74 THE BOOK OF PEARS AND PLUMS 



ranges from 1 8s. to 255. per cwt. A few visits to 

 Covent Garden, the best shops, and the Crystal Palace 

 Fruit Shows, will not be time or labour lost. 



Plums and damsons for market should be gathered 

 and sent before they are quite ripe ; if soft and pulpy 

 on arrival, they are valueless. Sort in size and quality 

 as even as possible : keep back all inferior stuff. Only 

 good produce, well sorted and properly packed, placed 

 on the market in good condition, is likely to sell well. 

 Foreigners as well as neighbours compete for custom. 

 In large establishments a packing room with every 

 convenience close at hand is necessary. 1 The market- 

 agent should daily advise what goods are needed. 



STORING AND KEEPING 



Plums, as a rule, do not remain good for any length 

 of time after being gathered. They will however last 

 a week or two if laid out in a cool, dark, well con- 

 structed place. Slate slabs assist to keep baskets and 

 fruit cool. Some of the late dessert varieties gathered 

 before they are quite ripe, wrapped in paper, will last 

 in a dry place for a long period. Dr Hogg says that 

 " Ickworth Imperatrice," a large late dessert variety, 

 if allowed to remain on the tree until it shrivels, then 

 wrapt in silk paper and placed in a dry shelf, will last 

 for many weeks. It is a richly-flavoured plum. The 

 remark is probably true of other late varieties ; e.g., the 

 lovely Golden Transparent, "a delicious plum grown 

 against a wall, but not a success in the open" (R. 

 September 12), or Reine Claude de Bavay, which is late, 

 but a poor bearer. The Ickworth Imperatrice was not 

 tested by the R.H.S., and is not now often grown. 

 Guthrie's late Green, " a most delicious dessert plum and 

 the heaviest cropper here (i.e. Chiswick R.H.S.) of all the 



1 For many useful details see Watson, vol. v. 



