U. P. Hedrick

“ Though not a leading variety, Quackenboss is a prominent one in the list of commercial sorts for New York. Its fruits possess to a high degree the characters which make a good market plum; they are of large size, averaging nearly an inch and a half in diameter; round-oval, a better shape for the markets than the prune shapes; very prepossessing in color—a handsome, dark purple with heavy bloom; the flesh is tender and juicy with a sweet, pleasant flavor making it one of the good purple plums, though not one of the best in quality. ”

“ THE POLLINATION OF PLUMS.
One of the discouragements in plum-growing is the uncertainty which attends the setting of the fruit in some varieties even though the trees bear an abundance of blossoms. Blooming, the prelude of fruiting, had little significance to the fruit-grower until the discovery was made that many varieties of several fruits were unable to fertilize themselves and that failures of fruit crops were often due to the planting of infertile varieties. ”

“ The plum in which the world is chiefly interested is the Old World Prunus domestica. The Domestica plums are not only the best known of the cultivated plums, having been cultivated longest and being most widely distributed, but they far surpass all other species, both in the quality of the product and in the characters which make a tree a desirable orchard plant. How much of this superiority is due to the greater efforts of man in domesticating the species cannot be said, for the natural history of this plum, whether wild or under cultivation, is but poorly known. ”

“ Fruit intermediate in time and length of ripening season; about one and one-half inches in diameter, roundish or roundish-oval, dull yellowish-green becoming greenish-yellow at full maturity, mottled and indistinctly blushed on the sunny side, overspread with thin bloom; skin thin, slightly sour; flesh light golden-yellow, juicy, fibrous, firm, sweet, pleasant in flavor; good to very good; stone dark colored, free or nearly so, seven-eighths inch by one-half inch in size, oval, with thickly pitted surfaces; ventral suture blunt or with a short, narrow wing; dorsal suture wide, shallow. ”

“ Burbank the proportion of really valuable commercial ones seems now to be small, but what he has done cannot be measured by money values; he has awakened universal interest in plant-breeding; has demonstrated that things unheard of before his time can be done with plants; and, all in all, his contributions in new forms of plants to horticulture and agriculture, in their intrinsic and educational value, make him the master worker of the times in improving plants. ”

“ Grown under favorable conditions and when fully ripe, it is a golden-yellow with a delicate blush and bloom, large for a plum in the Reine Claude group, a well-turned oval in shape, withal one of the handsomest plums. The color-plate maker did not do it justice. It fails as a market variety because the trees are late in coming in bearing, not always certain in bearing, a little particular as to soils and not quite hardy though one of the hardiest of all Reine Claudes. Both tree and fruit are too delicate for the market-grower and the market-men. ”

“ The great variety of plums and the variability of the kinds, seemingly plastic in all characters, the general distribution of the fruit throughout the zone in which is carried on the greatest part of the world’s agriculture, and the adaptation of the several species and the many varieties, to topographical, soil and climatic changes, make this fruit not only one of much present importance but also one of great capacity for further development. ”

“ The flowers are white, fading to rose and borne abundantly, making the plant an attractive ornamental in blooming time as it is also in the autumn when the foliage turns to brilliant red, scarlet or crimson with touches of yellow. The fruit is sometimes so poor in quality as to be inedible but on the other hand is sometimes quite equal to some of the cultivated plums, especially in its botanical variety, Kelloggii.
That the fruit is capable of improvement by the selection of seedling varieties and useful in hybridizing with other species can hardly be doubted. ”

“ The European species are tender both to cold and heat in these regions and they are attacked by those scourges of plum culture, black-knot, leaf-blight and curculio. If, then, the people in the West and South were to have plums at hand when wanted, the wild species had to be brought under cultivation. Where the two will grow side by side it is doubtful if any would choose to grow the Americanas in preference to the Europeans or even for the sake of variety. ”

“ Its great popularity, gained in less than a quarter of a century, is due to much advertising by nurserymen coupled with such intrinsic qualities as large size, the true prune shape which seems most pleasing in some markets, handsome plum-purple and more than all else a firm, meaty flesh which fits the variety excellently for shipping. The flavor, as seems most often to be the case with these large blue plums, is not pleasant and the plum is not more than a second rate dessert fruit though it is very good in whatever way cooked for the table. ”

“ Climatic conditions determine the culture of the plum not only for a region but for a locality; not only as to whether it is possible to grow plums at all but as to whether this fruit can be grown with reasonable prospects of commercial success in competition with other localities. The constituents of climate which are important in plum-growing are temperature, rainfall and air currents, the last two being largely dependent upon the first. ”

