THE PLUM IN KANSAS. 73 



benefit to the public. Forty years ago I planted out twenty-five plum trees here, 

 including Quackenboss, Blue Gage, Bavay, Green Gage, Bingham, McLaughlin, 

 Lombard, Purple Egg, Richmond, Washington, and German Prune; a few years 

 later I set out eighty-five more, including Purple Gage, Jefferson, Smith's Or- 

 leans, Imperial Gage, St. Lawrence, Green Gage, and Shropshire Damson. 

 These have all proven unsatisfactory. My best success has been with the Ameri- 

 can species and varieties, and some of these have been failures; of about twenty- 

 five varieties, the following have proven valuable: Miner, Quaker, Wild Goose, 

 Godard, and Damson ; I am now trying De Soto, Wolf, Wyant, Foster, Ross, and 

 Klondike ; these are all natives of Iowa or seedlings of such. The Forest Garden, 

 of Iowa, is worthless here, and the Kickapoo, of Kansas, where it can be grown, is 

 the largest and the best; perhaps no other native plum is so good, but it rots 

 badly. Our only hope, in this climate, of growing varieties equal to the Euro- 

 pean, is by crossing the best American varieties with the Japanese. Seedlings 

 from such crosses ought to succeed here. 



W. M. rieharty. La Cygne, Linn county. Have twenty-five plum trees in 

 bearing, planted four years; they are Pottawatomie, Abundance, Wild Goose, 

 and Burbank. The Pottawatomie and Abundance I find to be the bearers. My 

 soil is black alluvial, sloping to the east. Plant trees twenty feet apart. Have 

 never grown, budded or grafted my own trees. My neighbors grow plums, and 

 I consider them a good paying crop in this locality. 



D. C. Overly, Hartford, Lyon county. I have 1100 plum trees in bearing 

 which have been planted four years; they are Gold, Red June, Lombard, Orient, 

 Blue Damson, Abundance, Spaulding, Marianna, and Wild Goose. They were 

 frozen three nights in succession this spring while in blossom. My soil is black 

 loam, sloping to the east. Planted my trees twelve by eighteen feet. Have never 

 grown, budded or grafted my own trees. My neighbors do not grow plums. I 

 consider them a good paying crop in this locality. 



James McNiool, Lost Springs, Marion county. I have 100 plum trees,, 

 planted in 1886 and later. They are Wild Goose, Miner, Wolf, Lombard, German 

 Prune, Marianna, Pottawatomie, Abundance, Burbank, Willard, and Satsuma. 

 Of these, the Burbank, Abundance, Marianna, Pottawatomie and Wild Goose are 

 best bearers. Of Japanese, those doing best for me are the Abundance. The 

 Burbank is more prolific, but rots on the tree. My soil is a black clay loam, 

 sloping to the north and west. I plant eighteen and twenty feet apart. Market 

 in ten-pound baskets. Sell at home, receiving from thirty to forty cents per 

 basket. I have tried several varieties of wild plums, but found none to be as 

 good as Wild Goose or Abundance. If I were beginning over, would plant 

 Abundance and Burbank. I consider them well worth planting and taking 

 care of. 



W. G. Stockard, Beloit, Mitchell county. I have fifty plum trees in 

 bearing, planted in 1881 and 1888. They are Wild Goose, Marianna, Imperial 

 Gage, Burbank, Weaver, Ogon, Miner, and Sand plum. Those doing best for me 

 are the Imperial Gage and Marianna. My soil is upland prairie, sloping to the 

 north. Plant from sixteen to twenty feet. Sell the fruit in Beloit at one dollar 

 per bushel. Have grown, budded and grafted my own trees. If planting again, 

 would put out the Imperial Gage and Marianna. My neighbors grow plums, but 

 I hardly consider them a paying crop in this locality. 



J. T. Barnes, Beloit, Mitchell county. I have 100 plum trees which have 

 been planted from four to ten years. They are Wild Goose, Marianna, Pottawa- 

 tomie, Robinson, Miner, Golden Beauty, Weaver, Wolf, Mito, Vanity, and two 



