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.

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.

 

Authors

 

Shahrokh Khanizadeh For more informations on his productivity click here.	Johanne Cousineau For more informations click here.

Reviewers

The final version of the cultivar descriptions was reviewed by Bill Lay and Frank Eady.

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.

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.

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.

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.