80 MAKING HORTICULTURE PAY 



feet apart. The ground should be manured regu- 

 larly and cultivated each year, as the plum, par- 

 ticularly when young, is likely to be injured by 

 weeds. It is desirable that several varieties be planted 

 together to insure fertilization of the bloom. It has 

 alsq been found useful to plant plums in poultry 

 yards, so that chickens can eat the curculios which 

 attack the fruit. These insects drop to the ground 

 in injured fruit, and bury themselves until mature. 

 They may be caught in what are called " buggers " 

 which are like huge inverted umbrellas mounted on 

 wheelbarrows. On one side a slit is left so the 

 umbrella may be slid under the tree and around the 

 trunk. Then the tree is given a quick tap with a 

 heavy mallet and the insects drop and are caught 

 at the center in a metal box partly filled with 

 kerosene. Early morning is the best time to do 

 collecting. 



HARDY PLUMS 



" Some 20 years ago," writes A. A. Eastman of 

 Penobscot county, Maine, " I took up plum culture, 

 purchasing many plum trees of different kinds of a 

 nurseryman in New York. I had poor results ; 

 trees were short lived, were tender and winter- 

 killed badly. Later I got some horse plum trees 

 and set them out among the others. They grew 

 well, and the next year I grafted them to better 

 sorts. They soon came into bearing, and gave me 

 heavy crops every year for several years, with big 

 profits. 



" I can raise better and longer lived trees than I 

 can buy of a nursery company, and they cost me 

 but little labor and no money. The trees soon come 

 into bearing and I get good crops every year. The 



