VARIETIES OF OF PLUMS FOR MINNESOTA. 135 



is a difference in the flower, but it is very slight, and when you come 

 to the wood you can see there is a shght difference in the coloring, 

 and when you come to examine the leaves you will see there is a 

 marked difference, and you can convince any one who claims other- 

 wise that there is a difference. When you go out to the orchard and 

 see the trees growing side by side, without making a critical ex- 

 amination you would say they are alike. How it is in the nursery 

 row I cannot say ; I have made no investigation there and have not 

 had a chance to examine the color. Here is a chance for study. 

 We know this, that the Wealthy will not keep as well as the Peter. 

 Air. Gideon, two or three years before he died, told me the Peter 

 was a much longer keeper than the Wealthy, and he said he had 

 kept it until June in an ordinary cellar. I have kept the Wealthy 

 where I could keep it in a cool cellar until March in good condition. 



Mr. H. F. Busse : I would like to ask whether these lists are 

 intended for home use, for market or for fresh use? 



Mr. Elliot : They are for both. 



Mr. Busse : I don't see why some of the others have not been 

 mentioned. 



Mr. Elliot: There are many varieties that are perhaps equally 

 as good as those mentioned, but this list is limited to four varieties. 

 You can extend that to six or eight varieties and, perhaps, have 

 some that are just as good as those mentioned. 



Mr. Martin Penning : I have sixty-four varieties, and last year 

 I sold sixty-four bushels of Surprise at $1.50 a bushel — I sold the 

 Stoddard at $1.50 and a number of the standard plums averaged 

 $1.50. We have got to have different kinds to get a good price. 



Mr. Busse : The late plums bring the biggest price. 



Mr. Penning: You have got to have a plum the people w'ant, 

 and you have got to sell them just before they are soft, and they 

 want them large for peeling, all of them. Nobody wants a small 

 plum. 



The President : What plums peel readily when ripe ? I think 

 that is an important point. 



Mr. Penning: I think the best one is the Surprise. You can 

 peel that when ripe just like a boiled potato, and if you dip them 

 in boiling water you can peel the skin right off. Of course, you 

 don't want to let it get too soft. I am willing to state that as for 

 a number of years I have sold all I could raise and propagate of 

 the Surprise I am now willing to take off" any restriction and throw 

 it open to all plum lovers, and I want them to plant and graft it and 

 do the best they can with it, and at the same time I want to extend 

 my thanks to Prof. Green, Prof. Goff and Prof. Craig for helping 

 me to introduce that plum. I had all kinds of calls to sell the tree, 

 but I want to throw it open to everybody. (Applause.) 



Mr. C. G. Patten : I want to say in view of the opinion that has 

 often been expressed that the Wealthy and the Peter were alike, 

 if one will go into the nursery, while they look very much alike and 

 the ordinary observer would not detect the Peter from the Wealthy, 

 yet they are distinct. Looking along both rows of trees one can say 

 positively that they are different individual trees. 



