1070 



PB ACTIO AL GUIDE TO GABDEN PLANTS 



PLUM 



Training. — Plums may be trained 

 against walls as fans or cordons, or 

 horizontally like Apples and Pears, and 

 in the open ground as bushes, pyra- 

 mids, standards, and half- standards (see 

 p. 1035). 



The distance at which the trees may 

 be planted is the same as for Apples and 

 Pears, according to the style of training 

 adopted, but Plums are always better 

 planted in the autumn than in the 

 spring. 



Soil. — A good loamy well-drained soil 

 on a gravelly or chaliy bottom will grow 

 excellent Plums. The various operations 

 for keeping the ground in good condition 

 and fertiUty (see p. 63) must always be 

 attended to, not only for the sake of the 

 trees and the crops they produce, but also 

 because they are a great check against 

 the ravages of insect pests and fungoid 

 diseases. As the Plum is inclined to 

 produce masses of leafy growth if the soil 

 is rendered too rich by the addition of 

 copious supplies of manure, it is best to 

 keep the soil fairly light, but at the same 

 time sufficiently moist to stand the strain 

 of very hot summers. Where Apples, 

 Pears, Plums, and Cherries are aU grown 

 together in the same land, the same 

 ^treatment and manuring of the soil will 

 do for all, and an autumn and spring 

 dressing of superphosphate, nitrate of 

 potash, nitrate of soda, and sulphate of 

 potash (see p. 74) will prove highly bene- 

 ficial. 



Protection.— Where the choicest and 

 best fruits are required. Plum trees should 

 if possible be grown on a wall facing either 

 east or west especially in the colder parts 

 of the kingdom. They are thus protected 

 from severe and chilling winds in spring, 

 and the radiation of heat from the walls 

 serves to ripen the fruits earlier, and give 

 them a finer colour and a more luscious 

 flavour. 



Pruning. — The pruning of Plum trees 

 is exactly the same as that. for Apples and 

 Pears, care always being taken not to be 

 too severe in the cutting. The summer 

 pruning of the young shoots by cracking 

 or breaking them halfway through 

 (see p. 1034) is to be particularly recom- 

 mended in the case of Plums, as experience 

 has proved it to be useful in preventing 

 what is known as ' gumming.' Summer 

 pruning also has the effect of allowing 

 more elaborated sap to be drafted into the 

 swelling and ripening fruits, thus increas- 



ing their size, colour, and flavour. The 



illustration (fig. 155) shows the difference 



between the flower-buds (/) at a and leaf- 

 buds (w)at B,the latter, 



as in other fruits, being 



much less plump than 



the former. 



Thinning the 



fruits as recommended 



for Apples (p. 1044) is 



also advantageous, 



especially where the 



very finest fruits are 



desired. In good 



seasons Plum trees 



bear enormous crops, 



and if the fruit is not 



thinned out, many of 



the branches are al- 

 most sure to be broken 



down, and the fruit 



they bear will be lost, 



while those left will be 



only of medium size 



and not so highly 



flavoured or coloured 



as if they had been 

 thinned out in spring. 

 Root-pruning. — 

 It is a common 

 complaint against 



Plums that they often 

 make any amount of top-growth but yield 

 very little fruit. This is often brought 

 about by too rich a soil in which the roots 

 revel and pump vast supplies of sap into 

 the branches, and also by severe pruning. 

 This tendency to excessive top-growth 

 and sterility may be checked and remedied 

 by attention to pruning the roots (see 

 p. 1031) and proper and not over-pruning 

 of the branches. 



Preserving Plums. — The value of 

 Plums for jams, preserves &c. is well 

 known. In the form of Prunes, as im- 

 ported from France, they are also very 

 valuable, and when a glut exists the fruits 

 may be carefully dried and kept for a 

 considerable time. An easy and excellent 

 way to dry Plums for preserving is to 

 place them in a, perforated tray or sieve 

 in an ordinary oven at night-time when 

 the fire is allowed to extinguish itself 

 gradually. By the morning they will 

 have shrivelled somewhat, but the skins 

 will have become toughish in texture and 

 more or less impervious, and thus preserve 

 the interior flesh tor a long time. Placed 

 in water they swell up gradually and are 



FIG. 155. — PLUM. 



