274 



CASSELL'S POPULAR GARDENING. 



The second affects the fruit at a later stage, all 

 the infected ones ripening and dropping prematurely. 

 The remedy for "both is the same : collect all the 

 small dropped Plums, and also all that ripen prema- 

 turely on the trees, and hum them. For red spider, 

 thrip, weevils, scales, ants, earwigs, woodlice, wasps, 

 blue-bottles, rats, mice, squirrels, see Peaches, &c. 



Aphides. — These are, as a rule, far more trouble- 

 some on Plums than on other stone fruits. They also 

 attack them in force many times throughout the 

 growing season — immediately after blooming, again 

 in May, and not unfrequently as late as June and 

 July. As these pages were being written, in July, 

 1885, swarms of aphides that came in huge flights 

 attacked a row of pyramidal Plums to such an ex- 

 tent as to render them white with an excretion 

 resembling honeydew. On shaking the trees the 

 insects flew up like swarms of bees. 



The best remedy for these late nights of aphides 

 is the immediate removal and burning of the breast- 

 wood, and the cleaning of the leaves and boughs left, 

 with frequent overhead delugings of clean or tobacco 

 water or sewage. 



Classification of Plums. — Dr. Hogg, in his 

 latest edition of his Fruit Manual (1884), describes a 

 hundred and eighty varieties, exclusive of synonyms. 

 The family being so numerous and so varied, various 

 attempts have been made to group Plums into sub- 

 families or classes. Tbe most successful of these at- 

 tempts at classification rests on certain well-known 

 and easily recognisable distinctions. Such, for ex- 

 ample, as the smoothness or downiness of the summer 

 shoots, the distinction between free-stones, in which 

 the flesh separates readily from the stones, and cling- 

 stones, those in which it is difficult to part the 

 flesh from the stone. Other distinctions are based on 

 the form, size, character, origin, and uses of the fruit. 

 Thus we have Nectarines, Gages, Orleans, Apricots, 

 Prunes, Imperials, Perdrigons, and Mirabelles. and 

 in each of these classes there are free-stone and cling- 

 stone Plums. Again, the Nectarine, Gage, Prunes, 

 and Imperials have smooth summer shoots, while the 

 Orleans and Apricots have downy shoots. We give a 

 few samples of Plums in each of these classes of free- 

 stones and cling-stones : — 



Nectarine Plums. 



Free-stones. 

 Angelina Burdett. 

 Kirke's. 

 Nectarine. 



Bound Fruit. 



Clingstones. 

 Belgian Purple. 

 Late Rivers. 

 Sultan. 



Gages. 



Bryanston Gage. 

 July Greengage. 

 Reine Claude de Bavy. 



Knight's Green Drying 

 McLaughlan. 



Orleans. 



Free-stones. Clingstones. 

 Coe's Late Bed. Morocco, the only cling- 



Early Orleans. stone in this largish 



Eoyal Hative. | family. 



Apricot Plums. 



Apricot. 

 Drap d'Or. 



Rivers' s Early Apricot. 



HuliDg's Superb. 

 Reine Blanche. 

 White Bullace. 



Autumn Compote. 



Early Rivers. 



Red Magnum Bonum. 



Prunes. 

 Oval Fruit. 



Imperatrice. 

 Pond's Seedling. 

 Prince Englebert. 



Imperials. 



Coe's Golden Drop. 

 Oullin's Golden. 

 White Imperatrice. 



Diamond. 

 Red Perdrigon. 

 Reine Victoria. 



Early Mirahelle. 

 Washington. 



Jefferson. 



White Maenum Bonum 



Perdrigon. 



Goliath. 

 Prune Damson. 

 Winesour. 



Mirabelles. 



Denniston's Superb. 

 White Damson. 



Plums are also generally divided into kitchen and 

 dessert vaiieties. The former include such well- 

 known sorts as Victoria, Diamond, Pond's Seedling. 

 Early Eivers, Orleans, Belle de Septembre, Coe's 

 Late Eed, White Magnum Bonum, Damsons, Wine- 

 sours, and Bullaces : and the latter, all the Gages, 

 and such well-known sorts as Coe's Golden Drop, 

 Jefferson, Kirke's, Imperatrice, Huling's Superb, 

 VVoolston Black, &c. But these distinctions are 

 not strictly preserved in practice, and, with less 

 sugar, all the Gages, and the majority of other 

 dessert Plums, are simply admirable for culinary 

 purposes and conserves. 



Select Varieties of tlie Plum.— Out of the 



hundred and eighty or more varieties of this fine 

 luscious fruit, it is somewhat difficult to make a 

 limited selection that shall include all the best, and 

 omit none that should be generallv grown. La the 

 following list, it will simplify matters to leave 

 out all the classifications already referred to, except- 

 ing the two most important — those of free-stones 

 and cling- stones, and those used for dessert and 

 culinary purposes. The first will be distinguished 

 by the letter F, the second by C, the third by T, 

 for table, and the last by K for kitchen. 



The following is Mr. Carmichael's selection of 

 twenty-two varieties : — 



Select List of Plums. 



Autumn Compote (K.F.) — 

 fruit very Jlarge, oval, 

 bright red,'" and hand- 

 some ; of first-rate quality 

 for preserving. Septem- 

 ber. 



Brahv's Greengage (F. T.) — 

 fruit very large, similar 

 to the old Gre.-msrage in 

 flavour, and earlier; an 

 excellent variety. August. 



Bryanston Greengage (F.T.) 



