INDIANA HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 285 



do not want to crop the gTound between the plum trees; but having planted 

 them twenty-four feet apart it will be several years before they occupy 

 that ground. We concluded, judging from the experience of the experi- 

 menting orchards, that the intermediate rows of plums, up to the time 

 that the trees began to crowd, would pay for the expense of the whole 

 cultivation of the plantation up to that time. For full-grown trees, I 

 would recommend twenty-four feet apart; but if any of you like to take 

 out the plum tree after it has got to bearing size, then I would recommend 

 the planting of them tAvelve feet apart both ways with the idea of taking 

 out the intermediate rows, after they begin to crowd. 



Professor Latta: Will you please tell us whether you Avould recom- 

 mend under any circumstances, the close planting and mulching of them, 

 instead of regular cultivation? Would that give good results? 



Professor Goff: 1 should say in regard to close planting, that those 

 trees are now interlocking so much that it is difficult to get through the 

 orchard, unless you stoop down and go under the limbs. We had a con- 

 siderable number of European and Japanese plums in the orchard, and 

 the cold winters have taken them out, so we can get through there better; 

 but if they had been all American, it would have been very difficult to 

 get through the orchard at any place. 



Professor Latta: Would cultivation in the regular method lie prefer- 

 able to mulching and planting close? 



Professor Goff: I think so; but we find we get better results from 

 mulching than cultivation. It is more expensive than cultivation, but it 

 is better than cultivation alone. 



Member: What would you recommend for a crop for the first few 

 years, in a plum orchard? 



Professor Goff: I would not recommend anything. I would prefer 

 very much, indeed, to give my ground up to the trees, exclusively. 



Member: How about chickens? 



Professor Goff: Chickens are all right; for a plum orchard, there is 

 nothing better than chickens. 



Professor Webster: Is it better to have the ground bare or to have 

 it covered? 



Professor Goff: The better plan is to keep the ground bare during 

 the early part of the season, and then sow a cover crop later. The object 

 of a cover crop in plums is to keep the ground from washing. 



Professor Webster: What do you use for a cover crop? 



