1881 . ] 
THE PERSHORE PLUM.—ELEMENTS OF ORCHID-CULTURE. 
89 
roofed one, upwards of 100 ft. long, having 
paths separating a good wide pit in the middle 
from the two side platforms. The budding of 
Eoses and the grafting of Eoses are very dif¬ 
ferent operations. Buds when worked out¬ 
doors generally take eight or nine months 
before they start into growth, but grafting 
performed in November will, under good prac¬ 
tical care, furnish young shoots six to eight 
inches high by the New Year, and will often 
give small Eoses before the plants are two 
months old from the graft. To do this well 
and successfully requires the vigilance of a 
well-practised eye, until they are fairly started 
into growth. After they have grown to six 
or eight inches in height, they are moved 
into an adjoining house of over 200 ft. long, 
but parted into two in the middle. This house 
is much narrower than that wherein they are 
propagated, and has only one pathway, under 
the ridge of the roof. When the young 
plants are partly hardened off in this house, 
they are, according as they attain strength, 
taken to the large Eose-house, which is a 
noble, wide house, 70 yards long. Besides 
these, there are many pits devoted to Eoses. 
The winter-propagated Eoses are many of them 
ready to send out by the month of May—perhaps 
over 30,000. It is chiefly Tea Eoses that are 
propagated in this way.— George Dawson, 23 
Bedwcirdine Road , Worcester. 
THE PERSHORE PLUM. 
[Plate 540.] 
vO one would be inclined to select this 
plum, either on account of its quality 
or appearance, Still, it is a variety of 
no ordinary importance, and is being cultivated 
to an increasing extent every year for market 
purposes. Its great merit consists in its enor¬ 
mous and almost certain cropping qualities. It 
is rare, indeed, to miss a crop ; even during the 
past three or four bad plum seasons, a plentiful 
crop of the Pershore has been secured. 
It comes, as its name implies, from Pershore, 
in Worcestershire, and is much cultivated in 
the fruitful valley of Evesham for the Birming¬ 
ham markets. It is also grown by Mr. Dancer, 
of Chiswick, to some extent, and to him we 
are indebted for the examples here figured. 
The fruit may be described as of medium 
size, ovate, or slightly narrower at the stalk 
end, like a small Magnum Bonum. The skin 
is greenish-yellow, becoming golden when quite 
ripe. Flesh tender, but adhering to the stone, 
tolerably juicy, but without much flavour. It 
is a very excellent variety for kitchen use or 
for preserving. 
It comes in season at the end of August, a 
week or so later than the general glut of Plums, 
and consequently is valuable on that account. 
It has the singular habit of producing suckers, 
in which way it is often propagated, and suc¬ 
ceeds well on its own roots—being, perhaps, 
the only Plum that has this peculiarity. 
It will be observed that there are amongst 
our cultivated Plums three distinct types of 
flavour. There is, first, the rich luscious 
flavour, of which the Greengage is a familiar 
example, and which has a character and flavour 
all its own ; secondly, the ordinary plum-flavour, 
as represented in the majority of the cultivated 
sorts; and thirdly, the rough austere flavour 
of the Damson, which is but little removed 
from the wild type. The Pershore belongs to 
the second group. It is a singular fact, which 
so far as we know has never yet been noted, 
that the poorer-flavoured Plums, such as that 
now before us, make a preserve quite as rich 
and good as that from the fine dessert varieties. 
—A. F. Barron. 
ELEMENTS OF ORCHID-CULTURE. 
Chapter I.— Material and Appliances. 
S CCORDING to the request of your 
correspondent from Sevenoaks, and with 
the view of engaging the attention of 
beginners generally, I purpose giving a short 
series of papers in the Florist under the above 
heading, in the hope that they may be of some 
service in extending the knowledge and guiding 
the hands of those who are becoming in¬ 
terested in the pursuit of Orchid-culture. 
Looking to the time and space at my dis¬ 
posal, my remarks must necessarily be not only 
as brief and concise as possible, but they can¬ 
not touch upon many things which might be 
expected of one essaying to write on the culture 
of these plants. It will, therefore, only be the 
more important practical details which will be 
discussed. The first consideration of import¬ 
ance that occurs to me is the supply of the 
needful materials and appliances; and here, 
although properly coming under this heading, 
