i 



to convey. The percentage of men in New York who are making money from plums 

 is probably a little higher than in Ontario, but not all are specialists. Plum 

 specialists are scarce, and the idea that the Avriter means to convey is that certain 

 phases of the methods and plans of our American friends could be profitably 

 adopted by us. Those particulars have been enumerated, and it is hoped that the 

 suggestions thrown out will be of some interest and value to Ontario plum-growers. 

 The question might rightly be asked, how do successful plum-growers consider 

 plums compared with other fruits as a profitable line to follow? The general idea is 

 that plums are a secondary consideration, and one prominent grower remarked to 

 me that he believed the last dollar had been made in plums, and that he would not 

 take the trees as a gift if he had to set them out and wait for them to bear. It 

 was the exception rather than the rule to find a man who gives his plums the same 

 attention as he gives other fruits, but still they yield fair returns. 



The situation is summed up quite well in a letter from a prominent grower 

 in the State so often mentioned, which is here quoted in part : " Plums were very 

 low here also, but I got better prices than I expected, from 8 to 10 cents per 7 lb. 

 basket loaded on the car here; prunes 15 cents a basket. My plums and prunes 

 were never better and more perfect than this year, and the largest crop I ever had. 

 Plums and prunes pay fairly well, as they come into market when one is not very 

 busy, and they generally bear abundantly." 



(2) THE CAUSES OF THE LACK OF INTEREST. 



Many causes or reasons might be assigned for this lack of interest in the plum 

 industry of the Province, but I believe the principal ones may be found in the 

 following : 



(1) The prevailing prices have been low.. 



(2) A large number of poor varieties were planted in the decade previous to 

 1901 and the few years following. 



(3) Low prices did not seem to warrant the adoption of careful cultivation, 

 pruning and spraying methods, and as a result much fruit has been of low quality, 

 and large quantities were in a state of over-ripeness or decay before they reached the 

 consumer. 



(4) The other fruits are more popular with both producer and consumer, and 

 the plums are crowded out in favor of the more highly praised and advertised 

 fruits. Plums and the culture of plums have scarcely been discussed at fruit con- 

 ventions during the last few years. 



Low Prices. — Prices and net returns are the key-note of growth or decay in 

 any business, and around this hang the other reasons for lack of interest. 



The following returns, worked out by L. B. Henry, B.S.A., of Winona, and by 

 whose courtesy I am permitted to use them, are of great interest and value in that 

 they show the variation in price from year to year and the variation in price of the 

 different varieties. They represent the gross returns of five good growers — not 

 average or poor growers — in the "Winona district, per eleven quart basket for a 

 period of ten years. These figures I consider very reliable, and represent what a 

 man who understands his business might expect. 



