THE IMPROVEMENT 0~S OUR NATIVE PLUMS. 23 1 



highest perfection should be planted from sixteen to eighteen feet' 

 apart, even twenty is desirable with some varieties. We cannot 

 ■expect the best results when the roots of the trees are forced t'o 

 occupy a small area and where the roots of the different trees are 

 striving for possession of the ground and the plant food therein. 



It should always be the aim of the grower to eliminate as much 

 as possible the natural struggle for existence that the trees have 

 to contend with in nature, as this struggle results invariably in 

 poorer fruit and lessened productivity. The fact that the wild 

 plums and wild apples found in many sections of Wisconsin and 

 Minnesota are grown in groups or in clumps is no argument for 

 growing them in the same way in the orchard. The main reason 

 why plums and apples in nature grow in clumps is due to lack of 

 proper distribution. The fruit from wild trees naturally falls 

 around the tree, and there the seeds start to grow and seedlings 

 spring up. Hence it is that in nature the trees grow in groups and 

 not at intervals as in the orchard. 



I do not desire at this time t'o enter into the discussion of 

 varieties, but I wish to point out that the number of varieties of 

 native plums is increasing with leaps and bounds. While this is a 

 sign of great activity among the fruit growers, it also has consider- 

 ably many advantages. The greater the number of varieties, 

 the greater the number of perplexities that arise, and the more 

 difficult it becomes for the ordinary fruit grower or farmer to select 

 the really best varieties. It would be better for all if all the inferior 

 varieties were wiped out and a dozen of the best ones left from 

 which the grower could make his selection. Then, too, people in 

 general have a mania for introducing new varieties of seedlings 

 regardless of their value. 



This is a question that the horticulturist ought to take up and 

 consider if it is a fact that not one in a hundred of the varieties 

 introduced are really worthy of distribution. I realize that the in- 

 troducer has a motive which is not altogether selfish in introducing 

 a new seedling for a new variety. We are all ready to aid in the 

 development of horticulture, and many well meaning persons think 

 that the introduction of a new variety regardless of its real value is 

 a service to horticulture. This is not always the case. We have 

 today an almost endless number of varieties of the native plum, 

 causing a considerable confusion not only to the nurserymen but 

 to the planter. The same is true with apples and other fruits. It 

 would be far better for all concerned if the lists of varieties should 

 be cut down to a ' relatively small number, and there should be 



