244 
JOURNAL  OF  HORTICULTURE  AND .  COTTAGE  GARDENER. 
September  13,  1900. 
Plums. 
The  Plum  crop  bas  this  year  been  an  unprecedentedly  heavy  one, 
all  varieties,  from  the  lu.ecious  Green  Gage  to  the  giant  Pond’s  Seedling, 
seem  to  have  vied  wiih  each  other  in  the  attempt  to  beat  previous 
records.  The  result  is  that  the  markets  are  glutted,  and  good  produce 
is  sold  at  very  low  rates.  The  consumer  is  rejoicing  at  the  bounteous 
supply,  and  the  wonderful  bargains  to  be  obtained.  Fruit,  as  it  should, 
has  of  late  entered  largely  into  the  dietary  of  the  nation,  and  vast 
supplies  of  jam  have  been  stored  for  future  times  of  scarceness.  Let 
us,  however,  look  at  the  other  side  of  the  picture.  The  fruit  grower." 
have  certainly  not  been  too  well  favoured,  notwithstanding  the  enormous 
crops,  for  alter  incurring  the  expenses  of  production,  gathering,  and 
despatching  to  market,  they  have  actually  m  some  instances  not 
received  a  penny  in  return.  ISurely  such  men  need  the  sympathy  ol 
the  nation,  and  let  us  hope  that  the  reward  will  come  next  season, 
when  the  supply  and  demand  will  in  all  probability  be  more 
propcrtionate  to  each  other.  Plum  culture  must  certainly  still  be 
carried  on  with  energy,  for  it  is  rate  indeed  for  the  crop  to  be  so  heavy 
and  unprofitable.  Good  times  will  follow  in  the  wake  of  bad  ones. 
We  have  recently  been  treated  to  plenty  of  information  about 
Plums  in  both  the  horticultural  and  daily  papers,  but  little  has  been 
said  about  the  trees  and  their  management  ;  I  purpose,  therefore,  to 
advance  a  few  remarks  upon  that  phase  of  the  subject.  Some  varieties 
of  Plums  are  most  accommodating  in  regard  to  soil,  and  thrive  equaliv 
well  on  heavy  and  light  ones,  provided  the  latter  are  not  too  sandy, 
but  many  of  the  choicer  varietie.s,  such  as  Gages,  Orleans,  and  Coe’s 
Golden  Drop,  have  a  decided  preference  for  a  calcareous  loam  resting 
on  limestone.  Such  soils  are  warm,  yet  retain  moisture  and  food 
supplied  iboroughly  well,  and  as  the  roots  cannot  descend  deeply 
the  strong  growths  so  liable  to  gumming  are  not  produced.  An  open 
sunny  situation  on  sloping  ground  should,  if  possible,  be  selected  as  a 
site  for  planting,  as  in  low  damp  situations  the  blossoms  are  extremely 
liable  to  injury  by  frosts,  and  a  cold  soil  is  at  all  times  inimical  to  the 
welfare  of  the  trees.  The  hillsides  with  gradual  slopes,  which  abound 
in  Kent  and  Worcestershire,  may  be  considered  ideal  situations  for 
Plum  growing.  When  forming  orchards  in  grass  the  standard  tree 
is,  I  think,  the  most  suitable  form.  If  these  have  clean  stems  ol 
6  feet  Gooseberries  and  Currants  can  be  planted  underneath,  and  from 
18  to  24  feet  is  a  suitable  distance  to  plant  the  Plums.  The  soil 
should  be  bastard  trenched,  but  except  in  the  case  of  poor  soils  no 
manure  need  be  added,  as  it  is  an  easy  matter  to  feed  liberally  when 
the  trees  begin  to  fruit,  and  a  mulching  of  manure  placed  round  the 
trees  after  planting  encourages  surface  rooting,  and  assists  them  in 
times  of  drought. 
Among  dessert  varieties  the  following  are  excellent  for  orchards 
or  plantations : — Decaisne,  very  prolific,  and  ripens  early  in  September. 
Early  Prolific  is  still  one  of  the  best  to  produce  heavy  crops,  and 
although  in  point  of  flavour  it  cannot  compare  with  others  which 
ripen  later,  it  should  nevertheless  be  included  in  every  collection. 
