Ill 



KIRKE'S PLUM. 



Kirke's Plum. Hort. Soc. Fruit Cat. no. 150. 



One of the best Plums that are known in this 

 country. It is very handsome, a most abundant 

 bearer both as a standard and upon a west or 

 east wall, and its flavour is scarcely inferior to that 

 of the Green Gage. 



It was first brought into notice by Mr. Kirke, 

 whose name it bears, and was met with by that gen- 

 tleman in a singular way. Passing along the street 

 one day, he was struck with the beauty of a 

 basket of Plums in a fruiterer's window. Upon 

 tasting them, he was surprised to find that they 

 excelled in flavour any purple Plum with which 

 he was acquainted. The fruiterer had received 

 them from a gardener in the country, who, it after- 

 wards appeared, had procured the variety from the 

 Garden of a gentleman in his neighbourhood ; and 

 to that Garden it was said to have been intro- 

 duced from some foreign country. 



We have in vain sought to trace it in the 

 writings of foreign pomological authors ; and we 

 therefore figure it for the sake of making it 

 known through the means of this publication : a 

 Plum as hardy and prolific as the Orleans, as hand- 

 some as the Damask, and as good as the Green 

 Gage, cannot be too extensively cultivated. 



