One year ago in answer to a question by the writer as to why the people of Iowa did not take more interest in the planting of these hybrid plums of Mr. Williams, Mr. C.G.  Patten stated that it was because the plums rotted so badly on the trees.  Now, Mr. Patten stated the situation exactly—­most of these fine varieties are notoriously bad rotters.  The brown rot seems to be a disease of moist climate.  Nature’s remedy is an abundance of sunshine and a dry atmosphere, but we cannot regulate the climate.  Prof.  Hansen has sent out a few varieties of these Japanese Americana hybrid plums, and our Supt.  Haralson is doing a great work along this line.  We can only hope—­but cannot expect—­that Mr. Hansen’s hybrids or Mr. Haralson’s hybrids as a class will prove more resistant to the brown rot than do those of Mr. Williams of the same class.

We have hopes that from some of Mr. C.G.  Patten’s hybrids of the Americana and Domestica plum will come some varieties worthy of general planting, and also of Prof.  Hansen’s crosses of the Americana plum and the Chinese apricots.

There is another class of hybrid plums that are something wonderful in their way, beginning to bear nearly as soon as they are planted, the very earliest of all plums to ripen its fruit, immensely productive and of finest quality.  I refer to Prof.  Hansen’s sand cherry hybrid plums.  My opinion is that Prof.  Hansen has done all that man can do in the way of producing elegant varieties of this class of fruit.  But there is the uncertainty, however, or perhaps I had better say the certainty, that the brown rot will take a good portion of the crop nearly every season—­sometimes only a part of the crop, and other seasons it may take the entire crop of these fine sand cherry hybrid plums.

Bordeaux mixture has been the one remedy advertised for years for the control of this disease, and however well it may work in the hands of experts of the various university farms, it has not proved uniformly successful in the hands of the ordinary fruit grower.

Now, if some medicine should be invented, or some magic made, whereby the brown rot would be banished from our orchards then a great many of the fine varieties of hybrid plums would be transferred from the “plums that are on the way” to the list of “plums that we already have.”  The brown rot is a controlling factor.

Mr. Kellogg:  What do you know about the Surprise?

Mr. Cook:  Oh, I know a little more than I want to know about it.  I have had the Surprise a good many years.

Mr. Kellogg:  You have been surprised with it?

Mr. Cook:  Yes, sir, I have been surprised quite a bit, but in the last two years since the plum crop failed there have been a few plums on the Surprise trees, but for a great many years when other plums bore heavily we got nothing.

Mr. Hansen:  Do you know of any plum that has never had brown rot?