THE PLUM. 



525 



for its fruit, which for nine months of the year 

 appears at the tables of the most humble in one 

 state of preparation or another. Medicinally, 

 the fruit, when fully ripened, is mildly laxative ; 

 and one variety, the Saint Catharine, is grown 

 extensively about Tours, in the south of France, 

 and when prepared by drying in the sun, and after- 

 wards in a spent oven, they form the well-known 

 prunes, and are in that state exported to every 

 part of the world. The highest class prunes, 

 however, are chiefly made in Provence of the 

 Perdrigon blanc, Brignole, and the Prune d'Ast, 

 being more fleshy and having a better bloom. 

 In the north of France, Belgium, and Germany, 

 the Quetsche plum is largely cultivated for the 

 purpose of drying, forming in commerce the 

 German prune of the shops. The Damson is 

 much used in some parts of England as a pre- 

 serving plum, but, unfortunately for ourselves 

 in Scotland, we treat all these good things with 

 neglect. The apple, pear, and plum may be 

 called the poor man's fruits, and, with proper 

 management, he may enjoy them all during 

 three parts of the year, greatly to his health's 

 benefit and the saving of his purse : these fruits 

 constitute a very considerable portion of the 

 food of the lower classes all over the Continent. 



A prejudice exists in the minds of many that 

 the plum is an unwholesome fruit, and apt to 

 bring on diarrhoea or British cholera ; such is 

 not the case if the fruit be fully ripe, of good 

 quality, newly gathered, and eaten in modera- 

 tion. The skin is, however, indigestible, and 

 should be always removed. In a cooked state, 

 and more especially when preserved in the shape 

 of prunes, few fruits are more wholesome ; it is 

 often prescribed by the faculty as a mild laxa- 

 tive, in cases even of the most delicate constitu- 

 tions. The French always remove the stones 

 before making the plum into compotes, pies, or 

 puddings, a practice highly to be recommended. 



Were plums planted as hedgerow trees, or 

 were steep banks, and other places equally diffi- 

 cult to cultivate, occupied with them, a profitable 

 return might be expected, by the simple process 

 of converting them into prunes for home con- 

 sumption. We have abundance of situations at 

 present unoccupied with any useful crop, and 

 that in situations where the best prune plums, 

 the Saint Catharine, and the White Perdrigon 

 and Brignole, would ripen perfectly. There are, 

 amongst even our Scotch seedlings, those which 

 would answer the purpose quite as well, and, 

 being naturally hardy, they might be planted in 

 very many parts of Scotland. The process of 

 preparing prunes is simple, but not in general 

 known to the peasantry of this country, nor, 

 indeed, to professed confectioners. The follow- 

 ing is the French mode : The fruit is collected 

 when just ripe enough to fall from the trees 

 when gently shaken; when they are not growing 

 on grass, a few mats or coarse cloths are spread 

 under them, partly to save the fruit from being 

 too much bruised, and also to prevent its being 

 dirtied by falling on the ground. The plums 

 are then laid thinly on sieves or shallow baskets, 

 and left exposed to the sun for several days, or 

 until they become quite soft ; they are then put 

 into a spent oven and shut quite closely up, and 

 VOL. II. 



allowed to remain there for twenty-four hours ; 

 they are then withdrawn, and when the oven is 

 slightly reheated, they are again replaced, and 

 allowed to remain in it for a like length of time. 

 The following day they are again taken out, and 

 the sieves gently shaken so as to turn the fruit, 

 and returned again to the oven a third time, 

 slightly increasing the heat at each operation. 

 After remaining another twenty- four hours they 

 are taken out and allowed to cool. The opera- 

 tion of rounding is then performed — that is, 

 turning the stone in the fruit without breaking 

 the skin, and pressing the two ends together 

 between the thumb and finger. After this they 

 are placed on the sieves, and put into the oven 

 for the fourth time, at a temperature such as 

 when bread is withdrawn. The door is closed, 

 and luted round the edges with clay, to prevent 

 the entrance of air, and the plums are allowed 

 to remain in for one hour, when they are again 

 removed. The oven is again reheated and shut 

 up, and when a cup of water placed within it is 

 heated to the extent of just being able to bear 

 the finger in it, the fruit is again placed within 

 and allowed to remain for twenty-four hours, 

 which completes the preparation of the prunes. 

 They are then packed in small boxes for sale. 

 Somewhat greater care is taken in preparing the 

 best French prunes. The fruit is gathered by 

 hand, taking it by the stalk, and handling it as 

 little as possible — it is recommended, but not 

 always practised, to gather the fruit before sun- 

 rise in the morning — it is then laid upon vine 

 leaves placed in shallow baskets, and taken to 

 the fruit-room, where it remains several days 

 exposed fully to sun and air, after which the 

 same process is employed as described above. 

 The greatest care is taken to preserve the fine 

 bloom on the fruit, even when quite dry. This 

 is not so easily managed, and manufacturers 

 scruple not to give their fruit an artificial 

 bloom, by using indigo in fine powder and 

 other means, which the domestic manufacturers 

 would do as well to avoid. 



In describing plums, Downing justly remarks: 

 " The surface of the young wood, when just 

 ripened, is an important character, as it is 

 smooth in some varieties, and downy or covered 

 with soft hairs in others. In some varieties the 

 flesh parts from the stone, while in others it 

 adheres. And finally, the depressed line or 

 channel which runs down one side of the exte- 

 rior surface of the plum is called the suture, and 

 the prominence or absence of this feature enables 

 us to distinguish many kinds at first sight." 

 These, where remarkable, will be noticed in our 

 descriptions. 



Propagation. — Like other fruit trees, the ap- 

 proved varieties are propagated by extension — ■ 

 that is, by budding or grafting, chiefly on the 

 mussel, St Julian, pear plum, Brussels, Magnum 

 bonum, or similar free-growing plums, these 

 stocks being procured by sowing their seeds, by- 

 layers, or by suckers. The former of these make 

 by far the best and longest-lived trees. The 

 Mirabelle plum is used as a stock when dwarf 

 trees are desired ; and more recently the sloe 

 (Prunus spinosus) has been employed, with the 

 view to produce the dwarfest of all. Some 



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