THE BEST METHOD OF PROPAGATING PLUMS. 181 
seed in the spring is a good one. Iam quite sure that if plum seed 
is sown in the spring, you get a better stand than if sown in the 
fall. I tried it in sowing box elder in the spring, andIcan raise a 
great deal more box elder by sowing in the spring than by sowing 
in the fall. Where the plum seed is frozen and then sown in the 
spring you get a better growth than if sown in the fall. 
Mr. Nordine: In regard to sowing the pitin the spring. We also 
have had experience in that line,and one thing we met with very often 
switched us off entirely from spring sowing and put us on to fall 
sowing. Having your pits stratified in the sand, they will begin in 
the spring time to open up and germinate, and many times we had 
those heavy spring rains that made it impossible to get our seeds 
in the ground, and those in the sand would be progressing right 
along and growing, and many times the sprouts would be half an 
inch long,and many of them would be broken off; and they would be 
exposed to the open air. We never had as fine a stand of seed- 
lings as we did from fall sowing. 
Mr. Penning: I want to give my experience in this matter. I 
gather the plum seeds in the fall,as soon as we eat the plums, and 
I put them ina nail keg, throw in some seeds and then throw in a 
handful or two of soil, and in that way I keep on putting in seeds 
until Ihave all I want; and then I set them outdoors until about 
the beginning of March, when I take the keg and put it in the cellar 
till I get ready to plant. I watch my seeds, and when they get ready 
to sprout I plant them, and I always get good seedlings, 
Mr. Richardson: The Jewell Nursery Company has a sandy soil. 
I have always practiced fall planting, and some years I have lost 
my seeds because in the spring the ground was dry and the soil 
blew away to my neighbor’s farm, when the seeds would become ex- 
posed,and the gophers would come and shuck them. IfI had planted 
them at that time [I would have been allright, but when you lose an 
inch or two of soil, as we do, fall planting bothers. Still'I have 
always practiced it and tried to get my seeds in a place where the 
soil would not blow away. 
SUB-IRRIGATING FLOWER BEDS. 
The experiments that have 
been tried in introducing water 
freely below the beds of growing 
plants have proved conclusively 
the value of this kind of watering. 
The cross section given here- 
with shows how one may readily 
try this experiment for himself 
this spring. Select the spot where 
a small bed is to be devoted to 
foliage or other plants, and sink an empty keg in the center just 
below the position of the coming roots. Fit an old piece of tin pipe, 
as suggested in the sketch, and your “irrigating plant” is ready 
for business! Not only can water be thus freely applied, but liquid 
manurealso. The keg, it should be said, should not be one that will 
“hold water.” 
