Fruit-growing in Kent. 
119 
jam manufacturers. The average price of this fruit for the last 
six years in London has been about 3d. per lb. 
Plums and Damsons. — These are grown more or less in all the 
fruit-growing districts of the county. Growers in East Kent prefer 
the forward Orleans, Magnum Bonum, Blue Diamond, Victoria, 
Dauphin, Mussel, Early Rivers, and Washington. Black plums 
sell the best. The trees are planted between cherry and apple; 
tu t s, or are set in plantations by themselves with bushes under 
them. Green gages grow especially well in the neighbourhood 
of Kainham, near Sittingbourne, the fruit being very large and 
of a particularly fine flavour and colour. A tradition exists that 
100/. per acre has been made in one year on a piece of land 
near Chatham planted with greengages. Plums generally sell 
well. The average price of plums in London is about 19/. per 
ton. In 1876 they made from 28/. to 32/. per ton; in 1871, 
only from 12/. to 14/. per ton. There is a famous damson, 
known as the " Crittenden " damson, that has been planted to 
an enormous extent in Kent during the last 20 years. This 
is propagated by suckers, or " spawns," which come up all 
round the trees, and yield fruit after their kind without being 
grafted, like the " Pershore Plum," which is general in Worces- 
tershire. After these suckers have been planted out for two 
years they begin to bear. This kind of damson is amazingly 
prolific, and the fruit brings high prices for jam, bottling, 
damson cheese, and, as some say, for manufacturing port wine. 
Plum-trees, like cherry-trees, do not require much pruning, and 
are inclined to "gum" and decay if the knife is too freely used. 
It is merely necessary to cut back any over-vigorous growth 
that may get too much ahead, and to cleaT out wood that crowds 
up the inside of the trees. Plum-trees do not do well in 
exposed situations, as their roots are so near the surface that 
they are likely to be blown down by wind. 
Conclusion. — The details and descriptions that have been given 
of fruit-growing in Kent will serve to show that it is a pleasant, 
interesting, and fairly profitable occupation, as well as that some- 
parts of the county are eminently suitable for this purpose in 
regard to soil, situation, and climate. It has been remarked 
that considerable improvement has been made of late years in 
the methods of planting, cultivating, manuring, and pruning 
fruit-trees, and that more attention has been given to the selec - 
tion of varieties ; though in these respects there is still much to 
be desired. Kentish fruit-growers do not use their skill, energy, 
and capital sufficiently in the production of high-class fruit. 
They are satisfied rather with the production of quantities of 
common kinds, such as gooseberries, currants, cherries, damsons, 
which do not entail much skill or care, of which fruits there 
