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LXXXII. On Forcing Plums. In a Letter to the Secretary. 

 By John Townsend Aiton, Esq. F. H. S. 



Read September 18th, 1821. 



Sir, 



In compliance with the desire expressed in your Letter, 

 respecting the early forcing of Plums in the Royal Gardens at 

 Cumberland Lodge, I beg to offer the following brief obser- 

 vations. 



The kinds of Plums generally preferred for forcing are the 

 following, Precoce de Tours, Green Gage, Blue Gage, 

 White Perdrigon, Orleans, New Orleans, and Morocco. Some 

 others have been tried, as la Royale, Simiana, and Blue 

 Perdrigon, but are found objectionable, the two first pro- 

 ducing fruit void of flavour, and the latter has a tendency to 

 crack and gum. 



When an early crop is desired, Plums are best forced in 

 large pots or tubs, as this method admits of their removal at 

 pleasure into different degrees of temperature, as occasion 

 may require ; but for a general crop to ripen by the end of 

 May, or beginning of June, it is preferable to have the trees 

 planted in the forcing-house, and if they are intended to be 

 forced in the first year, proper trees for the purpose, furnished 

 with well branching wood, should be selected and planted early 

 in the autumn, that they may establish themselves before the 

 winter sets in. The soil to be preferred is a moderately rich 

 loam, without mixture of manure. 



