150 



THE GARDENER'S ASSISTANT. 



Pears for Scotland. 



(The following list is condensed from the returns obtained at the 

 Royal Caledonian Horticultural Society's Pear Congress at 

 Edinburgh a few years ago, the numbers following the names 

 indicating by how many cultivators the variety was recom- 

 mended as satisfactory. The months indicate the times when 

 the varieties are fit for use in the north, which differ slightly 

 from the maturing periods in more southern districts. The 

 majority of the best Pears in the northern counties of England 

 and in Scotland cannot be grown with success except as 

 trained trees against suitable walls.) 



Dessert Pears. 



Beurre d'Amanlis (28). Oct. 



Beurre Ranee (24). May. 



Easter Beurre (40). Apr. 



Glou Morceau (27). Mar. 



Hacon's Incomparable (22). Eeb. 

 Jargonelle (56). Aug. 



Louise Bonne of Jersey (32). 



Nov, 

 Marie Louise (55). Dec. 



Williams' Bon Chretien (44). 



Sept. 

 Winter Nelis (20). Jan. 



Dessert Pears for Bushes. 



Beurr£ Capiaumont (10). 

 Beurr£ d'Amanlis (28). 

 Beurr6 d'Aremberg (17). 

 Beurre Diel (19). 

 Easter Beurre" (16). 

 Hacon's Incomparable (22). 



Jargonelle (27). 



Louise Bonne of Jersey (36). 



Marie Louise (21). 



Muirf owl's Egg (22). 



Swan's Egg (12). 



Williams' Bon Chretien (35). 



Pears for Orchards. 



Autumn Bergamot (12). 

 Crawford (17). 

 Hessle (43). 



Louise Bonne of Jersey (13). 

 Muirfowl's Egg (27). 

 Swan's Egg (13). 



Stewing Pears. 



Catillac (45). 



Uvedale's St. Germain (19). 



Verulam (16). 



Perry Pears. 



(The best varieties of Pear grown for the production of Perry in 

 Herefordshire are the following, of which Mr. C. W. Radclyffe 

 Cooke, M.P., gives full descriptions in his work on Cider and 

 Perry.) 



Early Varieties. 



Barland. 



Taynton Squash. 



Moorcroft. 



Thorn Pear. 



Red Pear. 





Midsummer 



Varieties. 



Langland. 



Yellow and Black Huffcap. 



Late Vi 



RIETIES. 



Blakeney Red. 



Pine Pear. 



Butt Pear. 



Rock Pear. 



Oldileld. 





Pears that should be Dou 



blc-grafted on the Quince. 



Beacon. 



Forelle. 



Belle Julie. 



Gansel's Bergamot. 



Bellissime d'Hiver. 



Huyshe's Prince Consort. 



Beurre Berckmans. 



Jargonelle. 



Beurr£ Bosc. 



Jean de Witte. 



Beurr£ Clairgeau. 



Josephine de Malines. 



Beurre de Jonghe. 



King Edward's. 



Beurre Langelier. 



Knight's Monarch. 



Beurr6 Mortillet. 



Marie Guisse. 



Bishop's Thumb. 



Marie Louise. 



British Queen. 



Nee Plus Meuris. 



Brown Beurre\ 



Passe Crasanne. 



Citron des Carmes. 



Saint Germain. 



Clapp's Favourite. 



Seckle. 



Comte de Flandre. 



Souvenir du Congres. 



Comte de Lamy. 



Suffolk Thorn. 



Crasanne. 



Thompson's. 



Dana's Movey. 



Triomphe de Vienne. 



Doyenn6 d'Ete\ 



Urbaniste. 



Duchesse de Bordeaux. 



Uvedale's St. Germain. 



Eyewood. 



Van Mous L4on Leclerc. 



Flemish Beauty. 



Zephirin Gregoire. 





[r. l. c] 



CHAPTER VI. 



PLUMS AND DAMSONS. 



Origin — Soil and Situation — Planting — Pruning 

 and Training — Root - lifting — Gathering and 

 Preserving the Fruit — Evaporating — Propa- 

 gation — Select List — Bullaces — Japanese 

 Plums. 



According to the highest botanical authority, 1 

 the Plum, the Damson, the Sloe, and the Bullace 

 are all forms of Primus communis (fig. 947), 

 which is common in hedges, thickets, and open 

 woods in Europe and in Russian and Central 

 Asia. The Bullace has also been recognized as 

 a distinct species, under the name of P. insititia ; 

 the Damson and numerous varieties of Plums 

 grown in gardens, although growing into thorn- 

 less trees, are believed to be varieties of P. 

 communis, produced by long cultivation; they 

 will occasionally sow themselves, and may be 

 found apparently wild in the neighbourhood 

 of gardens and orchards, retaining their arbor- 

 escent character. Some botanists, however, 

 distinguish them as a species under the name 

 of P. domestica. 



"It is very doubtful if P. domestica is indi- 

 genous in Europe. In the south, where it is 

 given, it grows chiefly in hedgerows near 

 dwellings, with all the appearance of a tree 

 scarcely naturalized, and maintained here and 

 there by means of seeds brought from plan- 

 tations. ... In spite of the abundance of 

 Plums cultivated formerly by the Romans, no 

 kind is found represented in the frescoes at 

 Pompeii. Neither has P. domestica been found 

 among the remains of the lake - dwellings of 

 Italy, Switzerland, and Savoy, where, however, 

 stones of the Bullace and the Sloe have been 

 discovered. . . . The Plums cultivated at 

 Damascus (whence Damascenes or Damsons) 

 have a reputation which dates from the days 

 of Pliny. . . . The Chinese have cultivated 

 different kinds of Plums from time immemorial, 

 but they are probably of a different species from 

 ours." (De Candolle, Origin of Cultivated Plants.) 



There are several hundred named varieties 

 of Plums in cultivation in the British Isles. 

 Some of these are of recent origin, but with 

 regard to many of them nothing appears to be 

 known beyond that we are indebted to France 

 for their introduction. Parkinson (1628) en- 

 numerated sixty named varieties, "all which 

 sorts are to be had of my very good friend, 



iBentham & Hooker's British Flora. 



