214 JOURNAL OF THE ROYAL HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 



other fruits. Of course the plum is a perishable fruit, and cannot 

 be stored, but I hope to show that by careful management such 

 losses as we sometimes hear of may be avoided ; certainly so long 

 as our continental neighbours are kind enough to make us an 

 annual present (by bounties) of some £2,000,000 to take their pro- 

 duction of sugar, we ought to be able to make jams at such a 

 cheap rate as to secure us a monopoly in the markets of the 

 world. 



Propagation. — The natural method of propagation is by seed, 

 and this is, of course, the only way in which new varieties can 

 be obtained. We have not a very complete record of the raisers 

 of the varieties of plums which are at present in cultivation ; 

 some of them were raised generations ago, when but comparatively 

 little interest was taken in these matters, and many more have 

 been introduced from abroad. The home of most of the new 

 varieties raised in this country is Sawbridgeworth, and Mr. Eivers 

 has raised and distributed more than perhaps any other person. 

 No list of good plums could be made without including such 

 varieties as the Czar, Monarch, Early Transparent, and Early 

 Prolific ; all of which, with many others, were raised at Saw- 

 bridgeworth. America has furnished us with several valuable 

 varieties, of which I need only mention Jefferson (Judge Bush), 

 and Denniston's superb (Isaac Denniston), to show our indebted- 

 ness to that country. Coe's Golden Drop (Jervaise Coe), was 

 raised at Bury St. Edmunds, Kirke's Plum (Jos. Kirke) at 

 Brompton, and Diamond (Hooker) in Kent ; the bulk of the 

 Gages seem to have originated in France. Most varieties were 

 doubtless chance seedlings ; in the days of our grandfathers 

 planters seemed to think it was cheaper to raise seedlings than 

 to buy trees, and many of our old orchards in this country abound 

 in seedlings both of plums and apples (especially the latter), and 

 from out of this chaos there would doubtless emerge from time 

 to time some novelty worthy of propagation. To-day one does 

 not think of raising seedlings except with the view of obtaining 

 new varieties, for although some sorts, such as Green Gage, 

 reproduce themselves fairly true from seed, the bulk of seedlings 

 would be greatly inferior to existing varieties, and as they are 

 more vigorous in their growth than grafted trees, they would be 

 longer in coining into bearing. A second method of raising 

 young trees is by planting suckers ; the plum, being a surface- 



