48 THE FORCING GARDEN, 
not get a crop of Plums of the choice kinds once in 
five seasons in the openair ; one may be had sometimes 
on a very favourable wall where the soil is of a warm 
and dry nature, and the blossom is so sheltered that no 
cutting spring winds can get at the trees. As to 
Greengages, the best of Plums, what should we do if 
we did not get them from France and other countries ? 
Why, few persons would be able to get them at all, and 
even now they are too dear for three-fourths of the 
public to purchase them. 
Ofall the common fruits the Greengage is no doubt 
both the most delicious and most useful, yet in many 
cases it can scarcely be had for money. Few indeed 
can afford to give 2s. to 3s. per dozen for them, and so 
they never taste them. This is a pity in a land where 
there are the means for growing them. I feel determined 
to induce, if possible, more persons to put up glass at a 
cheap rate so as to grow such a useful fruit. The cost 
is but once, and numbers could grow their own Plums 
and Peaches who now think such a thing quite out of 
their reach. 
More able men than the writer have said and done 
a great deal to promote Plum growing in this country, 
and too much can scarcely be written in favour of the 
art of growing stone fruits, especially the Greengage, 
Plum, and the Cherry, in our own country, and in a 
manner that may defy foreign competition. Why 
should we allow the foreigner to come and take away 
our business and our credit? We are good gardeners, 
quite as good as the French or the Dutch. The 
French have a climate infinitely more advantageous to 
horticulture than we possess; and though we are as 
good gardeners as they are, we suffer through the want 
