264 THE PLUM. 



plum and the prune d'Agen ; and the best French plums (so- 

 called in England,) are made in Provence, of the Perdrigon 

 blftnc, the Brignole, and the prune d'Ast ; the Provence plums 

 being most fleshy, and having always most bloom. Both kinds 

 are, however, made of these and other kinds of plums, in various 

 parts of France. The plums are gathered when just ripe 

 enough to fall from the trees on their being slightly shaken. 

 They are then laid, separately, on frames, or sieves, made of 

 wicker-work or laths, and exposed for several days to the sun, 

 till they become as soft as ripe medlars. When this is the case, 

 they are put into a spent oven, shut quite close, and left there 

 for twenty-four hours ; they are then taken out, and the oven 

 being slightly reheated, they are put in again when it is rather 

 warmer than it was before. The next day they are again taken 

 out, and turned by slightly shaking the sieves. The oven is 

 heated again, and they are put in a third time, when the oven 

 is one-fourth degree hotter than it was the second time. After 

 remaining twenty- four hours, they are taken out, and left to get 

 quite cold. They are then rounded, an operation which is per- 

 formed by turning the stone in the plum without breaking the 

 skin, and pressing the two ends together between the thumb 

 and finger. They are then again put upon the sieves, which 

 are placed in an oven, from which the bread has been just 

 drawn. The door of the oven is closed, and the crevices are 

 stopped round it with clay or dry grass. An hour afterwards, 

 the plums are taken out, and the oven is again shut with a cup 

 of water in it, for about two hours. When the water is so warm 

 as just to be able to bear the finger in it, the prunes are again 

 placed in the oven, and left there for twenty-four hours, when 

 the operation is finished, and they are put loosely into small, 

 long, and rather deep boxes, for sale. The common sorts are 

 gathered by shaking the trees ; but the finer kinds, for making 

 French plums, must be gathered in the morning, before the 

 rising of the sun, by taking hold of the stalk, between the thumb 

 and finger, without touching the fruit, and laid gently on a bed 

 of vine-leaves in a basket. When the baskets are filled, without 

 the plums touching each other, they are removed to the fruit 

 room, where they are left for two or three days exposed to the 

 sun and air ; after which, the same process is employed as for 

 the others ; and in this way the delicate bloom is retained on 

 the fruit, even when quite dry. 



PROPAGATION AND CULTURE. The plum is usually propagated 

 in this country by sowing the seeds of any common free grow- 

 ing variety, (avoiding the damsons which are not readily work- 

 ed,) and budding them when two years old, with the finer sorts. 

 The stones should be planted as soon as gathered, in broad 

 drills, (as in planting peas,) but about an inch and a half deep. 

 In good soil the seedlings will reach eighteen inches or two feet 



