Chapter 9
We have never been able to supply the demand for them, at good prices, while other varieties went begging at any kind of a price. Among their good qualities with us are productiveness, good size, extra fine quality and attractive color. They are delicious to eat out of hand just as they are ripe enough to drop from the tree. They are fine for canning, preserving or jelly. They are practically curculio proof, and have never been affected with brown rot as have some other varieties. Aphis never bothers them, while Terry and some other varieties nearly had the whole crop ruined by this pest in 1914. The branches form good, strong shoulders at the trunk and do not split or break down in heavy storms or under their heavy loads of fruit, as the Terry and Forest Garden do. The flower buds and fruit form as freely on the new growth as on the old spurs. The crop is therefore about evenly distributed all over the tree, and while we picked almost eight cases from one tree this year it did not appear to be overloaded, as some varieties frequently are, the Surprise tree always being capable of maturing all the fruit that sets.
We have s.h.i.+pped them 300 miles by freight with perfect success, but we pick them from the tree before fully ripe. If allowed to ripen on the tree they drop badly, which bruises and damages them. The trees are thrifty, vigorous growers with beautiful glossy foliage that can be distinguished from all other varieties.
You would note on examination of the buds that we have promise of another crop next year, but this will depend somewhat on the weather during the blooming season. We attribute one of the reasons for our success with the Surprise plum to the fact that they are planted among and alongside of varieties that have the same season of blooming, and which undoubtedly are good pollenizers, namely the Bursota, Wolf, Ocheeda and Omaha. The bloom of Surprise being almost sterile, they will not be a success planted alone.
[Ill.u.s.tration: A Surprise plum tree growing on the place of Prof. A.G.
Ruggles. It bore in 1914 four bushels, having been well sprayed with a.r.s.enate of lead and bordeaux mixture.]
You will perhaps ask if there are no faults or diseases they are subject to, and we will state, for one thing, the fruit drops too easily when ripe, and you will either have to pick them before fully matured or find a good many of them on the ground. They are also occasionally subject to blossom blight, which was rather a benefit, as it thinned the crop out to about the proper proportion. We also had considerable plum pocket and fungous growth one season about ten years ago. Such has been our experience with the Surprise plum--and will again repeat that until the society finds a plum equally as good or better, instead of discarding it on account of unproductiveness and recommending such poor quality varieties as Wolf, DeSoto and some others, our learned horticulturists should make a special study of this variety and ascertain the cause of its unproductiveness, and also to what localities in the state it may be adapted.
Mr. Pfeiffer: Right here I will say to those gentlemen who are looking for a cure for brown rot or curculio, they had better plant Surprise plums. (Applause.)
Pres. Cashman: I am glad the Surprise plum has at least one good friend in this audience. I think it has several.
Mr. Ludlow: What has been your experience with the Ocheeda? I see you mention it.
Mr. Pfeiffer: The Ocheeda at the present time, I am sorry to say, I am disappointed with. I planted some fifteen years ago, and they were nice large plums, as you have described, and they were on sandy soil. I have twenty Ocheeda trees now, and they are quite badly subject to brown rot.
Their quality is very nice to eat from the tree out of hand, nice and sweet.
Mr. Street: I want to second everything Mr. Pfeiffer has said. I joined this society about twelve years ago, and it was through studying the reports of this society that I got interested in the native plum. The Surprise plum does very well with us in Illinois. Professor Hansen is one of those that are responsible for my starting in with the Surprise.
It was years ago at our state meeting that he mentioned that as one of the good plums for Northern Illinois. Well, I put it alongside of the Wyant and the native plums that are of the same sort. I may state the conditions under which we grow them. We always cultivate before bloom, cultivate thoroughly. Before the growth starts we give them a very thorough spraying with lime-sulphur spray; then just before the bloom, just before the blossoms open, as late as we can wait, we use about 1 to 40 or 50 of the lime-sulphur solution, also put in three pounds of a.r.s.enate of lead. Then after the blossoms fall we use the same spray again, perhaps two weeks after that again, and we keep that up for about four times. We have had abundant crops, and they have been very profitable.
