Our
Plums
Abstract
"Our
Plums" is a very comprehensive illustrated book of plum
varieties. It describes over 80 plum varieties using
information collected for many years from the Agriculture
and Agri-Food Canada experimental growing sites in La
Pocatiere (Quebec), Frelighsburg (Quebec) and Ottawa
(Ontario); it also includes some information gathered from
the published scientific literature. The book is a
valuable reference for plum breeders, scientists
interested in plum culture, growers and home gardeners.
The information on hardiness and ripening dates is
invaluable for those who live in colder climates and for
those with shorter growing seasons. The presence of
numerous images throughout the book and a good written
description of all the cultivars will help in the
identification of unknown plum trees. There are symbols
that can help the reader to quickly determine the origin
of plums (American, European, Japanese or hybrids) and
help in finding cultivars that are hardy, self-fruitful,
freestone or those that can be dried to make prunes.
Information on over 250 plum cultivars can be obtained
from Pedigree, A Genetic Resource Inventory System. This
computer program was developed to trace characteristics,
view images and draw pedigrees of 37 different types of
horticultural fruit crops.
Our Plums is the result of observations and data collected
between 1900 and 2000 at three Agricultural and Agri-Food
Canada research stations: the Central experimental farm in
Ottawa (latitude: 45.3832, longitude: -75.7182), the La
Pocatière station (latitude: 47.3624, longitude:-69.9951)
and the Frelighsburg sub-station (latitude 45.0465,
longitude:-72.7837), which is associated with the
Horticulture Research and Development Center in
St-Jean-sur-Richelieu. There are presently no research
stations studying plum culture or conducting plum breeding
experiments in the province of Quebec. However there is
some local interest in plum culture from growers and
others such as the 'Maison de la prune' located in
Saint-André-de-Kamouraska. This establishment is under
the supervision of Paul-Louis Martin and his wife Marie de
Blois. Most of the plum research and breeding for eastern
Canada is now being conducted at the Horticultural
Research Institute of Ontario in Vineland (part of the
Ontario Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs).
Information on cultural practices and new plum varieties
can be obtained from the above sources.
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- Introduction
- Plums have
never been cultivated extensively in Quebec due to
their lack of winter hardiness and their
susceptibility to pests and diseases. The first
documentation on plum culture in eastern Canada that
we found dated back to 1925 and was entitled "Plum
Culture and District Lists of Plums suitable for
Canada". This document was written by W.T. Macoun,
Dominion Horticulturist, and published under the
direction of the Hon. W.R. Motherwell, Minister of
Agriculture, Ottawa. It contained results from
experiments with plums and brief descriptions of the
plums that were grown at the Central experimental farm
in Ottawa starting in 1888. Over 120 plum cultivars
(24 European, 65 American, 8 Canadian, 2 Miner, 1
Wayland-like and 27 hybrids) were described in the
W.T. Macoun publication. By 1900, the total number of
plum cultivars tested at the Central experimental farm
reached 341 and a list of recommended plum cultivars
was released. Some of the promising cultivars were
planted at the La Pocatière (Quebec) research station
in early 1970 and evaluated by several research
scientists including R.L. Granger, A. Frève and J.Y.
Fournier. At a later date, another orchard was
established at the Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada
sub-station in Frelighsburg (Quebec). Some of the
results obtained in the Quebec orchards were published
in Fruit Varieties Journal [46(3):183-186] under the
title "Performance of several plums in the lower
St. Lawrence region of Quebec" by R.L. Granger,
A. Frève, J.Y. Fournier, M. Meheriuk, S. Khanizadeh
and G. Tehrani. It is interesting to note that part of
the information provided in Our Plums, such as the
flowering date, productivity and pest and disease
susceptibility, dates from between 1900 and 1960. This
information was obtained from hand written data
collected at the Central experimental farm in Ottawa.
Further information was obtained from the work of
numerous people (J.Y. Fournier, M.A. Pelletier, M.
Auger, R.L. Granger and A. Frève) who conducted
research in La Pocatiere from 1970 to 1989.
Photographs and additional information were obtained
during 1995-2000 from the orchard established in
Frelighsburg.
Most of the plum research and breeding for eastern
Canada is now being conducted at the Horticultural
Research Institute of Ontario in Vineland, which is
part of the Ontario Ministry of Agriculture and Rural
Affairs. This institute, under the leadership of
researchers such as G. Tehrani and B. Lay, has been
responsible for the release of several new plum
cultivars including: Veeblue, Voyageur, Victory,
Valerie and Vanette.
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Authors
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- Shahrokh
Khanizadeh
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- Johanne Cousineau
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Reviewers
The
final version of the cultivar descriptions was reviewed by
Bill Lay and Frank Eady.
Bill
Lay |
Mr.
