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The plum can be planted from twelve to 

 fifteen feet apart, and wherever the curculio is 

 plentj it should be planted in a yard bjr itself (in 

 that case closer planting, saj ten feet distant, 

 will be more profitable) This yard should be 

 surrounded by a high paling or close board fence, 

 into which the poultry-house should open, and a 

 sufBcient number of fowls, in proportion to 

 the size of the ground, should be kept all 

 the year round. If this is not convenient 

 coops of fowls with young chickens should be 

 brought in the plum yard, and placed here and 

 there under the trees, when the fruit is com 

 mencing to form, and kept there till it is nearly 

 full-grown. I have found this a perfect protec- 

 tion from the curculio, two separate yards being 

 annually loaded with fruit ; while in the garden 

 adjoining, where chickens are not allowed to run, 

 and in my nursery grounds, I have never saved 

 a plum. No other mode, I am convinced, wir 

 preserve them where the curculio is plenty, 

 excepting laying sheets under the trees, and 

 jarring them daily for about a month after the 

 fruit commences to form, which is very trouble- 

 some and expensive, and is often rendered com- 

 paratively abortive by two or three days of 

 rainy weather (at the time when the curculio is 

 most plenty) preventing the usual jarring of the 

 trees, during which time nearly all the fruit 

 will be stung. The first mode, with the pre- 

 sent high price of chickens and eggs, will be a 

 source of profit, besides being a pleasure to many. 

 When thus grown, the plum-yard will require 

 neither manure nor culture, and will be all the 

 better of being seeded down with grass after the 

 trees have commenced bearing, as the fowls will 

 keep it closely eaten down, the grass being ne- 

 cessary for their health. Where so protected 

 the plum is liable to overbear, and the fruit 

 will be greatly improved by thinning sufficiently 

 to prevent the plums from touching one another 

 when ripe. When allowed to grow in large 

 clusters, pressing against each other, they are 

 very liable to rot at the time of ripening, and 

 the spores of the rot-fungus quickly spread over 

 all the tree, destroying sometimes nearly the 

 entire crop. The fruit when over-crowded is 

 also undersized and has little flavor. 



The plum requires very little pruning. Where 

 growing very strong the young shoots that are 

 too long should be shortened, and any branches 

 that cross one another, and where too close in 

 the centre of the tree, should be cut out. It 

 also requires to be well manured, unless grown 



as above recommended, so as to keep the tree 

 healthy and vigorous. Salt has been much 

 recommended as a manure, and also as a 

 preventive for the curculio. For the latter it 

 is worthless, and it should be used with great 

 caution as a manure. A friend killed all his 

 plum trees by spreading salt on the surface of 

 the ground, in the way advised by the principal 

 horticultural works. The plum is liable in some 

 localities to a disease called the black knot. 

 Whenever this occurs, the branch affected should 

 be cut off considerably below the knot, and 

 burned. But the strong, healthy-growing trees 

 are not liable to be attacked ; as parasitical in- 

 sects, by one of which it is probably caused, 

 seldom or never attack healthy trees, the feeble 

 and diseased being the most liable 



SELECT OESCRIPTIVK LIST OF BEST PLUMS. 



Oreen, Yellow, or While Pluma in order of 

 Ripening. 



McLaughlin — Large ; greenish white, becom- 

 ing yellowish, marbled with red in the sun ; 

 flesh yellow, firm, juicy, very sweet and luscious ; 

 adheres to the stone. Middle to last of August. 



Lawrence's Favorite.— Large ; yellowish green, 

 clouded with streaks of darker green, with a 

 few brownish red dots ; flesh green, remarkably 

 juicy, melting, and rich, free-stone; one of the 

 most delicious plums. August. 



Guthrie's Apricoi. — Large ; bright golden 

 yellow, with a beautiful red cheek ; flesh 

 orange ; a little coarse, but very rich and deli- 

 cious ; adheres partially to the stone ; tree very 

 hardy, and one of the strongest and largest 

 growing kinds ; does not bear so heavily as 

 many ; fruit, therefore, always large and fine. 

 August. 



Drap d' or d' Esper7u. —Meiinm to large ; oval 

 yellow with light streaks of green beneath, 

 which gives it a rather greenish appearance in 

 the shade; flesh yellowish, very tender, juicy, 

 and rich, free-stone. Last of August and Sep- 

 tember. 



Grenn Oage. — Small, green with a tinge of 

 yellow at maturity dotted or marbled with red 

 on t exposed side ; flesh green, exceedingly 

 meltiiig and juicy, sprightly and luscious, has 

 always been considered the standard of high 

 excellence, separates from the stone. Being of a 

 slow growth and dwarfish habit in some places 

 it is liable to leaf-blight, and therefore cannot 

 be universally reconmicnded. August and 

 September. 



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