THE PLUM. 97 



Profits of Cultivation. In good locations this fruit may be 

 grown at considerable profit. Occasionally the numerous wild 

 plums somewhat affect the demand for the cultivated kinds, but 

 wild plums are growing scarcer with each succeeding year, and the 

 consumers already begin to discriminate between the wild and the 

 cultivated varieties, and are willing to pay more for the latter. No 

 one should be contented to plant with the common wild kinds when 

 varieties so very much better can be obtained at a moderate price. 



Location. The best location for the plum is on high land, 

 sloping to the north and having a retentive soil, and protected from 

 the east winds, as the storms from this direction are most injurious 

 at blooming time. It will, however, grow and fruit abundantly in 

 almost any situation. It will stand much neglect, but responds 

 quickly to good cultivation, which it must have to be profitable. 



Planting. The trees may be set out either in the fall or 

 spring of the year, but spring setting is most desirable. If planted 

 in autumn the work should be done by the middle of October, and 

 the soil watered if dry. The best trees are those which are two 

 years from the graft or bud and grown on native seedling stocks. 

 Thrifty suckers also make good plants if well rooted. The trees 

 should be planted about ten feet apart in rows, leaving sufficient 

 distance between them to allow for a free circulation of air. It is 

 preferable to plant in rows running north and south, and they 

 should not be nearer together than twenty-four feet. The same 

 general directions given for planting the apple will apply here. 



Cultivation. Land around the trees should be thoroughly 

 cultivated for the first three years. If thorough cultivation cannot 

 be given the trees should be heavily mulched, and this is by far the 

 best treatment for them when they become old. 



Renewing Old Trees. Plum trees are inclined to over-bear 

 and to exhaust themselves, after which they often die out or the 

 fruit becomes very small and of poor quality. On that account 

 manuring should be resorted to when the trees fail to make a satis- 

 factory growth. Quite frequently as the trees get old the fruiting 

 branches become very long and bare with all the fruit near their 

 extremities. In such shape they are liable to split down in the 

 crotches. When trees get into this condition the longer branches 

 should be shortened back (as shown in Fig. 70), and some care 

 taken In removing or shortening the suckers that will start so as to 

 make a good top to the tree. Where a crotch is found cracked it is 

 a good plan to hold it. in place, driving a wire nail through it far 

 enough so that its end can be turned over. This will often affect a 

 permanent cure. 



Pruning. The notes on time and manner of pruning given in 

 the chapter on the apple will apply here. Plum trees should be 

 pruned so as to allow the branches to start out about two feet 

 from the ground. The trunks of plum trees do not sun-scald read- 

 ily, but if long stems are exposed the growth on the south side is 



