OUR COMMON FRUIT TREES 



mascus, and old works on pomology state that Alex- 

 ander the Great brought these plums from the Orient 

 after his expedition of conquest and that some cen- 

 turies later Pompey, returning from his invasion of 

 the near East, brought plums to the Roman Empire. 

 It may be assumed with reasonable probability that 

 the Syrians and Persians were the first to cultivate 

 these Plums. , 



The Domestica Plums were apparently first known 

 and cultivated in the Transcaspian region and did 

 not reach Europe until after the dawn of the Christian 

 era. Pliny is the first to give a clear account of these 

 and he speaks of them as a new introduction from 

 Asia Minor. The prune group of the Domestica 

 Plums are very rich in sugar which enables them to be 

 preserved by drying without removing the stone. 

 They probably originated in Turkestan in early times, 

 were brought to Europe by the Huns, becoming 

 established in Hungary where in the i6th century 

 they were an important trading commodity. When 

 and where the Reine Claude Plums originated no- 

 body knows. The name commemorates Queen 

 Claude, wife of Francis I, the fruit having been 

 introduced into France about the end of the 15th 

 century. The English synonym. Green-gage, is 

 named for the Gage family who procured them from 

 the Chartreuse Monastery in Paris early in the 17th 



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