Augu: t 7, 1890. ] 
JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 
109 
The Montmorency Cherries are very dwarf growing kinds 
which merit a place in English fruit gardens ; they are dwarf, 
easily grown, and abundantly fruitful; they are grown in large 
■quantities near Paris, and sold in the markets very early in the 
summer, Being used for the delicious Cherry compotes so popular 
in France. 
The stocks for grafting Cherries are of two kinds, the Mazzard 
or wild Cherry—the seedlings from this are necessary for the 
Bigarreau and Guigne Cherries —and the Cerasus Mahaleb or 
Cerise de St. Lucie, which is a good stock for the May Duke and 
the Morello. The advantage gained from the employment of the 
Mahaleb stock is that it may be planted on a poor chalk soil. 
It will grow freely in the most unpromising situation provided 
that the soil is dry. It is, of course, only an alternative, as the 
May Duke and Morello grow perfectly well on the wild Cherry 
stock. With the exception of the Governor Wood and the Early 
llivers the Guigne and the Bigarreau will not grow on the 
Mahaleb stock, and it is useless to try it. I believe that I am 
right in saying that Cherry culture is not unprofitable in England, 
and I am certain that many districts may be utilised for the pro¬ 
duction of this very useful fruit. 
Those who wish to grow and taste Cherries in perfection must 
grow them under glass ; the fruit attains very great perfection, 
and is protected from rain and birds. An unheated span-roof 
house about 18 feet wide will give a very large supply of fruit, 
ithe trees being placed down the centre of the house, so that the 
sun shines on both sides of the tree. When grown in pots they 
can be removed at will, a convenience not obtained when the trees 
are planted in the soil. 
About the end of July when Cherries cease to be plentiful in 
the markets, their place is taken by another fruit of greater 
economic value, and of which the cultivation in this country will 
flome day be much more extended than it is at present. The Plum, 
like the Cherry, may be divided into classes, of which the principal 
divisions are the round fruited and oval fruited, freestone and 
clingstone. The earliest Plum to arrive in the market in large 
quantities is the Early Rivers or Early Prolific. This is a well- 
known and popular Plum, raised about forty years ago. Although 
I understand that it does not succeed everywhere, I think that in 
suitable localities it is one of the most profitable Plums in exist¬ 
ence. My own orchards, on a calcareous clay, have always given 
me abundant crops. The Czar, a very hardy and fine Plum, closely 
follows the Early llivers. These two Plums are valuable sorts, as 
they are abundantly fertile, and can be sent to market at a very early 
date, for although the foreign Plums arrive in England by the end 
of July, the quality is not to be compared to our own productions. 
The Early Orleans is also a popular market Plum, ripening with and 
after the Czar. The tree produces large crops, but the fruit is so 
liable to crack that a crop is often seriously damaged by a shower 
of rain. 
During the month of August market Plums are plentiful; those 
of which I have actual experience are the Oullins Golden Gage, 
which I do not recommend anyone to plant. I have, I think, some 
500 trees of this sort from ten to fifteen years old, and they have 
never yet paid the rent of the ground, the skin of the fruit being 
too thin for packing, and consequently it is difficult to send to 
market in good condition. Denniston’s Superb is a most abundant 
bearer, and as it ripens some days before the Green Gage it com¬ 
mands a good price. The Belgian Purple is a large Plum of good 
quality, and in some places I understand it is a profitable fruit. 
Prince Engelbert, a larg?, oval, purple Plum, produces enormcus 
crops. Sultan, a large, round, purplish red Plum, bears abundantly 
and always commands a go'od price ; it is said to be one of the 
richest preserving Plums known. At this time we have Gisborne’s, 
of which the Syston or Beef Plum appears to be a synonym, and 
the Pershore; these are followed by the Yictoria, Prince of 
Wales, which has a bad habit of sometimes ceasing to grow ; Belle 
de Louvain, a very large oval Plum, closely resembling the Red 
Magnum Bonum, but ripening some weeks earlier ; Pond’s Seed¬ 
ling, always commanding a high price ; Diamond, a popular Plum 
in some districts ; Monarch, a large and late purple Plum, which I 
venture to predict will some day be very largely planted ; after this 
■the Autumn Compote and the Late Black Orleans, lasting until the 
second week of October. 
There are some sorts which I have not named as market Plums, 
as I have not found them profitable in my district. These are 
Kirke’s, which is very uncertain in its produce ; Cox’s Emperor, 
the fruit of which is produced in large clusters, and often rots on 
the tree, the skin being tender, like its parent the Early Orleans ; 
Mitchelson’s, a great bearer, but a very inferior Plum. 
