stone. Juice sub-acid, but not possessing any peculiar flavour. Ripe the beginning of August. This is a very handsome little fruit; although inferior to some of the early sorts, it deserves cultivation. 1 49. JAUNE HÂTIVE. Duhamel, No. 1. t. 1. Prune de Catalogne. Ib. Prune de St. Barnabé. Bon Jard. 1897. p. 289. White Primordian. Langley, p. 90. t. 20. fig. 1. Miller, No. 1. Amber Primordian. Parkinson, No. 1. Catalonian. Of the Old Gardens. Branches slender, downy. Fruit small, oblong, broader at the apex than at the base, having a shallow suture extending the length of the fruit, about one inch and a quarter in diameter. Stalk half an inch long, slender. Skin pale yellow, covered with a very thin white bloom. from the stone. Flesh yellow, melting, and separates Juice sweet. Ripe on a south wall the middle of July. Langley, in his Pomona, says this plum ripened in 1727, at Twickenham in Middlesex, on a south-east wall, June 9. O. S., or June 20. N. S. The Jaune Hâtive, although not possessing much flavour, deserves to be cultivated against a south wall, being the first plum which ripens. It is an old inhabitant of our gardens, having been cultivated by John Tradescant*, who obtained the title of gardener to King Charles the First, and settled at his garden at Lambeth, about the year 1629. 50. MAÎTRE CLAUDE. Langley, Pom. t.23. f. 6. Miller, No. 14. Branches slender, downy. Fruit middle-sized, rather more broad than long, a little compressed at its *Rees's Cyclop. apex. Stalk short. Skin yellow, marbled with red on the sunny side. Flesh yellow, and separates from the stone. Juice sugary, and well flavoured. Ripe the middle of August. This plum ripened at Twickenham, in 1727, on a south-east wall, July 23. O. S., or August 3. N. S. Langley. The Maitre Claude was known both to Switzer and Hitt; but is not mentioned either in Duhamel's Traité, or in the Bon Jardinier of M. Noisette. 51. MIRABELLE. Miller, No. 23. Duhamel, No. 29. t. 14. White Mirable. Langley, p. 93. t. 23. f. 7. Fruit small, a little more long than broad, about an inch in length. Stalk half an inch long. Skin yellow, becoming of an amber colour as it ripens. Flesh yellow, and separates from the stone. Juice rich and sugary. Ripe the middle of August. Ripened at Twickenham, 1729, on a standard, July 20. O. S., or July 31. N. S. Langley. 52. SAINT CATHARINE. Langley, p. 94. t. 24. fig. 4. Miller, No. 21. Sainte Catherine. Duhamel, No. 43. t. 19. Branches smooth. Fruit middle-sized, of an oblong figure, being broadest at the apex, and tapering to the base, and having a narrow suture about one inch and a half long, and nearly the same in diameter in its widest part. Stalk three quarters of an inch long, slender. Skin whitish, turning to a pale yellow as it ripens, and tinged with a little russetty red on the sunny side. Flesh pretty firm, yellow, and adheres to Juice rich, sugary, and high-flavoured. Ripe the middle of September, with the Imperatrice, and, like that, will hang and shrivel upon the tree, the stone. H H 53. WASHINGTON. Pom. Mag. t. 16. New Washington. Hort. Soc. Cat. No. 270. Branches downy. Fruit regularly oval, with a very obscure suture just at the stalk, where it is rather deep, about one inch and three quarters long, and one inch and five eighths in diameter. Stalk three quarters of an inch long, slightly pubescent. Skin dull yellow, broken a little with green, assuming an orange cast on the sunny side, with a purplish bloom, and more or less mottled with crimson dots. Flesh yellow, firm, very sweet and luscious, separating freely from the stone. Stone oval, acute at each end, wrinkled all over, and nearly even at the edges. Ripe in September. The parent tree of the Washington Plum, it appears, was purchased in the market of New York, towards the end of the last century. It remained barren several years, till during a violent thunder-storm, the