48 MINNESOTA STATE HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 
Japanese sorts there are none that are sufficiently hardy to make them of 
any special value here. In a few of the most favorable locations in this state 
however they may be desirable. We have raised a large number of seedling 
plums and have fruited some on our own grounds, but have sent large num- 
bers to our sub-stations at Grand Rapids, Crookston and Lynd. At Coteau 
Farm a large number of plum seedlings were planted in the forest planta- 
tion, and while they were somewhat crowded with trees, yet they have gen- 
erally made a most excellent growth, and have been very productive. 
DISEASES OF THE PLUM.—tThe plum pocket is very abundant in 
some years and in some portions of the state. At our Experiment Station, 
by destroying the diseased fruit as fast as it has appeared, we have succeeded 
in preventing its getting any hold here. Some experiments with the peach 
leaf curl, which is a disease of a similar nature to the plum pocket, seem to 
show that Bordeaux mixture will probably prove a great help in preventing 
the spread of this disease. The rot on the plums, or Monilia, has become 
very abundant in this section during the past three or four years. This dis- 
ease is characterized by a rotting of the fruit during the summer, and the 
dried, rotted fruit remaining on the tree over winter. It is in this dried fruit 
that the disease is carried over winter, the spores of which are ripened and 
distributed during the moist weather of early spring. Remedies for this 
are picking and destroying the diseased fruits, and spraying the trees with 
Bordeaux mixture of double strength early in the spring before growth 
starts, and then spraying the fruit with the ordinary Bordeaux mixture 
several times during the summer. I believe that it is perfectly practicable 
to keep this disease in check. 
The curculio seems to be about as abundant the past year as for a num- 
ber of seasons. By the use of the sheet and the jarring method we have 
been able to keep it pretty well in check. The plum aphis, or leaf lice, have 
not been as abundant the past year as during some previous seasons. We 
have found that this insect may be entirely kept in check ,and the trees 
may be entirely relieved of it, no matter how badly they may be infested, 
by the use of tobacco smoke, as described in a former number of our “Hor- 
ticulturist.”’ 
The plum borer has been especially abundant the past few years, and 
has caused to many the mysterious loss of their plum trees. We have been 
greatly troubled with it here. In the case of a neighbor’s orchard I found, 
in looking over the trees, that some of them had as many as seven borers 
in them, and that they had completely girdled many trees. A little attention 
to this matter in looking over the trees and taking out the borers in the 
fall and spring, will result in keeping the trees entirely free from serious 
injury from this pest. 
STRAWBERRIES. Our strawberries produced a fairly good crop this 
year, and are in a fair condition for another season. In cultivating straw- 
berries, we follow the plan of setting the fruit two feet apart in rows four 
feet apart, and allow all runners to grow; but in the case of strong growing 
varieties, like the Bederwood and Crescent, we remove a part of the run- 
ners, so that they will not be too thick on the land. We keep the bed well 
cultivated during the growing season. On the approach of cold weather, 
generally the latter part of October, or early in November, we put on a cov- 
ering of straw. We prefer to do this before severe freezing weather, as we 
like to have the leaves bright and green when they are uncovered in the 
