HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 117 



Mrs. stager. Those plums I speak of are very shy in produc- 

 ing runners. 



Mr. Pearse. Cut the roots and I will guarantee the young 

 shoots will come up. * 



President Elliot. The advice of Mr. Pearse is sound. The 

 best way with ordinary planters is to grow the trees from sprouts 

 of the roots. Let our experimental stations experiment with 

 seedlings as much as they like, but let us not waste time our- 

 selves in growing new seedlings. I think that is the province of 

 the experimental stations, to do that class of work. 



Mr. Underwood. At our place we have been experimenting 

 with seedling plums considerably; but the location seems to be 

 against them. We havn't met with verj'good success. We 

 have planted them by the thousand, but they don't fruit well. 

 If a person has been unsuccessful in one locality I don't think it 

 need to discourage everyone else. That is a point I wished to 

 bring out. I knew my friend Taylor was discouraged, was doing 

 some bad talking, and that was the reason I wanted to bring out 

 this discussion. While thousands of trees may be cut down and 

 put on the brush pile in one locality, others may be more suc- 

 cessful. 



Mr. Taylor. I would not become discouraged, but I live in 

 the very paradise of the wild plum. When the country was first 

 settled you could gather them there by the wagon load. I don't 

 attribute anything to location. A neighbor of mine planted a 

 lot of seed from a superior plum, and planted in a nursery more 

 than five hundred kinds and fruited them; he got some good 

 fruit, and there was some quite equal to the seed planted; but 

 the same result referred to follows with his now. In a few years 

 they ceased to bear and they seemed to blight. Some of my finest 

 varieties failed. There appeared a sort of oak balls on them 

 and the trees were covered with black knot. Our wild plums, 

 whether cultivated or not, are disappearing in the neighborhood; 

 those of good quality are going first. Where there were thou- 

 sands of acres formerly producing well, to-day the same plum 

 grove shows the meanest and lowest kind of fruit; and if I am 

 discouraged now I am going to state so. 



I may illustrate my feelings upon this subject by relating this 

 incident. Mr. Ingersoll, of St. Paul, some time ago sent me 

 some money with an order for plum trees, which he had been 

 induced to do by State Auditor Braden, who knew what fine 

 variety of plums I used to raise in such abundance, and which 



