PROFITABLE EGG FARMING. 
PLUM TREES AND POULTRY. 
They Furnish Necessary Shade and Double 
Profit on the Same Ground. 
BY W. J. STORKE, GROTON, N. Y. 
I find that growing plum trees as an adjunct 
to the poultry business is very profitable. In 
each of my hen yards, which are about 150 feet 
long, I have a row of plum trees running through 
the center. The hens do not bother the fruit, 
and on the other hand are a great help. They 
keep away all the bugs and worms, also the hen 
manure is the best fertilizer that can be had. 
The trees in turn furnish the shade which is 
so necessary, if hens are to do well. 
I have trees of the following varieties: The 
Green Gauge, Reine Claude, Lombard, Brad¬ 
shaw, Washington, Quackenbosh, Coes’ Golden 
Drop, Genii. Of these I much prefer the 
Reine Claude and Bradshaw, as they will bring 
a good deal more on the market than any of 
the others. They also bear well and the trees 
are as hardy as any of them. We get whips or 
young trees direct from the nurseries in Roch¬ 
ester when they are two or three years old. 
They will begin to bear so that they will pay a 
profit in three years after they are set out. 
We set the trees in rows 15 feet apart. 
In the spring after the plums have grown 
about as large as marbles, we go through the 
yards and pick half of them, that is, where 
they hang in clusters. By thus thinning 
them out, the ones that are left do much better, 
grow to a much larger size, and so command a 
much better price in the fall. 
We send all our fruit to New York, and it 
nets us an average of about $1.75 a bushel. 
After once setting out the trees there is practi¬ 
cally no expense with it with the exception of 
thinning in the spring and picking in the fall. 
The receipts from the sale of the fruit are almost 
clear gain. 
In shipping to the New York market or any 
other market, the plums ought to be picked 
before they are dead ripe. In fact, they 
should be picked rather green, when the plum 
is hard or just before it begins to get soft. 
They will ripen faster after they are picked. By 
picking this way and putting them up in eight 
pound baskets, we get a much better price than 
by sending the same fruit loose in large baskets. 
I would strongly advise'^anyWine in the 
poultry business, if they are in a climate where 
plums can be grown at all, to set out trees. 11 
will surely prove a very good investment. 
Reliable Poultry Journal. 
BEGINNING WITH POULTRY AND FRUIT. 
A Profitable Combination of Fruit Orchard and 
Poultry Yards. 
BY WM. L. HOWELL, GENESEO, N. Y. 
Four years ago I discovered that our poultry 
plant was too small, and I decided to buy more 
land and start anew. I added seven acres, on 
which I erected a new dwelling, a barn, a shop 
and four poultry houses. Knowing by past 
experience that in fancy poultry of any breed, 
and especially the Buff breed, the prerequisite 
to success is good shade; therefore the first 
thing after my buildings were finished I turned 
my attention to shade—and the question arose 
what shade trees can I have, that will at once 
grow the quickest and produce the best results. 
My former experience had taught me what to 
avoid and again what to cultivate. Owing to 
the rapid growth of the peach tree, I planted 
plenty of them near the buildings. Desiring 
a variety of fruit and knowing the profit in it, I 
literally filled my acreage with apple, pear, 
plum, cherry and quince trees. Under the 
peach trees near the house I kept the water 
fountains, and during the hot summer days 
changed the water three times a day, each 
time emptying the warm water around the 
trees, thus keeping the soil loose and the 
droppings soaked well into the ground. I have 
thereby produced the phenomenal growth of 
from one-half inch in diameter when planted 
to four inches in diameter in four years. These 
peach trees stand 10 feet high and measure 10 
feet across the boughs. 
In setting out the trees in poultry yards I 
dig holes for them deep enough so that they 
will set in the ground as deep or just a little 
deeper than they did in the nursery row; 
which is usually where the bulb or little bunch 
shows where the tree was budded. The hole 
must be broad enough so that every root will 
lay straight. When the tree is in position I 
put some of the finest, best soil I have around 
the roots, working it tightly until the roots are 
all well covered (two inches) with soil, this I firm 
down well; then I put two inches thick of 
well rotted manure on top of this soil, using 
care that no manure comes in contact with the 
stem or trunk of the tree, or any of the roots. 
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