whole trunk was struck to the earth and destroyed. The root afterwards threw up a number of vigorous shoots, all of which were allowed to remain, and finally produced fruit. It is therefore to be presumed, that the stock of the barren kind was the parent of this. Trees were sent to Robert Barclay, Esq., of Bury Hill, in 1819; and in 1821, several others were presented to the Horticultural Society by Dr. Hosack, of New York. It fruits equally well on an east and west wall; but on a south it is found to be too hot, the fruit becoming smaller, with many black specks. There is no doubt it will bear abundantly as a standard. 54. WENTWORTH. Miller, No. 26. Langley, Pom. t. 25. f. 4. Duhamel, No. 41. t. 20. f. 10. Dame Aubert. Fruit of the largest size, of an oval figure, having a deep suture extending from the base to the apex, about two inches and a quarter long, and one inch and three quarters in diameter. Stalk three quarters of an inch long, inserted in a rather deep cavity. Skin thick and leathery, of a yellow colour, tinged with green on the shaded side, and covered with a white bloom. Flesh yellow, rather coarse, and separates from the stone. Juice subacid, somewhat austere. Ripe in September. It ripened at Twickenham, in 1727, on a south-east wall, Aug. 20. O. S., or Aug. 31. N. S. Langley. This has a good deal the appearance of the White Magnum Bonum, but is not so much pointed, of a deeper colour, and, like that, fit only for preserving; but for this it is excellent. The Wentworth Plum is said, by Langley, to have been so called from its having been first planted in the gardens of the Right Honourable Thomas Wentworth Earl of Strafford, at Twickenham. MILLER has strangely confounded this with the Monsieur of DUHAMEL, in which he has been followed by MARTYN and FORSYTH; but no two plums can be more distinct. 55. WHITE BULLACE. Hort. Soc. Cat. No. 4. Branches slender, twiggy, downy. Fruit small, round, mostly growing by pairs. Skin yellowish white, and when fully ripe, a little mottled with red on the sunny side. Flesh greenish white, firm, and closely adheres to the stone. Juice acid, but so tempered by sweetness and roughness as not to be unpleasant, especially after it is mellowed by frost.. Ripe in October. Large quantities of the White Bullace are brought into the market in Norwich, and elsewhere in the county of Norfolk, where they are highly esteemed for tarts they are by some preserved by boiling them in sugar, and in this state they will keep twelve months. 56. WHITE DAMASK. Hort. Soc. Cat. No. 71. Petit Damas Blanc. Duhamel, No. 6. t. 3. Fruit small, nearly globular, about an inch in diameter. Stalk half an inch long, very slender. Skin greenish yellow, rather thick, covered with a thin white bloom. Flesh yellow, melting, and separates from the stone. Juice Juice sugary, of an agreeable flavour. Ripe the beginning and middle of September. 57. WHITE DAMSON. White Prune Damson. Branches long, smooth. three inches and a half in its half an inch long, slender. with a thin white bloom. Hort. Soc. Cat. No. 88. the stone. Juice plentiful, a little sugary, mixed with a small portion of acid. Ripe the middle and end of September. 58. WHITE IMPERATRICE. Pom. Mag. t. 38. Imperatrice Blanche. Duhamel, 40. t. 18. f. 2. Die Weisse Kaiserpflaume. Pom. Aust. 2. 33. t. 181. f. 2., according to the Pom. Mag. Fruit middle-sized, oval, with an indistinct suture, very blunt at each end; about one inch and three quarters long, and one inch and a half in diameter. Stalk half an inch long, inserted in a narrow cavity. Skin bright yellowish ochre colour, with a slight evanescent bloom. Flesh firm, juicy, sweet, and rather more transparent than that of most plums, separating freely from the stone. It ripens on a west wall about the beginning of September. It will scarcely succeed as an open standard, except in warm situations. |