The Vermont watchman. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1883-1911, 1884-03-19
MOOers' Arctic Plum.

Rev. M. r. Keep of Ashland (Aroostook
county,, Maine who some twelve years
ago sent us cions of this hardy variety,
writes us, under date of February 49, al
have thought that perhaps some items on
plum culture in Northern Maine might be
of use. After Mooers' Arctic plum had
been tested and considerably scattered,
Mr.. F. P. Sharp of Woodstock, New
Brunswick, bought twenty-five trees to
propagate from, cannot say how many
years ago-perhaps eight. Last fall, be-
sides the hundreds of thousands of trees
sold between here and Colorado, he
shipped one thousand bushels of the
fruit, getting 81 per bushel on delivery
at Boston, st. Johns, and other cities.
They were all put in crates of one peck
each. His net receipts we're $4,000. One
item in his mode of culture may be new
to some. Every bearing tree is laid down
in the fall for protection under the snow
by cutting some of the roots on one side,
lifting the mass and bending over, whether
covering with straw am not informed.
He told visitor, a few days ago, that the
whole expense was only one cent per tree,
making sure the annual crop of fruit.
How the roots exposed to the air are saved
from killing freezes 1 do not know.
only know that the most of his trees sold
| hove +hot T bava oaan xuara on in,noatura
with large forced growth that they had
to be taken up and wintered in the cellar.
Twenty years ago many common damsons
were sent from that region to Boston, but
about the time of the introduction of
Mooers' Arctic, the black gnat had killed
most of them. This disease Mooer's Arc
tic has generally withstood. The history
of this plum is interesting. About thirty
years ago Mr.. Mooers was in Boston and
got dish of plums to eat He saved the
seeds and brought them home with him,
and from these have come some six sorts,
three of which are named and cultivated,
one of which is much sweeter-a Yellow
Gage, 1 should call it-but not 30 hardy,
or prolific in bearing, as the Arctic" Mr..
Keep adds that there is great call in
Aroostook for clover-seed to ship. A great
deal is grown there, three of his neighbors
having, together, thirteen and one-half
tons for shipment. Buyers are offering
eight and one-half cents pound. In re-
gard to Mooers' Arctic plum, we do not
find it "iron clad" yet it is the only blue
plum of eatable quality that we have been
able to grow. The trees are hurt by Sc.
we're winters, and are not long-lived, but
we get large crops from them. In quality
and size they are SO much like the Lom
bard that we suspect it to be Seeding
of that standard variety. In color, the
crimson of the Lombard, though present
beneath the blue, is almost concealed by it
Mr. Sharp's plan of bending down the trees
and, as we suppose, covering them with
earth, is the one reported by Messrs
Budd and Glib to be practiced in Russia
If the trees are planted on slope and Sc
sloping at an angle of fifteen or twenty
degrees towards the slope of the ground
very little cutting of the roots on thu
lower side would allow of bending tn,
: tree to the ground. 1t could then be GOV
cred with earth, the same as a grapevine
For this purpose rather severe pruning
would be needed in forming the youn,
trees, and to fully utilize the ground, the
should be set about eight or ten fee
apart. We have never seen black gnat o.
Mooers' Arctic, and, though we hav
> abundance of curculios in the red Canad
plums on our place, we have never seen
single fruit of the Arctic marked by tn
! "little Turk" Perhaps this is because
= is considerably later than the Canad
plum in blooming and setting its fruit, 8
Z, that the latter take all the eggs the curcl
lois have to lay. Anyway, such is the fac
J. A Wet Meadow.
"a Mn. E1jtoy II would lika tn hava uo