552 IOWA DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 



For the plum orchard the native sorts are the best. Plant Wild 

 Goose and Forest Garden for early, De Soto and Wyant for midsummer, 

 and Miner for late. There are other sorts which do well, but these are 

 popular varieties. The Lombard and Blue Damson are European plums, 

 which do fairly well here, and Burbank and Abundance are the best of 

 the Japanese sorts for this locality. 



Pears are rather uncertain unless you have clay soil. They usually 

 die from blight on the dark prairie loam before fruiting. Kieffer is the 

 most reliable sort, though not of the highest quality. 



Among the cherries, Early Richmond and Montmorency are the best. 

 English Morello or Wraggs are late sorts. 



The Bailey and Mitchell peaches seem to be the hardiest strain of 

 seedling peach trees; while the fruit is small, it is good in quality. The 

 budded varieties are larger in fruit, though not quite so hardy. Alex- 

 ander, Crosby, Crawford, Champion and Triumph are among those usu- 

 ally recommended for the southern half of the State. 



Gooseberries are easily raised; give them rich ground and a cool 

 place. Houghton and Downing are the best varieties for general plant- 

 ing. Pearl is also a good sort. 



Currants need a location similar to that for gooseberries. Cultivate 

 tbem well or mulch heavily in dry weather. The currant and goose- 

 berry bear on wood two years old and over; cut out the old wood after 

 it has borne several crops, so as to keep the bushes in a good healthy 

 condition. 



Raspberries should be planted two to three feet apart in the row, 

 and the rows five to eight feet asunder. Give good cultivation, cut off the 

 tops of the black varieties when two to three feet high, so they will send 

 out branches to make them self-supporting, otherwise they will grow a 

 long cane that will sprawl on the ground. The side branches are cut 

 back to a foot or eighteen inches in the spring. The red varieties are 

 not usually pinched back, though they may be treated the same way. 

 They grow upright and it is not the usual practice to cut them back. 

 The most popular red varieties are Loudon, Cuthbert and Turner. The 

 black sorts are Palmer, Kansas, Older and Gregg. Shaffer and Colum- 

 bia are purple sorts. The yellow raspberries are not much grown, though 

 they add variety in color. Bebee's Golden and Golden Queen are the best 

 of this class. 



Grapes are so easily grown that there is no good excuse for not 

 having an abundant supply of this luscious fruit during its season 

 There are a number of varieties that will do well in this country. The 

 most popular market varieties are Concord. Worden and Moore's Early, 

 and are hardy enough to stand the winters without covering. Delaware". 

 Brighton and Woodruff are good red sorts, but not so rugged in consti- 

 tution as the black varieties. It is best to give these some protection in 

 winter. 



We now come to the last fruit we will mention, though it is the 

 first in season, if not the most delicious in the whole list of fruits, the 

 strawberry. For field culture plant the rows about four feet apart, set- 



