PLUMS. 687 



Blue Gage. See Early Blue. 



BLUE IMPERATRICE (Imperatrice; Imperatrice Violette; Empress}. 

 Fruit, medium sized ; obovate, tapering considerably towards the stalk 

 so as to form a neck, with a shallow suture on one side. Skin, deep 

 purple, covered with a thick blue bloom. Stalk, about an inch long, 

 and attached without depression. Flesh, greenish yellow, the yellow 

 predominating on the side exposed to the sun, of a rich, sugary flavour, 

 and adhering to the stone. 



A first-rate plum ; not so juicy as some other varieties, but excellent 

 either for dessert or preserving. Ripe in October, and if allowed to 

 hang on the tree till it shrivels, which it will do, it is particularly rich 

 and sweet. The young shoots are smooth. The tree is an excellent 

 bearer, and should be grown against an east or south-east wall. It 

 will also keep a long time in the house, if in a dry place. 



I doubt very much if this is the same as the Imperatrice of Duhamel. 



BLUE PERDRIGON (Br'ujnole Violette; Battle Monument; Per- 

 drigon Violette; Violet Perdrigon). Fruit, medium sized ; oval, widest 

 at the apex, with a shallow suture or furrow on one side, which is 

 slightly flattened. Skin, reddish purple, marked with minute yellowish 

 dots, and covered with thick, greyish white bloom. Stalk, three-quarters 

 of an inch long, inserted in a small and rather deep cavity. Flesh, 

 greenish yellow, firm, rich, sugary, and perfumed, adhering to the 

 stone. 



An old and excellent plum, suitable either for the dessert or pre- 

 serving ; ripe the end of August. The young shoots are downy. The 

 tree is a very vigorous grower, but an indifferent bearer, and requires 

 to be grown against an east or south-east wall. The bloom is very 

 tender and susceptible of early frosts. The fruit will hang till it 

 shrivels. 



This variety and the White Perdrigon, when dried, form the Pruneaux de Brignole, 

 a small town in Provence. The Perdrigons are reproduced from the stone. Some 

 of the French writers say there are two varieties of Blue Perdrigon, one in which 

 the flesh separates from the stone, and in the other which does not. Hitt describes 

 it as separating from the stone. 



BODDAERT'S GREEN GAGE (Reine Claude Boddaert}. This in 

 every respect resembles the Green Gage, only it is very much larger. 

 The Green Gage is one of those varieties of the plum which reproduces 

 itself from seed with slight variations, these being either in size or the 

 seasons of ripening. The variety here referred to possesses all the 

 richness of flavour of its parent, is very much larger, and ripens in 

 the end of August. 



The young shoots are smooth. 



Bolmar. See Washington. 



Bolmar's Washington. See Washington. 



