STATE POMOLOGICAL SOCIETY. 45 



4iim say that if he was standing under a plum tree and saw a black 

 knot coming, even if it was on the Sabbath, he should cut it off and put 

 it in the fire. I think that at sight, where we can, we should cut of! 

 the black knot and at once destroy it. That has been my lule and 

 my practice; but, in spite of all, I have to acknowledge that they 

 will beat me, badly beat me ; and, to-day, the great dread that I 

 have and the thing that stands in the way of our success in the rais- 

 ing of plums, is the black knot. I almost despair of any absolute 

 remedy ; and the question with me now is, what varieties of plums 

 -are least subject to it. I was ver}' glad to hear, in regard to the 

 Niagara plum, that it is one. I presume that is correct. The Ger- 

 man Prune is another. Though not absolutely free from black knot it 

 is comparatively so. The Imperial Gage is another and Pond's Seed- 

 ling another. We are very f avorabl}' inclined towards Pond's Seed- 

 ling as a large, beautiful, attractive plum. The McLaughlin has 

 been spoken of and I concur in the estimate of that as being one of 

 the best plums in quality. It is fine. 



With regard to the black knot here is another point, and I am look- 

 ing that way with considerable interest ; the Chickasaw varieties, 

 embracing the well-known plums, the Wild Goose, the DeSoto, the 

 •Marian and some of those new varieties so far, with me, have shown 

 no disposition to take the black knot. And I think, again, that these 

 varieties of the Chickasaw plum which sometimes fail to bear alone, 

 do much better when planted in proximity to some of the European 

 varieties such as the German Prune, Pond's Seedling. The Wild 

 Goose plum has been regarded as a humbug, and I regarded it so for 

 quite a while. I have a Wild Goose plum now that stands in close 

 proximity between two of the European varieties, and it has borne 

 very satisfactorily. Now, if we can get a cross, a hybrid, which will 

 combine the resisting power to the black knot with some of the excel- 

 lencies of the European varieties like the McLaughlin, we shall have 

 something valuable. The black knot in our vicinity has been almost 

 universaPand it has been ver^' discouraging in spite of our best 

 efforts to keep it back. 



Mr. Pope. Have 3'ou had any experience with Moore's Arctic? 



Mr. Augur. No, sir. I have seen it but haven't it on my land. 



Mr. Pope. That is claimed to be exempt from the black knot 

 particularly. I had trees sent from the Woodstock nurseries, and 

 before I had had them two years the two main branches for about 



