STATE HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. G9 



by exposure to the air than that of the apple. Also great care is required in keeping 

 them, from the time that they arc grafted until set out, as they are more liable to bo 

 Injured by having the packing material either too damp or too dry. The scions should 

 be cut in the fall and carefully kept until wanted. For although if left on the tree 

 they will grow and appear to have suffered no injury from the winter, because they 

 are nonribhed by the full flow of sap of an established tree, yet the winter cold will so 

 far destroy their vitality that they will not grow when root-grafted. 



WHY DO YOU PREFER THE MAZZARD STOCK ? 



I prefer it to the Morillo on account of its comparative freedom from suckers from 

 the roots. I know of no advantage in this latitude, and in our soil (a winter wheat 

 soil) in the use of the Morello stock. If the Mazzard stock is placed under the surface, 

 it docs not winter-kill with me. For this reason I prefer a root-grafted tree to one 

 that is bedded on the Mazzard or even on the Mahaleb, as I have had them to winter- 

 kill. My trees bear as young as I think a tree ought to bear, and if not injured by 

 6pring frost they bear as abundantly as could be expected of any tree. I have not 

 Uoed the Mahaleb stock to any extent ; from what I have seen of it, 1 judge it to be a 

 more rapid grower than the Early Richmond, and even if it were not so, I think it is 

 not desirable to dwarf the Early Richmond tree, as it does not make a large tree, 

 and dwarfing is not needed to make it fruitful. 



Lucius C. Francis, of Springfield, read an essay on 



THE PLUM. 



In this essay I shall endeavor to be brief but practical, giving largely the result of my 

 own experience, which may, perhaps, be sufficient apology for the frequent use of the 

 pronoun I. 



Downing, in his Fruit and Fruit Trees of America, describes three species of wild plum 

 indigenous to this country. 1st. The Chickasaw. This species grows very plentifully in 

 our river bottoms — it is generally known as the Sloe. The tree, as well as fruit, is quite 

 distinct from the common wild plum. The leaves of the former have a delicacy of tex- 

 ture, which, with their shape, somewhat resembling that of the peach, make it very easy 

 to distinguish it from the common wild. The fruit is also less affected by the sting of 

 the Curculio. 2d. Wild Red or Yellow Plum. This is the Wild Plum so common Id our 

 woods. 3d. "The Beach or Sand Plum. A low shrub with stout straggling branches, 

 found mostly on the sandy sea coast from Massachusetts to Virginia, aud seldom ripen- 

 ing well elsewhere." 



PROPAGATION. 



The 6eeds of the Chickasaw or Sloe, and Common Wild, both make good stocks, 

 though my own preference is for the Sloe. I have not been able to detect any difference 

 cither in visior or hardiness in trees grown on either of them. The seeds should be 

 planted as soon as gathered, or put awaj in boxes with alternate layers of sand or earth, 

 and planted in the spring. They should be kept somewhat moist, so as to germinate 

 readily. My own practice is to sow very thick in drills a foot apart, and transplant into 

 nursery rows when trees have attained a height of two or three inches, choosing a moist 



