lOG 
THE FLORIST AND POMOLOGIST, 
[ .Iri.T, 
is hardy, forms a handsome pyramid, and pro¬ 
duces very large crops, the first being very 
handsome and excellent, either cooked or un¬ 
cooked. It no doubt belongs to the numerous 
race of Eed Magnum Bonum Plums, but it 
ripens earlier than the old sort, preceding the 
Victoria, which it rivals in fertility. The fruit 
hangs firmly to the branch, and is not easily 
shaken off. 
Boitlouf (Fig. 2) is a very valuable plum. 
It has been here for many years, under the 
name of Eeine Claude de Jodoigne, and was 
received from a Belgian nursery. In the Fruit 
Manual of Dr. Hogg, Eeine Claude de Jodoigne 
is described as a greengage, and Boulouf as a 
cooking plum. The Boulouf which is figured, 
and which I think to be correct, agrees with the 
description given in the Journal of the Sociute 
Van Mons, vol. i., p. 298 :—Fruit large, round^ 
dark purplish-red ; flesh yellow, juicy, and per¬ 
fumed, of the highest quality ; ripening at the 
end of September. In addition to these ex¬ 
cellent qualities, the tree is a robust grower, 
but very dwarf in habit, and therefore emin¬ 
ently adapted for garden-culture. Last year, 
1878, the plum ripened the last week in Sep¬ 
tember, and was certainly delicious, having all 
the sprightliness of the Purple Gage.—T. 
Feancls Eivers, SaiL-hridgeu'oiih. 
CULTURE OF WALL-FRUITS. 
XVIII.— The Apricot, Ac. {continued.) 
Notwithstanding the beneficial in- 
J ")/ fiuence which the pinching-back of the 
(© summer growth is calculated to exercise 
in maintaining a proper balance of strength in 
the wood, and inducing a free-flowering habit, 
I am well convinced that in the case of Apricots 
trained on walls the system is liable to be 
carried too far, to the exclusion of a jiractice 
which appears to me to agree better with the 
experiences of late years. I allude to the 
system of spur-pruning, under the belief that 
more importance has been ascribed to it than 
the practice really deserves. There is no doubt 
that by it a great abundance of flowering spurs 
can be produced, but the question is,—In how 
many of our ordinary seasons do such spurs 
carry fruit ? I will take the experience of the 
present year as an example. The trees bloomed 
enormously, both spurs and young trained wood 
being very full, and there is a fair sprinkling 
of fruit, the best being on the young shoots 
trained close in, but only on those spurs 
which touch the ivall is there any fruit 
swelling off; and although fruit set on the 
projecting sjmrs, so as to be easily distin¬ 
guished, it all fell off abortive. I have ob¬ 
served this to be the case in many previous 
seasons, but the fact was never more marked 
than in the present. This tendency has been 
frequently noticed in the periodical literature 
of the day, by writers who, when remarking 
on various fruit-crops, imply that there are no 
Apricots, except close to the wall. 
I conclude from all this that, in the absence 
of any method of protection on ojien walls, 
which can ensure an equable temperature, we 
can only calculate on a crop of fruit from pro¬ 
jecting spurs in exceptionally fine seasons ; and 
as these are few and far between, I would sug¬ 
gest the propriety of taking these facts into 
consideration both at the summer and winter 
pruning, and determining that wherever spurs 
are retained they should only be such as are 
close to the wall, and that all foreright and 
ill-placed shoots should be removed entirely, 
not all at once, but during the several 
manipulations to which the trees are sub¬ 
jected through the season. And in order 
to supply the necessary amount of foliage, 
to ensure the perfect maturation of the wood 
and fruit, and also partial shelter for both, I 
would urge that more attention should be 
paid to the training-in of young shoots their 
whole length, and that spur-pruning, although 
not absolutely rejected, should yet become a 
secondary consideration, in fact, subordinate to 
the encouragement of young wood, so as, in 
some degree, to assimilate the general treat¬ 
ment as to training and manipulation to that 
recommended for the Peach on the open walls. 
Natural spurs, however, should always be re¬ 
tained in any case. I allude to those small 
groups of flower-buds which are often produced 
close to the stems of the older branches, and 
are not the results of stopping the young wood. 
Some sorts, and notably the old Moorpark, for 
one, are especially given to the production of 
these natural spurs, which often set fine clusters 
of fruit. The Kaisha is another sort having a 
like tendency ; from one such spur, I recently 
removed eleven fruits, leaving two. 
