Orchard and Garden Management 269 



that the Domestica plums like a heavy clay does not 

 mean that they like a damp, cold, clammy soil, in 

 which the necessary transformations of plant food go 

 on feebly and ineffectively. And the notion that the 

 Chicasaw plums like low, wet land should not be 

 relied on too far when drainage is being considered. 



The purpose of drainage, especially underdrain- 

 age, is to make the soil drier and warmer during wet 

 weather, and cooler and moister during drouth. Such 

 amelioration is in no wise unsuited to plum trees of 

 any species. On the contrary, they will pay as well 

 for that kind of treatment as any other crop. 



Planting. — The selection of varieties naturally de- 

 mands first attention ; but this is a matter of such im- 

 portance and one involving so many considerations, 

 that a separate chapter is devoted to it. In general, it 

 may be said that two-year-old trees should be selected 

 for planting. Sometimes three-year-old stock, partic- 

 ularly of slow-growing sorts, is satisfactory. Occa- 

 sionally one finds southern-grown trees of Japanese 

 and certain native varieties which are fit to plant at 

 one year old. Such young stock handles and ships 

 cheaply, but is not to be generally recommended. 



In buying plum trees, more than the usual amount 

 of attention has to be given to the stocks on which 

 they are propagated. This subject is fully discussed 

 in the chapter on propagation. It is not always that 

 the planter can secure just the stocks desired, but if 

 he would make his wants more evident to the nurs- 

 eryman, — and back them up with the cash! — there 

 would be less and less difficulty on this score. 



The question of whether it is better to buy of lo- 

 cal or of distant nurseries is one often discussed, but 

 of no practical importance. Buy trees by quality first 

 and by price second. At the Vermont Experiment 

 station we have planted young plum trees from Can- 



