Decombcr 17, 1886. j 



JOUBNAL OF HOKTIOULTUBE AND COTTAGE GAEDENEB. 



>m 



will hang quite as long as the Alicante or Lady Downe's ; be- 

 Biclt'3 which it is in flavour very superior to either of them. 

 Even under the moat adverse circutnatances it sets more freely 

 than any other sort we know, and the same remarks will apply 

 to the crops which it carries. 



To show what can bo done with this Vine, we would mention 

 that on the '2^l\i of May last we planted one of our largest 

 houses with canes raised from cuttings since February this 

 year. They are now carrying a fair crop of flue fruit, which 

 will bo ripe by the 1st of January, and will bang well until April. 

 If Mr. Beoord will favour us with a visit in January, and taste 

 them, we do not think he will care for the fruit of I;ady Downe's 

 (for the three winter months) afterwards. — John SiAUDise and 

 Co., Royal Nurseries, Ascot. 



GROWING FRUIT FOR MARICET AT LITTLE 



SUTTON, CHISWICK. 



MR. dancer's. 

 (Continued from paije 397.) 



I NOW come to a well-known and deservedly popular Plum — 

 Tiz., Denyer's Victoria. It is of large size, and in shape oval ; 

 the skin reddish purple ; the flesh yellow, sweet, and pleasantl y 

 flavoured, parting freely from the stone. When well ripened 

 it is good for dessert, but its merits lie in its culinary qualities. 

 Good though it undoubtedly is, it is not a Londim Plum, al- 

 though sold largely in Covent Garden, and cultivated extensively 

 in the neighbourhood of London. It is but very little used 

 there, the whole stock of it being greedily bought up for the 

 use of the cotton-spinners of Manchester and the iron-workers 

 of Glasgow. The Victoria is not a very profitable variety to 

 cultivate, although a prolific and tolerably constant bearer; 

 some seasons, indeed, the trees bear to such excess that many 

 of the fruits never come to perfection, and the tree is injured so 

 much by this over- exertion, that it frequently takes years to 

 recover. The tree is of drooping habit, and never attains a 

 very large size. 



Poupart's Plum is a true market gardeners' Plum, little 

 known elsewhere. It is named after Mr. Poupart, a large 

 market gardener, who grew it extensively. Mr. Dancer has a 

 good many trees of this sort, and recommends it highly, form- 

 ing, as it does, a good succession to the earlier sorts. Ifc is an 

 excellent cropper, and, the fruit being rather firm, it can be 

 carried in excellent condition to market — a quality which is a 

 great recommendation. The fruit, which is nearly round, very 

 much resembles in appearance Keine Claude Violette. The 

 colour is light purple, dotted and streaked with yellow; the 

 flesh reddish, sweet, but with a smack of the sloe flavour. An 

 excellent preserving variety, and generally commanding a good 

 price in Covent Garden. There is one peculiarity attached to 

 this Plum. It is this : The trees bear fruit very irregularly. 

 The whole of the plant may be well covered with flowers in 

 spring, yet the fruit is borne on only a portion of the tree, 

 some branches being literally loaded, and, to use a common 

 expression, hanging " as thick as ropes of onions ;" while other 

 branches, having exactly the same appearance, are entirely 

 destitute of fruit. This is a general characteristic of the variety. 

 I have examined scores of trees in Mr. Dancer's and other 

 gardens, and they are all so. I never saw nny Plum produce 

 the fruit in such enormous clusters ; so thickly packed together 

 are they, that Jlr. Dancer compares the little branches thus 

 laden to bottle brushes. It is but a moderate grower. 



Cooper's Large, or La Delicieuse, is a very strong-growing 

 sort, one of the few Plums which form timber trees. It is a 

 rather large, oval, purplish Plum, sometimes, when not over- 

 cropped, of excellent flavour. It is, however, by no means a 

 good sort for cultivation, for the tree, having very large leaves, 

 «Ti£ters severely in dry seasons, and the whole crop, which is 

 "Very abundantly produced, is rendered worthless. The fruit, 

 likewise, being of a dull colour, brings a very poor price in the 

 ■ market. Sandalls Plum, as a late variety coming into use in 

 September, or after all the others are over, is very desirable. 

 Mr. Dancer calls it a "really good Plum." The fruit ia of 

 medium size, oval, dark purplish. The tree is but a moderate 

 bearer. The fruit, after being ripe, hangs a long time on the 

 tree without cracking ; and as but few Plums wUl do so, it is 

 on this account, as well as its lateness, much to be recom- 

 mended. It takes well in the market. The tree grows to a 

 great size — from .30 to 40 feet, and, like La Delicieuse, is one 

 .o£ the few Plums which form timber. Mr.IDancer cultivates 

 it extensively. 



