52 THE PLUM IN KANSAS. 



the graft must be removed from time to time as they appear, so the 

 scion will have a fair chance for vigorous growth. If this is not done 

 the scion will make but a feeble growth, or perish altogether, from 

 lack of nutriment. 



In top-grafting young trees in the nursery it will not do to strip 

 all the leaves appearing on the stem below the graft. All the buds 

 for a short distance just below the point of union should be allowed 

 to expand, in order to "draw up the sap" and cause vigorous growth. 

 If these buds push too strongly, keep in check by pinching. As the 

 graft grows these leaves on the stock can be gradually removed, be- 

 ginning with the buds next to the graft. In top-working plums and 

 cherries, the outer bark often becomes tough and dry, so it will not 

 expand to make room for the deposit of new wood in June. The graft 

 is then in danger of perishing from tight lacing, and the corset strings 

 must be cut. Do this by slitting the bark lengthwise in several places, 

 taking care not to cut into the wood, as this is apt to cause gumming. 

 The general experience in top-grafting plum trees in the nursery 

 is not favorable. Especially is it a poorplan to top-work European 

 varieties on natives stocks ; the top outgrows the stock and is injured 

 or blown off in strong winds. But a row of unfruitful Miner plums 

 may be made productive by toj^-grafting some limbs in each tree with 

 good varieties of Prunus americana, such as Wyant, De Soto, and 

 Wolf, whose blossoms have an abundant supply of pollen to fertilize 

 the Miner. Mr. B. A. Mathews, of Knoxville, Iowa, grows large crops 

 of Miner and Wild Goose by planting them alternately in the row, 

 and top-grafting some limbs in each tree with productive varieties of 

 Prunus americana. At the Iowa Agricultural College good results 

 and more abundant fruiting have been attained by top-grafting na- 

 tive plums. 



PLUMS. 



By B. B. Smyth. Read before Shawnee County Horticultural Society March, 1900. 



Native fruits are always adapted to the places where they grow. 

 The plum is one of the most desirable native American fruits. There 

 are only three species of plum native in Kansas, though there are a 

 good many varieties of these species. The American Red plum is 

 found in the timbered portions of the eastern part of the state, and 

 is not here in its greatest perfection, this being its western limit and 

 nearly its southern limit. The Chickasaw plum is a small tree of the 

 southeastern and southern jDortions of the state. The Sand-hill 

 plum is a shrub of the desert region, and is found in its greatest per- 

 fection in the sand-hills along the rivers of the central i3art of the 

 state. 



