158 FRUIT AND ITS CULTIVATION. 



CHAPTER XX. 

 The Plum. 



THE PLUM belongs to the same genus as the Apricot, 

 Cherry, Peach, and Nectarine namely, the Prunus. 

 Bentham and Hooker, in their " British Flora," class the 

 Plum, Damson, Sloe, and Bullace as forms of the Wild 

 Plum (Prunus communis) ; but others consider them to 

 belong to another species domestica. Whatever the 

 origin of the Plum, it has certainly been grown for many 

 centuries past in this country. Long prior to that, Plums 

 were cultivated by the Grecians and Romans. Pliny says 

 they were first brought from Syria into Greece, and from 

 thence into Italy. From Italy the best varieties found their 

 way into France, and thence into England. 



Gerarde, the sixteenth century writer, remarks in his 

 " Herbal " that in his day " to write about Plums par- 

 ticularly would require a peculiar volume"; and Parkin- 

 son, in the early part of the next century, describes sixty 

 varieties as being grown in gardens. The well-known 

 Green Gage Plum was introduced here from France by 

 a person named Gage, and it has since become the parent 

 of many fine varieties. In France it is known as the 

 Reine Claude, this name being applied to the variety in 

 honour of the queen of Francis I., who introduced the 

 variety into France from Italy. The Orleans Plum is 

 reputed to have been introduced into England in the 

 reign of Henry V. 



The precise date of the introduction of the cultivated 

 Plum into Britain is not known. During the last century 

 many new varieties were introduced, and the cultivation 

 of the Plum greatly extended on walls, in the garden, and 

 in the orchard. 



