312 STATE HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 



Plum-trees get tboir growth in about eight years. I prefer to plant 

 them 12x18 feet. Trees budded or grafted on peach should have the 

 same treatment as peach-trees, and be planted on soil suitable for peach. 

 On the plum-root they will succeed on lower land. The trees do not 

 need much pruning, much more than the cherry, but nearly as much as 

 the peach. The pruning should be done while the trees are small. 



My experience in testing new varieties of plums and seedlings has 

 proven unprofitable. I believe more failures have been made in the 

 planting of plum-trees than any other tree, because the person has 

 not been posted on what varieties to plant, to make money out of 

 them, and the varieties suitable to this latitude and such variety as will 

 fertilize themselves. 



Caddo Chief is the first to ripen, but late frosts often kill them ; 

 they are too small for market. 



* The Wild Goose ripens three weeks later and is the most profitable 



of all varieties. Miner and Weaver are much like the Wild Goose 



and are profitable. Crimson Beauty is about two weeks later and is 



one of the best bearers I have. It is somewhat smaller than Wild 



Goose, but better for preserves. Brown's Late is a shy bearer. Golden 



Beauty is one of the latest to lipen and is less subject to the attacks 



of the cnrculio than any of them. It is a great bearer and liable to 



over-bear, and is liable to crack open after a rain, like the Janet apple. 



Blue Damson is a shy bearer ; Mariana is a failure. Abundance has not 



been bearing long enough with me to speak positively, but I think it 



has come to stay. 



A great many other varieties have been tested, but I have found 

 no value in any of them. 



Experience has taught me to plant not only plum but apple also in 

 alternate rows so they will be sure to be well fertilised. I believe the 

 mixture of pollen is just what they need, and often rains interfere with 

 the spreading of the pollen and so it is a good plan to have varieties 

 mixed so that one may help to fertilize the other. 



THE CUROULIO. 



I have done very little of it myself, but have watched my neigh- 

 bors closely ; it should be done as soon as the bloom drops. 



I prefer jarring in the early morning and let the hogs eat up the 

 fallen fruit. They soon learn to follow me as I jar each tree and 

 quickly eat the plums. They destroy ten times as many insects in the 

 plum as in the apple. Saw off a limb to have the stub to strike against. 

 Where hogs and poultry are not allowed' in the orchard, the plums 



