Plumbago

3761

Plymouth

ed soils. The plum orchard requires clean cul-
tivation during the early part of the season,
followed by a cover crop the latter half. All
native and most Japanese varieties are sell
sterile, and in order to insure fruitfulness va-
rieties must be mixed in the orchard. Firm,
sweet-fleshed varieties of plums that can be
successfully cured aie called prunes. These
arc extensively grown in the Pacific States,
where favorable conditions exist for drying
them.

Plum.
i, Section of fruit.

Plumbago, a genus of plants belonging to
the order Plumbaginaceas. Most of the spe-
cies require greenhouse cultivation. P. capensis
is a beautiful dwarf greenhouse climber, with
pale-blue flowers in summer and autumn.

Plumbing, a general term covering the
tanks, pipes, traps, fittings and fixtures in a
building for conveying water and for the dis-
posal of sewage. It is applied, also, to the trade
concerned with the installation of such equip-
ment. Any plumbing system includes a water
supply system and a drainage system.

Plumule, the end of the axis of the infant
plant (destined to develop into the stem) as
distinguished from the other end.

Plunket, William Conyngham, First
BARON PLUNKET (1764-1854), British states-
man, became a peer and Chief Justice (1827);
and was Lord Chancellor of Ireland (1830-
41). Consult Memoir by How.

Phmkett, Sir Horace Curzon (1854-
1932), Irish public official, was educated at
Eton and at Oxford. From 1879 to 1889 he
was engaged in cattle ranching in the western
United States and on his return to Ireland was
active in promoting agricultural cooperation.

His publication? include Noblesse Oblige: an
Irish Rendering dooS); The Rural Life Prob-
lem, of the United States (1910); A Better
Way: an Appeal to Ulster not to Desert Ire-
land (1914).

Plush. See Fabrics, Textile.

Plutarch, ancient Greek biographer, was
born about 40 A.D. He visited Italy, and lec-
tured at Rome on philosophy during Domi-
tian's reign. His Parallel Lives are the lives of
46 famous Greeks and Romans, arranged in
pairs for comparison; each pair consisting of
a Greek and a Roman. He wrote other Lives
also, which have not come down to us.

Pluto, the gth major planet of the solar
system, of the i4th to i5th magnitude. The
existence of this body had been predicted in
1915 by the late Professor Percival Lowell, in
his Memoir on a Trans-Neptunian Planet. The
actual discovery was made in March, 1930,
by Clyde \V. Tombaugh, a 24-year-old assist-
ant at the Lowell Observatory at Flagstaff,
Arizona. The event created a great sensation,
and it was reported that years of study would
be needed to determine the facts. Consult H.
N. Russell, More About Pluto (Scientific Am-
erican, Dec. 1930).

Pluto, in ancient Greek mythology, the god
of the lower regions, called by Homer Hades.
He married Persephone, the daughter of Dem-
eter (Ceres), after forcibly carrying her off.
for which act her mother refused to allow the
fruits of the earth to grow until her daughter
was permitted to return to the upper world
for a part of each year.

Pluvius, cthe rainy/ a title given by the
ancient Romans to Jupiter, as the giver of
rain.

Plymouth, municipal, parliamentary, and
county borough and important seaport, Eng-
land. Northeast of the Hoe is Sutton Pool, an
inlet of the Sound, from which the 'Mayflow-
er' sailed in 1620. Plymouth has a large for-
eign and coasting trade and is the point of de-
parture for many passenger vessels to all parts
of the world.

Plymouth, town, Massachusetts, county
seat of Plymouth co., on Plymouth Bay. It is
a summer resort and the oldest town in Massa-
chusetts, the landing place of the Pilgrims
from the Mayflower in 1620. One of the chief
objects of interest in the town is Plymouth
Rock, taken from the place of landing. Burial
Hill and Cole's Hill contain the graves of early
settlers, and there are many historic houses
Plymouth is also an important center; p. 13,-
100. The town celebrated its tercentenary with
a pageant, widely attended, in 1920. Consult