PLUM. 307 



them, excepting only to the Reine Claude, which had 

 either not been put on, or had been rubbed oft' hi 

 the package. The gardener, therefore, being ignorant 

 of the name, called it, when it first bore fruit, the Green 

 Gage. The compliment was justly due to the family for 

 the introduction of this excellent plum, which is more 

 acceptable to the country at large, than the trifling re- 

 spect can be to the family of Gage. 



Lord Cromwell brought several sorts of plums from 

 Italy into this country, in the reign of Henry the Seventh : 

 among them was the Perdrigon. 



The Bonum Magnum is our largest plum, and greatly 

 esteemed for preserves and culinary purposes. This ap- 

 pears to have been originally a Dutch fruit, or rather en- 

 larged by their culture and soil. A plum of nearly the 

 same size and shape, but of a yellower hue, has lately 

 been introduced by Mr. Coe, of Brompton, and is called 

 Coe's golden drop. In flavour it partakes both of the 

 green-gage and the apricot. The author had several 

 standard trees in his garden at Bayswater, which were 

 very productive ; and the fruit had the quality of keeping 

 perfectly sound and good until near Christmas, if gathered 

 with the stalk or a part of the branch, and suspended in 

 a dry room. 



Plums are now forced in the highest perfection, which 

 enables the gardener to supply the spring desserts with 

 the autumnal fruits. 



John Townsend Aiton, Esq., of the Royal Gardens, 

 Windsor, has lately communicated some useful informa- 

 tion on the forcing of this fruit, in a letter to the Secre- 

 tary of the Horticultural Society. He says, " The kinds 

 of plums generally preferred for forcing, are the follow- 

 ing : Precoce de Tours, green-gage, blue-gage, white 

 perdrigon, Orleans, New Orleans, and Morocco. 



" When an early crop is desired, plums are best forced- 



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