In the place of general advice in regard to this fruit I shall give
the experience of Mr. T. S. Force, of Newburgh, who exhibited
seventy varieties at the last annual Orange County fair.
His plum-orchard is a large poultry-yard, containing half an acre,
of which the ground is a good loam, resting on a heavy clay
subsoil. He bought trees but one year from the bud, set them out
in autumn, and cut them back so that they began to form their
heads at two feet from the ground. He prefers starting with strong
young plants of this age, and he did not permit them to bear for
the first three years, his primal aim being to develop a healthy,
vigorous tree with a round, symmetrical head. During this period
the ground about them was kept mellow by good cultivation, and,
being rich enough to start with, received no fertilizers. It is
his belief that over-fertilization tends to cause the disease so
well known as the "black knot," which has destroyed many orchards
in this vicinity. If the garden has been enriched as I have
directed, the soil will probably need little, if anything, from
the stables, and certainly will not if the trees are grown in a
poultry-yard. During this growing and forming period Mr. Force
gave careful attention to pruning. Budded trees are not even
symmetrical growers, but tend to send up a few very strong shoots
that rob the rest of the tree of sustenance.
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