GENERAL REVIEW. 



nearly all temperate countries. In China and Japan wild 

 Plums are found, as also in the North American States, where 

 the genus is represented by P. americana, P. c/iicasa, P. marit- 

 ima (sometimes also called P. pumila, on account of its low 

 bushy habit of growth), and numerous varieties which have 

 arisen from self-sown seed, and which vary very much in size, 

 colour, and flavour. In South America, again, other forms of 

 Prunus are found, as also in North India ; and in Europe we 

 have numerous forms of P. domestica and P. insititia (Bullace), 

 not to mention the common " Sloe " bush or " Black-thorn," P. 

 spinosa, the fruit of which produces an excellent wine. The 

 Plum, lilce most other of our common fruits, has been culti- 

 vated during a lengthened period, and during that time has 

 given rise to numerous races and varieties. Thus we have at 

 least a dozen well-marked forms of the " Greengage ; " * some 

 large, others small some highly coloured, others with trans- 

 parent flesh, or subject to other variations and these form a 

 tolerably well-marked and permanent race. The " Damsons," 

 again, are a distinct group ; and the large-fruited red or yel- 

 low " Egg Plums " or " Magnum Bonums " are also distinct, 

 although they do not reproduce themselves by seed so perma- 

 nently as do the last-named. 



Some varieties of Plums come tolerably true from seed, 

 more especially the Greengage, German Prune, Mirabelle, 

 Myrobalan, and the common Damson, which is generally raised 

 from stones. Both Greengages and Damsons are very vari- 

 able; Guthrie's Late or Striped Gage and the Transparent 

 Gage being very beautiful and distinct forms of the one, while 

 of the common Damson we have many varieties, a fact which 

 every fruit-grower must have repeatedly noted, and which is 

 accounted for by the fact that it is rarely worked, being mostly 

 raised from stones, large numbers of the seedlings being used, 

 however, as stocks for other Plums, as well as for Peaches, 

 Nectarines, and double - flowered Prunus sinensis. Seedling 

 Damsons vary in size and shape of the fruit, sweetness, and 

 flavour, as well as in habit of growth, while some varieties are 

 ripe fully a month earlier than others. This prolific and use- 

 ful fruit might be much improved by carefully selecting the 

 largest and best-flavoured varieties, after which they could be 

 perpetuated by grafting, and the season of the fruit in a fresh 

 state might also be much prolonged by selecting the earlier 

 and later varieties. 



The Myrobalan or Cherry Plum, so much used as a stock, 



* According to M. Carl Koch, the " Greengage" Plum is a variable 

 wild Caucasian species. 



