Lastly, suckers are not uncommonly used by plum-growers for certain varieties. Thus in the western part of New York, the plum-growing region of the East, several varieties as the Reine Claudes and some of the Damsons are propagated from sprouts taken from the base of old trees. This method can be used, of course, only when the trees are grown upon their own roots. The writer was told by plum-growers in Germany and France that most of the plums in gardens and small plantations, constituting the majority of the plums in the two countries, were propagated from suckers. This method has small merit except that it enables a grower to get a few trees cheaply and perhaps gives a better tree of some varieties for a heavy soil. Beyond question it gives trees with a tendency to sucker—an undesirable attribute. In the horticultural literature of the time recommendations for top-working plums are rather frequent. It is true that many varieties of plums grow slowly and make crooked growths, especially in the nursery, but in the attempts at grafting in New York the failures are more conspicuous than the successes. If top-working is decided upon, the earlier in the life of the tree it is done, the better. For the Domesticas at least, the Lombard is probably the best stock. The method of top-working is to graft in early spring or bud in late summer. Grafting ought to be used more often than it is to renew the tops of injured trees, as the difficulties in doing this are not much greater than in the case of apples. PLUM ORCHARDS AND THEIR CARE. Plum trees in New York are set from twelve to twenty feet apart. The amount of room given seems to depend mostly upon the custom in the locality, though, as all agree, it should depend upon the soil and the variety. The deduction which plum-growers are drawing from these experiences is that the plum should have more room than is generally given it, therefore, wider plantings are more the rule now than formerly. Little attention has been paid to mixed planting for cross-pollination in this State, as the Domesticas are planted almost exclusively and seem under orchard conditions to be self-fertile.