68 THE PLUM IN KANSAS. 



stroy so many of the worst insect enemies of the plum is one of the principal 

 causes of this neglect. For, in order to avail themselves of their valuable assist- 

 ance, nine-tenths of the farmers and fruit-growers plant their plums in the back 

 yard, in zig-zag rows, and the it(>ii< recommended clumps and clusters, as near as 

 possible to the chicken-house and other buildings, so that to cultivate with a 

 horse is seldom attempted, and the hoe and scythe are about the only tools that 

 can be used in their cultivation, and in a very few years the sprouts take full 

 possession and defy the use of even the hoe and scythe, and the promising young 

 orchard becomes one of the familiar plum thickets seen upon nearly every farm. 

 These trees soon become so thick that they bear little fruit and that only upon 

 the very tops of the trees, and in unfavorable years they bear nothing. The only 

 way to prevent this sprouting is to plant trees budded upon peach, apricot or 

 Marianna stocks, and then, if you plant them deeper than where the bud was in- 

 serted, you will have the sprouts about the same as if they had been grown from 

 sprouts themselves. I believe that frequent cultivation will produce better crops 

 than chickens; but, where possible, by all means use both. My most successful 

 trees are in an enclosed chicken yard, and they are budded upon the XJeach. The 

 most suitable soil, from my experience and observations, I would say is a sandy 

 soil for our native or American varieties, with a clay subsoil for our old European 

 sorts, and if there is any soil suitable for the Japanese and their offspring in /A/x 

 latitude I have never seen it tried. Of varieties, the natives are the most profit- 

 able, and the De Soto we desire above all others. The Pottawatomie is the best 

 bearer, but too small. The Wild Goose and Robinson are all reliable and good. 

 The Lombard is as reliable as any of the European sorts, excepting the Damson, 

 and that is so easily affected by a dry spell that it is often a failure. 



»J. P. Emery, Cimarron, Gray county. I have fifteen plum trees in bear- 

 ing: been planted four years; they are Wild Goose, Lombard, and Damson. 

 Wild Goose has been the best bearer; the others are just coming into bearing 

 this year. My soil is a black loam, sloping to the south; I plant fifteen feet 

 apart. Have never grown, budded or grafted my own trees. If planting over 

 again, would put out the varieties I am now growing. My neighbors grow plums ; 

 I think them a good paying crop in this locality. 



D. D. AVliite, Enon, Harper county. I have ten plum trees in bearing, 

 which have been planted twelve years; they are Wild Goose and Chickasaw; of 

 these. Wild Goose is the best bearer. My soil is level, sandy loam. Gather the 

 iruit when ripe. Use most of it at home, but what little I have sold I received 

 fifty cents a bushel for. Have never grown, budded or grafted my own trees. 

 My neighbors grow plums; they [wild] are too plentiful to pay in this locality. 



John Bailey, Harper, Harper county. I have 100 plum trees in bearing 

 planted six years; they are Wild Goose and Miner; one is as good a bearer as 

 the other. Have never tried Japanese varieties. My soil is a level, black, 

 sandy loam. Have planted some ten feet and some twenty-five feet apart. 

 Market the fruit in bulk in Harper. They bring from 50 cents to $2.25 per. 

 bushel. Have never tried any wild varieties. I consider it a good paying crop 

 my neighbors are growing several varieties. 



F. W. Dixon, Holton, Jackson county. We have 500 plum trees, and can 

 say from experience that they are the poorest paying fruit crop we have. In ten 

 years we have not had a full crop on any but the Abundance. Wild Goose is 

 very uncertain; even if a good crop of ijlums set, a heavy wind-storm before 

 ripening puts your plums all on the ground. Miner seems to be a shy bearer, 

 but an excellent tree, and fruit is prime for butters, etc. De Soto is the best 



