556 THE PLUM. 



gated in the nurseries as stocks for the peach, nectarine, apricot, and 

 almond. The nursery culture of the plum, and the choice of grafted 

 or trained plants, are the same as for the cherry. 



Soil, Situation, and Final Planting. The plum naturally does not 

 grow in so light a soil as the cherry, nor in so clayey a soil as the 

 apple ; and in a state of culture, a medium soil, on a dry subsoil, is 

 found to be the best. Only the finer varieties are planted against 

 walls, and none of them require a south aspect excepting in very cold 

 exposed situations in the north, or when the object is to have an early 

 crop. The distances adopted in final planting are given in pp. 391 

 and 400. 



Mode of Searing, Pruning, and Training. All the varieties produce 

 their blossoms on small spurs, which are protruded along the sides of 

 the shoots of one, two, or three years' growth, generally in the course 

 of the second and third year. These spurs, if duly thinned, and when 

 necessary cut in, will continue bearing for five or six years, or longer, 

 in the case of wall-trees and espaliers ; and when the fruit becomes 

 too small, it is easy to renew the branches, one at a time, by encou- 

 raging young shoots from the main stem. Standard trees require very 

 little pruning, beyond that of occasionally thinning out the branches, 

 and this should always be done before midsummer, to prevent the gum 

 from appearing on the wounds. Plum-trees against walls or espaliers 

 are generally trained in the horizontal manner. Old trees may be 

 renovated by heading in or cutting down. 



Gathering, Keeping, Packing, fyc. The fruit is generally gathered 

 by hand, and, with the exceptions mentioned, it cannot be kept longer 

 than three or four days without losing its flavour, or shrivelling. As 

 the bloom of the plum is more easily rubbed off than that of any other 

 fruit, great care is requisite in gathering it, and in packing, when the 

 fruit is to be sent to a distance. Nettle leaves, on account of their 

 roughness, are the best material in which to envelope the fruit, and it 

 ought to be sent in suspended boxes. As the plums brought to market 

 are very liable to have the bloom rubbed off, some fruiterers supply 

 an artificial bloom, by putting the fruit in an atmosphere charged with 

 finely calcined magnesia, as is done in giving an artificial bloom to the 

 cucumber. At first sight it may appear surprising that a white powder 

 should be employed to give a bloom to the green surface of the 

 cucumber, and the purple or yellow surface of the plum ; but the colour 

 of the fruit in these and all other cases, resides under the bloom in the 

 skin, and the bloom is merely a number of semi-transparent colour- 

 less particles, secreted by nature for some useful purpose, which are 

 very well imitated by any very fine colourless powder. 



Insects, Diseases, Casualties, fyc. The red spider and green or 

 black fly are the common enemies of the plum against walls, and are 

 to be kept under by frequent and abundant waterings with the syringe. 

 The gages and all very rich plums, when nearly ripe, are attacked by 

 wasps, which may be lured away by and caught in vessels of honeyed 

 water, or excluded by canvas or bunting. The gum and canker are not 

 unfrequent in the plum when it has been severely pruned, or when it 