The Damsons come into bearing generally about the middle of 
September. Tne most prolific Damson that I know is the 
Crittenden, Cluster or Farleigh. The King of the Damsons, a sort 
of recent introduction, promises to be a valuable addition, as it is 
very large and very prolific. The Prune or Shropshire Damson is 
well known and esteemed in the north. 
The list of late economic Plums closes with the Bullace and 
the Wyedale Plums, the fruit of which will hang on the tree until 
late in November—a valuable quality, as it reduces the consumption 
of preserved fruit. 
At the head of garden dessert Plums, as distinguished from 
market sorts, the Green Gage and its varieties undoubtedly stand. 
One variety of this family was introduced from France many years 
since, under the name of Reine Claude Diaphane, or Transparent 
Green Gage. When thoroughly ripe this can challenge the Green 
Gage for excellence ; it also has the property of communicating a 
distinction to the seedlings derived from it. There are three which 
deserve a place in any garden. These are the Early Transparent 
Gage, the Golden Transparent Gage, and the Late Transparent 
Gage. Other Gage Plums of great excellence are the Bryanston, 
the Oullins Golden (although not an orchard Plum, it is an excellent 
garden Plum), the Purple, the Reine Claude du Comte Atthems 
(a Hungarian Red Gage of excellent quality), the Guthrie’s Late 
Gage, and the Reine Claude de Bavay. Of Plums which are not 
Gages, but of fine flavour and quality, we have the Stint, the 
Early Favourite, the De Montfort, the Yellow Imperatrice, the 
Jefferson, Angelina Burdett, Golden Esperen, Decaisne, Grand 
Duke, and Coe’s Golden Drop. 
The small Mirabelle Plums are very pretty and productive, and 
should be planted in gardens, as they make a delicious preserve. I 
hardly think, however, they would pay for market. 
The Plum does not make a lofty tree, and does not therefore 
require very much space. My own system, which I have found to 
answer very well, is that of planting dwarf trees in rows 9 feet 
apart and 9 feet tree from tree, the stems of the trees being a clear 
4 feet to the branches. I find that trees of this size are more 
easily managed than standards, especially in the gathering season. 
Damsons, particularly the Crittenden, may be planted much nearer 
than Plums ; in fact, 6 feet is not too great a distance, so that the 
trees form fruitful hedges. I should recommend the distance, how¬ 
ever, of 9 feet between the rows. Like the Cherry, the Plum is 
impatient of pruning, and this should be done in the autumn about 
the beginning of October. A calcareous clay appears to me to be 
absolutely necessary to the well doing of the trees. 
There is, of course, an element of uncertainty in the production 
of fruit out of doors in this country, but this may be made a 
certainty by the employment of glass. The Plum adapts itself 
very readily to pot cultivation under glass, and as the fruit may 
be removed to the outside for ripening during the summer months, 
a glass house maybe male available for a large supply. Fruit 
from pots grown in suitable soil is always of excellent quality, and 
when ripened under glass is singularly rich and good. The fruit 
will hang for some time when fully ripe. The facility with which 
Plums may be dried has hitherto been overlooked in England, but 
this industry is now in the process of development, and with the 
assistance of improved methods we shall not hear in the future of 
Plums rotting on the ground from the abundance of the crop, a 
waste which is sinful, as the plenty of one year is usually followed 
by the scarcity of succeeding years. It is in the hands of those who 
are interested in the land to prevent this waste, and one great 
factor of success will be that of holding meetings to invite dis¬ 
cussion, which will have the effect of bringing about a wider and 
more extended knowledge of the fruit-growing districts of our 
ountry. 
APPLES FOR THE MIDLANDS. 
BY MR. A. H. PEARSOX. 
It is my pleasure to address you for a few moments upon the 
subject of “ Apples for the Midlands,” and in doing so I wish to 
look at the question from a market grower’s point of view, i.e., 
with an idea of planting for profit. 
It may perhaps strike someone that the idea of planting for 
profit is out of place, when we look around our orchards and see 
the trees devastated with the caterpillar, and all prospect of fruit 
marred, if not blighted. Some will even go so far, I doubt not, as 
to say that Apple growing is a delusion and a snare, but I think 
there is no reason for us to accept their view. That we have all 
suffered loss this season, and many of us last season, is true, but I 
see no cause for despair ; such things have happened in the past, 
and have passed away in due course. I have heard my father speak 
of a year when our Apple trees, which cover nearly 100 acres of 
land, had scarcely a leaf left upon them, and such a thing as a per¬ 
fect leaf was hardly to be found. The whole of the trees had the 
appearance of being scorched, as if huge bonfires had been lighted 
under them, but in the course of a few days an immense flock of 
starlings found their way to the orchards, and in an almost in¬ 
credibly short time they practically cleared off the caterpillar. It 
will be in the recollection of most of you that a few years ago the 
