CHAP. XLII. BOSA'CUB, />RIPNUS. 689 



for the dessert, and for making tarts and puddings, is well known. In France, 

 plums are used principally dried, as an article of commerce. 



Brignoks, Primes, and French Plums. The kinds of plum usually em- 

 ployed for preserving, in France, are the Brignole, the prune d'Ast, the Perdri- 

 gon blanc, the prune d'Agen, and the Ste. Catherine. The first and second 

 are grown principally near the little town of Brignoles, in Provence; and 

 the Brignole is used for making the preserved plum sold in London, in 

 round boxes divided with cut white paper, as a sort of dry sweetmeat. The 

 fruit is large and yellow, with a reddish tinge on. the side next the sun ; and 

 the flesh is rather insipid, and very sweet. The prune d'Ast is a large long 

 plum, with a deep violet coriaceous skin, and abundant bloom, and is chiefly 

 used for preparing what are called, in England, French plums. The Perdrigon 

 blanc is generally used for prunes. The fruit is long, and narrow at the base, 

 of a greenish white, tinged with red, with rather a leathery skin, and abundant 

 bloom. The flesh is greenish, melting, and so sweet, as to have nearly the 

 same flavour when eaten ripe from the tree, as when preserved. The Ste. 

 Catherine plum is a large yellowish plum ; the fruit of an oval shape, tapering 

 towards the base ; remarkably sweet, and of an agreeable flavour, when ga- 

 thered from the tree. The prune d'Agen is nearly black, fleshy, and rather 

 insipid, with a coriaceous skin, and abundant bloom. 



The mode of preparing the Brignole plums is exactly the same now as, ac- 

 cording to Olivier De Serres,was practised in the 16th century. The plums, 

 which are called, in the country, pistoles, are not gathered till the sun has 

 dried them from the dews ; and the trees are slightly shaken, so that only the 

 ripest of the plums may fall on table-cloths, laid on the ground under the 

 trees, ready to receive them. The plums are spread out in shallow baskets, 

 and placed in a dry and cool place. The next day the skin is peeled off them 

 by women accustomed to the employment, who use their thumb-nails to raise 

 the skin, frequently dipping their hands in water, to keep them cool. The 

 use of any iron or steel instrument is strictly forbidden, as it would spoil the 

 delicate colour and transparent appearance of the dried fruit. The plums are 

 then placed on wooden sieves, or wicker frames, and exposed to the sun for 

 several days ; after which they are threaded at the tip on little rods, or wands, 

 so as not to touch each other, and hung up to dry in the sun and air ; being 

 carefully placed under cover every night. When every particle of watery 

 matter appears to be evaporated, the stones are taken out of the fruit by 

 the hand, and the plums are pressed together in such a manner as to render 

 them quite round. They are then again put on the wicker sieves, and ex- 

 posed to the sun ; and, when perfectly dry, are arranged carefully with white 

 paper, cut at the edges, in little round flat boxes made of thin strips of the 

 wood of the willow, for sale. 



Preparations of Prunes and French Plums. The best prunes are made near 

 Tours, of the Ste. Catherine plum and the prune d'Agen ; and the best French 

 plums are made in Provence, of the Perdrigon blanc, 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 se- 

 parately 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 re- 

 heated, 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 remain- 

 ing twenty-four hours, they are taken out, and left to get quite cold. They 

 are then rounded, an operation which is performed by turning the stone in 

 the plum, without breaking the skin, and pressing the two ends together be- 

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



3 A 2 



