THE PLUMS.
The genus prunus belongs to the rose family and in cludes shrubs and trees with stone fruits. Of the over one hundred species, thirty are native to North Amer ica; but ten of them assume tree form, and all but one are small trees. Related to them are the garden cherries and plums, native to other countries, and the peach, the apricot, and the almond, found in this country only in hor ticultural varieties. The wood of prunus is close-grained,
solid, and durable, and a few of the species are important timber trees. The simplest way to identify a member of the genus is to break a twig at any season of the year and taste the sap. If it is bitter and astringent with hydro cyanic acid (the flavor we get in fresh peach-pits and bitter almonds), we may be sure we have run the tree down to the