46 
PRUNES ARE REGULAR PRODUCERS 
ripe ranges from a deep cherry red to a rich scarlet. The flesh is of an amber 
tinge and quite juicy with a very small pit and is valuable for its long keeping 
qualities. The tree is a very vigorous, upright grower. 
While this variety is particularly adapted and recommended for planting in 
the central coast, interior valleys and foothill sections it can be planted most 
any place in California, with good success. Ripens in August. 
Yellow Egg 
Yellow Egg is often called the Egg Plum on account of its shape. It is 
very popular and highly regarded for its canning qualities. 
During the last two or three years canners have been scouring the country for 
Yellow Egg plums, ready to contract with growers for crops at fancy prices. 
Fruit is of large size, often measuring as much as six inches by its longest 
circumference. The skin is yellow, often bearing white dots, covered with a 
thin white bloom. Flesh yellow, rather acid, but becoming sweet when fully 
ripe, and has a tendency to cling to the pit. 
Owing to its attractive appearance it is highly recommended as a canning 
plum and as a good market variety. Thrives well in all parts of California. 
Ripens July and August. 
PRUNES 
The prune is one of the most important fruit industries of the Pacific 
Coast- All the standard varieties are planted throughout California, while in 
Washington and Oregon, especially in the coast regions, planting is confined 
principally to the Fellenberg, commonly known as Italian, it being practically 
the only variety suitable for the northwest. In California the French Prune 
(Petite Prune d’Agen) is the principal variety, followed closely by the popu¬ 
lar sorts, such as Imperial, Robe de Sargent and Sugar, which latter varieties 
appear to thrive best along the Northern California coast regions, especially 
in Sonoma Valley and northward. These varieties are used for drying, while 
the Tragedy and Hungarian are used for fresh shipping, bringing handsome 
returns to the planter by producing regular crops of fine fruit every year. The 
Tragedy ripens in early July and planters have found it to their advantage to 
plant the Climax plum as a pollinizer, which enlarges the size of the fruit as 
well as insuring regular and abundant crops. 
Prunes are budded on almond, peach and myrobolan roots. The almond 
root for dry gravelly soils, the peach root for light sandy silt, and loamy soils, 
while the myrobolan is suited for heavy, wet soils, especially those which have 
poor drainage, also for river bottoms where there is a standing high water 
level. The prune delights, however, in the rich, deep loams, where it bears 
regular and large crops of fruit. 
The trees should be planted from 20 to 25 feet apart. The same general 
pruning instructions should be followed as in pruning the plum, with the ex¬ 
ception, that in some varieties of prunes, especially the Sugar severe pruning 
is required each season, cutting back all new growths to one-half and even 
