272 



CASSELL'S POPULAR GAKDENING. 



THE HAEDY EEUIT GAEBEN. 



' Py D. T. ri3H, ASSISTED BY WlLLIAM CaEMICHAEL. 



TEE PLUM. 



AFTER the Apple and Pear, the Plum is pro- 

 habljr our most valuable British fruit, alike 

 in its sanitary and feeding properties, and its com- 

 mercial importance. The Plum is a native tree, 

 though the species Frumts domestica is seldom found 

 wild in this country, and not a few of the so-called 

 vdldings are obviously the waifs and straj'S of old 

 gardens. Several species of Plums are, however, 

 found wild in great plenty, and are reproduced from 

 seeds. These are the F. spimsa, or common Sloe ; 

 the F. instifia, the Engrafted or Bullace Plum. 

 The Damson, Winesour, and Mussel Plums are also 

 found wild in many parts of Britain. 



The hardiness and beauty of the Plum render it 

 useful as an ornament in woods and shrubberies, 

 while the spotless whiteness of Plum orchards forms 

 a charming and novel feature in landscapes over- 

 done with verdure. The average height of Plum- 

 trees, seldom exceeding fifteen or twenty feet, fits 

 them for purposes and uses as ornamental trees, that 

 few others could fill so well. At one time even the 

 timber of the Plum-tree, small as it was, was valued 

 for musical instruments and other purposes, but the 

 wide choice of foreign woods has robbed that of the 

 Plum of any commercial importance it possessed. 

 Its fruit, however, is still most highly prized, alike for 

 culinary purposes and dessert. As much as fifty or 

 even a hundred pounds an acre ha ve been realised from 

 Plums. The demand and consumption are so enor- 

 mous, that in addition to consuming our own Plums, 

 we are the best customers of the French and other 

 foreign nations, and have begun to import canned 

 Plums from the Antipodes. 



Plums may be had in good condition from the 

 middle of July to the end of ihe year. By grow- 

 ing such early varieties as the July Greengage, 

 Mirabelle, and such late October Plums as the 

 Ickworth Imperatrice, Peine Claude de Bavy, 

 and Late Rivers, with such splendid intermediate 

 varieties as the Greengage, Royale Hatiye, Jefferson, 

 Kirke's, and Coe's Golden Drop, four months are 

 freely furnished. But this by no means exhausts the 

 Plum season, for such valuable sorts as Coe's Gol- 

 den Drop, the Imperatrice, and a few others, can be 

 kept in first-rate condition two or even th ree months 

 after being gathered. The simplest means of thus 

 preserving them fresh and sweet, is to hang them up 

 by the stalks in a cool dry room. Only Plums that 

 have persistent stems, and the tendency to shrivel 

 slightly after gathering, can be thus simply and 

 nuccessfuUy preserved till wanted; The two Plums 



already named gain rather than lose condition in 

 the process of keeping. 



The Propagation of the Plum. — This is by 

 seeds, suckers, layers, grafting, and budding (see 

 Propagation of the Apple, Pear, Peach, and Apricot). 

 There is little to be added special to the Plum, except 

 the oft-repeated truism that only the stones of the 

 finest varieties should be sown when improved sorts 

 are aimed at. Also, that some sorts of Plums, 

 notably the Damsons and the Gages, reproduce 

 themselves from seeds more or less truly. These 

 also form good stocks for the best varieties of Plums, 

 especially when cordon, or small trees, are de- 

 sired. By carefully selecting the seeds of the 

 weaker-growing Gages it may be possible to insure 

 a more dwarfing and fertiKsing stock for the Plum 

 than has been hitherto obtained from the seeds of 

 the Mussel, which, with the St. Julien and White 

 Pear- Plum, are mostly sown for the raising of Plum 

 and Peach stocks. These are doubtless well fitted 

 for the growth of fuU-sized Plum-trees in orchards 

 and large gardens, but are too gross-growing for 

 Plum-trees in pots, and the modern restricted modes 

 of culture and training. To facilitate the dwarfing 

 of the plants, and the increase of their fertility, the 

 MirabeUe Plum, or so-called Fninus myrobolum, has 

 also been largely used as a Plum stock, and seems 

 to answer well. For time and mode of sowing the 

 stones, and preparation of' the young plants for 

 working, see Peaches. 



Grafting and Budding. — Grafting is more 

 common among Plums than other stone fruit. Early 

 grafting is the key to success, and even then so 

 important is bud-dormancy to success, that the 

 scions should be taken off and laid in the ground in 

 a cool place in December, and the stocks headed 

 down to within a few inches of the point of grafting 

 by the end of January. The grafts may then be 

 inserted by the middle of February, and if the 

 process is completed with skill, eighty per cent, of 

 the scions wiU, take, and be free from gumming at 

 the point of union. Summer, or rather July or 

 August grafting, may also be successfully practised. 

 Budding is on the whole the best mode of propa- 

 gating Plums. July is the most suitable month, 

 and the buds may be inserted from six to eighteen 

 inches off the ground for dwarfs, and any height 

 desired for standards. 



Planting. — See Apples, Pears, Peaches, for modes 

 and time of planting. On dry bottoms rather heavy 

 soils are best for Plums. Unctuous loams, rather 

 than more friable ones, yield the most permanently 

 satisfactory resiUts. But almost any fairly good 



