PLUMS AND DAMSONS PERFECTING THE FRUIT. 189 



fruit freely secures tne best results in the current crop and favours regular bearing. 

 Thinning should commence about a fortnight after the flowers fade and be completed 

 as soon as the fruits commence swelling, say a month or six weeks after setting. This 

 is decidedly advantageous, for it is the stoning that taxes the energies of the trees. 

 Cultivators must exercise judgment in thinning, always reducing the crop to what the 

 tree appears able to bring to maturity. 



Perfecting the Fruit. To secure fruit of the largest size, highest colour and best 

 quality, it must, after being well thinned in the early stages of swelling, be duly exposed 

 to light and air. Trees against walls often suffer from drought. Liquid nourishment 

 must be supplied to the roots, followed by a good mulching, and the fruits must not 

 be shaded by superfluous growths. Jefferson plums are green when ripened in the 

 shade and Victorias pale red, whereas the first is mottled with pink on a rich yellow 

 ground and the latter is brilliant red when exposed to the sun. Hexagon netting affixed 

 to exclude bluebottle flies and wasps is necessary when choice plums are ripening, and 

 in wet weather a light waterproof covering will prevent the fruits cracking. 



Gathering. Plums for dessert must be evenly ripe, gathered by and with the 

 stalk, then placed carefully in a shallow basket or tray to preserve the bloom and present 

 the fruit at table without bruise or blemish. It should be gathered dry, but when this 

 cannot be done the fruit may be placed after gathering in a vinery of ripe grapes or a 

 sweet room, with a gentle circulation of air. 



Culinary plums cannot be too carefully handled nor be gathered too dry. Careless 

 gathering means ruin to the trees by breaking off the spurs, and bruised fruits become 

 partially or wholly decomposed after a few hours. They are not profitably disposed of, 

 nor are they wholesome as food. 



Storing. With careful handling and storing, some plums, such as the Golden Drop 

 and Ickworth Imperatrice, will keep sound and excellent in quality a long time. They 

 should be gathered before they are dead ripe, exposing them to dry air for a few days 

 till they shrivel slightly ; then they may be laid singly on clean paper in boxes. They 

 will keep for several weeks in a dry frost-proof room. 



CULTIVATION UNDER GLASS. 



Plums are more impatient of a forcing atmosphere than are any other stone fruit, yet 

 with properly constructed and well-managed houses, they may be grown successfully 

 under glass. 



