THE PLUM. 



889 



CHAPTER XXVII. 



THE PLUM. 



Prunus domcstica, L. Rosacea, of botanists. 

 Prumer, of the French ; Pflaumenbaum, German ; Prugno, Italian ; Ciruelo, 



Spanish. 



The original parent of most of the cultivated Plums of our gardens 

 is a native' of Asia and the Southern parts of Europe, but it has become 

 naturalized in this country, and in many parts of it is produced in the 

 greatest abundance.* That the soil and climate of the Middle States 

 are admirably suited to this fruit is sufficiently proved by the almost 

 spontaneous production of such varieties as the Washington, Jefferson, 

 Lawrence's Favorite, &c. ; sorts which equal or surpass in beauty or 

 flavor the most celebrated Plums of France or England. 



Uses. The finer kinds of plums are beautiful dessert fruits, of rich 

 and luscious flavor. They are not, perhaps, so entirely wholesome as 

 the peach and the pear, as, from their somewhat cloying and flatulent 

 nature, unless when very perfectly ripe, they are more likely to disagree 

 with weak stomachs. 



For the kitchen the plum is also very highly esteemed, being prized 

 for tarts, pies, canning, sweetmeats, etc. In the South of France an 

 excellent spirit is made from this fruit fermented with honey. In the 

 western part of this State, where they are very abundant, they are 

 halved, stoned, and dried in the sun or ovens in large quantities, and 

 are then excellent for winter use. For eating, the plum should be 

 allowed to hang on the tree till perfectly ripe, and the fruit will always 

 be finer in proportion as the tree has a more sunny exposure. The size 

 and quality of the fruit is always greatly improved by thinning the 

 fruit when it is half-grown. Indeed, to prevent rotting, and to have 

 this fruit in its highest perfection, no two plums should be allowed to 

 touch each other while growing, and those who are willing to take this 

 pains, are amply repaid by the superior quality of the fruit. 



* There are three species of wild plum indigenous to this country — of toler- 

 able flavor, but seldom cultivated in our gardens. They are the following: — 



I. The Chickasaw Plum, (Primus Chicasa, Michaux.) Fruit about three- 

 fourths of an inch in diameter, round, and red or yellowish red, of a pleasant, 

 subacid flavor, ripens pretty early. Skin thin. The branches are thorny, the 

 head rather bushy, with narrow lanceolate serrulate leaves, looking at a little 

 distance somewhat like those of a peach-tree. It usually grows about 12 or 14 

 feet high ; but on the Prairies of Arkansas it is only 3 or 4 feet high, and in this 

 form it is also common in Texas. The Dwarf Texas Plum described by Ken- 

 rick is only this species. It is quite ornamental. 



II. Wild Red or Yellow Plum. (P. Americana, Marshall.) Fruit round- 

 ish oval, skin thick, reddish orange, with a juicy, yellow, subacid pulp. The 

 leaves are ovate, coarsely serrate, and the old branches rough and somewhat 

 thorny. Grows in hedges, and by the banks of streams, from Canada to the 

 Gulf of Mexico. Tree from 10 to 15 feet high. Fruit ripens in July and 

 August. 



III. The Beach Plum, or Sand Plum. (P. Maritima, Wang.) A low shrub 

 with stout straggling branches, found mostly on the sandy sea-coast, from Mas- 

 sachusetts to Virginia, and seldom ripening well elsewhere. Fruit roundish, 

 scarcely an inch in diameter, red or purple, covered with a bloom. Pleasant, 

 but seme what astringent. Leaves oval, finely serrate. 