Bill Lay obtained a
technologist diploma in forestry at Sir Sanford Fleming College in Lindsay (Ontario) in
1971, and immediately started working with the Ontario Ministry of Agriculture and Rural
Affairs at the Horticultural Research Institute of Ontario, Vineland Station, Ontario. He
worked in a technical role, assisting Gus Tehrani with the evaluation of cherry and plum
selections and has been directly involved in the introduction of several sweet cherries
(Viva, Vogue, Viscount, Vandalay, Tehranivee) and plums
(Veeblue, Voyageur, Victory,
Valerie and Vanette). |

Technical
assistants
Yvon
Groleau
We are thankful for the
technical assistance provided by Mr. Yvon Groleau in the preparation of the items for
photography and in the collection of data. Yvon Groleau obtained a technologist diploma in
fruit and vegetable horticulture from the Institut de Technologie Agricole in
Saint-Hyacinthe, Quebec in 1974. From 1974 to 1981, he worked as a technician in
tobacco physiology. He is presently employed at the AAFC station in
St-Jean-sur-Richelieu as a technician specializing in the genetics and physiology of apple
and strawberry crops. |
Audrey
Levasseur
Technical
assistance was provided by Audrey Levasseur for the
collection and preparation of leaf and fruit samples
used in the photos that appear in this book. Ms.
Levasseur graduated from Dawson College in Montreal
with a diploma in Social Sciences in 1994. During
the summers of 1995-1996, she worked as a farm
labourer at the Cedar Creek Estate Winery in British
Columbia. With a new found appreciation of the
agricultural domain, she went on to obtain a
technician`s diploma in fruit and vegetable
production from the Institut de technologie
Agro-Alimentaire de La Pocatière graduating in
1998. In summer of 1998, she returned to the Estate
as a part of work study program to further her
knowledge in farm management. Upon the completion of
her studies, she worked as a eco-counsellor for an
agro-environmental consultant group which catered to
producers. As a part of her functions as an
eco-counsellor, she attended a continuing education
program on new innovative techniques in soil
conservation. In mai of 1999, she joined our
research team as a technician and is presently
working on strawberries, apples and grapes,
collecting data on known cultivars and new
selections. |
Martin
Gauthier
In 1997, he
obtained a Bachelor of Science from the Université
du Québec à Montréal in biology, with a minor in
ecology. During his studies he participated in
several campaigns which he helped to raise awareness
amongst fishermen about toxin levels in St. Lawrence
river, orchestrated by the Société pour Vaincre la
Pollution, a non-profit organization. He was
essential for the production of brochures and maps
showing the areas with the highest levels of toxins
and their accumulation in different species of fish.
He became particularly interested in plants while
working on a reforestation project in the
Saguenay/Lac Saint-Jean region. In April 1998 he
joined our research team. He is presently working on
the evaluation of new apple and rootstock selections
while continuing the scanning electron microscopy of
pollen of other fruit species.
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Diane Montpetit
We appreciate the methodology and help provided by
Diane Montpetit for the electron microscopy of the
pollen samples. Mrs. Montpetit obtained a master's
degree from Laval University (Quebec) in 1986 and a
certificate in electron microscopy from the Seneca
College of Applied Arts and Technology in Toronto in
1987. She taught electron microscopy at Cegep
Ste-Foy and was responsible for the microscopy
laboratory of the Faculty of forestry of Laval
University from 1987 to 1989. She is presently in
charge of the electron microscopy unit of the Centre
de recherche et de développement sur les aliments
in St-Hyacinthe.
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Michel Auger
Michel Auger collected some of the data on plum
culture from La Pocatière. M. Auger obtained a
technologist diploma from the Institut de
Technologie Agricole in La Pocatiere, Quebec, in
1978. He joined Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada (AAFC)
in 1978 as a team leader responsible for the field
labourers working with vegetables at the
Ste-Chlotilde sub-station. He worked with forage
plants and in fruit tree research at the La
Pocatière station from 1979 to 1984 and on the
phytopathology and breeding of potato from 1984 to
1997. He was the area representative for the Réseau
des Plantes Ligneuses Ornementales du Québec from
1997 to 1999. He has been a technician in ornamental
horticulture at the AAFC station of
St-Jean-sur-Richelieu since 1999, specializing in
rose breeding, multiplication techniques and
hardiness testing.
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Shapour Khanizadeh
Last
but not least, we are grateful to Mr. Shapour
Khanizadeh for the hand-painted diagrams (fruit cross-section,
fruit shapes, tree shapes) shown at the beginning of this book. Shapour
is a designer and artist who prepares custom-made
diagrams, paintings and portraits to be used in
pamphlets, brochures, advertising materials, etc.
His gallery is located at 470 Beaurepaire Dr.,
Beaconsfield, Quebec, H9W 3C5.
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