22 FIRST FRUITS OF THE LAND. 



nearly all grew and seemed not injured, excepting on the 

 southwest the bark of the peach-plum died, as judged, on 

 account of the warm 2 o'clock sun while the trees were yet 

 frozen. In a few years the damage was scarcely noticed. 



The first year of bearing I sent two carloads of peach- 

 plums, wrapped in papers and carefully packed in twenty- 

 pound boxes, to the Chicago market. The weather was 

 warm in transit, they were delayed, and arrived in bad 

 condition, and were sold for about the freight bill, com- 

 mission, and other charges. I made other ventures of 

 this kind and learned in the dear school of experience 

 that the peach-plum did not carry well, and could not be 

 profitably shipped so far east. Our commission merchants 

 tried many such experiments, and I do not know that any 

 one ever made anything shipping peach-plums East, and 

 I do know there were many losses, and the business was 

 abandoned. 



Early in the seventies I built the Acme fruit evaporator, 

 bought a Lily pitter, which pitted three thousand five 

 hundred pounds in ten hours, and, after the failure of my 

 shipping scheme, dried the entire product of my orchard. 

 For some years, starting at sixteen cents per pound, the 

 business paid nicely, then prices dropped to fourteen, 

 twelve, ten, and down, until 1890 they were a drug in the 

 market at six cents, unsalable, and were held over, some 

 for three years, and were then reprocessed and sold at a 

 loss. The 'fashion had changed, the fad was off, people 

 were tired of pitted plums, the trade turned to prunes, the 

 call now was for prunes with the pit in, as it was claimed 

 to give the true prune taste, which the pit alone could do. 

 This was disastrous. What should I do with my plum 

 orchard? Here was a condition serious. I was theorizing: 

 "Was it possible to graft new heads on these trees suc- 

 cessfully?" This was questioned; orchardists shook their 

 heads and thought it too big an undertaking. Some ad- 