“ Wild Goose is the first of the native plums to be generally grown as a distinct variety though Miner was first known and named. Wild Goose, too, is probably a parent of more sorts than any other variety of the several cultivated native species, most of its offspring so strongly resembling it that its name has been given to a group of its closely related sorts. In spite of the great number of native plums that have been introduced in recent years, Wild Goose is still a favorite—probably more trees of it are now cultivated than of any other native plum. ”

“ Domestica plums now occupy in America is due, perhaps, to the fact that they do not possess in as high degree as the fruits named above the power of adaptation to the trans-Atlantic environment. Without question the feature of environment most uncongenial to plums in America is the climate. The plum thrives best in an equable climate like that of eastern and southern Europe and of western America, and cannot endure such extremes of heat and cold, wet and dry, as are found in parts of eastern America and in the Mississippi Valley. ”

“ Some disadvantages are that they blossom so early as to be often caught by spring frosts; they are quite subject to brown-rot; for most part they are tenacious clingstones; the species, all in all, is less hardy to cold than the Domestica plums; lastly, they are inferior in quality to the varieties from Europe. The last fault is so serious that, though the average for the Triflora plums is high, making them unquestionably more desirable inhabitants of the orchard than any of the native species, they cannot compete with the Domesticas where the two types can be equally well grown. ”

“ The genus Prunus is preeminent in horticulture, furnishing all of the so-called stone-fruits, fruits which for variety, delicious flavor and beauty of appearance, probably surpass those of any other genus, and which, fresh or dried, are most valuable human foods. The seeds of one of the fruits belonging to Prunus, the almond, are commercially important, both for direct consumption and for the oil which is pressed from them; in India a similar oil is obtained from the seeds of peaches and apricots, while in Europe an oil from the seeds of the Mahaleb cherry is used in making perfumes. ”

“ The foliage of Field is very good, it ripens its wood well and begins to bear while young, but it is inclined to a biennial bearing habit which makes the average in quantity of fruit a little too low for a market plum which Field is, if worth planting at all. A good quality of this variety is that it withstands the brown-rot very well. It is doubtful if Field is worthy of a place in the fruit-growing regions of New York, unless, perhaps, where a plum of the Bradshaw type, but a little earlier, is wanted. Like Bradshaw, Field is comparatively little attacked by San José scale. ”

“ Plum-growers very generally recognize the several distinct and valuable purposes which cover-crops serve in orchards. They protect the tree from root-killing, from cold, keep the soil from washing, add humus and, with legumes, nitrogen to the soil, modify the physical structure of the soil and hasten seasonal maturity of the tree. There is one other function which is not so often taken into account. Plum orchards in which cover-crops are regularly grown, even though the crop be not a legume, need less fertilizers than those in which no such crop is grown. ”

“ Arch Duke ought to become one of the leading plums for the market in New York. The qualities which fit it for a high place among commercial varieties are: large size, handsome color—a rich, dark purple with thick bloom—and firmness of flesh and skin so that it both keeps and ships well. The accompanying color-plate does not do the variety justice, either in beauty, color or size of fruit. Arch Duke compared with Grand Duke, known by all plum-growers, is nearly as large, neck thicker, the same color, bloom heavier, quality higher, flesh firmer, stone free and ripens earlier. ”

“ Investigations as to the self-sterility of pears, plums and grapes have shown blossoming-time to be one of the most important life periods of these fruits. The knowledge obtained by workers in this field has to some degree modified the planting of all orchard-fruits and of none more than of the plums. Indeed, it is held by many that it is hardly safe to plant any excepting the Domestica and Insititia plums without provision for cross-pollination.
A variety is in need of cross-pollination when the pollen from its own blossoms does not fecundate the ovules of the variety. ”

“ A species, for example, is either shrubby or tree-like. Yet under varying environment, size of plant and of the parts of the plant, are probably the first to change. Habit of growth is nearly as important as size and varies but little under changing conditions. A species or variety may be upright, spreading, drooping or round-topped in growth; head open or dense; the tree rapid or slow-growing. ”

“ A tree rather better suited to the orchard than other varieties of Prunus americana having little of the waywardness of most sorts of its species and somewhat the manner of growth of the European plums. The trees, too, are enormously productive, so much so that in many cases their vitality is weakened by over-bearing unless thinned. The fruits of De Soto, while not as large nor as brilliantly colored as some of the Americanas, are not surpassed by any of the native plums in quality and keep and ship as well as any. The variety becomes, therefore, a market sort of value in some regions. ”

