THE PLUM. 



213 



THE PLUM. 

 By Mr. A. H. Pearson, F.R.H.S. 

 [Read August 24, 1897.] 



I do not intend to say much about the origin of our cultivated 

 plums, as this must be, in a great measure, a matter of conjecture. 

 Some of the plums we cultivate are sub-species. Our Bullace is 

 the Prunus insititia of botanists, and our Damson doubtless 

 originates from the same source ; our Cherry plum is the Prunus 

 myrobalana, and there are several varieties, such as the Early 

 Mirabelle, St. Etienne, Queen of Mirabelles, and Rivers' Early 

 Prolific, which are of the same race. It is the generally received 

 opinion that the bulk of our varieties have sprung from Prunus 

 domcstica, but I think we may take it that the blood of more 

 than one species is found in the plums which we cultivate to-day, 

 for we find that varieties closely resembling one another in every 

 respect, demand different stocks for their well-being when 

 propagated by grafting. 



The plum is one of the most valuable of our hardy fruits, 

 and, if well managed, one of the most profitable to grow ; it will 

 thrive in almost any soil, and one finds plum-orchards producing 

 fine crops of fruit upon strong clay, and also upon light gravels, 

 chalk, and even sand ; so that the range of soils upon which 

 plums may be planted is an extremely wide one. Time will not 

 allow me to speak of the best aspect and conditions for planting 

 plums ; suffice it to say that although they bloom early and are 

 benefited by shelter from cold east winds, and enjoy a good aspect 

 as well as any other fruit tree, they are not so very particular in 

 this respect, and even so far north as Clydesdale we find that 

 the orchards planted on a northern slope are said to succeed 

 better than those with a southern exposure. Plums rejoice in a 

 moist soil, but will not thrive in a wet undrained situation ; 

 indeed, all fruit trees are impatient of stagnant water in the soil. 

 The demand for plums is very great, and when this fruit is in 

 the market most others are at a discount. Much has been written 

 and said about over-production and glutted markets ; so far as my 

 experience extends there is always a market for good fruit, and 

 this remark applies to plums quite as strongly as to apples and 



