422 



GARDENING FOR THE SOUTH. 



vated. Burnt clay, swamp muck, common salt, and wood 

 ashes, are among the best fertilizers. 



Propagation and Culture. — The plum is generally bud- 

 ded or grafted upon stocks raised from the seed of some 

 free-growing variety. The Chickasaw plum, however, 

 makes a very good stock; it should be grafted at the 

 collar, and transplanted so deep that the scions can throw 

 out roots. This stock makes very pretty dwarf trees for 

 the garden. By this mode, the tree can be propagated 

 at any time during the winter months. 



Stone fruits require to be grafted early in the season. 

 In transplanting where they are to remain they should be 

 twelve feet apart. The best soil for the plum is a heavy 

 clay loam, moderately rich. The fruit is better in a clay 

 soil than in a sandy one, and when planted in a sandy soil, 

 clay should be added. There are three obstacles to be 

 overcome in raising the plum successfully. The first and 

 greatest is the curculio, which infests all the smooth- 

 skinned stone fruits. 



The Curculio, or Plum Weevil, (Conotracheha Nenu- 

 p7iar,) is a short, thick, rough beetle, of a dark brown or 

 blackish color, varied with spots of white and yellow ; 

 with a long snout hanging down in front like an elephant's 

 trunk. It makes a small, crescent-like incision upon the 

 side of the plum and cherry, just after they are set, in 

 which it drops an egg. From this is hatched a small, white, 

 footless worm, which bores into the fruit, causing it to 

 drop prematurely from the tree. The worm enters the 

 ground, and in three or four weeks comes out, and the 

 successive broods attack the plum, apricot, cherry, nec- 

 tarine, and peach, until the fruit ripens. Their incisions 

 have been found in the limbs of the pear tree. The beetle, 

 if discovered, feigns death, and can hardly be distinguished 

 from the dried flower buds by careless observers. The 

 instinct of the curculio leads it to avoid puncturing fruit 



