THE NATIONAL NURSERYMAN. 
ii 5 
PROPAGATION OF PLUMS. 
Preliminary Report on Experiments Made Under the Direction of 
Professor F. A. Waugh, Burlington, Vt. — The Problem Pre¬ 
sented-Grafts Made by J, W. Kerr and Set in His Nursery 
at Denton, Md. — The Differences Were Striking, 
Herewith is presented an extract from the forthcoming 
report of the horticulturist of the Experiment Station at Bur¬ 
lington, Vt. It is of special interest to nurserymen. The hor¬ 
ticulturist at that station is Professor F. A. Waugh. One of 
his specialties is the propagation of plums. He has conducted 
a series of experiments in the use of stocks. In the following 
extract from his report the problem before him is presented; 
the results will be shown in our next issue: 
The named varieties of plums are always propagated either by graft¬ 
ing or budding. There are great numbers of these budded varieties, 
very different from one another in external characters and cultural re¬ 
quirements, so that a method of propagation or a stock suited to one 
may be totally unsuited to another. A large number of very diverse 
kinds of stocks have been used, also; some of them adapted to one kind 
of plum and some to another. The extent of these diversities will ap¬ 
pear better from the following consideration. 
The cultivated varieties of plums show certain general differences 
sufficiently marked to enable the pemologist to divide them in several 
groups. Each one of these types is so well marked that at some time it 
has been called a species by some botanist. The different distinct groups 
of this sort of which named varieties are propagated in North America 
are as follows: Domestica, Damson, Myrobalan, Japanese, Simon or 
Apricot plum, Americana, Nigra. Miner, Wayland, Wildgoose, Chica- 
saw, Sand plum, Beach plum, Pacific plum and the Western Sand 
cherry* — fifteen in number, besides many hybrids. 
The different sorts of stocks which have been used for plums in 
America are, so far as the writer’s knowledge gees,the following: Horse 
plum, (Domestica), St. Julien, (also Domestica) Myrobalan, Marianna, 
Japanese, Americana, Nigra. Wayland, Chicasaw, Sand plum,Western 
Sand cherry, Choke cherry, Black cherry (Prunus serotina), Peach and 
Apricot,—fifteen in all. 
If each one of these fifteen different groups of plums were to be test¬ 
ed on each of these fifteen sorts of stocks, as they might reasonably be‘ 
—there would be 225 different combinations. The propagation of 
plums indeed has complications. 
Yet these complications have not yet been fully presented. Consider 
that each one of these 225 combinations may be made either by budding 
pr by grafting, and you have 450 different cases to examine. Consider 
that one stock is suited to one soil and another stock to another, with 
each one of these soil adaptations to be determined; consider that cer¬ 
tain stocks thrive in certain climates and fail in others; consider that 
the multitudinous varieties in the several groups named have not al¬ 
ways the same preferences; consider that sundry practical exigencies 
in the nursery are often important factors in the selection of stocks; 
and you begin to get a view of the difficulties involved in determining 
what are the best methods of propagating plums. 
Experiments in the propagation of plums were begun by this station 
in the spring of 1899 . Five varieties were propagated in four lots,each 
on four different stocks. The five varieties represented five distinct 
classes of plums—the most important croups in cultivation—and were 
as follows: 
I. Stoddard, of the Americana group. 
II. Green Gage, of the Domestica group. 
III. Chabot, of the Japanese group. 
1 Y. Milton, of the Wildgoose group. 
Y. Newman, of the Chicasaw group. 
The four different stocks used were as follows: 
a. Americana. Seedlings grown in Iowa. 
b Wayland type. Seedlings grown in Maryland. 
c. Marianna. Cuttings grown in Maryland. 
d. Peach. Seedlings grown in Maryland. 
As each variety was propagated on each stock, this made twenty lots 
in the experiment. The grafts were made by Mr. J. W. Kerr of Den. 
ton, Md., one of the most expert propagators of plums in America 
The work was done by the whip-graft method commonly employed 
with apples. The scions were made about five inches long. The stocks 
were piece roots, of the usual length, that is, about four to five inches. 
The grafts were made in winter, and packed in saw-dust. They 
were set in spring in nursery rows, in Mr. Kerr’s nursery, at Denton. 
The soil there is very sandy and loose, though well enriched with 
manure. An excellent growth was secured from the grafts in this ex¬ 
periment, as from other stock in adjacent rows. The season was fairly 
favorable. Conditions, on the whole, were entirely normal, so that 
there was nothing to interfere with the progress of the experiment. 
From the outset there were striking differences among the different 
lots. These were, of course, very interesting, especially from the 
nurseryman s point of view. At the end of the season these differences 
were still very marked, so much so that it thought worth while to 
make a report of observations. In general, the fruit grower is inter¬ 
ested only in getting a good, sound, healthy, comely tree from the 
nursery, and he cares very little by what methods it is grown. He 
seldom inquires, even, as to what sort of stock the top has been prop¬ 
agated on. Doubtless the tree planter might properly be more care¬ 
ful as to the stocks which he buys with his tree-tops. Doubtless, also, 
the differing influences of different stocks will continue to have some 
influence after the trees are planted in the orchard, and, perhaps, even 
after they come into bearing. With this in view, we have planted the 
best trees of each lot in a permanent orchard on the station grounds at 
Burlington, for future observation; but the experiment in its present 
state of progress is useful principally to the propagator. 
The trees were dug in the spring of 1900 . They were graded and 
measured, and full notes and photographs were made of each lot. 
* The Western Sand cherry Prunus pumiJa besseyi, may bet ailed either a plum 
or a cherry. It is usually handled with the plums by plum growers, hybridized 
with plums by hybridizers, and propagated on or under plums; so that it is al¬ 
most necessary to deal with it in thi* article. 
CAMPBELL’S EARLY GRAPE. 
We received last month from George S. Josselyn, the intro¬ 
ducer of the Campbell’s early grape, a basket of that fruit in 
prime condition. The berries are large and firm, the flavor 
rich. The seeds are small. It is in all respects an excellent 
grape and merits the high praise it has received. The Camp¬ 
bell’s Early ripens with Moore’s Early, but the fruit improves 
greatly two or three weeks later when left on the vines. Mr. 
Josselyn says : 
We have left them on the vines ten weeks after ripening without 
any cracking or shelling and at that time frost had no more effect on 
them than on Clinton. 
This grape is inclined to overbear. If it does so, it will weaken the 
root so it won’t do as well the following year; but it is easier to cut off 
some of the blossoms than it is to put some on to Moore’s Early which is 
a shy bearer. The samples of Campbell’s Early which we sent out two 
years ago were sent at the time Moore’s Early were first being shipped 
and our grape was not ripe or neirly at its best. 
NEW WHITE GRAPE. 
Regarding the new white grape introduced by John Charlton 
& Sons, Rochester, N. Y., Rural New Yorker says: 
The berries and bunches are large and perfectly developed, the skin 
very thin, and filled with a most sweet and refreshing juice. The pulp 
is so nearly absent that the few seeds separate at once, and can be re¬ 
jected without developing any astringency. The color is a pale trans¬ 
parent green, with a heavy white bloom. When Niagara was first sent 
out it was claimed to be equal in quality to foreign grapes, a claim it 
has been far from sustaining as generally marketed. To the taste of 
the Rural people Charlton’s new grape is superior to any of the Vinifera 
varieties in all that stands for delicacy and sprightliness. 
