Burbank | h | h | h | h | h | h | h | h | h |hh |hh |hh | t Satsuma |hh | h | h |hh | t | h |hh |hh |hh | t | t |hh | t Kelsey | t | ? | t |hh | t | t | t | t | t | t | t | t | t ==================+===+===+===+===+===+===+===+===+===+===+===+===+=== A few general statements in addition to the above table will help to make plain the comparative hardiness of the different groups of cultivated plums. The Nigras may be rated as the hardiest of the plums to be considered though the Americanas are but slightly less hardy. The plums of these species are the hardiest of our tree-fruits and are able to resist nearly as much cold as any other cultivated plant. The Insititias, as represented by the Damsons, at least, come next hardiest after the above species, with varieties of Domestica, as Arctic, Lombard and Voronesh, nearly as hardy. So far as resistance to cold is concerned the Domestica plums as a class are less hardy than the apple, ranking in this respect with the pear. Of the Domesticas the Reine Claude plums are as tender to cold as any though some consider Bradshaw as more tender. Between these last sorts and the hardiest varieties there is a great range in capacity to endure cold, as would be expected with so large a number of varieties originating in widely separated climates. The Triflora plums vary more in hardiness than any other of the cultivated species. Speaking very generally they are less hardy than the Domesticas, the hardiest sorts, Burbank and Abundance, being somewhat hardier than the peach, while the tenderest varieties, of which Kelsey is probably most tender, are distinctly less hardy than the peach. Of the remaining plums, the Hortulana, Munsoniana and Watsoni groups, there are great diversities in opinion as to hardiness. Probably all of the varieties in these last groups are as hardy as the peach with a few sorts in each more hardy than the peach. It is to be expected from the more northern range of the wild prototypes that the Hortulana and Watsoni plums are somewhat hardier than _Prunus munsoniana_. The rainfall is of comparatively small concern to plum-growers in America, since, with now and then an exception, in eastern America it is sufficient under proper cultivation, and on the Pacific Coast the crop is largely grown under irrigation. Summarized statements of annual rainfall are of little or no importance since almost all depends upon the distribution of the amount throughout the year and upon the manner in which it falls. Monthly and seasonal “means” of precipitation, as in the case of temperature, may be of considerable importance in determining the desirability of a locality for plums.