366 



FRUITS 



Chap. X. 



In the case of the almond, bitterness has been thought by some 

 high authorities to indicate specific difference. 



In N. America the Roman apricot endures " cold and unfavour- 

 able situations, where no other sort, except the Masculine, will 

 succeed; and its blossoms bear quite a severe frost without 

 injury.' 568 According to Mr. Rivers/ 9 seedling apricots deviate but 

 little from the character of their race : in France the Alberge is 

 constantly reproduced from seed with but little variation. In 

 Ladakh, according to Moorcroft, 70 ten varieties of the apricot, very 

 different from each other, are cultivated, and all are raised from 

 seed, excepting one, which is budded. 



Plums (l J runtis insiktia). — Formerly the sloe, P. spinow, wns 

 thought to be the parent of all our plums ; but now this honour is 



4 



Fig. 43. — Plum Stones, of natural size, viewed laterally. 1. Bullacp Plum. 2. Shropshire 

 Damson. 3. P>lue Gage. 4. Orleans. 5. Elvas. 6. Denver's Victoria. 7. Diamond, 



very commonly accorded to P. irisititia or the bullace, which is 

 found wild in the Caucasus and K-Western India, and is natural- 

 ised in England. 71 It is not at all improbable, in accordance with 

 some observations made by Mr. Rivers, 72 that both these forms, 

 which some botanists rank as a single species, may be the parents 

 of our domesticated plums. Another supposed parent-form, the 

 P. domestica, is said to be found wild in the region of the Caucasus. 



G8 Downing, ' The Fruits ot Ame- 

 rica,' 1845, p. 157: with respect to 

 the Alberge apricot in France, see p. 

 153. 



09 < Gardener's Chronicle.' 1863, p. 

 364. 



70 'Travels in the Himalavan Pro- 



vinces,' vol. i. 1841, p. 295. 



71 See an excellent discussion on 

 this subject in Hewett C. Watson's 

 * Cybele Britannica,' vol. iv. p. 80. 



72 'Gardener's Chronicle,' 1835, 



27. 



