PLUM VARIETIES 297 



Gage family. The original ancestor of the vari- 

 ety no doubt came from Armenia or some place 

 in that part of the world for it is said that wild 

 sorts similar to the Green Gage are still to be 

 found there. Whether the Reine Claude ac- 

 tually originated in France or was simply 

 introduced and given a French name I do not 

 know — and probably no one else does. We 

 only know that it was named for Queen Claude, 

 wife of Francis I. When the Gage family 

 imported the variety into England it was 

 brought with a number of others and the label 

 was lost from this tree. The gardener, not 

 knowing what it was, named it "Green Gage" 

 — a name that sticks in English-speaking 

 countries to the present time. It was probably 

 one of the first plums cultivated in this country 

 as Prince lists it among those he grew at his 

 Long Island nursery. 



Wickson 



Wickson is probably the largest of the 

 Japanese plums, often measuring over two 

 inches in diameter and somewhat greater in 

 length. It is dark red in color, sort of an old 

 wine color — if you know what I mean. The 

 tree grows very upright, more so even than 

 Abundance and this makes the fruit difficult to 

 harvest. However, I have not noticed that this 

 feature worries the average grower of Wick- 



