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THE FRUIT GARDEN 



The Best Plums 



Belgian Purple. — Deep crimson and purple, above medium size ; flesh pale golden, 

 firm ; skin thick ; flavour rich, almost fit for dessert ; a very fine cooking plum which 

 carries well to market, and is a great bearer ; fruit not liable to crack. The tree is com- 

 pact and sturdy and useful for all garden forms. 



Belle de Louvain. — Deep crimson, shaded blackish crimson ; suture very shallow ; 

 stone very thin and flattened, long ; flesh dull orange and red ; flavour acid, but rich ; 

 an excellent bottling or cooking sort. F.C.C, 1855. 



Bryanstone Gage. — Pale dull green, with yellow and chocolate spots ; rather 

 larger than the greengage, and later ; flesh greenish yellow ; very sweet, firm, and rich. 

 Tree vigorous, and a good bearer. 



COE's Golden Drop (Golden Drop). — Bright orange to lemon, with reddish dots on 

 the sunny side ; suture very marked ; flesh yellow, firm, juicy, sugary, and crisp. One of 

 the richest flavoured plums, that will hang very late on wall trees. It is a valuable plum 

 for all purposes, and where it succeeds as an orchard standard is very lucrative for 

 market sale ; of compact growth. 



COMTE d'Atthem's Gage (Comte d'Atthem). — Suture wide and broad ; skin very 

 pale yellow, almost entirely covered with dull purplish red and golden dots ; flesh very 

 firm, pale golden colour. F.C.C. 



Denniston's Superb. — Apple-green marbled with dull yellow, changing to orange 

 in fruits exposed to the sun ; suture often deep and narrow ; skin covered with whitish 

 bloom ; flesh greenish yellow ; flavour very sweet and rich ; when grown on a wall it is 

 a sweetmeat ; stone oval, even, and flattened. A valuable sort for all garden purposes. 



Diamond (Black Mogul). — Deep black, shading to crimson ; flesh bright golden, very 

 firm, glutinous, and of brisk acid flavour, delicious for cooking ; stone large and indented ; 

 fruit very large and fine when from a wall, and covered with a dense bloom ; a cooking 

 plum of the finest quality ; tree strong and very twiggy, needing to be well thinned, bears 

 every other year. 



Early OrliSans (Wilmot's Early). — Deep red, with golden dots and speckles of 

 russet ; flesh firm ; stone round ; flesh greenish golden, of good flavour, but a cooking 

 plum, valuable for its earliness. On light warm soils lucrative for market, but tender on 

 heavy land. 



Early Transparent Gage (Early Apricot). — Canary, shading to primrose yellow, 

 with brown spots ; flavour very rich and sweet ; flesh primrose colour, firm and juicy ; 

 a very free bearer. F.C.C. 1893. 



Grand Duke. — Deep crimson purple, and when grown on a wall covered with 

 bloom ; flesh orange yellow, slightly acid. A valuable garden plum, but it blossoms very 

 early, and is therefore liable to damage by frost ; as an orchard tree Monarch and 

 President are better. F.C.C. 1880. 



Green Gage. — When from wall trees or orchard house, skin brownish green and 

 orange thickly covered with bloom. From open trees the fruit is often marked on the 

 sunny side with russet patches, rosy red dots and splashes, and has no bloom. This 

 rosy red spotting sometimes comes on wall fruits when they are exposed. Flesh firm, 

 pale brownish green ; flavour rich, sweet and luscious ; stone nearly round, short. 



Golden Transparent. — Bright amber, with large red spots at the stalk end. 

 Suture very faint ; fl^sh golden amber, melting ; flavour rich and sweet ; stone small, 

 flat ; cling stone. F.C.C. 1893. 



KlRKE's. — Deep crimson violet marked with silver russet and gold. Suture shallow 

 and narrow ; flesh golden, with a tinge of green ; cling stone ; flavour very rich. The 

 finest dessert purple plum for garden culture. 



Late Orange. — Deep golden yellow, very handsome. A new sort of great ex- 

 cellence keeping well into October. Tree vigorous, forming a fine pyramid. Flavour 

 good for such a late fruit. F.C.C. 1892. 



Jefferson (American Gage). — In form like Coe's Golden Drop. Bright yellow 

 with green shading, and often very nearly covered with chocolate spots. Flesh primrose 



