290 STATE HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 



remain in the plum about nine days after it falls ; in apples for months^ 

 The curculio prefers the plum to the apple. A stung plum will fall to 

 the ground. Only a few insects reach maturity in the plum, while in 

 an apple they stay while on the tree, under the tree, and even where 

 stored for winter. The curculio will deposit eggs in both cold and 

 warm weather; but in cold, wet weather they will seldom hatch. 



A few years ago I was alarmed about plum-trees in my apple- 

 orchards, as I have over 300 planted between Standard apple-trees to 

 be cut out when the apples need the room ; but I have since learned 

 that plum-trees are profitable to an apple orchard, both for fruit anda& 

 insect destroyers. I have noticed my apples that grow within 100 to 

 150 feet of plum-trees are freest from worms. Why farmers and hog- 

 raisers don't grow plums for their hogs I can't understand, when one 

 acre of plums produce more hog-feed than three of corn, with less than 

 one-tenth the labor. They ripen in a time when corn is scarce and 

 when hogs need a change of food. I have made mistakes by ship- 

 ping too ripe. 



I believe no tree needs more study than that of the plum, while 

 no tree fruit has received so little attention. Yet few are more at- 

 tractive in appearance or more pleasant to the taste. No fruit is more 

 tempting than a well-ripened, beautifully tinted, juicy plum. Its 

 color is like a gleam of gold; its cheeks are delicate and soft, and 

 it breathes a delicious perfume, causing one to yield to the tempta- 

 tion to bite into the golden skin. No preserves are more delicious 

 than that of well-ripened plums. One of the best qualities, which I 

 had nearly forgotten, is, the plum can be grown by a lazy man. 



A ViNELESs Sweet Potato. — In the cultivation of the sweet 

 potato, a point is to keep the trailing branches from rooting in the 

 ground ; if these creeping branches get roots, it is so much taken from 

 the main crop; all the roots are comparatively small and valueless for 

 commercial purposes. For this reason the cultivator of the sweet 

 potato has to be continually moving among the vines, lifting them from 

 the ground by various methods in order to prevent these branches from 

 sending out other roots. It is now given out that in Florida a variety 

 has been raised which takes on the bushy form without any tendency 

 to run or sprawl over the ground. If this be so, it ought to be one of 

 the greatest advances made for many years. As a general rule, varie- 

 ties of the bushy class are not as productive as those which take on a 

 regular climbing character. The bushy varieties are not nearly as pro- 

 ductive as the taller growing kinds, but the sweet potato may be an 

 exception, as the crop is under ground. — Meehan's Monthly. 



