198 
THE GARDENING WORLD. 
Noveinber 30, 1889. 
during September. In October the list of dessert 
Plums becomes attenuated ; the Late Transparent, the 
Eeine Claude de Bavay, Golden Transparent, Coe's 
Golden Drop, the Blue Imperatrice, Ickworth Im¬ 
peratrice, and Grand Duke will last during the first 
fortnight of this month, Late Pavers coming at the end. 
As a Culinary and Preserving Fruit. 
Although the Plum takes rank as a dessert fruit, I 
think this quality mainly exists in the varieties of the 
Green Gages, and its real importance lies in its economic 
value as a culinary and preserving fruit, and here it is 
unsurpassed. It is very hardy, enormously productive, 
and forms an important article of food, and therefore 
always commands a leading position in the fruit 
markets. To obtain a good price, it is important to 
plant those sorts which are either early or late, but it 
is, of course, inevitable that these conditions cannot 
always be maintained. Owing to the good fortune of 
my father in raising a very early fruit, I have been suc¬ 
cessful in realising a good price, and the Plum which 
has done me yeoman’s service is the Early Prolific or 
Early Elvers. In some years this fruit has been 
gathered on the 20th July ; in ordinary summers the 
gathering commences in the last week of July. The 
next to ripen is a seedling of my own, The Czar, which 
has become almost as popular as the Early Eivers. I 
have recently raised three early Plums, which I think 
will prove valuable for market. These are the Bittern, 
Curlew, and Heron. After The Czar I have The 
Sultan, a very large red Plum ; then the Belle de 
Louvain. With this Plum the glut sets in, and the 
market is amply supplied with Yictoria, Diamond, 
Mitchelson’s, Belgian Purple, Prince of Wales, and 
Prince Englebert. These are the principal mid-season 
market Plums. The later market sorts which generally 
give an increase of price are Pond’s Seedling, Autumn 
Compote, Archduke, and the Late Orleans. I find the 
Early Orleans so delicate in the skin that it is difficult 
to pack without injury, and that noble-looking fruit, 
Cox’s Emperor, is liable to the same defect. This 
latter bears such quantities of heavy Plums that they 
rot on the tree in damp weather. The last Plum to 
gather from the tree is a variety from Yorkshire ; this 
is the Wyedale. The fruit will hang until the end of 
November, and although very acid to the last, it is 
pleasant to be able to gather fresh Plums. 
The Monarch, a recently-introduced Plum, I believe 
will be a valuable market sort. It is ready to gather 
generally about the 25th of September. It is a very 
large purple fruit, hardy, and of excellent quality either 
for preserving or cooking. The Grand Duke is another 
late seedling ; the fruit is very large, and on a wall it 
attains a very good flavour. I do not, however, think 
that it is desirable to plant it on a large scale for the 
orchard—the fruit is too heavy to resist the autumn 
gales. The Autumn Beauty or Belle de Septembre is a 
very valuable late Plum, and in some soils succeeds 
well, but I think it does not flourish in all districts. 
The Mirabelle Plums. 
These are not at present grown in England for pre¬ 
serving, but I believe that a considerable industry 
exists in the neighbourhood of Metz for the preparation 
of the delicious preserve known as the Mirabelle de 
Metz. There is no reason why this industry should 
not be carried on in England, as the Mirabelle ripens 
and bears freely in this country. The fruit makes a 
singularly delicate preserve. During the last year or 
two my trees, which bear very freely, have been 
attacked by blackbirds, who appear to have only 
recently discovered their excellence. Seedlings which I 
have raised from this Plum vary in a singular manner. 
One of the seedlings has produced a Plum resembling 
the Green Gage in size and flavour, rendering the 
original parentage of the Green Gage less obscure. 
There is, I think, a very considerable field open for 
drying Plums. We already possess the Imperatrice, 
but they ripen rather too late, as I believe that for 
drying Plums sun heat is required as well as stove 
heat. Amongst my numerous seedling Plums I have 
discovered some which appear to me to fulfil the con¬ 
ditions required for drying, and as they ripen in 
August there will be time for the sun to assist in the 
process. One of these seedlings resembles exactly the 
Guimaraens Plum, so popular in Portugal for pre¬ 
serving, so that I hope some day to rival the delicious 
preparations of the convents. There will, I am sure, 
be ample room for us. 
I may say that my soil consists of clay and strong 
loam lying upon a subsoil of drift clay and cretaceous 
gravel and sand, and that it has been trenched 2 ft. 
deep on an average, and that previous heavy dressings 
of farmyard manure were applied, which has not yet 
been exhausted by the trees. 
