THE PLUM. 309 



in any of onr forests; neither has it been found wild, 

 either in Aiiiienla or any of the neig-hbouring; pro- 

 vinces. M. Regnier is of opinion that it is a native 

 of Africa, and that its limits appear to be a parallel 

 between the Niger and the range of the Atlas moun- 

 tains, from whence it has, by cultivation, been carried 

 towards the north. 



Apricots are very plentiful, and in great variety, in 

 China; and the natives employ them variously in the 

 arts. From the wild tree, the pulp of whose fruit is 

 of little value, but which has a large kernel, they ex- 

 tract an oil ; they preserve the fruit wet in all its 

 flavour ; and they make lozenges of the clarified 

 juice, which afford a very agreeable beverage when 

 dissolved in water. The apricot attains the size of 

 a large tree in Japan. It also flourishes in such 

 abundance upon the Oases, as to be dried and car- 

 ried to Egypt as an article of commerce. In those 

 sultry climates, the flavour is exquisite, though the 

 fruit is small. 



Gough, in his British Topograj^hy, states that the 

 apricot-tree was first brought to England, in 1524, 

 by VVoolf, the gardener to Henry VIII. Gerard 

 had two varieties in his garden. 



The Pluji — Prunus domestica. 



The plum appears to be still more widely diffused 

 in its original locality than the apricot ; and it is 

 much more prone to run into varieties. It is a 

 native of Asia, and of many parts of Europe; and 

 even grows wild in the hedges in some parts of 

 Britain, though possibly it may have found its way 

 there from some of the cultivated sorts, and have de- 

 generated. The plum, and almost all its species, is 

 very apt to run under ground, and produce suckers 

 from the roots. Duhamel says that if plums are 



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