112 



Commercial Gardening 



growers because it has a habit of dying suddenly when apparently in 

 full vigour and without any discoverable reason. Nevertheless it is 

 still useful. It flowers early, and quickly throws a mantle of broad leaves 

 over the young fruitlets. From this cause there is often a better crop 

 of Prince of Wales than of any other Plum; that was the case in Middle- 

 sex in 1910. The quality of the fruit is good enough for dessert among 

 ordinary mortals. Fruit roundish oval, bright purple, dotted with yellow. 



Belle de Louvain. A large -sized, reddish -purple, strongly -seen ted 

 plum. A good bearer and producing a large spreading tree requiring 

 plenty of room. Can be gathered for travelling before Victoria. 



Victoria. Everyone knows this bright-red plum, perhaps the most 

 popular grown. It possesses all the characteristics a good plum should 



possess, except flavour. For the market grower 

 it pays the best of any. The tree is terribly 

 liable to "Silver Leaf". It occasionally bears so 

 profusely as to require thinning of the fruit; if 

 this is done early in July the plums can be sold 

 for green-plum jam or for bottling. September. 

 Curlew. A medium-sized dark plum, per- 

 haps the most delicious cooking plum grown, 

 producing a syrup of peculiarly rich colour. The 

 tree is short-jointed and bushy, like the Damson. 

 A moderate bearer. Season after Victoria. 



Pond's Seedling". This handsome scented 

 Plum (fig. 362) with very large oval dark-red 

 fruits is a very shy bearer in Middlesex, but in 

 Kent and Essex it bears a better character. It 

 always finds a ready sale from its attractive 

 appearance. The tree is upright in habit and 

 (.) attains a height of 40 ft. It is very susceptible 



to "Silver Leaf". Ripe in mid-September. 



Kirke's. A fine dark purple plum fit for picking in August and 



September. 



Orleans. This deep purple-red variety 

 is much grown in places, and may be gathered 

 from mid August. (See coloured plate.) 



Belle de Septembre. As its name im- 

 plies, a September plum, usually coming in 

 well after Victoria. It is a large roundish- 

 oval violet-red plum of medium quality. The 

 tree is drooping and a good cropper. 



Monarch. One of the best of the intro- 

 ductions of Messrs. Rivers. Comes in the 

 Fig. sea Plum. Monarch (Rivers'). (.) latter end of September. The large blackish- 

 purple fruit is round with pointed nose, of 

 great size, with bloom on the skin. The tree is upright-growing, seldom 



Fig. 362. Plums. Pond's Seedling 