The abundant crops produced by the Plum, and the 
energy required to produce the hard shells protecting 
the seed aifect the vitality of the tree, if crops of fruit 
are frequently produced It is not necessary to 
plant at any great distance ; my own plantations are, 
as a rule, 9 ft. row from row, and are dwarf standards. 
The tree is impatient of pruning, and when fruit is 
produced in quantity it is hardly necessary to prune at 
all. I, however, suppress the gross shoots, which are 
occasionally produced apparently in sheer wantonness. 
These are dangerous, as they disturb the balance of the 
tree. All pruning should be done in summer or early 
autumn. In the severe winter of 1870, having nothing 
for some of my men to do, I set them to prune some of 
the lower branches of my trees, with the most disastrous 
results. Nearly every wound resulted in canker. It 
is a lesson which I have never forgotten. 
The Kf.lsey Plum. 
The Kelsey Plum, which seems to be attracting some 
curiosity, is a Japanese variety, which has beejp planted 
to some extent in California. A correspondent to 
whom I wrote some time since, and who happened to 
be a Devonshire man, informed me that he thought it 
might succeed in the south and west of England, but 
he thought it too tender for general cultivation. It is 
the size of an ordinary Elruge Nectarine, with very 
solid flesh and indifferent flavour. It may possibly 
succeed as an orchard-house fruit, but it remains to be 
seen whether it will prove a desirable acquisition. 
-*- 
THE ENGLISH MADEIRA. 
On the south side of the Isle of Wight, and facing the 
English Channel, is Yentnor, so essentially maritime 
and so pleasing and varied in its vegetation, that the 
place may be taken as an instance of what can be done 
elsewhere on our more favoured and warmer south and 
west coasts, especially where the nature of the place is 
similarly suitable for sheltering and favouring the free 
and healthy growth of vegetation. The trees, shrubs, 
and many of the herbs which grow in and around 
Ventnor on the beach and terraces, sheltered from the 
north by the abruptly rising downs behind, covered 
with furze and black, heathy scrub, are mostly 
eminently suited for sea-side planting, and some are 
essentially maritime, whether indigenous, naturalised 
or planted. So luxuriantly and wild do many of them 
grow, that the place has not inaptly been termed the 
English Madeira. 
The taller trees in many places are sheltered from 
the direct action of the sea breeze, and this always 
makes a wonderful difference to vegetation, notwith¬ 
standing its real proximity to the sea. Amongst 
indigenous or naturalised plants one is pleased to 
notice healthy masses of the Tree Mallow (Lavatera 
arborea), the Sea Kale, Wallflowers plentiful in places, 
the Stock, evidently a naturalised escape from gardens 
above the cliffs, and the same may be said of the White 
Candytuft and Virginian Stock. The Ked Valerian 
springs out in luxuriant and floriferous masses from the 
rocks and dry stony walls of gardens everywhere, as if 
it were a true native ; and the same may he said of the 
Fennel, which grows, however, in more inaccessible 
and out-of-the-way places. The Wormwood, an old- 
fashioned garden herb, is abundant on the Undercliff 
eastward, and here also, on the grassy sward, the Lady’s 
Tresses (Spiranthes autumnalis) is quite at home, and 
has been for the past thirty years, and possibly for 
many times that period. A variety of Broomrape 
(Orobanche minor Hedene) grows on the Ivy. On the 
grassy slopes of the cliffs, the Wayfaring Tree, with its 
masses of black berries, attracts attention, and the Sloe 
bears its hard, harsh, and austere fruits. Amongst 
Ferns, the Wall Rue enlivens the crevices of the lime¬ 
stone rocks and old walls. The Hart’s Tongue is 
plentiful in places, and even luxuriant in woods along 
the undercliff, where the tufts attain a large size, and 
crested ones are occasionally met with. 
The trees, shrubs, and other plants in gardens have 
more attractions for the cultivator, as he naturally 
wishes to derive a lesson for future imitation and 
advantage. A sub-shrubby plant, namely Atriplex 
Hilimus, of hoary aspect is frequent in gardens here, 
and as a great many of its allies are sea-side sub¬ 
jects, it is therefore quite at home. The Tamarisk 
is similarly appropriate to its position here. Two 
garden plants that cannot be overlooked by visitors, 
however short their stay, are Veronica Andersoni 
and Fuchsia Riceartoni. Both are extremely flori¬ 
ferous, the former bearing blue, and the latter red 
and violet-purple flowers. The Veronica is evergreen, 
and the foliage being of a rich dark hue, renders the 
plant admirably adapted for making dwarf and showy 
hedges. The Fuchsia is planted in various positions, 
but is never more effective than when stationed on 
either side of the entrance to the houses. The drooping 
sprays and branches are allowed to assume their natural 
position, and are simply splendid during the summer 
and autumn months. F. gracilis and F. eorallina are 
also to be met with occasionally in conjunction with 
F. Eiccartoni. 
Trees and Shrubs. 
