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THE HOME PLUM GROVE. 405 
THE HOME PLUM GROVE. 
-jJ. M. UNDERWOOD, LAKE CITY. 
My subject presupposes the necessity of a home for mankind at 
large, and it is sincerely to be hoped that it is the condition of every 
one here; it likewise suggests land and the ownership thereof. 
What independence that means! What freedom! No narrow walls 
to confine the limbs, or to stifle with foul air the breast of him who, 
treads the groves of his own home and plucks from off the trees 
the fruitage of his own labors! Have you a home or just a place to 
stay in? Is it surrounded by trees to protect you from the cold of 
winter and to provide grateful shade in the hot days of summer? 
Do you have possession or dothe hogs and cattle? Have you a 
well kept lawn with everything neat and tidy about you, or must 
you go to some more careful neighbors to find these things? 
Everything, certainly, should be found around a home that can in 
any way contribute to its comfort and happiness, and my subject 
further suggests that a grove of plum trees would be a most desir- 
able adjunct thereof. Have youa plum grove? If not, why not? 
Plums are easily grown, are hardy and prolific. They never have. 
received the attention they deserve in the past, but at present 
much interest is being taken in growing them, both in the east and 
west. 
There are ten or more different classes of plums under cultivation 
in this country and many varieties of these classes, but the class 
that chiefly interests us in the northwest is that known as the 
American type, or Prunus Americana. This class is being very 
much improved by hybridization, selection, and cultivation. As is 
the case with all fruits, the cross fertilization of different varieties 
brings about new and improved sorts. Where this occurs between 
the different classes, the result is a hybrid, which also is often an 
improvement on the original plant and fruit. This most interesting 
work of improving and selecting the best of this class of American 
plums is being prosecuted with great earnestness and zeal by a 
number of men. The foremost man in this work in Minnesota is 
our veteran horticulturist, O. M. Lord. Prof. Green, of the State 
Agricultural Sehool, is doing very much the same work to system- 
atically promote this branch of horticulture, and much valuable 
information is given in the bulletins issued by the State Experiment 
Station. 
Having said this much toinduce you to plant plums, I will now 
offer some suggestions on how todoso successfully. The same 
general rule that applies to everything that is necessary to success 
applies to this, viz.. do your work well. I gavea friend some trees, 
and when [ visited him he pointed with pride to them; but the poor 
things fairly wept as they looked at me, and I almost wept to see 
them, standing in the front yard in adry, hidebound sod. I suppose 
he thought he was giving them the post of honor in the front yard, 
but how sad they looked, and how they pleaded with me to take 
them back home and give them good culture. 
