554 THE PLUM. 



roof, giving the garden a very singular and agreeable appearance. 

 During rain, or dewy evenings, the net is tightened or stretched to its 

 utmost extent (fig. 367, a), and forms a grand vault over the whole 

 cherry garden (fig. 366, a, and 367, a) ; during sunshine, or when the 

 weather is dry, it is slackened (fig. 366, b), and forms a festooned vault, 



Fig. 367. 



Section through a cherry garden, showing the netting tightened by rain (a), and 

 slackened by drought (b). 



supported by posts (fig. 367, b). It is advisable to tan the net every 

 year with oak bark, which adds greatly to its durability. We have 

 seen plantations of currants and gooseberries protected in a similar 

 manner, but in these cases bunting was used in lieu of netting, to 

 exclude wasps and flies as well as birds ; the nets for such fruit bushes 

 and strawberries are placed from 2 to 4 feet from the ground, and in 

 the long run it pays to elevate all nets on a wooden or iron frame to 

 keep them off the ground. Perhaps galvanized or other iron nets would 

 prove the most economical, as all textile fabrics speedily wear out. 

 Forcing the Cherry. See p. 483. 



The Plum. 



The plum (Prunus insititia, L., and P. domestica, L.) is a low 

 irregular deciduous tree, a native of most parts of Europe, and also of 

 part of Asia and Africa, and it is either indigenous or naturalized in 

 North America. Its culture in gardens is as universal as that of the 

 cherry, and dates from the time of the Romans. 



Use. The plum is a delicious dessert fruit, and it is also excellent 

 in pies, tarts, conserves, sweetmeats, and in a dried state. A wine is 

 made from the pulp, and a powerful spirit from the pulp and kernel 

 fermented. Raki is made in Hungary by fermenting apples ground 

 or crushed with bruised plums, and distilling the liquor. The spirit 

 produced is said to be very agreeable to the taste, and, though not 

 quite so strong, much more wholesome than brandy. In the south of 

 France an excellent spirit is obtained from the bruised pulp and kernels 

 of plums, fermented with honey and flour, by distillation in the usual 

 manner. Medicinally, plums are cooling and laxative, especially the 

 dried fruit called brignoles, or French plums. The wood of the plum 

 is used in turnery, cabinet-work, and in making musical instruments, 

 and the tree is valued in ornamental landscape-gardening from its 

 being one of the earliest which come into blossom. 



Varieties. The Romans had a multiplicity of sorts of plums, and 

 the varieties have long been very numerous in France and Italy. Of 



