130 THE OBCHAED AND rETJIT aAEDEN. 



deep purple, and covered with bloom. The stalk is 

 short, and the flesh yellow, separatiog from the stone. 

 It ripens in August. The branches are downy. Of 

 this plum Hakluyt wrote in 1582, " Of late time the 

 plum called the Perdigevera was procured out of Italy, 

 with two kinds more, by the Lord Cromwell after his 

 travel." There are also the Eed Perdrigon, or Perdrigon 

 Eouge, the Violet Perdrigon, or Perdrigon Violette, and 

 the White Perdrigon, or Perdrigon Blanc. They are all 

 similar in character, only differing in colour, and the 

 three last ripen rather later than the Blue. All the 

 Perdrigons are tender as standards in England, but they 

 do well on an east or south-east wall, or in a warm 

 locality. 



The Orleans, perhaps the best-known plum of all the 

 kinds, is the most useful of any for common purposes, 

 and no less excellent in flavour and abundant bearing. 

 The fruit is of middle size, above middle size when fine ; 

 it is nearly round, often swelling rather more on one 

 side of the suture than on the other ; in colour, dark 

 red, purplish in broad sunshine, and covered with a 

 delicate bloom. It is very sweet and delicious in flavour, 

 with a little astringence : the flesh is yellow, and separates 

 clean from the stone. It is ripe the middle of August. 

 It is also called the Red Damask ; it does not appear to 

 be an old variety, but it is mentioned by Miller. The. 

 branches are downy, and the tree is very hardy, and a 

 constant good bearer. No garden should be without it. 

 "Wilmot's early Orleans is a much earlier plum, coming 

 in as soon as the Precoce de Tours, i.e., the end of July 

 or the beginning of August. The branches are downy, 

 like those of the common Orleans, and the fruit is a 

 little larger, rather deep in the suture, and more com- 

 pressed at the apex than the older one. It is also a 

 softer and more juic}^ plum, and the stone is small in 

 proportion to the size of the fruit. 



The Early Orleans is much like the Orleans, but 

 ripens about ten days earlier than it. The branches 

 are downy, and red at the extremities. 



Kirke's plum is one which every cultivator should 



