Purple Gage
Fruit medium, round, purple, with pale blue bloom; flesh firm, and of the most delicious flavour. Beginning and middle of September. A dessert Plum of the greatest excellence; if allowed to ripen and shrivel, the fruit becomes a perfect sweetmeat. Tree hardy and productive; succeeds as a standard, and also against a wall.
Red Magnum Bonum. Fruit very large, oval, deep red; flesh firm, and briskly-flavoured. Middle of September. A very old culinary variety; it succeeds well as a standard.
Reine Claude de Bavay. Fruit large, round, greenish-yellow, mottled with green, and covered with a delicate bloom; flesh tender, rich and sugary. End of September and beginning of October. Dessert. A large, valuable variety of the GREEN GAGE race.
Royale de Tours. Fruit large, light purple, with small, yellow dots and blue bloom; flesh very juicy, and of rich flavour. Middle of August. Excellent either for dessert or preserving.
Royale Hative. Fruit medium-sized, round, light purple, with blue bloom; flesh yellow, melting, exceedingly rich. End of July. A good early dessert Plum. Sultan (Rivers'). Fruit medium or large, round, deep red, with a thick bloom; flavour brisk and pleasant. Middle of August. A very productive and excellent culinary Plum, raised by Mr. Rivers from BELLE DE SEPTEMBRE. The Czar (Rivers'). Fruit very large, oval, dark purple, almost black when ripe; flesh tender, juicy, and agreeably flavoured. End of July and beginning of August. A very valuable early culinary Plum, raised by Mr. Rivers from PRINCE ENGELBERT, fertilised by another variety. The tree is hardy, robust, and very productive, and the fruits are not liable to crack with the rain. Transparent Gage. Fruit large, round, much flattened, greenish-yellow, marbled with red; flesh transparent, rich, juicy, and of high excellence. Beginning and middle of September. One of the most delicious Plums for dessert, and considered the finest of the Gage tribe. Two seedlings have been raised by Mr. Rivers from this variety, and named EARLY TRANSPARENT and LATE TRANSPARENT GAGE., The first-named is said to ripen ten days before, and the other ten days after, the typical sort. "The two seedlings and the parent differ entirely in their growth, but are almost identical in the quality and size of the fruit. The EARLY TRANSPARENT is upright and compact, but vigorous; the LATE TRANSPARENT is dwarf and compressed" (Rivers).
Victoria. Fruit large, roundish-oval, bright red, covered with a thin bloom; flesh very juicy and sweet. September. A well-known and first-rate culinary Plum, very extensively cultivated in market gardens, and worthy of a place in every collection. The tree is a most abundant bearer, both as a standard and against a wall.
Washington. Fruit large and handsome, deep yellow when ripe, marked with crimson, and covered with pale bluish bloom; flesh firm, rich, and sugary. Middle of September. One of the best culinary Plums, also sometimes used for dessert.
White Magnum Bonum. Fruit very large, oval, deep yellow, with thin, white bloom; flesh firm, rather coarse, sub-acid. September. A very large and valuable variety for cooking and preserving; it is usually known as the EGG PLUM. The tree is vigorous, and generally bears well. Winesour. Fruit rather small, oval, dark purple; flesh juicy, sub-acid. Middle of September. A very valuable variety for preserving and for culinary purposes; much esteemed in some districts, but not so good in others. Woolston Black. Fruit medium, round, deep purple, with blue bloom; flesh melting and richly flavoured, particularly after becoming shrivelled. Beginning of September. Dessert.
Of the Bullace (Prunus insititia) there are several varieties. The species grows wild in many parts of Britain, and the fruits are much like Damsons, except that they are round, instead of being oval. They are used for cooking and preserving. The sorts best known are named respectively BLACK, ESSEX, ROYAL, and WHITE. The trees are usually enormous bearers. Amongst Damsons the following are recommended:
Common. Fruit small, roundish-oval, dark purple or nearly black. Middle and end of September. A well-known variety, much esteemed for preserving. Crittenden's, or Cluster. Fruit larger than other varieties of Damson, roundish-oval, black, with a thin bloom. Middle of September. This is considered the best sort of Damson; it was raised in Kent, and has recently been brought into prominent notice because of its extraordinary fertility. The tree forms a handsome pyramid.
Prune. Fruit oval, larger than the COMMON Damson, and considered better for preserving, but the tree is not generally so productive. September. Much esteemed in the North.
Rivers' Early. A seedling raised by Mr. Rivers from ST. ETIENNE PLUM. Early in August. It is very early, and a valuable addition.
White. Fruit oval, pale yellow, with a thin bloom; flesh yellow, agreeably acid. End of September.
