184 
JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 
[ September 1, 1892. 
grown in the future. Although the Gages are at the bead of the 
list, Mr. Rivers said there are other good dessert varieties, and 
mentioned Kirke’s and Jefferson as being excellent September Plums. 
Coe’s Golden Drop he also referred to as being a first-rate October 
Plum, and among recently introduced varieties The Czar and 
Grand Duke are very fine, the last-named being especially good 
under glass. Referring to this portion of the subject Mr. Rivers 
said that no fruit is more easily grown in pots under glass, all 
that was necessary being judicious treatment and abundance of air. 
Some interesting remarks as to the classification were then given, 
but Mr. Rivers did not think it necessary to go into cultural 
details. 
Mr. Bunyard, in the brief discussion which followed, said he 
should not advise anyone to unduly reduce the number of varieties 
of fruit without carefully considering the matter, inasmuch as some 
kinds in certain positions and seasons were much less prolific than 
others. Apart from Green Gages, he thought Kirke’s one of the 
most delicious Plums that could be grown on a wall. A gentleman 
mentioned that Belgian Purple was an excellent dessert Plum, and 
worthy of extensive culture. 
Mr. J. Smith’s paper on “ Cooking and Market Plums ” 
followed, and was read by Mr. A. Dean. To succeed in growing 
Plums for market, the essayist said, only the best early and late 
varieties should be cultivated, and these must be properly packed. 
The Plums must be of superior quality and uniform in size to 
realise remunerative prices. In this country there is, he observed, 
the best market in the world for fruit, and in due course, no doubt, 
the railway companies will adopt cheaper rates to facilitate the 
fruit-growing movement. One important factor in growing Plums 
for market is the selection of the site. The situation should be 
open, and the soil of a stiff loamy character or even clayey if fertile. 
On grass land standards with 6-feet stems are best, and these should 
be planted 20 feet apart. Damsons are the most profitable crops on 
grass. In planting the soil can hardly be made too firm, neglect of 
this being a frequent cause of failure When the soil is firm and 
rich the growth also will be firm, short-jointed, and well ripened. 
Victoria is a good market variety and an excellent cropper ; but 
Early Prolific, said Mr. Smith, is one of the heaviest and best 
Plums to grow. These two varieties should be always grown. The 
Czar, Pond’s Seedling, Diamond, and Sultan were also excellent 
kinds for the purpose named. Where deficient naturally, lime 
might with advantage be applied to the soil, and yearly dressings 
of manure should be given. The trees must never be allowed to 
become a thicket, but all small useless branches cut out. When 
grown on cultivated land Gooseberries and Currants could be planted 
between the Plum trees, and so help to swell the returns. 
As to gathering and packing the fruit Mr. Smith advised 
growers to place the first-rate samples by themselves, and those of 
second-rate quality similarly. The results then are, as a rule, much 
more satisfactory to both vendor and purchaser. Prices, he said, 
varied considerably. For seventeen years he had grown Plums for 
market, and had disposed of as many as sixty tons in one season. 
In some years he had only obtained Is. 3d. per bushel for Plums of 
first-rate quality, whereas in other seasons the same kind of fruit 
realised 18s. per bushel, and even as much as 25s. in the autumn. 
Mr. Bunyard cautioned growers against planting Early Orleans, 
inasmuch as many trees of that variety were killed in Kent last 
winter by frost. Belle de Septembre, he said, was not to be 
depended upon as a regular cropper, but Belgian Purple and 
Bleeker’s Scarlet were always good. Half-standards are better 
than standards in his opinion, they being less liable to be damaged 
by the wind. 
A gentleman detailed his experience of Plum culture for 
market in Cambridgeshire, remarking that Rivers’ Early, The Czar, 
and Victoria are the best varieties that could be grown for the 
purpose in that district. 
A vote of thanks to the Chairman and lecturers brought the 
proceedings to a close. 
FUNCTIONS OF VINE LEAVES. 