Pres. Cashman: I am very glad to know that the Surprise plum has friends in Illinois, and we are also pleased to know that Mr.
Mr. Rasmussen: I will say the Surprise plum has given just about the same results with us--it is the most profitable we have.
Mr. Sauter: I was over to the Anoka county fair; it was the first part of September, and all the other plums weren't ripe, all the stuff they had in was green. But all the Surprise were ripe, so that certainly must be an early ripener.
Mr. Pfeiffer: Not especially early.
Mr. Hall: I was certainly glad to hear Mr. Pfeiffer so ably defend the Surprise plum. The Surprise plum was the only one I got any good from.
The DeSoto, Wolf and Stoddard and all those, the brown rot got them, but the Surprise plum had perfect fruit. I am surprised that it has a black eye from the society.
Mr. Pfeiffer: Your location is where?
Mr. Hall: Sibley County.
Mr. Kellogg: Thirteen years ago I set out a root graft that made about five feet of growth and just as quick as it got big enough to bear it was loaded with Surprise plums, but since then it hasn't been worth a cent.
Mr. Miller: If Mr. Pfeiffer had been in my orchard he could not have given us a better description of it than he did, of the Surprise plum. I set it out about fifteen years ago. I think I paid sixty cents for those seedlings, they stood about three and one-half feet. I never had brown rot in them. When I set them out I put them with other varieties and set them so the inside ones would fertilize the outside ones. Afterwards I set these on the east side of the orchard, where they got protection from the west wind. They have borne almost every year, and this year they are the only ones we had a crop on.
Pres. Cashman: I think we get as near to agreeing on this question as on most others. It is suggested that we find out how many have had success and how many have had failures with the Surprise plum. All those who have been successful in raising Surprise plums will please raise their hands. (Certain hands raised.) Now, hands down. Those who have been unsuccessful will please raise their right hands. (Other hands raised.) It seems there were more successes than failures.
A Member: It has been mentioned that the frost this year killed the plum crop. I noticed in my orchard previous to that frost when we had a snow storm, I noticed that the blossoms dried up and fell from the trees before that hard frost. I think the question of success or failure with the Surprise, as with other plums, is sort of comparative. I don't know of any plum of the Americana type that we have a success with every year any more than any other. So it is relative. I would like to ask if anyone had the same experience with the blossoms drying and falling off the trees before that frost.
Mr. Crawford: Perhaps the gentleman will recall the fact we had two nights in succession of quite severe frost. The first night it was almost a freeze, and the second we had the snow storm which is given credit for the plum failure.
Mr. Anderson: The gentleman who read the paper, he is from Winona, where he has a very much better location for any kind of fruit than the general run of the state. The other gentleman is from Illinois. Now, this good location near Winona and the temperature down in Illinois, does that favor the Surprise plum, and has it anything to do with their success and our failure?
Pres. Cashman: We will have to leave that to the audience.
Mr. S.D. Richardson: Down in Winnebago I got three trees from the originator of the Surprise plum, and while I was at the nursery I never saw any plums, but I propagated some from there and a man in our town has some Surprise plums from it, and since I left the nursery I think the man has had some plums from them. I got them from Mr. Penning when they were first originated, but they never bore plums for me. I had no other plums around there. Perhaps if they need pollen from other plums they didn't get it, and this man that has had the first success with them he had other plums near them. Perhaps that is the secret. The tree is hardy and good, and if you can get a crop of plums by having something else to fertilize them, the Surprise plum is all right.
Pres. Cashman: I think Mr. Richardson has struck the keynote to a certain extent, we must put them near another variety to pollenize them.
Northeast Demonstration Farm and Station.
