512 TwENTY-FlEST BlENNIAL EJEPOET 



Almost everywhere I go, people tell me that plums cannot be 

 raised profitably in Kentucky; that they are difficult of cultivation; 

 that we do not have a ready sale for them. This is true. We have 

 not a ready sale for our apples. There is just a certain amount 

 of care and attention necessary to raise plums in Kentucky, as any- 

 where else. We can raise plums commercially here with profit, as 

 we can raise all kinds of fruit profitably. We have the open door 

 to "the north and south. We have cur wonderful waterways and our 

 ever-increasing railroad facilities. We can ship our early apples 

 north and bur late apples south, and the same is true of the plums. 

 We can reach profitable markets mth whatever we" grow. 



By careful attention to our plums in Boone County, and any- 

 where else, we can make a profit of $4 or $5 per tree, and they are 

 set about 16x18 feet apart. It is necessary to know just what kind 

 of tree to set, and to give it the proper culture. Among our fruit 

 trees, I believe that, next to the peach tree, the plum yAU. respond 

 most readily to good treatment. Yet the plum will give you good 

 I esults under a system of neglect that would ruin other trees. Under 

 proper cultivation and proper pruning and spraying, the plum tree 

 may become a very profitable tree to grow on the farm for a com- 

 mercial proposition, but I do not preach that. I think that every 

 man owes it to himself and to his children to plant fruit trees. The 

 man who brings up his family on hogs and hominy cannot expect 

 much more than hogs when he puts his boys out on the country. 

 If you want to keep the boy at home, you must give him some of the 

 luxuries of the home. 



It has been said that plums rot badly in Kentucky. We can 

 control that absolutely. It has been said that the cureulio has been 

 very bad here. Tou can absolutely control it by spraying. It needs 

 thorough work, but the benefits of spraying are cumulative. 



As to varieties of plums, well, I do not like to say much along 

 that line. One variety may do well in one section that would be 

 almost a complete failure in another. I can only mention a few 

 that I have seen growing well. We have the German Prune, which 

 is very successful, as is the Vogel, which is almost a non-rotting 

 kind. It is a good eating plum for Kentucky. We have the Sum- 

 mer Damson and Winter or Sweet Damson, and also the Yellow 

 Damson.- I can get 40c a crate (24 qts.) more for blue plums than 

 I can for any other plum. Shipper's Pride is an excellent plum. 

 Then we have the Green Gage and the Bavay. The Saratoga is an 

 excellent red plum. Comes into bearing very young and bears 

 enormous crops. It is fine for cooking or eating. We also have the 

 Niagara. This is one of my best plums. 



I will just mention three seedlings here that grow in iny county. 

 Our worthy secretary judged some plums at the State Fair. He 

 asked me whose plums those were. I said they were Mrs. Clayton 's. 

 One was a little yellow plum of the highest quality, but not a market 



