346 



FIUTITS. 



^HA1\ X. 



characters. AVith respect to the shape of the fruit, we have conclusive 

 evidence that it is extremely variable: Downing 74 gives outlines of the 

 plums of two seedlings, namely, the red and imperial gages, raised from 

 the greengage ; and the fruit of both is more elongated than that of the 

 greengage. The latter has a very blunt broad stone, whereas the stone 

 of the imperial gage is " oval and pointed at both ends." These trees 

 also differ in their manner of growth : " the greengage is a very short- 

 jointed, slow-growing tree, of spreading and rather dwarfish habit ; " whilst 

 its offspring, the imperial gage, " grows freely and rises rapidly, and has 

 long dark shoots." The famous Washington plum bears a globular fruit, 

 but its offspring, the emerald drop, is nearly as much elongated as the 

 most elongated plum figured by Downing, namely, Manning's prune. 

 I have made a small collection of the stones of twenty-five kinds, and 

 they graduate in shape from the bluntest into the sharpest kinds. As 

 characters derived from seeds are generally of high systematic import- 

 ance, I have thought it worth while to give drawings of the most dis- 

 tinct kinds in my small collection ; and they may be seen to differ in a 

 surprising manner in size, outline, thickness, prominence of the ridges, 

 and state of surface. It deserves notice that the shape of the stone is not 

 always strictly correlated with that of the fruit : thus the "Washington 

 plum is spherical and depressed at the pole, with a somewhat elongated 

 stone, whilst the fruit of the Goliath is more elongated, but the stone 

 less so, than in the Washington. Again, Denyer's Victoria and Goliath 

 bear fruit closely resembling each other, but their stones are widely 

 different. On the other hand, the Harvest and Black Margate plums are 

 very dissimilar, yet include closely similar stones. 



The varieties of the plum are numerous, and differ greatly in size, 

 shape, quality, and colour, — being bright yellow, green, almost white, blue, 

 purple, or red. There are some curious varieties, such as the double or 

 Siamese, and the Stoneless plum : in the latter the kernel lies in a roomy 

 cavity surrounded only by the pulp. The climate of North America 

 appears to be singularly favourable for the production of new and good 

 varieties ; Downing describes no less than forty, seven of which of first-rate 

 quality have been recently introduced into England. 75 Varieties occasionally 

 arise having an innate adaptation for certain soils, almost as strongly pro- 

 nounced as with natural species growing on the most distinct geological 

 formations ; thus in America the imperial gage, differently from almost all 

 other kinds, " is peculiarly fitted for dry light soils where many sorts drop 

 their fruit," whereas on rich heavy soils the fruit is often insipid. 76 My 

 father could never succeed in making the Wine- Sour yield even a moderate 

 crop in a sandy orchard near Shrewsbury, whilst in some parts of the same 

 county and in its native Yorkshire it bears abundantly : one of my rela- 



74 ' Fruits of America,' pp. 276, 278, 

 314, 284, 276, 310. Mr. Kivers raised 

 (' Gard. Chron.,' 1863, p. 27) from the 

 Prune-peche, which bears large, round, 

 red plums on stout robust shoots, a 

 seedling which bears oval, smaller fruit 



on shoots that are so slender as to be 

 almost pendulous. 



75 'Gardener's Chronicle,' 1855, p. 

 726. 



76 Dovvning's ' Fruit Trees,' p. 278. 



