July 80, 1891. J 
JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 
69 
mention. This was planted with young Vines twelve months ago 
last March, and the amount of wood made and the quantity of fruit 
which the Vines are now bearing cannot fail to attract the attention of 
any observer. Several Vines of Madresfield Court are bearing enormous 
bunches, which when fully developed will not fall far short of 7 lbs. 
weight, the size and shape of the berries being admirable. Six plants 
of Black Hamburgh are bearing well, and many bunches have been 
removed. Three plants of Gros Column are very fine, and are bearing 
well-shouldered bunches. Alicante is also well represented, and is 
bearing remarkable bunches. Lady Downe’s are notable for the fine 
growth which the Vines have made, also for the bunches which are just 
swelling. Of white Grapes Mrs. Pearson is one of the best ; the Vines 
are bearing large well-shaped berries and fine bunches. Fine Muscat of 
Alexandria are bearing well, and are just on the point of turning colour. 
Foster’s Seedling, of which there are half a dozen fine Vines, is one of 
the best grown here, having large bunches with good berries. Of other 
plants may be noted a small but increasing collection of Orchids, 
amongst which are varieties of Cattleyas, Odontoglossums, the beautiful 
Phajus Humbloti, and other equally good plants.—P. W. 
PRUNES IN THE SOUTH OF FRANCE. 
. A recent issue of the “ Kew Bulletin ” was an unusually 
interesting one, containing important chapters upon “ The Cultural 
Industries at the Gambia,” “ The Cultivation of Perfumery Plants in 
the Colonies,” “ The Banana Disease in Fiji,” “ Fibre Productions in the 
Caicos,” and upon the subject named at the head of this article. Much 
valuable information is now given in the “ Bulletin,” but we cannot help 
thinking it desirable that a few chapters should be occasionally included 
on the gardens at Kew. Concerning the useful work there performed, 
and the extensive collection of plants, the horticultural or botanical 
public hear but little, though much of an interesting character might 
be written respecting these subjects. The chapter upon the French 
Prunes is reproduced here as a subject of commercial importance. 
The preparation of dried Prunes is a very considerable industry in 
several parts of Europe. In the valley of the Loire in France, especially 
about Bourgueil, a small town lying between Tours and Angers, the 
Prunier de St. Julien (Prunu3 domestica, L., var. Juliana, D.C.') is 
largely cultivated. This is one of the principal sources of supply of 
the ordinary grocers’ Prunes. 
According to Fliickiger and Hanbury (“ Pharmacographia,” page 
252), “ The Prune in its fresh state is an ovoid drupe of a deep purple 
hue, not depressed at the insertion of the stalk, and with a scarcely 
yisible suture, and no furrow. The pulp is greenish and rather austere 
unless the fruit is very ripe ; it does not adhere to the stone. The stone 
is short (0 - 7 to 0'8 of an inch long, 0'5 to 0 6 broad), broadly rounded 
at the upper end. 
The fruit is dried partly by solar and partly by fire heat—that is to 
say, it is exposed alternately to the heat of an oven and to the open air. 
Thus prepared it is about 1£ inch long, black, and shrivelled, but 
recovers its original size by digestion in warm water. 
The production of a somewhat inferior kind of Prune is also an 
important industry in Germany. The following account is from 
Hanbury and Fliickiger (pages 252, 253). 
“When French Prunes are scarce, a very similar fruit, known in 
Germany as Zwetschen or Quetschen, is imported as a substitute. It is 
the produce of a tree which most botanists regard as a form of Prunus 
domestica, L., termed by De Candolle var. Pruneauliana. K. Koch, 
Dendrologie, part i. (1869), 91, however, is decidedly of opinion that it 
is a distinct species, and as such he has revived for it Borkhausen’s name 
of Prunus oeconomica. The tree is widely cultivated in Germany for 
the sake of its fruit, which is dried as an article of food, but is not 
grown in England. 
“ The dried fruit differs slightly from the ordinary Prune in being 
rather larger and more elongated, and having a thicker skin ; also in the 
stone being flatter, narrower, pointed at either end, with the ventral 
suture much more strongly curved than the dorsal. The fruits seem 
rather prone to become covered with a saccharine efflorescence.” 
There is a third centre of the Prune industry in south-eastern 
Europe. This is of increasing importance. 
The following account of it is taken from the General Review of the 
State of Trade in Servia during the year 1886, by Mr. Vansittart, Chargfi 
d’Affaires at the time at Belgrade, (Consular and Diplomatic Reports on 
Trade and Finance, No. 176). 
“The sum total of the value of the export of grain, fruit, and 
Prunes in 18S6 is reckoned at £535,476 ; of this sum rather more than 
half represents the value of Prunes exported. In 1884 some 20,056,155 
kilos, of a value of £274,441 ; and in 1885 about 23,228,777 kilos, of a 
value of £231,000 were despatched from Servia. 
“ It is reckoned that one-third is exported direct to Germany, via 
Regensburg, one-third direct to America, via Fiume, and one-third to 
Pesth, from which latter place Prunes are sent to the various European 
markets. The increase in the exportation of Prunes to North America 
via Fiume should be particularly noticed. Fiume is more advantage¬ 
ously situated than Trieste for this purpose ; from the beginning of the 
season no less than 400 complete waggonloads were exported per sea, 
and chiefly to North America. 
