1882.] 
CHOICE NEW PLUMS. 
25 
house, or in any available place with stove 
temperature. They are shaded from the mid¬ 
day sun, and syringed morning and afternoon, 
to keep down insects. By the second week of 
June, they require a shift into a 6-in. or 7-in. 
pot, and to he placed in a house where there is 
plenty of head-room. About the beginning of 
July, we try, if possible, to keep them a little 
cooler, so as to harden the tops previous to 
their being taken for cuttings about the third 
week in July. These cuttings are inserted 
singly in 3-in. pots, using two parts river-sand 
and one part leaf-mould, and are then plunged 
into a hot-bed, with bottom-heat from 80° to 
90°. The frames are kept closely shaded with 
double mats until the leaves begin to lose the 
yellow tinge they assume after being taken 
from the parent stock. With this treatment 
98 per cent, will be rooted in a fortnight, when 
more air and less shade must be given. 
The next process is to shift them into 5-in. 
pots and place them in Melon pits (well fumi¬ 
gated) from which the crop has been cleared. 
The atmosphere must be kept humid by sy¬ 
ringing gently every afternoon, and a night 
temperature of 65° maintained, going up to 
75° or 80° during the day, shading carefully 
for a time, then gradually withdrawing it 
altogether. As the roots increase, the plants 
are shifted into 6-in. and 7-in. pots, or if 
larger plants are wished, a few are potted into 
10-in. pots. Sometimes several plants, say 
five, are put into a 10-in. pot; these, when in 
flower, have a fine effect among other plants 
in the stove. For general work, however, 
plants in 6-in. and 7-in. pots are the most 
useful. When they are required to be in 
flower early, they must be placed in the 
forcing-house in November, as near the glass 
as possible ; they will stand a high forcing 
temperature, provided they are well set. 
Feeding with liquid manure composed of 
sheep-droppings, with a little guano and soot, 
is highly advisable. 
The second crop of cuttings, taken off in 
August, treated similarly to the first batch, 
and flowered in 4-in. and 5-in. pots, come in 
very useful, the bracts, of course, being much 
smaller, though none the less brilliant. In 
regard to watering, there are few plants more 
impatient of this being carelessly done ; if too 
much is given, or the water is too cold, the 
plants soon lose the points of their fleshy 
rootlets, when the leaves turn yellow and drop 
off; if it is given too sparingly, thrips and red- 
spider soon spoil the plant, as the leaves will 
not bear sponging without injury. 
The old variety is the most useful sort. 
The only point in favour of the double variety 
is that it stands much longer in flower, and 
thereby extends the season of flowering into 
March and April. The white variety is equally 
easy to grow, but more inclined to be leggy 
than the others. —W. H. Gorrie, Mauldslie 
Castle Gardens. 
CHOICE NEW PLUMS. 
[Plate 556.] 
RUIT-G ROWERS are much indebted to 
Mr. Rivers for his unceasing efforts 
to improve the quality and extend the 
season of our choicer hardy fruits. 
We have had the pleasure of recording many 
instances of his successful efforts as a raiser 
of early and late varieties of Peaches, Nec¬ 
tarines, and Plums, which have held their own 
on the score of quality, and served to prolong 
by a considerable period the season of these 
several fruits. Nor has his efforts been un¬ 
availing in the introduction of first-class 
novelties from other sources. We have now 
to submit to our readers portraits of two 
valuable Plums, of which Mr. Rivers has 
favoured us with the following particulars:— 
Fig. 1. The Archduke (inscribed Late 
Diamond on the plate, the name having been 
changed since our figures were printed off ).— 
It is rather remarkable that this Plum, which 
does not ripen until the 8th or 10th of October, 
should derive its origin from the very early 
Plum De Montfort. It has been in the nursery 
for many years, and has proved to be a very 
valuable sort, good either for the table or 
kitchen ; indeed as a preserve it is one of 
the most delicious confitures, having almost 
a flavour of guava jelly. The fruit is as large 
as the Diamond; the tree hardy and a good 
grower, producing abundance of fruit. For 
the last few years the trees have been most 
picturesque at a time when most orchard trees 
are stripped of their produce. 
Fig. 2. Reine Claude du Comte Hathem. 
—A very delicious purple Gage Plum, of large 
size, an abundant bearer, and as the plate 
shows, a very handsome fruit. This is, I 
believe, of Hungarian origin, but it does not 
appear to be generally known. I was very 
much struck with the appearance of the trees 
when covered with fruit, and think it is likely 
to prove a popular variety when well known, 
as it deserves to be. The tree is of sturdy 
growth, and makes a good orchard standard. 
On a wall or as an espalier the fruit is very 
fine.—T. Francis Rivers. 
