142 TRANSACTIONS OF THE ILLINOIS 



No. 2 — To crotch, two feet six inches ; circumference at crotch, 

 three feet seven inches ; four limbs, twenty-one, twenty, twenty-three and 

 eighteen inches in circumference. 



No. 3 — To crotch, two feet eight inches ; circumference at crotch, 

 three feet four inches ; four limbs, eighteen, sixteen, twenty-six and 

 twenty-five inches in circumference. 



No. 4 — To crotch, four feet ; circumference at two feet from soil, 

 two feet ten inches ; four limbs, nineteen, twenty-three, twenty, and four- 

 teen inches in circumference. 



No. 5 — To crotch, three feet ; circumference at two feet from soil, 

 three feet five inches ; three limbs, twenty-seven, twenty-one, and twenty- 

 nine inches in circumference. 



The branches will cover a circle of from twenty-five to thirty feet, 

 and the trees are from eighteen to twenty-five feet high. 



Fruit, deep red ; round, from one and one-fourth to one and three- 

 fourths inches in diameter ; firm texture, with rather thick skin ; ripens 

 from last of September to first of October ; quality, better. 



The trunks of the Primus Americana, at thirty years of age, rarely 

 exceed eighteen to twenty-two inches in circumference ; not as large as 

 many of the limbs of the Hinkley. 



"Rural" gives us his experience in his attempts to cultivate the 

 bug varieties of the Plum. What with fungus, rot, curculio, caterpillars, 

 chip traps, and divers other nuisances appertaining to the cultivation of 

 these varieties, he has had a gay old time of it. After a dozen years of 

 failure he has at last concluded to try the Hinkley, and says that his rea- 

 sons for doing so are : 



" Our Galena friends are enthusiastic over it, and I have great confidence in their 

 judgment, as they are among the best horticulturists in the State, and thus far have had 

 no ax-grindmg or disposition to impose on the public. The fruit men of the grand chain 

 and of Alton have generally looked upon the northwest corner of our State as of little 

 value for fruit-growing ; but, with the exception of the Peach, a visit in summer among 

 the hills and valleys of Jo Daviess county will dispel that illusion, for the orchards of the 

 Apple, Pear, Cherry and Plum, and the vineyards, are proofs that nature and art com- 

 bine to show that lead is not the only product of this region." 



We can assure him that if his " confidence" in his Galena friends 

 has prompted him to set out forty Hinkley Plum trees, as he says he has, 

 he will (if they are genuine) realize, when they commence bearing, that 

 he is not a victim to misplaced confidence. We would advise any other 

 man that prefers growing plums to curculio, to follow the example set him 

 by the worthy President of this Society. 



DISCUSSION UPON PLUMS. 



Mr. Greene — I have had a little experience in planting, but not in 

 gathering from the Wild Goose plum, as my trees were not in bearing 

 when I left Tennessee. There is a variety in Tennessee called the Wild 