Hulitigs’  Superb,  Golden  Esperen,  at  d  Angelina  Burdett  are  a  trio 
which  ripen  in  late  August  or  early  September;  the  latter  variety  is 
of  particularly  fine  flavour,  and  should  be  largely  grown  when  high 
flavour  is  the  first  consideration.  Royale  Hative  and  Perdrigon  Violet 
Dative  are  also  excellent  varieties  to  plant  for  August  fruiting,  and 
both  are  of  good  flavour.  July  Gage,  though  only  a  moderate 
grower,  succeeds  well  as  a  standard  in  warm  localities,  and  in  point  of 
flavour  is  everything  to  be  desired.  The  markets  seldom  seem  to  be 
overstocked  with  late  Plums,  a  point  which  intending  planters  should 
note  and  act  upon.  There  is  also  room  for  a  greater  number  of  good 
varieties  which  ripen  about  the  end  of  September,  and  I  suspect  that 
raisers  are  already  turning  their  attention  to  the  matter.  In  the 
south  I  have  seen  Guthrie’s  Late  Gage  succeed  well  as  a  standard 
during  favourable  seasons,  but  I  fear  that  this  year  it  will  not  be  a 
success  where  not  given  the  protection  of  a  wall.  I  know  of  no  better 
vatieiy  for  ripening  towards  the  end  of  September,  when  grown  as  a 
standard,  than  Jefferson,  and  it  is  not  in  the  least  particular  in  regard 
to  soil.  Autumn  Compfite,  though  not  generally  classed  as  a  dessert 
sort,  is  of  very  agreeable  flavour,  and  is  certainly  worthy  of  being 
placed  on  the  dessert  table  when  other  varieties  are  scarce. 
The  following  dozen  dessert  varieties  for  walls  I  think  include 
all  the  best  for  the  purpose: — Coe’s  Golden  Drop,  Green  Gage, 
Denniston’s  Superb,  Guthrie’s  Late  Green,  Lkworih  Imperatrice, 
July  Gage,  Jefferson,  Ltwson’s  Golden,  Kirke’s,  Purple  Gage,  Reine 
Claude  de  Bavay,  and  Transparent  Gage.  For  covering  a  wall  quickly 
diagonal  cordons  planted  18  inches  are  the  best,  and  with  only  a 
limited  amount  of  space  at  command  a  selection  of  varieties  to  supply 
fruit  over  a  lot  g  period  can  be  made.  When  grown  in  this  form, 
however,  the  trees  ought  to  he  lifted  every  three  or  four  years  to 
prevent  them  from  growing  too  strongly,  and  to  induce  fruitfulness. 
Horizontal  cordons  are  often  planted  against  walls,  hut  to  my  mind 
fan-shaped  frees  are  preferable  for  Plums,  because,  how'ever  well  they 
may  be  managed,  after  a  few  years  a  few  branches  will  occasionally 
die,  and  when  fan  training  is  practised  the  blanks  are  more  easily 
filled  up  than  when  horizontal  cordons  are  grown.  Fifteen  feet  apart 
is  a  suitable  distance  to  plant  the  trees  against  high  wails,  b  it  in  the 
case  of  low  ones  20  feet  is  not  too  much.  When  preparing  for  planting 
holes  5  feet  across  should  be  made,  and  if  the  soil  be  deep  and  rich  a 
9-inch  layer  of  broken  bricks  and  old  mortar  ought  to  be  placed  in  the 
bottom.  I  hope  to  treat  of  culinary  sorts  in  a  subsequent  note. — H.  D. 
- - 
marketing  Fruit  and  Vegetables. 
There  has  been  a  slight  improvement  of  recent  years  in  the  way 
English  grown  fruit  is  put  on  the  market,  but  even  now  it  is  sad  to  see 
the  way  that  choice  Apples  and  others  are  placed  before  the  public. 
Not  the  least  care  is  taken  to  prevent  bruising  such  delicate  skinned 
varieties  as  Keswick  Codlin,  Lord  Suffield,  and  others  when  they  are 
being  gathered;  they  are  simply  thi-own  into  baskets,  shot  from  one  to 
another,  and  then  sent  to  the  market  or  second  rate  fruiterers,  for  no 
good  business  man  would  have  them  on  his  premises. 
The  baskets  are  often  filthy,  and  no  trouble  is  taken  either  to  clean 
them  or  to  place  anything  between  the  fruit  and  their  sides.  Yet  all 
that  is  needed  to  treble  the  value  of  the  fruit  is  a  clean  basket  with  a- 
little  tissue  paper  inside  it.  Very  old  advice  this,  but  seldom  acted 
upon.  I  was  in  Bristol  market  one  evenii  g,  recently,  when  a  large 
lorry  was  driven  up  piled  with  Vegetable  Marrows.  The  porters  at 
once  began  to  throw  them  into  deep  crates,  smashing  some,  and  bruising 
all,  and  these  must  have  been  a  sorry  looking  stock  when  offered  for  sale 
the  next  morning. 
