176 FRUIT-GROWING 



feet apart — depending again on the variety. 

 The strong growing sweet sorts require at least 

 the greater distance mentioned while sour sorts 

 like English Morrelo may be planted as close 

 as sixteen feet. Montmorency, a strong grow- 

 ing sour variety, should never be planted closer 

 than twenty feet. 



Both plums and cherries are sometimes used 

 as fillers in apple orchards and usually with 

 better success than peaches. The foliage of 

 these fruits is less liable to injury from the 

 spray which is applied to apples than is peach 

 foliage. An exception to this statement should 

 be noted in the case of the Japanese varieties 

 of plums, the foliage of which is almost as 

 tender as that of the peach. However, I have 

 used Japanese plums as fillers in an orchard 

 of Delicious apples and have so far escaped 

 with very little injury caused by the apple 

 spray blowing on the plum leaves. 



I remember that when I was a boy I used to 

 hear farmers talk about planting plums, and in 

 our section there was a superstition to the effect 

 that such fruits should always be planted in 

 groups of seven — and preferably in a circle. 

 It was supposed that if planted singly or in 

 smaller numbers than seven, they would not 

 bear. Like many other superstitions there was 

 just enough truth in this statement to lend it 

 color. The truth is that many sorts of plums 