Of Plums which Mr. Dancer has on trial, and which promise 

 to prove good marketable and prulitable sorts, I may mention 

 the following. When I say " on trial," I do not mean one or 

 two small lots of trees as usually the piactice, I speak of hun- 

 dreds. Yes, the new varieties are tried by the hundred, if to 

 be procured, and if unsuitable they have only to be grafted 

 again. They are— Belle de Septembro, an excellent late purple 

 sort, a vigorous upright grower ; in use in the end of September. 

 Autumn Compote, also a reddinli purple Plum, coming into 

 late use. Belgian Purple, a very promising port, large, and of 

 excellent quality; midseason. Prince Englebert, a very ex- 

 cellent Plum, a prodigious bearer, somewhat resembling, but 

 larger and of bettor flavour than Milclielson's. liivers's Karly 

 Prolific, a valuable early Plum, ripening in the end of July. 

 With Mr. Eivers, this Plum bears most enormously, and 

 makes but little wood. With Mr. Dancer, again, it has as yet, 

 borne but very thinly, but grows excessively, making shoots 

 from 3 to 4 feet in length during the season. 



There are some other sorts of Plums which have been, or 

 still are, slightly cultivated by Mr. Dancer, but which have 

 proved unsuitable, either as to their bearing properties or 

 market popularity. Such are Washington, which is not only 

 a bad bearer in general, but on account of its colour and soft- 

 ness it will not seU. Jefferson is a great bearer. It is, how- 

 ever, a slight clingstone, and on that account avoided by the 

 market folks. Kirke's, very beautiful in appearance, but a bad 

 bearer, and in general commanding but a low price. Pond's 

 Seedling, large, but, like Denyer's Victoria, not a London Plum. 

 Green Gages, of which there are several sub-varieties — these 

 are the queens of Plums as regards flavour, but being shy 

 bearers, and the half-ripe fruit being so very liable to crack 

 and split with a little wet, the whole crop is frequently de- 

 stroyed. The Green Gage is not by any means a profitable 

 variety to cultivate. 



I have now noticed the Plums Mr. Dancer cultivates, and 

 which have been proved to be the best suited for his particular 

 district and soil — a deep alluvial loam, with gravelly subsoil. 

 Of this, however, more hereafter. These are the Plums, which, 

 although not perhaps the finest in quality, yet produce the 

 largest and most constant crops, and find the most ready sale 

 in the market. They are, consequently, the most profitable 

 varieties to cultivate for market purposes, or for any other pur- 

 pose where quantity, not quality, as dessert fruit is desired. 

 The Plums, it may be noted, which find so ready a sale are 

 almost always good culinary sorts, that being the chief purpose 

 for which they are purchased. In other districts and other 

 soils a few other varieties may, perhaps, be found equally well 

 suited, or, again, these varieties in other soils and localities 

 may not be found so desirable, not to speak of different methods 

 of culture, which I shall not enter upon here, but leave for 

 another paper. There are no sorts, however, which find a more 

 ready sale in Covent Garden. 



To make it quite clear which varieties I have been alluding 

 to in this and the previous paper, I again enumerate them, and 

 class them according to their season of ripening. 



1st, Plums cultivated largely by Mr. Dancer and highly re- 

 commenr'ed. 



1. G sbDrne's Early 4. Denyer's Victoria 



2. Chapman's Prince of Wales 5. Poupart's 



3. Mitchelson's (5. Sandalls 



2nd, Plums which promise well, but not yet sufiiciently 

 proved. 



1. Rivers's Early Prolific 



2. Prince Englebert 



3. Belgian Purple 

 — Leo. 



4. Antumn'CompOte 



5. Belle de Septembre 



VINES OUT OP DOORS. 

 In your number of December 3rd I read with much pleastue 

 an article entitled " Out-of-doors Grapes " by your correspon- 

 dent •' Archambaud," and his estimate of the different sorts of 

 Grapes was useful and very interesting. He says that it was 

 to discover which of the many varieties was most suited to 

 open-air cultivation that Mr. Kemp offered his prizes at the 

 Horticultural Society's Fruit Committee Meeting in October. 

 Out-door growers will thank Mr. Kemp heartily, and your 

 correspondent for giving them the result ; but it appears to 

 me that it should not stop here. Having decided which is the 

 best sort to grow, the next thing is to teach people how to 

 grow it ; for there is not one amateur gardener in a hundred 

 who has the most remote idea of the best method of cultivation 



