PACIFIC COAST PLUM 217 



plums, ami vice-vers&. This Sisson plum is locally 

 cultivated in parts of California, and it is thought 

 by some to give promise of a new race of plums. 



The fruits shown in the accompanying photograph, 

 received from California, were light herryred, marked 

 with many minute golden dots. They were depressed- 

 globular, with a distincl suture, a short stem, and a 

 firm, meaty, rather dry, insipid flesh, and freestones. 

 .Mr. Burbank sends me fruits of hybrids of this species 

 with the Robinson (one of the Chickasaws), which 

 are an Improvement in quality. 



Wickson, in bis "California Fruits."' writes as fol- 

 lows of the Pacific plum: "Early efforts wei-e made to 

 domesticate these wild plums, and they showed them- 

 selves SUseeptilile of improvement 1 »V eld t i\at LOU to a 



certain extent. In 1856 there was on the Middle Yuba 

 river, not far from Poresl City, in Sierra county, 

 a wayside establishment, known as 'Plum Vallej 

 Ranch,' bo called from the great quantity of wild 

 plums growing on ami about the place. The plum bj 

 cultivation gave a more vigorous growth and larger 

 fruit. Transplanted from the mountains into the valley, 

 they are found to ripen earlier. Transplanted from 



the mountains to a farm near the coa8t, in Del Norte 



comity. the\ did not thrive. One variety, moved from 



the hills near I Vtaliima, in 1858, wa> gTOWU a> an 



orchard tree for fifteen years, and improved both in 



growth ami <|ualil\ of fruit l>.\ cultivation. The atten- 

 tion of fruit-growers Was earl] drawn to the possible 

 value of the wild plum as grafting Btock, and it is 

 reported to have done fairlj well on trial. Recently 

 excellent results have been reported from the domesti- 

 cation of the oative plum in Nevada county, and fruit 



