ORCHARD FRUITS 83 



Normand, Chabot, October Purple, Apple, Gon- 

 zales, and Nona." 



CHESAPEAKE PENINSULA PLUMS 



" In my plum orchard," writes J. W. Kerr of 

 Caroline county, Maryland, " I depend wholly 

 upon phosphoric acid and green crops turned under, 

 either scarlet clover or cowpeas, or both. Native 

 plums are by far the most profitable with me. Mil- 

 ton, the first to ripen, and ready for market here the 

 first week in July, followed by Wildgoose or 

 Whitaker. These two varieties are similar in every 

 way, ripen at same date, look and taste alike, but I 

 have always thought the latter less liable to speck, 

 and in hot July weather the loss seems less. The 

 finishing up of these carries the marketing to last 

 of July. Then with Mrs. Cleveland to follow car- 

 ries the picking to August 10 to 15. If these varieties 

 were self-fertile I would not wish to plant any 

 other kinds, but none of them separately or col- 

 lectively will pollinate themselves or each other. 

 I use both the Smiley and the Newman as pollin- 

 ators. The Smiley does not prolong the season as 

 above, but the Newman often extends its ripening 

 from August 10 to September 20. 



" For reliable crop production, and uniformly 

 paying prices, the above are greatly preferable to 

 any of the Japanese varieties or hybrids that I 

 have tried. I plant 20 feet apart each way, every 

 fourth row a pollinator, branch low, pick as much 

 of the fruit as possibly practical without step- 

 ladders, as pickers cannot make satisfactory wages, 

 by the basket, when not standing on the ground. 



" We plow and cultivate as much of the land as 

 we can, but no animal large enough to draw a cul- 



