328 MASSACHUSETTS HORTrCULTURAL SOCIETY. 



minds. Without a doubt no better Delawares were ever shown 

 here. Professor Maynard "never saw such Delawares;" and 

 Messrs. Winn, Ricker, & Co., informed us that the fruit was all 

 engaged before it reached the market. The same was true of the 

 very excellent Worden grapes grown at this place. The Commit- 

 tee take pleasure in reporting to you that it was the best Delaware 

 vineyard they ever inspected, and they are glad Mr. Andrews ha& 

 met with the success he so well deserves. 



Plum Orchard. 



In planting plum trees in this section of the country the work 

 should be done in the early spring — never in the fall ; and we 

 prefer a two-year-old tree, with roots and top well trimmed back. 

 As the plum lives to a good old age, say twenty-five years, the 

 trees must not be set too near together, but each should have 

 from fourteen to eighteen feet of space. An acre of plum trees 

 set fourteen feet each way, will contain two hundred and twenty 

 trees ; at sixteen feet, one hundred and seventy trees ; and at 

 eighteen feet, one hundred and thirty-five trees. The last named 

 distance is that at which the plum orchards are set in Western 

 New York ; and also those on the banks of the Hudson. There 

 are some very large plum orchards in New York State ; among 

 them is that of the Maxwell Brothers, at Geneva, which covers 

 eighty acres. Of this orchard Mr. Maxwell says the trees are 

 sprayed three or four times each season for leaf blight ; and the 

 curculios are caught on sheets carried on wheelbarrow-like 

 frames. He claimed that good results in combatting leaf blight 

 were obtained by spraying with modified P^au Celeste, to which 

 soap is added, to cause it to spread easily, and also to adhere to 

 the foliage. Eau Celeste, or blue water, is made by dissolving 

 one pound of sulphate of copper in three or four gallons of warm 

 water, and when the solution has cooled, adding one pint of 

 ammonia, and then diluting to twenty-two gallons. The modified 

 formula is not so apt to injure the foliage, and is made as follows : 

 sulphate of copper, two pounds ; carbonate of soda, two and one- 

 half pounds; ammonia, one and one-half pints; water, twenty- 

 two gallons. Dissolve the sulphate of copper in two gallons of 

 hot water ; in another vessel dissolve the carbonate of soda ; mix 

 the two, and when all chemical reaction has ceased, add the 

 amm^onia ; finally dilute to twenty-two gallons. 



