PLUMS. 435 



tection beyond on the north and west, with good drainage, but 

 where the soil is rich and moist. A g-ood sandy loam is the best, 

 but they will flourish on a strong- clay loam where the ground is 

 first well prepared and good drainage secured; and some good 

 plum orchards are located on very sandy ground where mulching 

 and fertilizers are freely used. The ground should be plowed and 

 nicely harrowed before planting the trees, and if the place selected 

 is new, unbroken prairie, it should be broken and cultivated at 

 least a year before planting; but a clover and timothy meadow or 

 old tame grass pasture will do by plowing in the previous fall and 

 then again in the spring, but the sod should be thoroughly disin- 

 tegrated by harrowing before the trees are set. The best trees are 

 two or three years old, nursery grown, and those on their own roots 

 always preferable to grafted or budded trees, for the reason that if 

 any accident happens to the trees the sprouts that come from the 

 roots will be of the same variety, and where a tree becomes en- 

 feebled from age or excessive fruiting it can be renewed by cutting 

 down and letting a young sprout take its place. Two or more 

 varieties should always be planted and the varieties mixed, for two 

 reasons: first, to extend the season of fruit as long as possible and, 

 second, to insure the most perfect pollenization of the blossoms. 



Take pains to plant well, setting a little deeper than they grew in 

 the nursery. Firm the soil nicely about each tree and mulch before 

 hot, dry weather sets in. Prune the tops back at the same time 

 pretty severely, or at least in proportion to the loss of roots. For 

 the commercial orchard I should set in rows twenty feet or naore 

 apart, and the trees in the rows twelve feet apart, and for the follow- 

 ing two or three years prune or head back the new growth before 

 buds start in the spring enough to keep the trees well balanced and 

 shapely. Heads should be started low, or about two and one-half 

 feet above the surface of the ground, and sharp forks that will split 

 down should be prevented as much as possible. Catch crops of 

 low vegetables may be grown between the rows for about three years; 

 after that they had better have the whole ground, but for good re- 

 sults cultivation must be kept up and an occasional dressing of 

 manure given. 



Pretty good results can be gained by seeding to clover occasion- 

 ally, mowing twice a year and using the crop only as a mulch. 

 Small grains and timothy and blue grass must not be allowed to 

 grow in the plum orchard, or the crops of fruit will soon become 

 uncertain and the quality poor. The little plum patch for the gar- 

 den may be planted somewhat closer, and in the form of a grove or 

 thicket, but varieties should be mixed as for the orchard. The best 

 of the older well known varieties are De Soto, Forest Garden, Cheney, 

 Wolf, Rollingstone, Hawkeye, Weaver and Ocheeda. 



The worst enemies to the trees are blackknot and borers. The 

 worst enemy to the fruit is the curculio. I do not think the black- 

 knot is, so far, very prevalent in this state. It is a contagious 

 disease, and wherever it is found it should be cut off and burned. 

 If choke-cherries in the neighborhood of the orchard are affected 

 with the blackknot, the spores of the disease will attack the plum. 



