THE CHERRY AND PLUM ORCHARD IN SEPT. AND OCT. 329 



Before harvesting the plum crop, the orchard should have good 

 cultivation or mulching, for the purpose of retaining the moisture, 

 which the trees are in need of in order to bring forth a heavy 

 crop of large sized plums. The long droughts often prevailing at 

 this time of the year are very trying to our trees, which results in 

 the undersize of the fruit and also of the fruit grower's purse. 



In September the plum orchard ripens its fruit, and a great 

 deal of attention must be given to the harvesting and marketing of 

 the fruit. No matter how fine this crop may be grown, if not rightly 

 picked it will not bring the desired price in the market. 



The plums should be picked before they are over-ripe, so that 

 they come solid into market and stand up well until they can be 

 sold. If they are in suitable packages they will bring the top price. 



When plums are grown extensively for market, the picking 

 is a considerable item and especially when the right kind of help 

 cannot be gotten. In such a case a picking sheet can be used and 

 is made in this manner : Take a sheet of muslin six to eight feet 

 square, according to the size of the tree. This is slit open from the 

 center of the sheet to the middle of one side. The slit should be 

 made so that it can be buttoned. Each corner should be provided 

 with a leg, for the purpose of tightening and holding up the cloth 

 securely. Onto this shake the plums, and no bruised plums will 

 be obtained. Also picking can be done very rapidly in this way. 

 After the plum crop is harvested, all the decayed and diseased 

 plums should be picked up and destroyed. By so doing we would 

 greatly reduced the disease of plum rot. 



Mr. Elliot: It seems to me that on the prairie mulching is no 

 detriment. 



Mr. Yahnke: I did not say anything about mulching for the 

 protection of the fruit, but only to ripen the fruit crop. I do mulch 

 sometimes in different ways. If I find trees which are tender or the 

 roots are near the surface I mulch in order to keep the frost away 

 to some extent and thereby save the roots. We must study nature, 

 and nature is the best teacher to show us how to take care of a fruit 

 tree. In every case, no matter what kind of fruit you have to deal 

 with, if you go into the wood you will find the roots of trees are 

 protected by this mulch to prevent the ground drying out and to 

 prevent the frost from getting in too deep. We place our trees so 

 the hard winter does not take the moisture from the soil or the roots. 

 If the tree is in moist soil it will stand very cold weather, but on 

 the other hand, the roots if buried in dry soil and wintered in the 

 open will dry out. The roots drying out their shoots in Winter time 

 is caused by the air, that dries them. We had that result in 1884. 

 My trees bore a heavy crop of fruit, and it did not rain from the 

 middle of August till it froze up, and they were all dried dead next 

 spring. Moisture would have saved them. 