FUNGI. The Fungi parasitic on Plums need not be greatly dilated upon, since few of them do much injury to any part of the tree. A considerable number of Pyrenomycetes have been found growing upon the dead branches; but they are not known to be injurious to the living plants, with a few exceptions mentioned below, and even these are scarcely dangerous, except under conditions that specially favour their growth. The leaves are sometimes thinly covered with a white coating, composed of filaments of the nature of those described under Oidium. After a time, there become visible, scattered over this coating, small, round, black particles, like grains of gunpowder. These, by the help of the microscope, are seen to be perithecia, in each of which is inclosed a single ascus, and in this lie eight colourless, oblong, very minute spores, which escape by the walls of the perithecium bursting when ripe. The latter body is provided on the top with from three to seven upright, stiff, slender outgrowths, each of which bifurcates four or five times near the tip. This Fungus has received the names Podosphaera Kunzei, and P. tridactyla. The latter name is now generally adopted. Reproduction is effected both by the spores described above, and by means of conidia, developed as described under Oidium. Through not uncommon, the Fungus is seldom very hurtful to Plum-trees; but, where desirable to check its growth, this may be effected by dusting the leaves with flowers of sulphur, or by syringing them with a mixture prepared from sulphur and quicklime, as recommended under Mildew, or with potassium sulphide solution (see Oidium).
Another Fungus parasitic on Plums, and named Exoascus Pruni, gives rise to a peculiar condition of the fruit, known as "Bladder Plums." The presence of this Fungus is easily recognised by the great increase in the size of the young fruits, as compared with healthy fruits of the same age, by their elongated, pointed form, by the greyish-green bloom on their surface, and by the diseased fruits being hollow, like bladders, with frequently barely a vestige of the seed. After a short time, these enlarged fruits turn to a dirty-yellow colour, fade, and shrivel up. The mycelium of this Fungus lives all the year round in the soft bast of the twigs, which often show distinct traces of its presence. From these it extends into the ovaries of the flowers, along the woody bundles, and thence spreads throughout the tissues, and comes to lie close below the skin of the ovary. Branches grow out from the mycelium, burst through the skin, and stand erect, side by side, over the surface. Each reaches a length of rather over 1/500in., with a breadth of about a quarter as much, and is supported on an oblong stalk-cell, about one-fourth of its length, which rests on the surface of the epidermis, not pressing between its cells. Each of the longer cells is an ascus, and has inclosed in it eight round spores, which are set free by the bursting of the ascus, about the time the fruit withers. The spores are scattered far and wide by the wind, and such as fall into favourable situations propagate the disease anew. The only remedy likely to prove useful is to cut off, and burn without delay, the fruits and branches that show traces of the Fungus.
The leaves of Plum-trees frequently show thickened. fleshy, orange-red spots, of irregularly-rounded outline, These are the work of a Fungus known as Polystigma rubrum. A section through one of these spots will probably pass through one or more flask-shaped spaces, some of which are perithecia, inclosing numerous asci, in each of which are eight minute, oval, colourless spores. Other of the flask-shaped bodies are pycnidia of the same Fungus; and in them lie numerous slender, curved, rod-like, colourless sporidia, each formed on the tip of a small stalk. Both kinds of flasks have the walls in-separable from the surrounding tissues, and both open by narrow mouths on the lower surface of the spots. On examination, with the microscope, of a thin slice from the leaf, the tissues are found crammed with the filaments of the Fungus, and much altered. However, the spots are rarely so numerous as to do much harm to the leaves, though they take nourishment from them, and prevent the proper fulfilment of their functions. This Fungus is widely spread, in Europe, Asia, and North America. Where the Fungus is doing harm to Plum-trees, it will be well to collect and burn the diseased leaves, and also those which have fallen. Sorauer recommends digging the latter into the ground in early spring, before the young leaves burst from the buds, to prevent risk of their being infected. As regards the prevention of diseases of Plum-trees, it is very desirable to remove from their neighbourhood Sloe-bushes and Bird Cherries, since the disease-producing insects and Fungi live on these species as well as on the Plum.
Plums frequently suffer badly from the action of Oidium fructigenum, for a full account of which, including remedies, see Pear (FUNGI). The Fungus sometimes covers the entire surface of the fruits, rendering them quite white, and causing them to dry up.
INSECT PESTS. These are not very hurtful in the British Islands except, it may be, in a few cases, under peculiar conditions. The roots are liable to be cut and eaten by Cockchafers, &c. Certain Bark Beetles injure the stems, especially of trees that are not otherwise quite healthy. Some Weevils also feed, as larvae, in winding galleries below the bark of diseased or weakly trees; among these, one of the more prominent is Magdalinus Pruni, a beetle about 1/12in to 1/7in. long, with black body and dull red antennae. The branches are attacked at times by Weevils of the genus Rhynchites. R. Alliariae, which is perhaps the most injurious species, is from 1/8in to 1/5in. long, and is blue, with coarsely-striated wing-cases, dusky antennae, and a moderately long beak. The female lays her eggs on the buds near the end of the young shoots, in spring, and then gnaws the branch a little below the tip. The part beyond the notch hangs down and withers, and is thereby rendered suitable for nourishing the larvae, which usually feed in the pith. This Weevil is at times very hurtful among young trees on the Continent. The perfect insects of this, and of certain allied species, do considerable harm by gnawing the young buds and leaves.
