CHOP TALK NO. 4. 223 



The patrons of the world's markets are very exacting. The best 

 always brings the highest price. No matter what you have for 

 sale, whether it be town lots, nursery stock or the product of farm, 

 orchard or garden, commercially it is graded as to quality and priced 

 according to its apparent or real value as looked upon by the pur- 

 chaser. If you grow scrub stock you must expect scrub prices ; 

 if you grow cider apples you get the price such stock is worth for 

 cider ; if a little better grade is grown you may expect a better price ; 

 if inviting, neatly boxed, fancy fruit attracts the purchaser, top 

 prices will be obtained. There is always plenty of room at the top 

 for the most ambitious and enterprising fruit grower. The best 

 apples on our market are selling today for $2.25 per bushel. Why? 

 Because the supply of that kind of fruit is short and the demand 

 good. Which of the growers is making the most real profit from 

 his crop, Mr. Go Easy or Mr. Up To Date? Honest, intelligent 

 effort, when guided by true business principles, always receives its 

 reward. 



Only in exceptional localities, where extra careful management 

 was bestowed, did the plum crop of 1905 prove profitable. The 

 successful growers made money from their plums. Why? Be- 

 cause they used intelligence in selecting varieties, preparing the 

 ground, planting, cultivating, pruning and spraying. It is and 

 always will be the painstaking grower of any crop who gets the 

 best remuneration for his efforts and good prices in bad years, 

 when the slack, shiftless, easy going growers are complaining about 

 poor crops and unproductive trees. I heard Prof. Simpson say 

 "Plums don't pav for the land they occupy. It is not a profitable 

 crop." On the other hand Mr. Wm. Marshall, of Madison. Wis., 

 says his plum orchard brings good returns. Why? Because he 

 uses intelligent, up-to-date management in growing and market- 

 ing. Insect pests, parasitic diseases and unpropitious weather con- 

 ditions have prevailed the past season, and it is in such years that 

 Mr. Slackness gets left and Mr. Up To Date, with his intelligent 

 management, gets good crops and a full purse. 



The past season has been a very good test year to help decide 

 which varieties of plums are most profitable. Our experience with 

 over thirty kinds leads us to believe the Paul Wolf, Bender, Rogers 

 No. I, Lano ( Americana )^ — all the same variety of plum — is the 

 most profitable to grow in our locality on clay soil. It has out-yielded 

 any other variety and brought good prices. Being a freestone the 

 housewife prefers it to most varieties for culinary purposes. It is 

 very productive, medium early, easily propagated by grafting or 

 from sucker sprouts or root cuttings, a plum I can unhesitatingly 

 tecommend for everv farmer to grow who has timber land soil. 



