STATE POMOLOGICAL SOCIETY. 63 



work and all other lines subservient to it and must always be 

 awake to the opportunities given him for learning the great 

 results of nature and must note and make use of everything of 

 value to him or his coworkers. Observation, study, and industry 

 are the essentials to success. 



Mr. Pope : I have had little experience as compared with 

 some here in the hall but I don't quite agree with Mr. Mayo on 

 varieties. While the Lombard is a great bearer, the quality of 

 the fruit is not equal to quite a number of others, and with me the 

 black knot has worked worse on the Lombard than any other 

 variety I had. If you have any idea of shipping plums to Bos- 

 ton, the Lombard would be rather a poor plum to sell. They 

 want the Green Gage, as we generally speak of it in Maine, but 

 they would call it the Reine Claude. This and the Damson are 

 the plums for the Boston market. The common blue damson 

 is subject to the black knot so that it is almost impossible to raise 

 it, but the little red damson is not affected so badly. I should 

 raise for a table plum for my own eating, first the McLaughlin, 

 secondly perhaps the Empire. 



I agree with him in many points, particularly in the pruning 

 and the thinning. Where trees are grown on soil rich as it 

 should be it certainly is very important that, well, generally one- 

 half or two-thirds of the plums be picked from the trees in order 

 to raise fruit of decent size or good quality, for if the tree is over- 

 loaded you get plums of very poor quality as well as small size. 

 Nearly all varieties of the plum, of course we will except the 

 Japan, nearly all of the European varieties incline to make a 

 heavy growth, shoots three, four, five feet long, very irregular ; 

 therefore every spring go through and cut off one-half of the 

 new growth — keep your trees down — make a good round-shaped 

 top. I made a mistake in the first I set, I didn't trim them at all, 

 the trees went right straight up in the way they will, when heavily 

 loaded the limbs were breaking off. Instead of that, cut off half 

 of that heavy growth, keep your trees short, stocky-growth trees 

 where you can reach them. 



Q. What would Mr.' Pope say in regard to the Satsuma ? 



A. I would say that a great many people will be disappointed 

 in this unless they are acquainted with it, in picking it too early. 

 It makes a very good canning plum but it must remain on the 



