58 THE PLUM IN KANSAS. 



ONE WHO DOES NOT FEAR THE CURCULIO. 



Plums are a desirable attraction to any home. I can remember the plum 

 trees which furnished such delectable fruit on the old farm homestead, where I 

 was born fifty years ago. I remember to-day how those fat, yellow, juicy plums 

 tasted to me as a boy. Remembering this, and remembering that children enjoy 

 such fruits far more than older people, I have ever placed an abundance' of fruit 

 in their reach. 



About twenty years ago plum culture was almost abandoned, owing to the 

 depredations of the curculio, which stung the plums early in the season, and 

 seriously injured the crop. Currant culture was also abandoned, owing to the 

 currant worm, and potato culture was almost abandoned, owing to the potato bug, 

 but later it was learned that these insects could easily be destroyed, and that, 

 where large orchards of plum trees were grown, curculio was often a blessing in 

 thinning out surplus fruit, since plum trees, more than any other fruit-trees, are 

 liable to overbear; therefore, where plums are grown in orchards, often no atten- 

 tion is paid to curculio; indeed, the curculio is not dreaded by any one in these 

 days who understands its habits. I grow the plum in my city yard, pay no at- 

 tention to the curculio, and get an abundant crop. The plum comes into bear- 

 ing at an early date, often two or three years after planting. The trees can be 

 planted more closely together than the apple, pear or cherry, the branches not 

 being so wide-spread. Do not fail to plant at least a few plum trees. — G. TF., in 

 Green'' s Fruit Grower. 



THE BANNER PLUM ORCHARD IN MICHIGAN. 



According to Green''s Fruit Groirer, Prof. W. J. Green thought the finest 

 crops of plums ever grown in Michigan had been produced at Grand Rapids last 

 year in an orchard of 1200 trees occupying four acres of ground. It was owned 

 by a commercial traveler, and the man in charge had orders to cultivate after 

 every rain and at other times when there was nothing else to do. The orchard 

 was cultivated forty-two times. Plum rot was very bad last year, but only thirty- 

 three per cent, dropped from sprayed trees, while eighty-four per cent, dropped 

 from those not sprayed. Leaving every third tree unsprayed each year contami- 

 nated those sprayed, and the percentage of rot was greater than it would have 

 been covild all of the trees have been treated. He thought Abundance and Bur- 

 bank plums would be a permanent addition to the fruit list, and probably some 

 others of the Japan list; but it would be useless to plant any Japan variety in 

 localities where oarly bloom was liable to be destroyed by the late frosts, all the 

 species being early bloomers, some blooming two weeks earlier than native and 

 European sorts. The foregoing forms an elegant tribute to the practices of 

 thorough cultivation and thinning. 



SATSUMA AS A PLUM STOCK. 



The Marianna plum is very generally used as a stock for the plum. The 

 stocks are grown in the South from the cuttings, as they root there very rapidly, 

 and will not do so in the North. The seeds of the Myrobalan (which is a species 

 of plum from Europe, and of which the Marianna is a variety) are also grown 

 for plum stocks. I have lately heard that the Satsuma plum, which is one of 

 the Japan varieties, makes a most excellent stock for the plum and peach, too. 

 If this is true, and it will grow from cuttings, then we have a very valuable 

 thing that we did not suppose we had. I do not see why the seedlings of any of 

 the Japan plums might not be good for plum and, perhaps, peach stocks, too. 

 The trouble would be to get the seeds out of the fruit without losing the pulp; 

 for they are nearly all clings, except Ogon. Cherry stocks must be of two kinds. 



