THE PLUM. 57 



tall, the tree both in France and England mostly requires 

 to be grown against the wall; and the fruit is always 

 specially prone to burst its tender skin and form splits, 

 which, however, do not impair its quality any further 

 than that busy insects are ever found ready to avail them- 

 selves of the opening, and soon consume the dainty when 

 once thus laid bare to them. The Purple G-age, a new 

 variety lately introduced by the French under the name 

 of Seine Claude Violette, may really be considered an im- 

 provement on the original, since it is free from this latter 

 defect of a tendency to crack, and has the further advan- 

 tage that in a dry climate it will keep good until October, 

 whereas the Greengage, which it equals in every other 

 respect, must be eaten almost as soon as gathered. In 

 1860, too, a new early variety was exhibited by Mr. Rivers, 

 which has the special virtue of ripening in July, when the 

 old sort is still quite hard. 



But if, among all that are commonly called plums, the 

 Greengage be pre-eminent, there is one member of the 

 Prunus family, a distinct species, and bearing in common 

 parlance quite a distinct name, in which the plum seems 

 to have risen above itself; for in the Apricot it seems as 

 though Nature had "tried her 'prentice hand" before 

 she formed the Peach, as if wishing to see on a small 

 scale the eiFect of a velvet-like suit before assigning it as 

 the livery of a new tribe. In spite, however, of its woolly 

 disguise, it is recognized as really a plum by its white 

 blossom and smooth stone, though the latter has the 

 peculiarity of being pointed at but one end, whereas in 

 the rest of the race it is found sharp at each end. Easily 

 known by its heart-shaped foliage, the tree is botanically 

 distinguished as Prunus Armeniaca, the latter title de- 

 rived from its having been supposed to have come origin- 

 ally from Armenia ; but there is little authority for the 

 notion, since, though it covers the slopes of the Caucasus 

 almost to the margin of the snow, it has never yet been, 

 found growing wild there. A French traveller, too, quoted 

 by Mr. Phillips, says, " I was struck with its mode of 

 growth in Egypt, where it was anciently brought from 

 latitudes still more south : its leaves have scarcely fallen 



