Arizona republican., 1891-04-10
--sa.-.---.----.- PROPER SELECTION.
Some Remarks About Adapting Wild
 Plu,ns to Coast Climates.

Some Remarks About Adapting Wild
 Plums to Coast Climates.
 This coast is flooded with catalogues of Eastern seedmen and nurservmen. Seedmen have right to seek trade any where they can fndit. And we have the unalienable right to buy of whom we please. The trouble is that the ignorant buyer often gets what is to him worse than nothing for his money. The East ern see6men and nurserymen are prob ably upright and honorable business men. The trouble and loss is generally through the ignorance of the buyer.
 Let us take up plums for example. People on the other side of the Rockies are so unfortunate in their climate that plums with them are difficult thing to grow. All over the Atlantic slope they have little bug (beetle) known as the plum curculio, which leads the plum grower life of endless misery. Left to itself this past destroys every fruit of the fine European or garden plums and prunes, nectarines and in many To- calities large share of the peach crop, and does great injury to all fruits by laying eggs in them. The maggot feeds on the pulp. It is very difficult to control. If it was not for the work of this beetle the Atlantic slope would have little use for our plums and prunes. The climate of vast sections of that country is fine for these fruits.
 All over the great prairie states and the Northwest the winter climate is too severe for the garden plum and it cannot be grown. But it is being learned that the native plums of those regions can withstand the cold of winter and to great extent is proofagainst injury from the plum curculio. There are some good and useful fruits among these wild plums and they are easily improved by growing them from seeds and selections. These, as compared with our garden plums, are small, but of sharp acid and often very fine flavor. They are exceed ingly fine eaten fresh and for canning, jellies and jams. For these purposes some of the newer varieties of wild stock are not one whit behiSd our choice plums except in size. There is good req son to expect larger and better plums from them than are found among the European native stock. As wild fruit they greatly surpass any of the wild European sorts from which the garden plums sprung. The growers have not yet surpassed the European plums but when they get variety that is fine for plum of their class, they praise it to the skies and make great noise about it with artistically colored Autographs and our coast fruit grower often dispatches his coin for something he soon finds he has no use for. He also probably finds that he has planted last ing nuisance in his orchard. Most of these plums if on their own roots throw up hundreds of suckers that are difficult to subdue.
 We have no practical use for other varieties than we already have. In fact we now have too many. With some of the other fruits it is different. Those with means should procure and test the best winter apples of the South Atlantic and Gulf states. In those sections can undoubtedly be found apple varieties of great value to us, especially for Califor- mia and Arizona. The climate of west ern Washington and Oregon near the coast should suit the fruit varieties of England and the coast regions of Bel- gium. Eastern Oregon, Washington and Idaho should plant the fruits best adapted to Iowa, Minnesota, Wisconsin, Canada and the northern New England states. The hardy native plums of the East should do we'll in many parts of Idaho. And both these and the hardier of the Southern native plums in Nevada and the mountainous and colder parts of Arizona. California and Arizona should find valuable fruits in Northern China and Corea.