OUR COMMON FRUIT TREES 



foods of the Indians east of the Coast Range from 

 southern Oregon to central California, being eaten raw 

 or cooked and is sometimes dried in quantity. The 

 Chicasaw Plum (P. angustifolia) and the Beach Plum 

 {P. maritima) were both named by Marshall in 1785 

 and were known to the earliest settlers along the 

 Atlantic seaboard. There are several other named 

 species and numerous varieties, and intimate study 

 will assuredly result in new discoveries. A century 

 hence these American Plums will probably be in the 

 first rank among the stone-fruits of this country. 



In northern China a Jujube {Ziiyphus sativa) is 

 very extensively cultivated and the varieties are very 

 numerous. Some of the best of these have been intro- 

 duced into this country by the late Frank N. Meyer 

 for the Department of Agriculture and may event- 

 ually rank among the fruits of America. The most 

 popular fruit in China, Korea, and Japan is the Per- 

 simmon (Diospyros kaki), and several of the best kinds 

 have been introduced by Mr. Meyer, but there has 

 not yet been time to establish the industry here. 

 Were unlimited space at my disposal I would tell 

 of the Fig and other fruits but there must be an 

 end to this chapter. The attempt has been to set 

 forth some of the more interesting aspects and facts 

 centred around our common fruit trees. The practi- 

 cal side of pomology is not part of the scheme but in 



223 



