Cherries and Plums for the Home Fruit Garden — By J. r. Mattem, tr 



WHEN in planting your garden 

 you select your trees to get that 

 richness of flavor that home 

 fruits should have, I am sure 

 that you will think of cherries and plums. 

 In proper locations both are pretty sure 

 to yield in two to four years, and regularly 

 afterward, even without much care. 



The sensible way of arriving at the num- 

 ber of trees to plant in home gardens is 

 to consider how much fruit the normal 

 family can use. Several domestic managers 

 have stated these amounts to me, and the 

 average seems to be about 80 quarts of 

 plums, and 120 quarts of cherries. It will 

 take about six trees of each fruit to produce 

 these quantities at the age of four to six 

 years. This is about the right number of 

 trees for a half-acre garden. In a smaller 

 garden a less number must be used. For 

 an eighth acre garden in the Middle or 

 Central States four trees of each fruit 

 ought to be about right, while in this sized 

 Southern garden, on account of climatic 

 conditions, the cherry trees should number 

 only two, and the plum trees up to six or 



EUROPEAN VARIETIES OF PLUMS SUCCESSFUL IN MARYLAND AND STATES NORTH TO VERMONT. AND 



WEST IN SIMILAR CLIMATES 



The Abundance, an early ripening red Japanese plum of 

 a rich, sweet flavor 



even more. In Northern gardens two to 

 four trees of each fruit is the right number 

 for the small garden. In a garden of an 

 acre or so in the Central States I should 

 plant about ten cherry trees and fifteen 

 plum trees. 



There are hundreds of varieties of these 

 fruits. The varieties differ radically in 

 adaptabilities and habits of growth, and 

 otherwise. The accompanying lists name 

 those sorts that I think are best for home 

 gardens, enough of them to give the entire 

 range of ripening season, color, and flavor 

 of fruit, and suitability for different loca- 

 tions and purposes. 



The terms "early," "midseason," and 

 "late," are used to show the time when the 

 varieties ripen because dates of ripening 

 change with the latitude. Reine Claude 

 plum, for instance, a midseason variety, 

 ripens in the latitude of Philadelphia about 

 the middle of September. In New York 

 it ripens nearer the first of October, while 

 in Virginia it is ripe in August. Mont- 

 morency cherry is a midseason variety. It 



name 



color 



FLAVOR 



FLESH 



USES 



SEASON 



TYPE TREE 



REMARKS 



Bradshaw 



Violet 



Excellent 



Coarse 



All 



Early 



Upright 



Dig plum 



Italian Prune 



Purple 



Good 



Medium 



Dry andean 



Late 



Upright 



Heavy bearer 



Lombard 



Violet 



Sweet 



Fine 



Cooked 



Midseason 



Flat or round 



Heavy bearer 



Reine Claude 

 (Greengage) 



Yellow 



Richest 



Finest 



All 



Midseason 



Upright 



The most deli- 



Shropshire 















cious 



Damson 



Blue 



Tart 



Fine 



Preserving 



Very late 



Upright 



Good sized 



VARIETIES SUCCESSFUL IN NORTH CAROLINA AND STATES NORTH TO VERMONT, AND WEST IN 

 SIMILAR CLIMATES (JAPANESE VARIETIES) 



NAME 



COLOR 



FLAVOR 



FLESH 



USES 



SEASON 



TYPE TREE 



REMARKS 



Abundance 

 Apple 

 Burbank 

 Hale 

 Red June 



Red 

 Red 

 Red 



Red (specked) 

 Red 



Sweet, rich 



Very fine 



Good 



Fine (peach) 



Fair 



Medium 



Fine 



Medium 



Fine 



Fine 



AH 



All 

 All 

 All 

 All 



Early 



Midseason 



Midseason 



Midseason 



Early 



Upright 



Upright 



Sprawling 



Sprawling 



Spreading 



Good far South 

 Shy bearer 

 Good South 

 Shy bearer 

 Good far South 



NATIVE AMERICAN AND HYBRID VARIETIES OF PLUMS THAT SUCCEED GENERALLY THROUGHOUT 



AMERICA WHERE APPLES SUCCEED 



NAME 



color 



FLAVOR 



FLESH 



USES 



SEASON 



type tree 



REMARKS 



America 



Red 



Good 



Medium 



All 



Early 



Sprawling 



Hardy 



DeSoto 



Orange 



Fair (sour) 



