488 



Descriptions of Select Varieties of Plums. 



under the skin, dotted with a few bright crimson specks 

 on the sunny side, and covered with a thin whitish bloom: 

 Stem^ medium length, about half an inch long, rather slender, 

 and obliquely inserted in a small cavity, on the somewhat 

 elongated base : Fleshy pale yellow, thick, very melting, and 

 firmly adhering to the stone: Juice, abundant, sugary, spright- 

 ly, and delicious : Sto?ie, large, very long, rather narrow, com- 

 pressed, and sharp pointed. Ripe the last of September. 



10. Kirke's. Pomological Magazine, Vol. Ill, pi. Ill, 



Among the large blue plums, this variety {fg. 43) stands 

 unrivalled. It is about the size of the Columbia, and sur- 

 passes that very good plum in its flavor, being nearly or quite 



as rich and luscious as the 

 Green Gage. The Pomo- 

 logical Magazine, in de- 

 scribing it, says, that a 

 "plum as hardy and pro- 

 lific as the Orleans, — as 

 handsome as the Damask, 

 — and as good as the 

 Green Gage, cannot be too 

 extensively cultivated." 



The origin of the Kirke's 

 is unknown ; it was first 

 brought into notice by Mr. 

 Kirke, whose name it 

 bears, and was accident- 

 ally met with by that gen- 

 tleman, in a fruiterer's 

 window, in London. Up- 

 Fig. 43. Kirke's Plum. ou tastiug the fruit, he 



found, to his surprise, that it excelled in flavor any purple 

 plum he was acquainted with ; and, upon inquiry, it ap- 

 peared that the fruit was received from a gardener in the 

 country, who had procured the variety from a gardener in 

 his neighborhood, and that the original tree was introduced 

 from some foreign country. The Pomological Magazine 

 states, that it had not been found in the writings of pomo- 



