seven] out in the orchard 



improved native sorts, and by crossbreds, that it 

 taxes me to reduce the list of really fine varieties to 

 a size suitable for a modest country home. Of the 

 older plums Green Gage still stands foremost for 

 quality. Among all our fruits I do not know an- 

 other one that so concentrates richness in a case- 

 ment of beauty as this old Green Gage plum. It 

 should be grown on high, open sunny spots, and 

 never in wet and shady places. It is a long-lived 

 tree, giving annual loads of fruit. With it plant 

 that magnificent plum, the Magnum Bonum, pro- 

 vided you have near it some of the very early- 

 blooming varieties, like Abundance, to pollenize 

 its flowers. Unfortunately, if grown alone it is 

 liable to bear only scattered fruit. Well-pollen- 

 ized by a neighbor, it will be loaded so as to need 

 thinning and supporting. I sold from a single tree 

 in a single year plums to the value of eighteen dol- 

 lars. Coe's Golden Drop is another indispensable: 

 and Shropshire Damson is a very valuable variety 

 for cooking and canning. 



Of newer sorts, Victoria is one of the surest and 

 noblest, bearing great, red plums of good quality, 

 and in profusion. Pond is another large and hand- 

 some plum that bears enormous crops; quality 



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