CHE REFERENCE LIBRARY - ZetaTalk

400 THE NURSERY-MANUALlight soils. In the North plum stocks are better. Marianna is usedsouthwards, very likely too freely. Almond stocks, especially forthe French prune and for light soils, are considerably used inCalifornia. The apricot is sometimes employed, but results appearto be poor or indifferent., on the whole. Prunes, which are varietiesof plums, thrive on the above stocks also.Various stocks dwarf the plum. The chief dwarf stock at presentis the myrobalan. This is imported. It is easily grown from seeds,or sometimes from cuttings. Although the myrobalan, like themahaleh cherry, is a slow grower, the dwarfing of the top dependsmore on subsequent pruning than on the root. The mirabelle (aform of P. cera$‘~~a), a foreign stock, is sometimes used. Themany species 0 nat.ive plums, OF the Prwhus amf~ricaruz, P. iWunsonCm~~and P. anguati~dia (Chickasaw) types, are good stocks fordwarf or intermediate trees. In most cases, the: bud or graft growslusuriant.ly for two or three years, and thereafter rather slowly.It is best to bud or graft low on these stocks. Unless the tops arefreely and persistently headed in, however, dwarf plum trees arenot secured. The only exception to this statement seems to be inthe use of the native dwarf cherry st,ocks (Pm~~.us ~~,~m.iZa and P.H~ssqZ’), which have been used in an experiment.al way with muchpromise.The native or American plums are budded on native seedlings, orrarely on Prunus domestica seedlings ; or they are grown fromcuttings, as in tbc case of Marianna.The Japanese plums (Prwnus snli&rm, formerly called P. tr$ora)are worked on peach, common plum, natives, or Marianna. Peachand Marianna are mostly used, but seedlings of the Japanese kindsshould be preferable. Peach is probably preferable t,o Marianna.Prwus Si~oGi works on peach, common plum, myrobalan andlHarianna, chiefly on the first.The ornamental plums are worked on the same stocks as thefruit-bearing sorts. See Pr~rnu~.Plums (like cherries) can be top-grafted the same as apples, butthe cions must be kept completely dormant. It is preferable tograft very early in the spring.Plumbago (Eeadwort). Plum baginacece.Propagated by seeds, division and cuttings. The cuttings aremade from nearly mature wood, taken either in autumn from plantsgrowing in the open or in the spring from stock plants.