I04 



being fullj four or five feet long. Of the European viU'i- 

 eties the Lombard has been most generally planted in this 

 county. It is a heavy yielder, but the fruit is not first- 

 class in quality. A list of the best European plums should 

 include Reine Claud, Lombard, Bradshaw, Imperial Gage, 

 Coe's Golden Drop, and German Prune. Abundance, 

 Burbank, Satsuma and Ogon are four standard Japanese 

 kinds. 



Early autumn is the very best time to set plum trees, 

 from the last of September to the middle of October. There 

 are several considerations why the autumn is better than 

 spring for planting hardy fruit trees in localities of moder- 

 ate exposure. The soil in the fall is mellow, not wet, and 

 hence easily worked. It is also warm, so as to encourage 

 the formation of new roots, soon after the young tree is 

 set. This is a jlecided advantage, for the tree has a hold 

 upon the soil, and is ready for growth at the first approach 

 of spring. Furthermore in the fall, the nurserj-men have 

 full stocks on hand, from which selections may be made ; 

 and they are usually ready to quote lower prices than they 

 could be prevailed upon to make in the spring. 



SETTING THE TllEE. 



There was a good deal of wisdom expressed in the advice 

 once given, to put a fifty cent tree into a dollar hole. 



The moral is to spare no pains in preparing the hole. 



Dig it broad and deep. It should be broader than the 

 full span of the roots and deeper than the tree is to set. 

 Loosen the subsoil but do not bring much of it to the sur- 

 face. After trimming the tree (that is, cutting off smoothly 

 any broken roots and heading in the shoots by removing 

 from one-third to one-half of their entire lengths, to restore 

 the equilibrium between top and roots), place a few inches 

 of rich black soil in the l)ottom of the hole, so as to bring 

 the tree, when placed in position, at about the same depth 



