456 MINNESOTA STATE HORTICU-LTURAL SOCIETY. 



profitable for him. I sell lots of plums in them. I charge twenty- 

 five cents for a basket. There are nearly six baskets in one-half 

 bushel. Any man can get tliem from his grocery man. Selling 

 plums on a larger scale 1 recommend the half-bushel basket. 



Mr. A. J. Philips: Do you ship or sell at home? 



Mr. Penning: I sell at home mostly. 



Mr. Frank Yahnke : Do you order your baskets ahead ? 



Mr. Penning: I order my baskets in March. They are nice 

 smooth baskets. I fill my baskets about full. When I go across the 

 street the baskets are covered, and nobody can get into them. 



Mr. G. H. Purdy (Iowa) : What varieties are the most profit- 

 able with you? 



Mr. Penning: The best I had this year was the Wyant, Stod- 

 dard, Penning's Peach, but of my Rockford some did not bear at all. 



Mr. Purdy : Well, take it for the last five years ? 



Mr. Penning : The plums I have in mind are the Wyant, Stod- 

 dard, Surprise, some Cheney and also some others. They are num- 

 ber one. I have got to have a large plum for my customers. 



Mr. Dewain Cook: What do you think of the Forest Garden? 



Mr. Penning: They crack so much. 



Mr. W. L. Taylor:' How is the Wolf plum? 



Mr. Penning: It is a little below size. It is good, but.it is too 

 small. 



Mr. Cook : How is the Wearer ? 



Mr. Penning : I don't like it ; I don't propagate it. 



Mr. Underwood : How is the Hawkeye ? 



Mr. Penning: It is a pretty good plum, but it is a slow bearer. 



The President : Any difference between the Hawkeve and the 

 Stoddard ? 



Mr. Penning : I don't think there is much difference in the color, 

 but there is in the tree. 



Mr. A. D. Leach: How do you like the Rollingstone ? 



Mr. Penning : It is a good plum but a little undersized for what 

 I want, 



Mr. Victor Caneday : Do you use the baskets more than once ? 



Mr. Penning: Yes, I used them for four years. I put nice 

 clean paper in the bottom so as to keep the basket clean. I never put 

 in a bruised plum, and I still have my baskets nice and clean. I 

 keep my baskets clean and in good shape, and they last a number 

 of years. 



Mr. O. F. Brand : What kind of roots do you mostly propagate 

 your trees on? 



Mr. Penning : I have the regular plum roots. I raise my plum 

 seedlings every year, and I use nothing but the regular plum seed- 

 lings. 



Mr. Brand : Have you any on their own roots ? 



Mr. Penning: No, I have none on their own roots. 



Capt. A. H. Reed : Can you bud plums ? 



Mr. Penning: Yes, but I do more cleft-grafting. When they 

 get to be about the thickness of a finger I cleft-graft them. In plant- 



