62 THE PLUM IN KANSAS. 



curculio and the family also. We see isolated trees nearly always bare of plums, 

 partly for lack of fertilization, and because there are about so many insects on a 

 given area of earth, and if you have a few trees they will concentrate on these 

 few, and the crop is entirely destroyed. While if twenty to fifty trees had been 

 planted the curculio does an equal or greater amount of destruction, but there 

 are plenty of plums left for family use or market. This same rule works with 

 cherries and the birds: one or two trees, birds get the majority ; a long row, birds 

 get about the same number, but there are plenty left for market. We plant 

 plums twelve feet each way, but this can be changed to ten by fourteen feet, and 

 give a wider space one way for cultivation. In an orchard of 275 trees we planted 

 the following varieties, which ripen nearly in the order named: Ten Earliest of 

 All, 10 American Eagle, 10 Poole's Pride, 31 Red June, 16 Abundance, 16 Burbank, 

 16 Wild Goose, 17 Moore's Arctic, 31 Gold, 35 Wickson, 20 Orient, 6 Clingstone 

 Damson, 10 Freestone Damson, 10 Grand Duke, 10 Monarch, 7 Coe's Golden 

 Drop. We planted in the fall and mulched with stable litter, to prevent severe 

 freezing of roots; to favor the formation of callouses on cut and bruised roots, 

 scatter the litter in the spring. Plant from three to four inches deeper than the 

 tree stood ia the nursery, and cultivate shallow, not over two or three inches — 

 probably less would be better. After the orchard is four to six years old seed it 

 down to clover and pasture with hogs, or make a chicken-yard of it. In the 

 absence of hogs or chickens, pick up all fallen fruit and destroy it, as here is the 

 breeding-place of many insects that injure the plum. Head plum trees low, and 

 they need very little pruning; as far as practical, in pruning favor the growth of 

 a leading stem, and let all other branches be secondary. If two branches grow 

 out equally, foi*ming a fork, cut one back severely and encourage the growth of 

 the other by leaving growth full length: this will prevent crotches, which split 

 down when heavily loaded with plums. Most varieties can be shaken upon sheets 

 in gathering for home market, thus getting the ripest fruit, but for shipping to a 

 distant market they should be carefully picked by hand. 



J. H. Moyer, Hiawatha, Brown county. The first plums that I planted 

 here on my farm were the Chickasaw. They were sent to me by my father from 

 northern Illinois. They were sprouts from the roots of old trees and did not 

 bear where I planted them. I think that the curculio was the cause of them 

 not bearing, and having read that plums ought to be planted close to the hen- 

 house so that the chickens could get at the curculio and destroy them, which 

 they certainly would do, I took up my trees and planted them in the chicken- 

 yard, but did not succeed much better: still I had one or two good crops, but I 

 would not plant any more Chickasaws if the trees were given to me. It is the 

 poorest plum for eating and canning I have ever raised. Next I planted the 

 De Soto: these we grafted (spliced) on Chickasaw roots. These came in bearing 

 in three years from grafting. The De Soto was a good plum and was well liked 

 by all of my customers. The only fault with this plum is that they bear too 

 full: the trees could not hold up under the load of fruit, and when so full the 

 plums are small. For this jjlum I found ready sale in the orchard at $1 per 

 bushel. At the time of grafting the De Soto, we also grafted a large purple and 

 a green plum. The names of these I did not get. The purple plum bore several 

 crops, and I found ready sale for them at three dollars per bushel. This was a 

 better plum than some of the California plums sold in our towns here. The green 

 plum is also a very fine plum, but rots badly on the trees when nearly ripe. 



On the 20th of September, 1891, when these trees were eleven years old, we 

 had a severe hail-storm, which caused nearly all of them to die. I had, how- 

 ever, planted in the spring of 1893, 200 so-called Pottawatomie plums. They were 



