46 
‘¢ Plants and Animals under Domestication,” and the same theory has. 
to some extent been handled in works by other eminent scientists. I 
found that the Rolling Stone variety would pollenize the Wild Goose and 
render it fruitful. I found that other varieties would do the same when 
twenty feet away, if the wind blew from the right direction when they 
were in bloom. I found that in every instance where I had trees of the 
Miner and Wild Goose near each other, both varieties were very pro- 
ductive, and also that when the Newman and Wild Goose were near 
together neither was fully productive, and that where Miner and New- 
man were contiguous both were enormously and regularly productive. 
Talso found that where I had Newman growing isolated from other 
varieties, that it was yearly productive of moderate crops of good fruit, 
but scarcely a seed from such trees would grow ; but where the Newman 
and Miner were planted near together the Newman was not only enor- 
mously productive, but the fruit was larger, later, darker colored, and 
thicker skinned, and the seed all good, and the resulting seedlings 
strong and vigorous, the Miner being also very productive in this case. 
Further, I found that where I had nearly all the named varieties of 
both types of these plums growing together in the two blocks of seed- 
lings, that all of them (including the seedlings) were, with the excep- 
tion of the Wild Goose, very productive each year since old enough to 
bear. Trees of the Wild Goose were growing in both blocks of these 
seedlings, but none of them have ever fruited so heavily as those grow- 
ing near Miner, showing, I think, that the Miner is its best consort. The 
trees in these two blocks of seedlings are about one foot apart in the 
row, and the rows four feet apart. Growing in this way much in the 
same manner as the natural plum thickets of the earlier days of this 
country, they have all of them matured a full crop of plums each year 
for the past seven years, and the trees have remained more vigorous 
and healthy than isolated trees of the same varieties. The number of 
varieties in these two blocks may be safely estimated at 5,000, running 
through all grades of the northern wild plum, from the poorest to the 
very best. During the whole period in which these plums have been 
fruiting, nothing whatever has been done to protect the fruit from or 
to destroy the Plum Curculio, and this insect has been present in large 
numbers during the whole time. No hogs or other stock have been 
allowed to run among the trees, and, until the last three seasons, all the 
“ wormy ” fruit has rotted on the ground, undisturbed. 
The history of these plum trees tells my readers exactly how to fruit 
the native plums everywhere in abundance. Heretofore when writing 
on this sabject I have qualified the above by saying how they will 
fruit here abundantly. But during the past two years I have cor- 
responded with the owners of or visited a great number of plum or- 
chards throughout nearly the whole country and find the same results 
everywhere, namely, wherever these plums have been planted with 
several varities near together (or near trees of several other species of 
aot 