Medium 



Cooked 



Midseason 



Medium 



Hardy 



Gold 



Golden 



Honey 



Finest 



All 



Early 



Upright 



High quality 



Hammer 



Red 



Fair 



Medium 



Cooked 



Early 



Spreading 



For far South 



Late Goose 



Red 



Fair 



Medium 



Cooked 



Midseason 



Medium 



Hardy 



Milton 



Crimson 



Good 



Medium 



Cooked 



Early 



Sprawling 



Hardy 



October 

















Purple 



Purple 



Splendid 



Very fine 



All 



Very late 



Upright 



Good raw 



Omaha 



Red 



High 



Coarse 



All 



Early 



Upright 



Hardy 



Shiro 



Golden 



Honey 



Finest 



All 



Very early 



Upright 



Delicious 



Wild Goose 



Red 



Fair 



Fine 



Cooked 



Very early 



Sprawling 





SWEET VARIETIES OF CHERRIES: GOOD IN MASSACHUSETTS AND STATES SOUTH TO VIRGINIA, AND 

 WEST IN SIMILAR CLIMATES (TREES LARGE) 



NAME 



color 



ripe 



flavor 



flesh 



USES 



REMARKS 



BlNG 



Black 



Early 



Fine 



Soft 



All 



Immense. Good East 

 and West 



Black Tartarian 



Black 



Early 



Good 



Soft 



All 



Best New York, Pa., 

 to Mich. 



Coe's Transparent 



Amber 



Early 



Fine 



Soft 



All 



Mottled 



Dikeman 



Black 



Very late 



Good 



Firm 



Can and pre- 

 serve 



Latest ripening; sweet 



Downer's 



Red 



Midseason 



Good 



Soft 



All 



For Pa., Ohio, N. Y., 

 and Mich. 



Governor Wood 



Amber 



Early 



Delicious 



Firm 



All 



Medium size. Very 

 tender 



Lambert 



Red 



Midseason 



Fine (tart) 



Soft 



All 



Very large. Good 

 West and East 



Rockport 



Yellow 



Midseason 



Fine 



Firm 



Can and pre- 

 serve 



Tender and good 



Schmidt 



Red 



Midseason 



Fine 



Firm 



Can and cook 



Color almost brown 



Yellow Spanish 



Yellow 



Midseason 



High 



Firm 



All 



Medium to large 



SOUR VARIETIES OF CHERRIES, GOOD WHEREVER APPLES SUCCEED, SOUTH, CENTRAL AND NORTH 



(TREES SMALL) 



NAME 



color 



RIPE 



flavor 



FLESH 



USED 



REMARKS 



Abesse 



Red 



Midseason 



Fine 



Soft 



Cooked 





Dyehouse 



Red 



Very early 



Fine 



Soft 



Canned 



Acid brisk 



May Duke 



Red 



Very early 



Fair 



Firm 



All 



Acid mild 



Montmorency 



Red 



Midseason 



Rich 



Firm 



Cooked and 

 canned 



Pa., N.Y. and Ohio 



Morello 



Red 



Late 



Rich 



Soft 



Preserved 



For pies, preserves 



Olivet 



Red 



Early 



Rich 



Soft 



All 



Acid mild. Good far 

 South 



Reine Hortense 



Red 



Late 



Delicious 



Firm 



All 



Nearly sweet. Good 

 South 



Royal Duke 



Red 



Midseason 



Rich 



Firm 



Cooked 



Beautiful tree 



Suda 



Red 



Late 



Fair 



Firm 



Cooked 



Hardy 



Wragg 



Red 



Very late 



Fine 



Firm 



Cooked 



Adaptation general 



335 



