412 MINNESOTA STATE HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 



Nova Scotia makes mention as to what apple orchards have 

 done for that country. I quote as follows: "It has changed 

 the valuation of many acres from ten to one thousand dollars ; 

 it has changed the value of hundreds of acres of farms from two 

 to ten thousand dollars. The apple industry has advertised the 

 country more than any other of its products." What is true of 

 Nova Scotia may be largely true of Minnesota. 



BEST NORTHERN PLUMS. 



CHAS. F. GARDNER, OSAGE, IOWA. 



(Read before So. IMinn. Hort. Society.) 



In telling you what varieties to plant, of course I must con- 

 fine myself to naming only those kinds that are procurable in our 

 market. After I do this, I will speak a few words regarding the 

 new varieties that may be introduced in due course of time. 



I will name the Wyant, Surprise, Hawkeye, Rockford, De 

 Soto, Miner, Rollingstone, Forest Garden and Wolf. 



Plant so as to give plenty of air and sunshine, say alDout fif- 

 teen by twenty feet, and keep the orchard absolutely free from grass 

 and weeds by very shallow cultivation. If you want a winter 

 mulch, sow buckwheat when you are ready to stop cultivating. If 

 the trees are in bearing, sow as soon as plums are harvested. If 

 not bearing, sow the last of July or first of August. Do not let 

 them grow too high headed, keep the tops pinched back and thin 

 out unnecessary twigs. Try to do your trimming in such a way 

 that you will never have large limbs to cut ofif. Remove them 

 while they are buds or twigs. Much of this bud and twig prun- 

 ing can be done at any time of year. Remove them as soon as 

 you see them. When you cut large limbs from a plum tree you 

 do so at the imminent risk of destroying the future usefuhiess of 

 that tree. 



Many people set out plum trees and let them grow wdthout 

 any pruning for several years, and then the pruning mania sud- 

 denly seizes them, and they go at them with saw and ax, murder- 

 ing them from right to left. 



If one cannot understand the philosophy of doing nearly all 

 the trimming by removing buds and twigs, then for goodness 

 sake let them alone and let them grow as they have a mind to, ex- 

 cept always removing dead limbs whenever you see them. 



When you top- work a plum tree with some new, choice var- 

 iety and the scion has grown from twelve to fourteen inches, nip 



