PLUMS AN'I) CHERRIKS. 483 



be a good stock for the native plum, but I have uot had loti^ 

 enough experience to say for certain. 



Mr. Chirence Wedge: I should think, Mr. President. that your objec- 

 tion that the tree might not stand the drouth would not hold good, 

 because the sand cherry withstand.s the drouth better than anything 

 known. 



Pres. Underwood: That is what I wanted to hnd out. 



Mr. Wedge: I think, as our American plum sutJCrs from the 

 drouth, the sand cherry would remedy that. I have had trees that 

 in one year grew over six feet high. I have grown quite a number 

 without pruning back, and the roots of the sand cherry held them 

 as erect as any I have seen. 



Mr. A. F. Collman (Iowa): While your secretary spoke so favor- 

 ably of the Minnesota grapes, I think we have the best plums. I 

 am very much interested in plum culture, and I obtain scions 

 wherever I can. I have them worked on the sand cherrj'. and I see 

 nothing I think should be discarded, and they have been ver3- 

 profitable. I have none of the European plums growing on the 

 sand cherry. 



Prea. Underwood: As I said before, we had quite a crop of sand 

 cherries; they seemed to be verj' prolific, and I had them tested in ?. 

 variety of ways as to their cooking c|ualities. They make an ex- 

 cellent sauce. I think they stew them a little in water, and they 

 make an excellent sauce, liighly colored, and where there is a 

 scarcity of fruit the}' maj- be appreciated for pies, perhaps. 



Prof. N. E. Hansen (South Dakota): I think eventually there will 

 be some varieties of the sand cherries that will be very desirable. 

 I remember four or five j-ears ago I found some on the Missouri 

 river that were the next thing to the common tame cherr}-, and this 

 last season Mr. Wedge sent me a sample, and they were very good 

 eating. The cherries I have produced were of the same (juality as 

 the common cherry. The seedlings we shall get from them, I think, 

 will take an important place in our fruit growing. I think it will 

 prove profitable to cross with the native. plums. 



Mr. E. J. Cutts: Will thej' grow from cuttings? 



Prof. Hansen: They grow from root cuttings, but not from other 

 cuttings. 



Pres. Underwood: Before we pass this topic of j)luins I want to 

 call on the man who knows everything about plums. Mr. C). M. 

 Lord, who has not been on his feet once yet. I think Mr. Lord can 

 tell us all there is to be known about the subject. 



Mr. O. M. Lord: In regard to the sand cherry and plum. I tliink 

 the sand cherry should be called a plum. I top-grafted several na- 

 tive plums on the sand cherry, and thej- grew without anj* diflicultj' 

 whatever; and I tried to top-graft on some others, and they did not 

 grow at all. Perhaps, that is one reason why the sand cherry sue 

 ceeds so well on the native root. 



Pres. Underwood: What kind of trees does it make grafted on 

 the plum. 



Mr. Lord: Prof. Hansen can tell you better about that than I 

 can. 



