388 MINNESOTA STATE HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 
VALUABLE VARIETIES OF THE NATIVE PLUM. 
MARTIN PENNING, SLEEPY EYE. 
Twenty-five years back, when my foreign plums were all dead which 
I brought from Wisconsin, I had nothing:reliable to plant; today we have 
a plum list I am proud of, and I think every horticulturist in the northwest 
ought to be proud of them. 
We have added to our list a number of valuable plums in the last ten 
to fifteen years, and in ten years from now we shall have a plum list much 
superior of that of today. We must not try and be satisfied with what we 
have accomplished, but keep on planting seed of the best plums, and some 
one may strike a good one at any time. 
We have a plum list today that will keep us in plums for nearly two 
months. Our valuable plums in early ones are Aitkin, Cheney, Wood, 
Peach, and a number more, all reliable and hardy. I will say to all lovers 
of the plum, not to forget to plant a few trees of early varieties. Valuable 
medium and late plums are the Wyant, Surprise, Weaver and DeSoto. The 
first named tree is a valuable, reliable and good market plum. The DeSoto 
would be a fine plum if it would keep up in size, but after bearing four or 
five crops they run down to a small late plum. Stoddard, Hawkeye, Wolf, 
Comfort; these four are valuable market plums, hardy, large and reliable 
bearers. For canning they should be peeled, as they have a thick skin. 
Stoddard and Hawkeye are the best two—large and juicy, and closely alike 
in size, color and flavor. I have the following varieties growing, but they 
have not borne with me yet: American Eagle, Keith, Louisa, Smith’s Red, 
J. B. Rue, Hart’s DeSoto and Bixby. All these came to me highly recom- 
mended. I will report on them later. 
Mr. Moyer: Does the New Ulm plum rot with you? 
Mr. Penning: It does to some extent. It is not a very desir- 
able plum. The tree grows crooked; it is not a nice looking tree, 
and the fruit is soft. It rots easily. : 
Mr. Elliot: In his paper Mr. Penning spoke of the De Soto 
as bearing only from three to five crops. I would like to know 
whether that is the experience of all the growers. 
Mr. Lord: The oldest De Soto trees I have bear the best and 
largest plums. I have several varieties that increase in size as 
the trees increase in age. They do not deteriorate ii the trees are 
properly trimmed and handled. 
Mr. Harris: My experience is the same as that of Mr. Lord; 
I get the largest plums from the oldest trees. 
Mr. Penning: I know from my own experience that it is a good 
plum if they are thinned out, but ordinarily farmers do not do that. 
The tree overbears, and after three or four crops it is exhausted and 
bears scarcely any plums for market. Mine are that way. I have 
trees from ten to twelve years old. I have never thinned out, and 
as a result they have deteriorated. That is the experience through- 
out the country. I cannot speak very highly of them. 
. See 
