THE CANADIAN HORTICULTURIST. 



Dyehouse, as many of our readers 

 know, originated in Central Kentucky, 

 an accidental seedling in the orchard of 

 the person whose name it bears. This 

 was years ago, when the people there 

 had heard little or nothing about bud- 

 ding or grafting, and increased the stock 

 of their favorite and never-failing cherry 

 by sprouts dug up from the roots of the 

 parent tree. And some prefer these 

 sprouts still, though the reason of their 

 preference is hardly clear. Finally, af- 

 ter thirty years of continuous bearing — 

 every year with one exception, when a 

 late frost destroyed the young fruit, then 

 about the size of peas— Mr. Henry T. 



Harris, a person who had experience 

 with choice fruits, came across it and in- 

 troduced it to the public. 



Since that time — over twenty years 

 ago — it has demonstrated its excellence 

 in various parts of the country, North as 

 well as South, East and West, even in 

 Minnesota and Canada. 



There is one peculiarity attending the 

 propagation of the trees of Dyehouse ; 

 the buds frequently do not succeed, 

 failing to become attached to the stock, 

 and consequently dying. Why this is 

 so, is difficult to say, but it affects only 

 the nurseryman. 



PLUM NOTES. 



Grafting. — Plums should be grafted 

 very early to obtain best results, what- 

 ever the stock they are set upon. Care 

 should be used not to tear the bark, if 

 the cleft style should be used, but in- 

 cline the blade that does the splitting to 

 the side of the stump that is to receive 

 the scion. This will cut a smoother 

 place to set the scion than would be 

 made by not doing so, and the fit will 

 be better. Plum scions should be cut 

 very early. Fall is really the best time 

 to cut scions of all kinds ; for there is 

 no possibility of damage from cold 

 weather, or of the buds starting from 

 the tvarmth of approaching spring. 



BuRBANK. — As a class, the Japanese 

 plums are inferior in quality to the 

 domestica types ; and yet, the Burbank 

 and some others are fully as good as the 

 Lombard if, in fact, not better. The 

 particular merits of the Japanese plums 

 to my mind, are their earliness, great 



productiveness, early bearing, beauty, 

 long-keeping qualities. They supply 

 varieties in summer before any of 

 the valuable domestica types ripen 

 their fruit. They are so exceed- 

 ingly productive as a class that they 

 tend to overbear, and it is probable that 

 we shall find complaints of the trees 

 being short-lived. The best quality of 

 the plum is ordinarily not developed ex- 

 cept by heroic thinning. Trees which 

 bear so heavily as these Japanese plums 

 should receive extra care in thinning 

 tillage and fertilizing. 



Pruning. — My method of pruning 

 plums can be told in a few words : To 

 cut back two-thirds all new wood ; that 

 is, all the new leading shoots are cut 

 back at least two thirds of the entire 

 length. This is my rule, and I follow it 

 as closely as circumstances will permit. 

 — American Gardening. 



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