A considerable number of Moths, and one Butterfly, Aporia Crataegi, or the Black-veined White (see Hawthorn Caterpillars), feed, as larvae, upon Plum leaves; but most of those that call for notice are more hurtful to other trees, and will be found treated of under the following headings: Lackey Moth, Leaf-rollers, Li-paris, Moths, Tortricina, and Winter Moths. The larvae of certain species of Sawflies also prove destructive by devouring the leaves. The worst of these is Eriocampa limacina, the larvae of which feed on a great variety of cultivated trees and shrubs, and go by the name of Slugworms, because of their form, of their sluggish habits, and of a slimy excretion that covers the body. For an account of these larvae, and of the means to be used to destroy them, see Slugworms. The young branches and leaves are invaded, at times, by colonies of Aphides or Green Flies. Phorodon Humuli, var. Mahaleb, causes the young leaves at the tips of the twigs to become rather fleshy and wrinkled, the insects living in large colonies on their lower surface. Myzus Persicae has very similar habits; and one or two other species are not rare on Plum-trees.
The flowers and fruits are attacked chiefly by the Plum Weevil (Rhynchites cupreus) and the Plum Tortrix (Carpocapsa funebrana). The larvae of both these insects bore into the unripe fruit, and, by causing its premature fall, materially injure the crop. The Weevil is rather under 1/5in. long, bronze or coppery in colour, with a thin coating of scattered grey hairs, and a black beak and limbs. The wing-cases are deeply marked with dots or pittings. When the fruit is scarcely half grown, the female lays her eggs on it, and the larvae penetrate into it. The moth (Carpocapsa funebrana) is seldom seen, but it is very common, in the larval state, in unripe Plums. The fore wings are grey, clouded with darker shades; at the hinder angle of each is a spot of ash-grey, with a faint metallic lustre, surrounded by an indistinct border, in which lies a row of black dots. The spread of wings is rather over 1/2in. The larvae are reddish above, paler below, with the head brown-black. There are a few soft hairs on the body. The larvae of both beetle and moth feed in the Plums during early autumn, and, when the fruits fall, the larvae crawl out, burrow into the ground, and there become pupae, to emerge as perfect insects in the following spring.
Remedies. For the means to be adopted against insects on the roots, see Cockchafer and Mole Cricket; and for those against Bark Beetles, see Scolytidae. The leaf-feeding beetles and larvae of moths are best got rid of by shaking or jarring the branches over anything laid or held below, and collecting and killing the insects. In some cases, hand-picking is the most satisfactory method. The Slugworms or Sawfly larvae cannot be got rid of by this method, but require special treatment, for which see Slugworms. Aphides are best combated by the removal of all surplus young twigs, especially if attacked by the Aphides, and by applications syringed upwards below the leaves. See Aphides. The species that feed in the fruits are best kept under by collecting the prematurely fallen fruits, without delay, and burning them, or giving them to pigs.
Following up the above account of the insect pests on the Plum, it may be mentioned that Mite Galls, of the genus Phytoptus (see Mites), produce galls of two or three kinds on the leaves of the Plum, as well as on the Sloe and the Bird Cherry. Of these, the more conspicuous are Erineum Padi, in the form of irregular patches of velvety, close-set hairs, at first pale, but becoming rusty-brown, on the lower surface of the leaf; also outgrowths of a rounded or bullet-like form, and half a line to two lines long, and green or red, scattered over the surface of the leaf (Cephaloneon molle), or near the margins (C. hypocrateriforme and C. confluens). They also, at times, produce small galls in the bark of young branches (Cecidoptes Pruni). However, none of these mite-galls seriously affect the welfare of the tree, though rendering it unsightly. If from any cause it seems desirable to check the increase of the galls, hand-picking is the only remedy likely to be of use. The fruits of the Plum-tree are very much injured, in the United States of America and in Canada, by the larvae of two kinds of Weevils, both living in the fruit. Though neither has proved hurtful to Plums in England, the habits of the larvae, and their abode in the fruits, render their introduction not unlikely; hence, the insects and the kind of injury done by them, are here shortly described. The Plum Curculio (Conotrachelus nenuphar) is about 1/5in. long, small, rough, and blackish, and has on each wing-case, in the middle, a black, shining hump, and behind this a clay-yellow band, variegated with white spots in the middle. The female settles on the young fruit, bores a hole in the skin to receive an egg, drops it in, and then makes a crescent-shaped cut about half round it. She repeats this process on one fruit after another. The larva hatches in a few days, and at once eats into the fruit, till it arrives at the stone, near which it feeds. It reaches its full size in from three to five weeks. The fruit becomes gummy, and falls prematurely and the larva remains, till it is full grown, in the fallen fruit; it then eats its way out, bores into the ground, changes into a pupa, and the perfect insect emerges in from three to six weeks. The beetles hybernate under bark and in other retreats. This insect often destroys a large part of the Plum and Cherry harvest, and it also feeds in other stone fruits. The best remedy is to jar the beetles into an inverted umbrella, or on to sheets spread below the tree, and to collect and destroy the fallen fruits without delay, or to turn pigs into the orchards to feed on them. Rubbish should not be left for shelter to beetles. The second species (Coccotorus scutellaris) is popularly called the