Had  the  crates  been  taken  to  the  garden  and  filled  carefully  the 
work  of  transport  would  have  been  far  easier,  and  the  Marrows  would 
not  have  been  injured,  even  if  they  had  stayed  for  a  day  or  two. 
These  may  seem  to  some  extreme  cases,  but  they  are  very  common,  in 
spite  of  all  that  has  been  said  and  written  on  the  subject.  The  men 
who  do  this  class  of  thing  are  usually  they  who  lament  the  slackness  of 
trade  and  low  prices.  But  who  can  wonder  at  either  ? — H.  R.  R. 
- »  I - 
Turnip  Disease. 
Mat  I  be  allowed  to  call  attention  to  a  disease  in  Turnips,  especially 
Swedes,  which  has  been  calamitous  to  farmers  in  several  localities  in 
England  and  Scotland  ?  The  disease  shows  itself  by  the  destruction  of 
the  inner  and  younger  leaves  of  the  crown,  the  death  of  the  older  leaves 
(the  stalks  of  which  are  often  injured  by  the  borings  of  an  insect,  the 
attack  of  a  tree  fungus,  or  the  same  agent  which  destroys  the  bulb), 
and  the  development  of  lateral  buds  from  the  axils  of  older  leaves.  The 
Turnip  or  bulb  is  attacked  below  the  crown  of  young  leaves,  and  its 
substance  changed  into  a  putrid  pulp,  which  in  the  end  fills  its  whole 
interior.  Sometimes  the  pulp  is  found  to  be  dried  up,  leaving  an  empty 
cavity,  and  the  progress  of  the  disease  is  arrested.  Though  this  malady 
has  bten  known  to  me  for  a  few  years,  it  is  only  within  the  last  two  or 
three  weeks  that  I  have  been  able  to  determine  with  certainty  that  the 
disease  is  due  to  bacteria.  These  gain  access  to  the  bulb  between  the 
bases  of  the  young  leaves  of  the  crown,  and  then  live  on  and  consume 
the  bulb,  just  as  similar  bacteria  live  on  and  consume  the  lungs  of 
human  beings.  It  is  known  that  sunlight  kills  certain  bacteria,  and  it 
appears  to  me  that  the  arrest  of  the  disease  in  some  of  the  attacked 
Turnips  is  due  to  the  destruction  of  the  leaves,  exposing  the  bacteria  to 
the  direct  influence  of  the  sun,  and  so  causing  their  death. 
A  few  days  ago  I  visited  several  fields  in  the  valley  of  the  Nidd,  in 
Yorkshire,  where  the  disease  has  been  severe.  A  25-acre  field  which  I 
examined  had  but  one  Turnip  in  five  free  from  disease.  The  yellow 
Turnip  appears  not  to  suffer  as  much  as  the  Swede,  though  several  in 
the  headlands  were  seriously  injured.  In  another  field  Cabbages 
growing  beside  the  Swedes  were  also  attacked.  But,  on  the  other  hand, 
a  plot  of  Kohl  Rabi  in  the  worst  field  I  saw  was  quite  free  from  disease. 
There  is  no  reason  to  fear  any  injury  to  Mangolds  from  these  bacteria. 
Nothing  can  be  done  to  save  the  bulbs  already  attacked,  but  something 
should  certainly  be  done  to  prevent  a  repetition  of  the  epidemic  next 
year.  The  myriads  of  bacteria  should  be  destroyed.  This  would 
effectually  be  done  by  building  the  diseased  Turnips  into  a  heap  in 
layers,  placing  between  each  layer  a  plentiful  supply  of  quicklime,  and 
covering  the  whole  over  with  earth.  When  the  Turnip  is  too  far  gone 
to  be  pulled  it  should  be  dug  out.  This  heap  after  remaining  for  two 
years  would,  mixed  with  earth,  make  a  good  top-dressing  for  pasture 
land.  I  hope  in  an  early  number  of  the  Royal  Agricultural  Society’s 
Journal  to  give  a  fuller  description,  with  illustrations  of  this  Turnip 
disease. — William  Carruthees,  Consulting  Botanist  Royal  Agricultural 
Society  (in  “  Morning  Post  ”). 
