MARKET PLUMS 71 



tinguish between friend and foe. Mr Lea's list in 

 ''Small Farms in the Midlands" is as follows: Early 

 Prolific, Victoria, Black Diamond (" the wood is re- 

 markably tough"), Pond's Seedling (" tolerably tough "), 

 Pershore Egg Plum, i.e. Gisborne (" hardiest of all 

 plums, surest cropper, comes early into bearing, the 

 wood tough, and though the price is low, pays well "). 

 He also mentions Prince Englebert and Jemmy Moore 

 (alias Cox's Emperor, alias Denbigh"), but wisely adds, 

 these come in about the same time as Victoria, when 

 there is a glut. Early or late varieties usually sell best. 

 A new variety, Bittern, raised (as so many varieties have 

 been) at Sawbridgeworth, by the late Francis Rivers, 

 seems well worth trying: "Fruit rather large, deep 

 purple, very heavy crop, habit bushy, compact, vigorous, 

 excellent early free-bearing variety. R. August 2." 



Curlew is another " early free-cropping purple plum, 

 habit erect, vigorous," also raised by Francis Rivers. 

 Monarch is a late, good, and very saleable plum. It is 

 said that 75 per cent, or more of the plums planted in 

 recent years have been Victorias. Planters should avoid 

 the Victoria glut. Pond's seedling, red and very large, 

 coming in after Victoria, often sells well. Put up in a 

 small basket it is inviting, and sells for an eating though 

 properly a cooking plum. Early Prolific is also largely 

 planted, but does not suit all soils. The white Magnum 

 bonum or egg plum (very large), good for cooking and 

 preserving, sells well in London, but needs a strong 

 soil. It is an early September fruit. Wyedale is 

 popular in Yorkshire, valuable for its lateness, and for 

 keeping sound on the trees when ripe ; its habit is diffuse, 

 size rather small, a good cropper. Mr Pearson names 

 Goliath, a large reddish purple plum, " a good cropper, 

 habit diffuse and vigorous, a very useful cooking plum. 

 R. September 7." 



At the Plum Congress held at Edinburgh in September 



