PLUMS. 



TT is not generally known," said D. S. Grimes, in an article 

 on the Fruits and Flowers of the Rocky Mountains, pub- 

 lished last year, " that the largest fruit of the native or wild 

 plum is found growing in the mountains and valleys of 

 Colorado and Wyoming. Since we first came to this coun- 

 try ten years ago, our attention has been often directed to 

 the superior quality of both natural and cultivated fruits. 

 Many varieties of the wild plum found here are inferior and 

 unworthy, but once in a while we find among these inferior 

 kinds one that deserves more than a passing notice. In the 

 valleys of the Arkansas, Platte, Boulder and St. Vrain, we 

 have seen varieties of purple-red and yellow plums double 

 the size of the Wild Goose or Miner, with small seed, firm 

 rich flesh, apparently filling the bill of this delicious fruit, 

 plum full. 



" In. our wanderings along the upper Arkansas we came 

 upon a variety of the plum differing widely from anything 

 we have ever before seen or heard of. This plum was very 

 large, roundish, the skin smooth but spotted with bright red 

 and yellow spots. In this group were eleven trees. The 

 parent or largest tree, measuring six inches in diameter, and 

 about eight feet in height. The branches of all the trees in 

 this group put on a pendulent drooping or weeping charac- 

 ter. Whether this drooping of the limbs was owing to the 

 bearing of heavy crops of fruit, the altitude or was the nat- 

 ural growth of the tree we are unable to say, the tree 



