48 THE FORCING GARDEN. 



not get a crop of Plums of the choice kinds once in 

 five seasons in the open air ; 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. 



Of all 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 



