MARCH. 59 



By this means a cavity is left below the bottom of the pots which 

 ensures perfect drainage. The surface-soil can be kept moderately 

 dry, as the roots receive sufficient moisture through the sides of the 

 pots from the surrounding bed of ashes, rendering watering unne- 

 cessary from the time they are finally arranged, about the end of 

 October, until the first genial shower from the southward, in the 

 latter end of January or beginning of February, occurs, when it may 

 be permitted to fall on them for an hour or two together. Plants so 

 wintered will be found to resist the cutting east winds of March, 

 and, of late years, of April also, better than those which have been 

 rendered tender and delicate by injudicious confinement, and which 

 are excited to premature growth by winter and early spring sunshine. 



Woolwich. J. W. New HALL. 



THE FRUITIST. 



The October Greengage Plum. This, the " Reine Claude 

 d'Octobre" of the French, is one of the best autumn Plums. I intro- 

 duced it from France some five or seven years since. In shape and 

 colour, even to those pretty spots of amber which are generally found 

 on a well-ripened Greengage Plum, it is exactly like its favourite 

 namesake ; but in size and season it diflfers widely ; it is scarcely 

 more than half the size of a large Greengage, and ripens towards the 

 middle of October, when Greengage Plums are almost out of mind 

 as well as sight ; this renders it peculiarly valuable. In flavour it 

 exactly resembles its near relative ; but in cool wet autumns it is not 

 so rich. South of the Trent it bears most abundantly either as a 

 standard or pyramid ; further north it ought to have a wall either 

 s.w. or s.E. For cultivation in pots in the orchard-house it is 

 admirably adapted, as its fruit may be preserved on the trees till 

 November. 



The Mirabelle Plum. This, which ranks among the oldest 

 varieties of Plums, is but little known in England, although in France 

 it is, and has been for many years, a universal favourite, not as a 

 dessert Plum, but for tarts, compotes, and preserving, as it forms a 

 most delicious preserve. It is oval in shape, and in size it about 

 equals a small oval Damson ; colour yellow, with brown spots : it 

 ripens from the middle to the end of August, and bears most abun- 

 dantly in the south of England, either as dwarf bushes, pyramids, or 

 standards. In cool climates it should have a wall with a warm as- 

 pect. The tree is rather dwarf in its habit, its leaves are small, and 

 its buds are placed exceedingly close to each other. No Plum forms 

 such a compact pretty little pyramid. Large quantities of this pretty 

 little Plum are grown in France. I remember seeing, when in the 

 Fruit-garden at Versailles in August 1847, numerous large baskets 

 full of it destined for the royal kitchen. The gardener, I recollect, 

 said that no preserved Plums equalled les Petites Mirabelles. 



T. R. 



