48 THE PLUM IN KANSAS. 



of bloom varies in different sections. According to the department, different 

 sorts which blossom at the same time must be planted near one another in order 

 to get a full crop of fruit. 



Some forty years ago, when I was a boy, the old Blue Damsons bore abun- 

 dantly where no other sorts were within half a mile. I frequently see isolated 

 trees of the Lombard and Moore's Arctic overloaded with fruit. To show that 

 the order of bloom is not the same everywhere, I have only to compare the plum- 

 blossom chart of J. W. Kerr, recorded at Delon, Md. , with my record here in 

 eastern Maine. Burbank, April 9; Ogon, April 12; Chabot, April 1.3; Willard, 

 April 17. This is from Mr. Kerr's chart, and gives the time when the first blos- 

 soms of the sorts mentioned open. 



The following is from my record of 1898: Willard, May 13; Ogon, May 14; 

 Burbank, May 15: Chabot, May 21. The order of bloom varies throughout the 

 long lists from which I have selected. 



I do not think growers will always find results satisfactory when the self-sterile 

 sorts are planted with other varieties blooming at the same time. I have the 

 Ogon, which is self-sterile, within eight feet of the Red June, and near other 

 sorts that bloom at the same time, and yet they have never produced half a 

 crop. During the past six years, these Ogons have never failed to give a heavy 

 bloom. In some instances where nearly the whole top is Red June, the remain- 

 ing Ogon branches fruit fairly well. I have several Burbanks near the Ogon and 

 Red June, some of which bore well the past season, and some failed apparently 

 without any reason. The past season, on my grounds, the Chabot (Bailey) blos- 

 somed about a week later than any other sort, and yet these trees are loaded, 

 which indicates they are not self-sterile. 



In my humble judgment, based on years of experience and observation, our 

 unfavorable winters have half as much to do with these plum failures as self- 

 sterility.— C'Aas. A. Miller, -East Union, Me. 



SOME NOTES ON THINNING. 

 Here are three sensible items about thinning fruit on the trees : 



THINNING FRUIT. 



I wonder how many of you practice the thinning of fruit on your apple trees. 

 Now, apple trees will do a good deal if you do nothing for them. But the man 

 who wants good apples — apples that will pay — in the future will practice thin- 

 ning his fruit. I should take a young tree which attempted to produce 100 

 apples and remove at least fifty of them, leaving not more than fifty to ripen. 

 The next year, if it attempted to produce 200, I should leave 100 or less, and the 

 next, if it had 1000 apples I should leave .300 or 400 only. By this method I 

 should get that tree into the habit of annual bearing. The man who will make 

 fruit-growing a profitable business will thin all his fruit. A peach tree that will 

 set 1000 peaches needs to have 600 or 700 thinned off. The commercial side of 

 fruit-growing demands thinning of nearly all your fruits. You will get more 

 bushels to the tree: within reasonable bounds, the more you throw away the 

 more pounds or bushels you will have left; increased size more than makes up loss 

 in number. In thinning Japanese plums I should leave the fruit four inches apart, 

 and peaches from five to six inches. If you will make a practice of thinning 

 your fruit from the trees, you will usually get four dollars for one. I have often 

 had it increase the crop fifty per cent., and the selling price 500 per cent. — J. H. 

 Hale, Massachusetts. 



