BO ; A.Nic A 

 QAROEN 



THE PLXJ]Vr. 



INTRODUCTORY. 



It should rank fourth on our fruit-tree list. The improvements 

 in this fruit during the last quarter of a century have been as wonder- 

 ful and progressive as in any horticultural line. The introduction of 

 the Japan plum marked a new era, and the crossing of it upon our 

 natives has resulted in giving us some fine fruits as large as peaches, 

 free from '•i3ucker" or astringency, and of fine grain and flavor — ele- 

 gant dessert fruits. California has made a great name and market for 

 her plums — mainly hybrid Japan — and while our winters may occa- 

 sionally play havoc with the plum tree, yet our state can grow as fine 

 plums as any in the union. 



Plum trees must be well cultivated and, if necessary, sprayed lib- 

 erally. Their greatest enemy is the curculio ; the jarring process, if 

 persisted in, will conquer the "little Twrk." Small plum orchards 

 planted where poultry have a run are quite sure to produce abundant 

 crops. Our horticulturists mostly plant the Wild Goose ; this, to do 

 well, should have a potent consort or fertilizer, like Robinson, Potta- 

 watomie, or others. Our sixty or seventy correspondents differ in a 

 few minor points. One declares that our native plums always grow 

 in thickets; therefore he planted his plum orchard that way; another 

 planted three trees in each hole ; some plant only ten feet apart ; 

 others eighteen to twenty feet. We have inserted many articles 

 showing profit in plums. We have also added quite a number of 

 articles showing up one or more varieties in a special light, proving 

 their particular value in favored localities. As we have inserted mat- 

 ter from many states in the far East, the South, the far West, and the 

 North, our horticulturists should study all the special conditions of 

 climate and location, and not plant blindly, thinking success lies en- 

 tirely with the variety. Climate, soil, location, cultivation, thinning, 

 each has a bearing as well as has variety. 



This work is not issued as an infallible guide, or "how to get rich 

 growing plums in Kansas," but to start a line of thought among a 

 thinking people ; although an occasional chance here and there may 

 be unsuccessful, yet to our state as a whole it may and surely will be 

 a grand success. Our state pays for this work in the hope that it may 

 result in giving an impetus to the plum industry. 



Seceetary. 