W. J. THOMPSON, SUPT., DULUTH.
Last May the Station orchard was set out, the same consisting of about 516 apple trees with a fringe of cherries and plums. The apples consisted of year old stock (purchased the year preceding and set in nursery rows) and included these six varieties: d.u.c.h.ess, Patten's Greening, Okabena, Wealthy, Hibernal, Anisim. Good growth was made the past season and the stock went into winter quarters in good shape.
However, 20 per cent died, the loss being in this order: Wealthy, Anisim, Hibernal, Pattens' Greening--Okabena and d.u.c.h.ess were tied for smallest loss. In addition to the above, we made a considerable planting of small fruits, princ.i.p.ally currants and gooseberries, together with a limited quant.i.ty of blackberries and raspberries. Twelve varieties of strawberries were set out, each including 100 plants. All made a splendid growth this season. An interesting test is under way in the dynamiting work. Alternate trees have been set in blasted holes, a stick about one and one-half inches long being sufficient to make a hole three feet in diameter and perhaps twenty inches in depth. It is yet too early to measure the results of this work, but owing to the nature of the subsoil in this region, we are looking for splendid results. With regard to the stock secured from the Fruit Farm, we have not been uniformly successful. Much of the stock seems to be weak and dies readily from some cause unknown to us. Next season we should be able to render a more complete report, as our work will then be fairly started.
Annual Report, 1915, West Concord Trial Station.
FRED COWLES, SUPT., WEST CONCORD.
[Ill.u.s.tration: Fred Cowles at home.]
Of the new varieties of plums that I received from the Fruit-Breeding Farm most all have done well. The only one that has borne is No. 21.
This one had two plums on last season, and several this. They were a medium size red plum, very good flavor, and seem to come into bearing very young. No. 17 is a very thrifty grower, but when it bears that will tell what it is worth. Hansen's plums are doing well, but we believe they are more adapted to a better drained soil than we have here, as we are on a heavy prairie soil. But these varieties are very thrifty and bear so young.
The grapes have all stood the winter with no protection and have not killed back any. We expect some fruit next season.
The raspberries that we received have all done well. No. 4 seems to take the lead for flavor and is a good grower.
Notwithstanding the cold season our strawberry crop was very good, and we are much impressed with No. 3, it is so strong and healthy; it is just the plant for the farmer, as it will thrive under most any condition. I believe it will fight its way with the weeds and come out ahead.
We reported very favorably on the Heritage when it was in bloom, but it does not set enough fruit to pay for its s.p.a.ce. The berries are large but very few on my grounds. I will discard it.
Our apple crop was very good, especially d.u.c.h.ess, Wealthy and Northwestern Greening. We have been trying some of the tender varieties top-worked. Northern Spy gave us five nice apples on a two year graft.
We also have Jonathan, Talman Sweet and King David doing well. Delicious grafted three years ago has not fruited yet.
This has been a splendid summer for flowers, and they seemed to enjoy the damp, cool season, especially the dahlia. If you have not tried the Countess of Lonsdale you should; it is a cactus dahlia and a very free bloomer. Everblooming roses did well--we had them in October.
PLANT LICE ON BLOSSOMS.--Aphids infesting the apple buds appeared in serious numbers during the present season in the Illinois University orchards when the buds began to swell. They were also observed in neighboring orchards. In 1914, apple aphids caused serious damage in certain counties in Illinois, and some damage was reported from many sections of the state.
The aphids attack the opening buds, the young fruits, the growing shoots, and the leaves, sucking the plant juices from the succulent parts by means of long, very slender, tube-like beaks, which they thrust through the skins of the affected organs into the soft tissues beneath.
They weaken the blossom buds by removing the sap; they dwarf and deform the apples so that varieties of ordinary size frequently fail to grow larger than small crab apples, and the fruits have a puckered appearance about the calyx end; they suck the juice from the growing shoots, dwarfing them; and they cause the leaves to curl, and if the insects are present in large numbers, to dry up and fall off. They are more injurious to the growth of young trees than of old trees. In old trees their chief injuries are on the fruit.