STATE POMOLOGICAL SOCIETY. 59 



Davis in the foreign markets, and if the sales are followed it will 

 be seen there has been a decided gain in favor of the Maine fruit. 

 In not a few cases Baldwins and Greenings have led the Missouri 

 Ben Davis. In the end he believed quality would lead, and then 

 it would not pay to grow any others. He urged honest packing 

 and called attention to the Canadian law bearing upon this sub- 

 ject. He did not know how the law was going to work, but if 

 it would make people mark their fruit as it was packed it would 

 be of great advantage. 



PLUM CULTURE. 



By E. R. Mayo, Manchester. 



When this topic was first mentioned I thought that our secre- 

 tary had made two mistakes, one in the person to whom the 

 assignment was made, and the other in the choice of that partic- 

 ular topic, plum culture, for we have just seen the discouraging 



• 



sight of bushels of plums being wasted for lack of a market; 

 but after further thought I concluded the topic was a timely one, 

 and that there were some lessons to be learned from our experi- 

 ence as plum growers this season. One conclusion arrived at 

 by me is that there is a demand for more fruit than we are 

 able to supply, but we must look more closely after the matter 

 of the distribution of the crop. Some sections were unable to 

 use all the plums put upon the market, while other sections were 

 left with no fruit or a meager supply. Of course every one 

 present today knows how to cultivate fruit trees of all varieties, 

 and some doubtless put that knowledge into active use, but the 

 successful methods in use in plum culture differ somewhat from 

 those usually employed in growing other fruits. Plum trees will 

 thrive in almost any soil, provided proper drainage is afforded, 

 either naturally or artificially. 



In selecting trees choose those which are not more than two 

 years of age, and one-year trees are even better. Plums may 

 be set from ten to fifteen feet apart, according to the habit of 

 growth of the variety set. If an upright grower, the nearer they 

 can be placed the better success, but if of a spreading habit of 

 growth they must be allowed more room. Now I approach a 



