FARMERS' INSTITUTES. 103 



PLUMS AND CHERRIES FOR PROFIT. 



BY L, J, POST^ LOWELL. 



Some thirty years ago. after carefully studying the matter, I concluded 

 to plant a plum orchard and to place them in a hog yard. Sixty trees 

 equally divided between the Lombard, Weaver and Wildgoose were or- 

 dered from a so-called reliable nursery, but every one of the trees turned 

 out to be Lombard, for which fact I was very thankful. Knowing some- 

 thing of the habits of the hog, their noses were all carefully "rung" and 

 three oak stakes were placed about the trees some eighteen inches away, 

 around which two lines of barbed wires were fastened. As an additional 

 protection, three large stones were placed at the roots of each tree, but 

 these did not stay in place very long. After waiting for several years the 

 trees blossomed and set a large crop of fruit. Of course, we had no idea 

 of throwing it away by thinning, but placed a tall hop pole in the center 

 of each tree and at a point several feet above the tree attached a strong 

 cord, the other end of the cords being fastened to the loaded branches of 

 the tree, thus supporting them in good shape. The crop was disposed of 

 to a local dealer at |4.25 per bushel and as the trees averaged more than 

 two bushels each, it was a very profitable crop. This orchard was near 

 the highway, along which from 100 to 150 teams passed daily and prob- 

 ably two-thirds of the farmers who passed set plum trees in the hog yard 

 the next spring, but in nearly every case reported that the hogs succeeded 

 in rooting up every tree. The fate of this plum orchard is sad to relate, 

 as either on account of the excessive cultivation, over-fertilization or 

 exhaustion from the heavy crop, nearly all of the trees died the next 

 winter. 



Not discouraged, however, we planted another orchard of several hun- 

 dred trees after studying catalogs in which each variety described was 

 said to be a little better than the previous one, and of course we ordered 

 trees of nearly everything. To say that the orchard presented a some- 

 what uneven appearance would be putting it mildly, as we planted Shrop- 

 shire Damson, which seldom reaches a height of ten feet, next to Wash- 

 ington, which often grows thirty feet high, and the others were equally 

 irregular. In this orchard Lombard and Shropshire Damson were the 

 most profitable. Soon afterwards an orchard was planted which con- 

 sisted inostly of Bradshaw, Gueii and Golden Drop, with a few Quacken- 

 boss, Shippers' Pride, Pond and Grand Duke. This orchard is in full 

 bearing. Golden Drop has been my most profitable variety and Quacken- 

 boss about the poorest, although in many sections of the State the reverse 

 is true. For my location the varieties would be Red June, Burbank, 

 Bradshaw, Lombard, Gueii, Grand Duke, Monarch, Golden Drop and 

 Shropshire Damson. One of our early plantings consisted of trees budded 

 upon wild American plums. They bore several good crops, •'but as the 

 roots were not strong enough to hold them erect, when bearing a full crop 

 of fruit, it was necessary to support them by means of stakes. 



The ground for a plum orchard should be thoroughly fitted and marked 

 both ways fourteen or fifteen feet apart. Care should be taken to have 