“ The Prune harvest for 1886 yielded in Bosnia more than a third of 
the harvest of the previous year, and can be reckoned at about 170,000 
centners; whereas Servia yielded a good average harvest of about 
357,832 centners. Of this sum total more than three-fourths were 
exported. The quality of the new Servian ware was of a very satis¬ 
factory nature, the product being healthy, well dried, considerable in 
quantity, and of a durable nature. In 1885 a direct trade with Great 
Britain in Prunes was established, and it promises to attain considerable 
proportions in the future. Prunes are consumed in enormous quantities 
in Germany, and it is to that country that the great bulk is exported. 
In England Prunes are considered more an article of luxury, and the 
French “ Prunes imperiales,” as sold iu the English market, are the 
favourites, although, perhaps, the Servian Prunes, generally smaller than 
the French Plum, possess, if anything at all, a finer flavour, and can 
certainly be sold at a very much cheaper rate than at present demanded 
for the French production. The real reason is, probably, that as 
Prunes are more generally consumed among the richer classes in 
England, the superior packing, and what may be termed the general 
making-up of the French ‘ Prunes impdriales,” render them more 
attractive to the eye, and, in spite of their higher prices, sell better. 
“ I am told that the export of Prunes in general might be benefited 
by exporters using for this purpose specially made barrels to contain 
100 kilos, or 220 lb. casks.” 
The kind of Prunes more particularly distinguished as “ French 
Plums ” are a special industry of Southern France. Their mode of pre¬ 
paration and the extreme care bestowed upon it seem to be little known. 
These were very carefully studied on the spot by Mr. M. W. Colchester- 
Wemyss of Westbury Court, Westbury-on-Severn. His object was to 
ascertain if there was any possibility of starting a similar industry in 
England. He has very kindly permitted the result of his inquiries to 
be published in the “ Kew Bulletin.”* Though there seems to be little 
prospect of success in the preparation of Prunes or French Plums in 
this country, there seems no reason why it should not be attempted in 
colonies, the climate of which is not dissimilar to that of Southern 
France. Fruit growing would be doubtless stimulated in the colonies in 
proportion to the existence of practicable modes of preserving the crops 
for commercial purposes. 
About sixty miles above Bordeaux there falls into the Garonne a fine 
river which, taking its rise among the mountains of Cevennes, follows a 
course of some 150 miles until its junction with the Garonne. This 
river is called the Lot, and the two rivers together confer the name of 
the Department known as Lot and Garonne. For several miles along 
the lower reaches of the Lot, and in the country immediately adjacent 
to the spot where it enters the Garonne, is produced the fruit known, 
when it has been specially prepared, as “ French Plums.” For over 
one hundred years the industry has been fixed in this locality, and still 
with the sole exception of a valley in Servia there is no other place 
where the same trees are cultivated. The tree is called Prunier d'ente ; 
“enter” is an old French word meaning to graft, and it is simply so 
called because this particular species was formerly the only Plum in this 
district that ever was grafted. Now there are, practically, no Plums 
other than the Prunes d'ente grown in the neighbourhood. Higher up 
the Garonne, round the old town of Agen and in other parts of Southern 
France, another Plum, the Prunier comrnun, is largely grown, and its 
fruit treated similarly to that of the Prunier d'ente, but the produce 
is very inferior and only suitable for stewing ; but I believe that 
nowhere, except in the Servian valley, is the true Prune d'ente at 
present grown ; and though many experiments have been made with 
other varieties no others have yet been discovered that will yield the 
established qualities of the “ French Plums.” It is rather capricious in 
its growth, for its area of cultivation does not extend very far from the 
river bank. It appears to delight in a rich alluvial soil of a rather sandy 
nature, but which contains a sufficiency of clay to make it very retentive 
of moisture. The centre of the “ French Plum ” district may be said to 
be at Clairac, a quaint little old-fashioned town built on a steep hill 
side overlooking the Lot, almost more Spanish looking than French, its 
houses shaded from the fierce southern sun with wide outspreading eaves 
and flower-clad balconies. Here, during a recent stay, I was most 
hospitably entertained by M. Gajac, one of the most leading merchants 
connected with the Plum trade, with whom I had accidentally become 
acquainted. 
In this and the neighbouring Communes the Metayer system is in 
full operation, and it appears to work well and harmoniously. The 
owner of the land engages the Metayer, and supplies all the implements 
and stock required for the holding ; he also keeps the buildings in 
repair, including the house used by the Metayer. The latter finds the 
whole of the labour except such extra labour as is needed during harvest 
time. The Metayer during the year has entire control of the farm, and 
buys and sells, subject, if required, to the consent of the owner. He 
renders account of all produce from the holding consumed by himself 
and family, and at the end of the year the balance of profit is divided 
equally between the owner and the Metayer. During the last few years 
the Metayers have fared badly, for the phylloxera has devastated the 
vineyards, and sad it is to see acres and acres of land excellent for the 
growth of Grapes, but fit for little else, now deprived of those crops 
which formerly so well repaid the cost of cultivation. The holdings vary 
* A somewhat similar account is given by Mr. George W. Roosevelt, United States 
Consul at Bordeaux (“ Reports from the Consuls of the United States," September, 1888, 
pages 444 —448). There is an abstract in the “ Journal of the Society of Arts,” March, 
1889, pages 828 829. 
