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.

[Illustration:  A Surprise plum tree growing on the place of Prof.  A.G.  Ruggles.  It bore in 1914 four bushels, having been well sprayed with arsenate 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