370 ANNUAL REPORT 



or the general care of native plum orchards; all that is experi- 

 mental. It is generally agreed that a close mixture of varieties is 

 necessary for such a distribution of pollen as the most of them need 

 for full bearing. We shall find some of the choicest sorts not s uf- 

 ficiently self fertilizing, and others independent like the De Soto. 

 As to distance to plant the trees apart, I measured a thrifty plum 

 tree the other day, and found it wanted a circle eighteen feet in diam- 

 eter to spread its limbs, and was still growing. Opinions may differ 

 about cultivation. I do not see how it can be done after the trees 

 are two or three years old without cutting the roots and bringing up 

 a multitude of sprouts. My preference would be not to disturb the 

 roots, but keep the orchard in grass and give a top dressing of 

 manure when necessary. 



The black knot will be an enemy to contend with. On my own 

 premises, badly infested when I came into possession four years 

 ago, I have got rid of it mostly by cutting it out in the winter. I 

 did not burn the infested brush, but piled it up in other places. 

 Probably burning would be safer. 



The native grape is a sure cropper, does well in all situations, 

 thrives under neglect, and prospers under cultivation, and it is a 

 very Methuselah for long life. Considered merely for its fruit it 

 ought to rank higher than it does in public estimation. It is a 

 fruit easy to pick and to prepare for cooking; makes excellent pies 

 alone or mixed with other fruit, keeps well with sugar or syrup 

 added, is good for canning, and it is one of the most wholesome 

 fruits we have. Its wine, used as a tonic in medical practice, has 

 long outranked all other wines in the opinion of physicians who 

 have compared and tested them. This grape deserves a place in 

 any garden; it asks no protection from summer's heat or winter's 

 cold; give it a good spot of ground and something to climb on, and 

 it will yield a crop on every branch as far as you let it run. As 

 an arbor or summer house vine in the garden, it is the best of all 

 our climbers, and matches well with the leaves of deciduous trees 

 trained in espalier form to support it, as it loves something alive to 

 climb on. 



We have come to value the native gooseberry more and more 

 each year. We have it Only in its native places, where it seldom 

 fails to yield as heavily as the Houghton in our garden. The fruit 

 will average as large as that of .the Houghton in full bearing; is of 

 better quality, and the bushes not so disagreeably thorny. The 

 berries are smooth. There seems to be two varieties, one round 

 the other oblong. I would try it in the garden under the same 

 treatment as that given to the currant, and if it grew and fruited 

 as well there as in the woods, should prefer it to the Houghton. 



The sand cherry or dwarf cherry tree is about the size of a cur- 

 rant bush, and has a willowy expression when in leaf. Some 

 strains of it are rather trailing in habit, others upright. The fruit 

 varies in size. I have not seen it smaller than the Janesville 

 grape, and have sometimes found it as large as the Concord. Its 

 usual form as seen in my neighborhood is oblong, rather than ob- 

 late like most cherries; yet it is reported in other shapes. Its 



