PLUM, 337 



varieties cultivated in France ; and in the London Horti 

 cultural Garden there are two hundred and ninety-eight 

 sorts kept under name. The green Gage is considered the 

 best dessert Plum, and the Wine-sour for sweetmeats ; but 

 the Damson is the best baking Plum. 



The Plum is said to succeed best in a lofty exposure, and 

 may yield well in the mountainous parts of the United 

 States ; it yields well near Albany, but the fruit is by no 

 means plentiful in the vicinity of the City of New- York. 

 Like the Nectarine, it is subject to the attacks of the Curcu. 

 4i, and other insects. 



It has been observed that Plum trees growing in frequented 

 lanes or barn yards, are more generally fruitful than those 

 cultivated in private gardens, or secluded situations ; this 

 circumstance is by some attributed to the jarring of the 

 trees, by cattle and swine rubbing against them : thus 

 causing the defective fruit to fall on the ground. Geese 

 kept in orchards or fruit gardens, often prove beneficial ; as 

 they, by devouring the defective fruit and other corruptible 

 matter, prevent the possibility of insects getting into the 

 ground, so as to perpetuate their existence, or multiply their 

 species. 



Cobbett attributes the scarcity of Plums in New- York 

 to neglect. In his American Gardener, paragraph 320, he 

 asks, " how is it that we see so few Plums in America, when 

 the markets are supplied with cart-loads in such a chilly, 

 shady, and blig&ty country as England V 1 



******* 



I would answer this query by informing the reader, that 

 the inhabitants of our parent country, with a view to derive 

 the full benefit of the Sun's rays for the cultivation of Plums, 

 Peaches, Nectarines, and suck other fruits as require extra 

 heat, train their trees against walls, fences, or trellis-work ; 

 and from their having these means of support, gardeners 

 have no inducement to plant them deeper than is necessary ; 

 whereas, from the circumstance of the American climate 

 being sufficiently warm to ripen those fruits on standard 

 trees, they are generally so cultivated. Many persons, to 



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