“ No pure Apricots or pure Plums are produced, but every possible variety and every possible combination and all qualities are brought out strongly. The range of colors is astonishing,—some new combinations of colors never before seen in fruits have been produced. The best California judges of fruits—the great growers and shippers—have pronounced some of these varieties the best fruit ever produced on this earth. Most of these fruits have a beautiful downy skin—many of them smooth—flesh orange, yellow, white, crimson or green ”

“ Early Orleans has been planted very little in America and then chiefly because of its reputation in Europe. While it appears to be a very good plum in most respects as it grows on the Station grounds, being attractive in appearance, of good flavor, a freestone and firm enough to ship well, it surpasses in none of these characters and the fruit is so small as to make it a poor competitor among the purple plums of its season. It does not deserve the reputation in America that pomologists have given it in Europe. ”

“ Besides making most excellent prunes, the Agen is a very good dessert plum—one of the best—and ought to be in every home orchard and, where it attains sufficient size, in every commercial plantation. Lack of size is the defect in this variety which has kept it from being more largely grown outside of prune-making regions. If by pruning, thinning and other cultural treatment the size of the plums could be increased, the Agen should prove a valuable commercial fruit in New York. ”

“ A well developed local market is undoubtedly the best selling place for the plum producer, as in it the sales are directly to the consumer, eliminating expensive middlemen. The westward spread of manufacturing industries, the workers in which use up the western-grown fruit, is making better local markets for eastern plums, a point worth noting, for many New York plum-growers have ceased planting, indeed have been removing trees, fearing western competition. ”

“ From the fruit-grower’s standpoint, Golden Beauty is of little interest. The plums are so small and the quality so poor that the variety is not worth planting either for the home or for money-making. It is true that the firm, juicy fruits are very good for table use, in jellies in particular, and that they may be shipped long distances, but these characters cannot offset the handicap of small size and poor quality. ”

“ The modifications within the species are oftentimes such as to change greatly the aspect of the plant; the trees may be dwarf or luxuriant, smooth or pubescent; may differ in branching habit, in leaf-form, in size and color of the flowers, in the time of opening of leaf and flower-buds, in color, shape, size, flesh, flavor and time of ripening of fruit, in the stone and in all such characters as climate and soil environment would be liable to modify. ”

“ The great defect in handling the crop is, that there are too many men and too much machinery to do the work cheaply—moreover, the risks of depreciation are great, and the fruit is not handled on a large scale chiefly because of a lack of capital by the grower or local buyer. These defects in the present distribution of plums in New York make the price received by the grower about half that paid by the consumer and the selling of the crop a more or less speculative business. ”

“ The near affinity of the stone-fruits is further shown by the fact that plums and apricots, plums and cherries, and the several species of each of the distinct fruits inter-hybridize without much difficulty. It is a fact well-known that hybrids often surpass their parents in vigor of plant and in productiveness and this has proved true with most of the hybrids in Prunus of which we have accounts, thereby giving promise of improved forms of these plants through hybridizing. The great variation in wild and cultivated native plums is possibly due to more or less remote hybridity. ”

“ It is, however, now probably equalled in quality by several of the great number of similar varieties which have originated in America and for which American plum-growing is justly distinguished. Under ordinary cultivation the Reine Claude is not a remarkably handsome plum but when grown on thrifty trees, the crop thinned, foliage and fruit kept free from pests and the fruits sufficiently exposed to the sun to color well, it is a beautiful fruit, its size, form and color all adding to its beauty. ”

“ The plum is now thriving in New York, and in the country at large, in a great diversity of soils. The chief requisite for the genus in general seems to be good drainage. Given this condition, some sort of plums can be grown on almost any soil found in America not wholly prohibitive of plant growth. Plums can be found which will stand rather more water than any other of the tree-fruits, and since plums can be grafted on several stocks, each having its own adaptation to soils, the adaptability of the genus is still further increased. ”

“ A discussion of fertilizers naturally follows. Present practices in the use of fertilizers with the plum, as with other fruits, are very diverse. It is impossible to ascertain what considerations have governed the applications of fertilizers in the plum orchards of New York or what the results have been. Too often, it is to be feared, fertilizers have been used as “cure-alls” for any or all of the ills to which trees are heirs. Out of the mass of conflicting data as to the effects of fertilizers on plums, the most apparent fact is that much of the fertilizers for this fruit is wasted ”

“ So many good plums have been introduced both at home and abroad in the last few decades that a sort dating back nearly a century must be meritorious, indeed, to stand the competition. As Wales grows in New York, it is rather too poor in quality to recommend it for a home variety and the plums are too small, as they generally grow, for a good commercial fruit. ”