Winter Meeting. 221 



-t.'ites. Prof. L. H. Bailey says: "I am still convinced that, the 

 Japanese plum has come to stay." Here in Missouri we can add to 

 this by saying that we are truly glad that they have come. With the 

 addition of the Japanese plum the season is extended from June to 

 the first and middle of September, and in some seasons even into Octo- 

 ber. Thus far we have covered in detail the various groups of the 

 plum. Much we desire to delineate the characteristics of some of the 

 leading valuable varieties that should be more extensively grown for 

 family and market use, but space and time under the occasion forbids 

 our doing so. Plant food supply and the proper food ration is of vital 

 importance and may not be generally understood. The plum being 

 prolific in fruit is necessarily a gross feeder and must have abundance 

 of food combining the proper ration. The three elements in proper 

 ratio which give both wood and fruit growth is, nitrogen two per cent, 

 available phosphoric acid seven per cent, potash nine per cent. This 

 fertilizer should be applied in quantities of 500 to 1,000 pounds per 

 acre annually. The fundamental laws of systematic or scientific horti- 

 culture is based on proper food ration. The best soil for plums is a 

 heavy clay underlaid with a gravelly subsoil capable of conserving 

 moisture. The color of the top soil has but little consideration in 

 selecting a proper location for planting. More depending upon the 

 proper chemical analysis of the soil, combining with complete drainage. 

 Hillsides, points and ridges, with other advantages being favorable, 

 make good locations for plum orchards, such locations are numerous in 

 this state. We as citizens of this great state of Missouri know no limit 

 or scarcely any bounds to the cultivation of the better and more profit- 

 able varieties of plums. "Of all the important fruits, the common 

 plum has the smallest American literature," says Prof. Bailey. This 

 is as much as to say that the culture of the plum, of all fruits, is most 

 neglected, and what is true in this case in the eastern states is also a 

 fact in Missouri. Then the fruit growers of Missouri should wheel in 

 line with their best and most direct financial interests and plant more 

 good plums which make a quick return in profit, and gTeatly assist in 

 bridging over the expense of planting and ggrowing other fruits that take 

 longer to produce a crop. Progressive horticulture, toned with ex- 

 perience, polished by science, the products reaped with the golden 



