PLUMS IN RELATION TO PRUNlNa 37 
ticed on the Pacific coast. Pruning is seldom relied upon for the 
development of large fruit, to maintain the vigor of the tree, or to 
reduce the crop of fruit, all of which are necessary in the more arid 
West, where unpruned trees often make a poor yearly growth and 
where only large fruits can be profitably transported to distant 
markets. The performance of the trees in the western regions is 
only an indication of what may be expected in the East, and local 
observations will be necessary if a detailed and intimate knowledge 
of the behavior of the varieties there is desired. 
In general, the tendency to produce fruit spurs is less pronounced 
in the East than in the West, and the tendency to produce twigs is 
decidedly more pronounced. This results in a proportionately 
greater part of the crop being produced on the 1-year-old wood and 
in the trees becoming more compact. This variation in growth 
between the two sections of the country is much more marked with 
trees which in the West are inclined to produce spurs or both spurs 
and twigs than with those which are inclined to produce twigs 
rather than spurs. For example, the Italian Prune is distinctly a 
twig-forming variety in all the Pacific States; and in this, as well 
as in many other varietal characteristics in which orchardists are 
interested, little difference may be seen between them and trees of 
the same variety found in the plum-growing sections of New York 
and Michigan. With the Giant, which in the West is more inclined 
to produce twigs than spurs, no spurs whatever were found in the 
East, although the twig growth resembled that of the western trees 
closely. Trees of Agen, which are of the twig-producing rather 
than the spur-producing type, often form numerous spurs in the 
West if they are not pruned and have been bearing for some time 
or are under unfavorable conditions for wood growth, whereas a 
spur was rarely found on the eastern. trees. 
With most varieties which are typically spur producing the tend- 
ency for spurs to grow to twigs and therefore for the trees to become 
more compact and retain fewer spurs along the older wood is de- 
cidedly more pronounced in the East than in the West. Other ex- 
amples of striking differences in habits of growth between eastern 
and western trees of the same varieties could be given. The Bur- 
bank tree is much more spreading or flat topped in the East than in 
the West. The Maynard is more open and more spreading; and 
Satsuma, Pond, and Lincoln are less vigorous and in comparison 
with other trees around them remain smaller than trees in the West 
growing beside the same varieties. The growth of trees of a few 
varieties, however, is almost alike in the two regions. Formosa and 
Italian Prune are good examples of this group. 
