THE PLUM. 



531 



fruits are easily detected by judges: they have 

 not that fine red and brown mottled cheek 

 which the true sort have, neither is their flavour 

 equal. The only fault of the True green gage is 

 its liability to crack in wet weather." Syno- 

 nyms — ■ Bruyn gage, Schuyler's gage, Burgnon 

 gage, Wilmot's green, New green, and Late green 

 gage, Bradford gage, Isleworih green gage. The 

 foilowing are the French synonyms : Abricot 

 vert, Damas vert, Sucrin vert, Vert bonne, Dau- 

 phine, Heine Claude, Grosse Reine Claude, Grosse 

 Heine, Drap d'Or of some. Of early origin ; in- 

 troduced to England by Lord Gage from the 

 Charteuse monastery near Paris. Said to have 

 been introduced to France by Queen Claude, 

 wife of Francis I., but from whence does not 

 very clearly appear. The best of all plums, if 

 Woolston's black gage be excepted. 



Gage, imperial. — Size above medium ; form 

 oval; suture very distinct; colour pale green 

 tinged with yellow, marbled with dull green 

 strips; flesh greenish, juicy, melting, and rich, 

 generally separating from the stone — not always 

 so, appearing to be affected by soil and climate ; 

 shoots slightly downy; of American origin, from 

 a stone of the Green gage. It has long held a 

 high position amongst the plums of that country. 

 Tree hardy, and a great and regular bearer, and 

 has the peculiarity of succeeding better on light 

 soils than any other of the plum tribe. In 

 strong soils Downing asserts that the fruit is 

 often insipid. Eipens about a week later than 

 the Washington. Synonyms — Flushing gage, 

 White gage of Boston, Prince's imperial gage, 

 Superior green gage. 



Gage, Lawson's golden. — In size and quality 

 very much resembling the Green gage, from 

 which it is a seedling crossed with the excellent 

 Goes golden drop. Originated by Mr Archibald 

 Gorrie, a celebrated Scottish pomologist. In 

 habit this tree resembles the Golden drop parent, 

 carrying also with it the fine golden colour, beau- 

 tifully marked with purple spots. Flesh rich and 

 melting, separating freely from the stone. The 

 original tree is in Mr Gorrie's possession. 

 Healthy, hardy, and an abundant bearer, even 

 as a standard in an elevated situation in the 

 Carse of Gowrie, a rather singular and happy 

 circumstance, as neither of its parents is so 

 hardy. Named in compliment to Charles Law- 

 son, Esq., the most eminent of our Scotch 

 nurserymen. 



Gage, purple. — Size medium; form similar to 

 the Green gage; colour purple or violet, dotted 

 with pale yellow; suture shallow, but distinct; 

 ripe in September, and hangs long on the tree; 

 and although shrivelling, is not apt to crack, 

 hence a useful fruit of its kind. Branches 

 smooth; flesh rich and high-flavoured, separat- 

 ing freely from the stone. Altogether one of 

 the best purple plums. Synonyms — Violet 

 Queen Claude, Reine Claude violette. 



Gage, red (of America). — In size and form 

 resembling the Green gage, from which it is a 

 seedling, raised by Mr Prince, senior, of the 

 Flushing nurseries, in 1790. Branches smooth, 

 ripening about the end of August. 



Gage, Woolston blade. — Size medium; form 

 round; colour jet black, powdered with light 



blue; flesh yellowish green, parting from the 

 stone; flavour equal in every respect to the 

 Green gage, with this superiority, that while 

 the latter is apt to crack in a wet summer, and 

 will not keep after being gathered, this, on the 

 contrary, will endure, if the climate be dry, 

 through August and September. This excellent 

 plum deserves an east or west wall, although it 

 ripens well on an open standard. Mr R. Thomp- 

 son speaks of Mr Dowling's three plums in this 

 manner : " Your three plums are first-rate — 

 viz., Angelin, Burdett, Standard of England — 

 and I should recommend their extensive culti- 

 vation. As regards Woolston black gage, I con- 

 sider you have thrown the Green gage into the 

 shade, for it retains all the properties of that 

 plum with more sugary sweetness. I have no 

 fear of my judgment being called in question." 



Gage, yellow. — Size medium; colour pale yel- 

 low; form round; branches smooth; flesh sepa- 

 rating freely from the stone; ripe beginning of 

 August; somewhat resembling the Green gage, 

 but not so rich in flavour. Synonyms — Heine 

 Claude blanche, Conne's green gage, White gage. 



Gisborne's. — Size medium; form oblong; colour 

 yellow; branches downy; ripe in September; 

 much esteemed for culinary uses. Tree hardy 

 as a standard, and an abundant bearer. 



Goliath. — Size large ; quality excellent for 

 culinary and market purposes ; showy, but only 

 fit for secondary desserts, and inferior to the 

 Colombia, an American sort of even larger di- 

 mensions, form roundish ; colour purple, dusted 

 with blue bloom ; flesh dull greenish yellow, a 

 little coarse-grained, adhering partially to the 

 stone. Ripe end of August. Tree hardy, strong 

 grower, and an excellent bearer ; shoots some- 

 what downy, straight, and strong in growth. 

 A very excellent culinary fruit. Of English ori- 

 gin. Synonyms — Caledonian of some, Nectarine 

 of others, Wilmot's late Orleans, St Cloud, Steer's 

 emperor. 



Guthrie's Scotch seedling plums. — If Scotland 

 has been behind Belgium, England, and Ame- 

 rica in the production of new and improved 

 apples and pears, she has so far redeemed her 

 pomological character in the production of some 

 very excellent plums, carrying with them an 

 extraordinary degree of hardiness and produc- 

 tiveness, qualities essentially requisite in an un- 

 favourable climate. The first of these, Lent-son's 

 golden gage, we have described. The following 

 are the production of Charles Guthrie, Esq. 

 of Tay Bank, Dundee. Our descriptions were 

 taken this season. We have only to remark 

 that the Green gage appears, from Mr Guthrie's 

 answer to our inquiries, to have been largely 

 concerned in their production. " The plums I 

 formei^ly sent you I can give you no account of," 

 says Mr Guthrie, " except that in my earliest 

 attempts to raise new plums I had only the 

 Green gage, Yellow magnum, and Old Orleans 

 in my garden ; and from the Green gage I 

 almost exclusively saved seeds, the first seedling 

 I ever fruited being the Tay Bank." 



Guthrie's new apricot plum. — Circumference 

 4 inches by 4| ; bright apricot colour all over ; 

 shaded near the fruit stalk with broad dashes of 

 russety red ; flesh yellowish ; slightly adhering 



