Mexico weekly ledger., 1893-04-27
BY JOHN ]. GILL.
PIums.

Piums.
The plum is a fine dessert whether
fresh, preserved or jellied, but while
it is desirable for home use it is not
as marketable as apples, pears or
peaches. 1t is a native of both Eu-
rope and America, but as the Eu-
ropean varieties are more liable to be
destroyed by ~curculios attention will
be directed to the American only.
These have been derived mainly
from the wild Chickasaw, which, on
account of its robust habit of growth
and development, is nearly proof
against the attacks of curculios. 1t
is a dwarf and prickly species and
should be planted about twelve feet
apart each way. The Chickasaws
have thin and those derived from
native red plums thick skins. In
arranging a plum orchard several
varieties ought to be intermixed as
thereby a better fertilization is Sc
cured. The plum stands high cul-
tivation and succeeds best in a deep,
rich, moist loan. 1t will be best,
however, to avoid late working of
the ground about them. A good
place to raise plums is the poultry
yard where the chickens will keep
them free of insects. No fruit is
more improved by thinning than the
plum. When it is from one-fourth
to three-eighths of an inch in dame
ter all imperfect and insect bitten
fruit should be picked off. Only
n plum should be left to the shoot
and only one to every three inches
of wood. When properly thinned
plum trees are seldom injured by
overbearing and the value of the
crop is often doubled. The most
popular of the native plums are
Wild Goose, Chickasaw and Mari
anna.
CURRANTs.
The cultivation of currants in
creases annually. While it cannot
be compared to the strawberry or
raspberry it is a pleasant acid, makes
fine jelly and meets better market
demand than the plum. 1t is easily
propagated by cuttings and layers.
These should be of new wood and
should be set out in very rich, moist
loan. This can be best done in
August or September when the
leaves begin to fade. They should
be well mulched before frost. In
one or two years they will be ready
to transplant. Six feet by four is a
good distance to be between them.
Any hoed crop may be raised te-
tween their rows. After three years
fruit may be expected and with
good tillage andhigh manuring they
will continue a long time in bearing.
All the pruning they require is to
cut away old wood when it becomes
weak and ceases to bear foliage.
Currants should be picked in
punches as when they are removed
from their stems they decay rapid
ly. Curran:s do best when planted
on the north side of fences or are
otherwise shaded. Cherry and Fay's
Prolific are good varieties.
BEANS.
Beans are strong and wholesome
food, in great demand everywhere.
Almost everybody loves a good
string bean. Beans are excellent
when baked or boiled with pork and
still better when served with sugar
corn or succatash. They are of two
sorts-bush and pole. The bush
are preferred by many because they
need no sticks, but many pole beans
pay well for sticking since if they
are picked before ripening they are
constant and late bearers and also
do well when planted among corn.
Early beans are liable to be injured
by frost, but it is always best to run
that risk and put them in as soon
as possible in the spring. Dwarf
beans are the hardest and therefore
can be planted soonest. Drop
dwarf beans three inches apart in
rows with a space of eighteen inches
between them in the garden. When
up hoe often when the ground and
plants are dry but never when either
is wet as they will rust. In hoeing
draw the earth toward and up to
them. A better way is to plant. them
in the truck-patch in drills. three feet
apart and cultivate them with the
plough and hoe. They require only
from six to eight weeks to bear
green pods and may be planted at
any time from early spring to Au-
gust. The pole bean is usually
planted in the garden in hills three
feet apart each way with long stakes
for the plants to run upon or they
may be raised among corn with great
success. In that situation they re-