FRtTIT. 193 



Jamaica, the finest flavoured of all Pines, Charlotte Rothschild, 

 St. Vincent, Ripley, and others of excellent quality. 



The points of merit in a Pine- Apple are : (1.) Size, hand- 

 some shape, and a moderate-sized crown ; (2.) rich flavour, 

 ripe and sound, with flat, well-swelled pips ; and (3.) colour, 

 which should be the same from top to bottom, clear and fresh. 



THE PLUM. 



This is one of the most useful and productive of our hardy 

 fruits, and is more cultivated in this country than any other 

 fruit-tree, the apple alone excepted. It is a native of Asia 

 Minor, but is naturalised in most of the temperate parts of 

 Europe. In Britain it has been cultivated for its fruit for 

 several centuries, and it has followed the spread of civilisa- 

 tion to all the temperate regions of the earth. 



As an exhibition fruit, it fills a prominent place in a collec- 

 tion of hardy kinds, and a first-rate dish of Plums is a strong 

 point in any collection of fruit. In competition, several classes 

 are usually allotted to Plums, each having a well-defined char- 

 acter, such as the following : — 



1. Dessert Plums, Gages, some of the best of which for exhibition 



are : — Brahy's Green Gage, Deoaisne, Green Gage, OulUn's 

 Golden Gage, Reine Claude de Bavay, and Transparent Gage. 



2. Dessert Plums, not Gages ; among the best are : — Coe's Golden 



Drop, Denniston's Superb, Jefferson, Kirke's, Lawson'a Golden, 

 and Washington. 



3. Culinary Plums; among the finest are: — Diamond, ' Goliath, 



Pond's Seedling, Prince Englebert, Victoria, and White Magnum 

 Bonum. 



4. Damson Plums, including all Plums under an inch in diameter, 



such as King and Prune Damsons, Burnet, Mirabelle, Mussel, 

 and Quetche Plums, 



The Plum is easily cultivated, and thrives well in almost 

 any good soil well drained and of a warm nature. It suc- 

 ceeds in the open as a bush or a standard, but for exhibition 

 purposes a wall is necessary to bring the finer varieties to 

 perfection. Fan-training is the mode generally adopted, but 

 where room for large trees is scarce, they may be grown as 

 cordons with considerable success. Old trees should have their 