A good idea of the trees and shrubs suitable for this, as 
well as other maritime situations, may be obtained by 
taking a stroll eastwards from Ventnor proper towards 
the Undercliff, where the ground forms a terrace under 
the overhanging cliffs and downs, and the vegetation 
generally is luxuriant. The park to the east of the 
town is surrounded with belts of trees of a mixed and 
very varied character, the foliage being in many cases 
of a handsome and charming appearance. Amongst 
the commoner of them thriving in this maritime but 
sheltered situation, are the Austrian, Corsican, and 
Scotch Pine, the Plane, the Holly Oak, the White, 
Black and Balsam Poplars, the English and Mountain 
Elms, Common Maple, Sycamore, Birch, Lime, Elder, 
Horse Chestnut, Asb, Larch, Hawthorn, Black 
Mulberry, Purple Beech, Common Laburnum, and 
Tamarisk. Intermixed with these are the hroad- 
leaved Paulownia, the Fig, the Blue Gum (Eucalyptus 
globulus), the tall columnar Cypress (Cupressns maero- 
carpa), the Bay Laurel (Laurus nobilis), testifying to 
the mildness of the climate by bearing fruit; also the 
Strawberry Tree, the glossy-leaved Escallonia ma- 
crantha, the Bladder Senna, and the Japan Euonymus. 
The rich dark colour of the bracts and the berries of 
Leycesteria formosa show in undeniable terms that 
clear and sunny skies are much more suitable to its 
welfare than the smoky atmosphere of towns. Other 
choice shrubs are Phillyrea media, Deutzia scabra, the 
orange-blossomed Buddlea globosa, and the golden- 
flowered Rush Broom. Amongst climbers, the gold- 
veined Japanese and common Honeysuckles, the 
Traveller’s Joy, aud the wild Hop, are prominent 
features, all, with the exception of the first named, 
scrambling over the hedges in wild profusion, and 
simply charming in the summer and autumn months. 
At that time, or even in winter, owing to the number 
of evergreens, the mildness of the climate and the 
maritime situation justly entitle the place to the 
name of the English Madeira.— A Visitor. 
- ->!•< ••- 
QUATRE SAISONS STRAW- 
BERRIES. 
Our continental neighbours are much more energetic 
and enthusiastic in the improvement of the Alpine 
Strawberries than we are, a3 might have been seen at 
the Paris Exhibition in September last, where fruits of 
a number of kinds were shown in good condition, as 
well as plants bearing crops in all stages of advance¬ 
ment. This was long after our plantations in the 
southern portion of this country at least had done 
bearing, and this notwithstanding our insular position 
and comparatively cooler climate. The red and the 
white varieties, under the names of Red Alpine and 
White Alpine, have long been known in this country, 
but they are seldom grown even yet, and no attempt at 
improvement seems to have been made. The name 
Alpine is applied to Fragaria vesca monophylla, the 
Strawberry with one leaflet; but it is also applied to 
another kind, the leaves of which have three leaflets, 
and the plants bear no runners. This is distinguished 
as the Bush Alpine, of which there are now many 
varieties in cultivation in France, where they are 
described under the name of Quatre Saisons. 
In this country they continue to bear fruit from June 
to November, which makes it all the more surprising 
that their merits should not have received more recog¬ 
nition, not only in private establishments, but also in 
market gardens. The Scarlet Strawberry (Fragaria 
virginiana) continues to be grown on a somewhat 
extensive scale in some market gardens for the jam 
preservers. The Quatre Saisons Strawberries, as now 
improved, bear much larger fruits than those of the 
Scarlet Strawberry, and considering their prolific 
nature it might be worth while to grow them for 
market in this country, in order to obtain a supply 
long after the ordinary kinds are over. They cannot 
be propagated in the same way as the latter owing to 
the absence of runners, but they can be increased by 
division or by seeds. The best plants are no doubt 
obtained iu this way ; and the seeds may be sown in 
lines or broadcast in beds and transplanted after they 
get to a suitable size. 
The old Quatre Saisons, with red fruit, produced 