Mr. W. Iggulden has brought to the notice of readers of 
the Journal a subject of vast importance and equal interest, which 
should be the means of eliciting much useful information if others 
will join in the discussion in the admirable spirit in which it has 
been started. I have long been in the habit of considering your 
correspondent’s articles thoroughly as a whole before giving a 
decided opinion on any particular portion of them. Having 
applied this method in the present instance, I have come to the 
conclusion that the ideas he advances concerning the functions of 
Vine leaves and the management of Vine shoots are not so much 
opposed to those which generally prevail as might at first be 
supposed, nevertheless there is ample opportunity to lay bare the 
weak points of his contentions by recording facts which point to 
opposite conclusions. 
The theory advanced by Mr. Iggulden, “ that the bunches after 
being developed by the aid of stored up sap and moisture ascending 
from the roots are largely, if not solely, sustained subsequently by 
the crude sap ascending from the roots, and not by that elaborated 
by the leaves,’' is not only entirely at variance with the teachings 
of plant physiologists, but is also opposed to many well-known 
facts connected with Vine culture. How is it that Grapes cannot 
be perfectly coloured if the leaves on the laterals carrying the 
bunch—especially those at the extremity—are not in a healthy 
state ? Take a shoot, for instance, on which the leaves behind the 
bunch are badly infested with red spider, while those near the 
base are quite fresh and healthy ; if the bunch is principally 
sustained by the crude sap ascending from the roots the colouring 
process should not be materially affected provided the principal 
portion of the leaves on the Vine are healthy, yet, as far as my 
experience goes, the opposite is the case. 
This view is also strongly supported by numerous experiments 
carried on with Vine shoots, which can be easily tested by anyone. 
Let the experimenter select a healthy Vine shoot carrying a good 
bunch, with two or three primary leaves beyond. If the bark of 
this shoot is ringed between the bunch and the first leaf beyond, 
as soon as the bark is formed the berries will continue to swell 
without any apparent check, but the colouring process will be only 
imperfectly performed. Although I agree with Mr. Iggulden that 
good bunches and fine berries may be produced by stopping at the 
joint from which the bud springs, yet if no lateral is afterwards 
taken from that joint there is not the slightest chance of colouring 
the bunch properly, although there may be abundance of healthy 
foliage on other parts of the Vine. This, I think, clearly shows 
what plant physiologists have long maintained—namely, that it is 
principally by the aid of elaborated sap produced by healthy Vine 
leaves, and supplied to the bunches in its downward course, that 
the chemical process by which Grapes are brought to perfect 
maturity takes place. 
Taking all these facts into consideration, the practice of 
invariably stopping Vine shoots at the second joint beyond the bunch, 
and afterwards keeping all sub-laterals pinched back closely, is, I 
think, not the best course to pursue. That a vast quantity of 
good Grapes are annually produced by working on these lines I do 
not dispute, for it is a striking fact that some men in any walk of 
life accomplish much by energy and industry, even when working 
on a system which is not a good one. Does it seem feasible that a 
creeper of such a rambling nature as the Vine should bear such 
close cropping year after year with impunity ? Go where I will I 
am continually meeting with instances in which old Vines have 
been rejuvenated by laying in young rods or by allowing plenty of 
lateral growth, and I also frequently see others which should be 
in their prime far from satisfactory through close stopping and 
overcropping. Even with the same weight of crop I would 
guarantee to greatly improve such Vines solely by encouraging 
plenty of lateral growth, for Vines will carry and finish perfectly 
a much heavier crop than many people suppose. I am perfectly 
convinced that those who crop lightly and stop closely are com¬ 
pelled to resort to the former practice because they continue the 
latter one. 
I well remember paying a visit to the vineries of an eminent 
Grape grower, with whose writings the numerous readers of the 
Journal were a few years ago well acquainted, and whose grand 
examples of Grapes have, during recent years, been staged at many 
great shows, where they thoroughly merited the awards received, 
and have won universal admiration among high-class fruit growers. 
When paying the visit in question I especially noticed the large 
amount of lateral growth going on while the Grapes were colouring. 
The main laterals were trained thinly, and beyond each large bunch 
the sub-lateral was allowed to develop continuously. These were 
in some cases hanging down for a foot or two below the trellis, yet 
there was not the slightest overcrowding. No one seeing the Grapes 
could have any doubt about the treatment being correct; such an 
