THE AMEEICAN ENTOMOLOGIST. 



93 



the Hinckley plum, Isabel pluin, Gillett plum, 

 Towiisend plum, Robinson plum, &c., whicli is 

 a cultivated variety of one of our American wild 

 plums, distinguished by botanists as the Chick- 

 asaw or wild-goose plum {Pnmus chicasa) . The 

 native home of this wild species seems to be the 

 Southwestern States ; but Dr. Latham quotes it 

 as occasionally found in Illinois. It is altogether 

 diflerent from the common wild plum of the 

 "West (Primus avierlcana) , which has a much 

 less elongate leaf, and differs in various other 

 respects. 



1st. The Columbia Pluji. — According to Dr. 

 E. S. Hull, who has grown this variety for many 

 years near Alton, in South Illinois, this plum is 

 round, fully two inches in diameter, and, near 

 Alton, ripens in August. It is only of the sec- 

 ond quality, either for cooking or for eating, 

 fetching $10 or .$12 per bushel when the best 

 varieties command $16. Near Albany, N. Y., 

 it is extensively raised, but throughout the 

 Western States it is comparatively unknow)i. 

 According to the same authoiity, although the 

 Curculio oviposits in this plum as freely as in 

 others, yet the larva that hatches out from its 

 egg is almost invariably drowned out by the 

 exuberant flow of juice that is peculiar to this 

 variety. 



2xD. TuE Miner OR Hinckley Plum. — This 

 has been very extensively grown near Galena, 

 111., for the last thirty-four years, and has lately 

 been introduced into Wisconsin. It is a deep- 

 red, round plum, about one and a half inches in 

 diameter, of a firm texture, and with a rather 

 tough and thick skin. In those regions it ripens 

 from the last of September to the beginning of 

 October ; and we were informed at Galena that 

 it can be kept through the winter by simply 

 scalding it with hot water, placing it in any con- 

 venient open vessel, and then covering it with 

 the liquor with which it had been scalded. Ow- 

 ing to the firmness of the flesh, it bears trans- 

 portation remarkably well, and it is said to meet 

 with a ready sale iu the Galena market. Accord- 

 ing to an article in the Gardeners' Jlonthly, 

 (Sept. 18G8), Louisville buyers had paid from 

 .$1 to $6 per bushel for all that they could meet 

 ■ with near Murfreesboro, Teun.; and Dr. Hull 

 informs us that it commands this price in the 

 Chicago market, when the best cultivated varie- 

 ties fetch from $12 to $10. Hence, it must be 

 quite obvious that the Miner plum cannot even 

 be considered second-rate in quality. Still, on 

 the principle that " half a loaf is better than no 

 bread at all," it may be safely recommended to 

 those who have neither the time nor the oppor- 

 tunity to grow finer fruit. 



As to the nearly comxjlete exemption of the 

 Miner plum from the attacks of the Curculio, 

 there can be no doubt whatever upon this point. 

 All authorities agree here. Dr. Hull writes us 

 word that he has grown this plum for many 

 years, and that " every year a part of the young- 

 plums are punctured by the Curculio, but the 

 larva in them is but rarely perfected, and the 

 fruit ripened up finely in 1868, and does so every 

 year." Mr. Joel Barber, of Lancaster, Wis., 

 informs us that "the Curculio marks the fruit 

 and deposits its eggs as readily upon the Miner 

 plum as upon any other variety ; but the eggs 

 never hatch out, and when the crop is abundant, 

 a large portion of the plums escape being stung 

 at all." Finally, the universal testimony of all 

 the Jo Davies count}' fruit-growers, whom we 

 had the pleasure of conversing with at a meeting 

 of their local Horticultural Societj' in 1868, was 

 to the same effect. Although, however, the 

 Miner plum is almost Curculio-proof, it is at- 

 tacked, to a limited extent, by the Plum-gouger 

 {Anthonomus prunicida, Walsh). The larva of 

 this last insect may be readily distinguished 

 from that of the true plum Curculio by its habit 

 of boring at once into the kernel, and there stay- 

 ing until it transforms into the perfect beetle ; 

 whereas the true Curculio lives exclusively in 

 the flesh of the plum, and goes underground to 

 pass into the perfect beetle state. 



We repeat, therefore, that the Columbia plum 

 is probably, and the Miner or Hinckley plum is 

 certainly, tlie plum for the million, on account 

 of its hardiness, productiveness, and almost 

 complete exemption from the attacks of the 

 Curculio. A\niether in the case of the latter this 

 exemption is due to the drowning out of the 

 larva, as with the Columbia plum, or to the late 

 period at which the fruit matures, rendering it 

 an unsuitable food for tlie '"Little Turk," or 

 finally to the fact of its belonging to a distinct 

 botanical species from all the other cultivated 

 plums, is a question of no practical moment, 

 though theoretically of the highest interest. Pos- 

 sibly all these three causes may contribute 

 towards the desired result. We ourselves, from 

 among a bushel of Miner plums that were on 

 exhibition at the Fair of tlie Jo Davies County 

 Agricultural Society, picked out a perfectly ripe 

 specimen that bore the unmistakable crescent-cut 

 of the Curculio. Yet it was not otherwise 

 damaged than by the slight disfigurement; and, 

 like the rest in the basket, was, for eating, a fair 

 third-rate plum, if it be allowable for bug-men 

 to express a decided opinion on a question which 

 more immediately concerns the fruit-men. 



