THE farmer's plum GROVE. 283 



a branch at every possible place to catch the sunlight. We have 

 persistently kept the young shoots down that came up from the 

 roots, by cutting them either with a sharp hoe or a small hatchet, 

 and in that way we can readily get under the branches in a stoop- 

 ing position, and even can kneel upon the ground without any in- 

 convenience, as the straw makes a nice clean covering for the 

 ground as well as acting as a mulch to the trees. 



We have not suffered any inconvenience from the straw bringing 

 weed seeds to the grove and so causing the wild morning glory and 

 similar vines to climb up on the trees. The straw during the sum- 

 mer gradually breaks down and becomes finer. We have now 

 planted on either side of this original hedge, one row of the Desota 

 and Forest Garden plums. These are making a fine growth, and so 

 far this year are not showing any of the evil effects of the pluin 

 pocket. If I thought there was any danger of this blight, to which 

 I have referred, infecting my improved plums, I should at once set 

 out another plum grove and leave the native entirely out of the list. 

 This is a matter upon which I want information and shall be guided 

 according to the knowledge which I may receive. 



But if I should fail entirely in obtaining fruit from this grove, still 

 I shall feel amply repaid for the labor which we have expended in 

 growing it, by its furnishing to the chickens upon the farm the best 

 shade for the summer that I have ever seen. Not far from the grove 

 is our chicken house, and during the summer the hens with their 

 broods seek shelter in mid-day beneath the trees, and in case there is 

 the cry of the hawk they at once seek its shelter and are safe from 

 his depredations. The chickens seem to thoroughly understand 

 that this plum grove is a sort of fortress for them; and I after having 

 learned from Prof. Lugger that hawks are great enemies of gophers 

 am not now so much inclined to go for the gun if I see one of them 

 sailing about, for the chickens will take care of themselves, and the 

 hawk will probably help us take care of the gophers. 



The chickens also not only get help from the trees, but they also 

 help the trees wonderfully well. The}' tear the straw into bits and 

 help to work it into the soil. Now and then I throw under the trees 

 some coarse manure, and that, of course, is worked up by the hens 

 in their scratching. Mrs. Tilson, who represents the poultry depart- 

 ment in our institute work, often lays great stress upon the neces- 

 sity of having a scratching hen if you wish a laying hen. This 

 straw certainly excites the hens to great activity. They have got to 

 scratch pretty lively before they get to the ground, and then they 

 seem to euioy the ground all the more after such a scratching. 



Some tidy reader may think that this plum grove of ours must be 

 very untidy with the scattering of straw underneath the branches, as 

 I have explained. But if they think so, they are mistaken. We have 

 a little trench, or small ditch, as it might be called, which separates 

 the mulch portion of the garden where the plum trees are from the 

 adjoining grass plot, and it is very rarely that any straw is scratch- 

 ed across this line of separation. In case it does, we always throw 

 it immediately back, so that instead of having an unsightly thino- 

 about the place, it really is pleasant to look upon; and the grove 



