of trunk. The 

 peach-tree borer, etc., occasionally attacks plum trees. 

 Remedies : See Chapter IX. 



Curculio : A tiny, hump-backed, fly- 

 ing insect (see illustration) which stings 

 CURCULIO the fr" ult short ly after blossoming time. 

 (ENLARGED) it makes crescent-shape punctures and 

 deposits eggs therein. These soon hatch into little 

 grubs. Most of the stung fruit falls off the tree 



