rally supposed to have originated in Armenia, but Regnier and Sickler assign it a parallel between the Niger and Mount Atlas. Pallas considers it to be a native of the whole of the Caucasus; and Thunberg describes it as a very large, spreading, branchy tree, in Japan. Both in Caucasus and China it is more frequent on mountains than on plains, which affords a proof of its great hardiness. This tree was cultivated by the Romans, and is described by Pliny and Dioscorides. It is said to have been brought from Greece to Marseilles by the Phocæan colonists, some time in the middle ages. It appears from Turner's Herbal," that it was cultivated in England in 1562; and in Hackluyt's "Remembrancer," published in 1582, it is affirmed, that the apricot was brought from Italy to England by Wolfe, a French priest, gardener to Henry VIII., in 1524. The introduction of the apricot into the United States probably dates back to the early periods of their settlements. It is at present almost as universally cultivated in both Europe and America for a fruit-tree, as the peach; and is more deserving of a place in the shrubbery than that tree, on account of its more vigorous growth, and its much handsomer general shape, independently of its more beautiful leaves. Soil, Culture, &c. Very few trees attain the appearance of maturity so soon as the apricot. A standard ten or twelve years planted, in good loamy, rich soil, will grow to a height of twenty feet, with a head twenty-five feet in diameter, presenting all the appearance of a tree of twenty or thirty years' growth. Hence the value of this tree in planting the grounds of a small villa, where unity of expression and immediate effect is desired. This tree requires very nearly the same soil and mode of culture as the nectarine and domestic plum, and is subject to the attacks of many of the same insects, and frequently loses its fruit before it arrives at maturity. The trees are generally budded on stocks of the plum, and in the higher latitudes are trained against walls. There are several varieties cultivated especially for their fruit, among which the Breda, with its brilliant scarlet buds, the Moorpark, and the Blotched-leaved Roman, stand pre-eminent. There is also the Peach Apricot, with large fruit, supposed to be a hybrid between the peach and apricot, which is much esteemed by some. Properties and Uses. The fruit of the Apricot, like that of the peach and plum, is wholesome and delicious, when taken in moderate quantities, but it cannot be indulged in, to excess, with impunity. When fully ripe it may be used as a dessert at table, or may be dried, or preserved in sirup, like the peach and plum. On the African oases, it is dried, and carried to Egypt, as an article of commerce. In China, the natives employ it variously in the arts. From the wild tree, the pulp is of little value, but it has a large kernel, from which they extract an oil. They preserve this fruit wet in all its flavour; and they make lozenges of the clarified juice, which afford an agreeable beverage, when diluted Derivation The specific name, domestica, is derived from the Latin domus, a house, having reference to this tree as being cultivated about houses, or appertaining to home. Engravings. London Pomological Magazine; Hoffy, Orchardist's Companion; Loudon, Arboretum Britannicum, vi., pl. 111.; and the figures below. Specific Characters. Branches spineless. Flowers mostly solitary. Leaves lanceolate-ovate, concave on the surface, not flat.-De Candolle, Prodromus. Description. HE Prunus domes tica usually grows and from six to ten inches in diameter. It somewhat resembles the common sloe, (Prunus spinosa,) but larger in all its parts, and is without thorns. The bark is black, and the leaves are of a dark-green. The roots are creeping, and, in most soils and situations, throw up numerous suckers. The flowers put forth, in England and in the central parts of the United States, by the middle of April, and nearly a month later at Berlin, in Prussia, and at Boston, in Massachusetts. They are mostly solitary, and contain from twenty to thirty filaments, with yellowish anthers. The style is generally only one; but there are sometimes two. The drupe is globose, depressed at the base, or oblong-ovate, fleshy, glabrous, and covered with a bloom. Varieties. There are more than three hundred varieties and sub-varieties of the domestic cultivated plum, enumerated in catalogues, many of which, perhaps, are only dissimilar in name. It is the opinion of some authors that this species and all its variations, as well as the bullace plum, originated from the common sloe. On this point, however, botanists do not agree, and as it will be irrelevant to our purpose to undertake to refute or defend such a belief, we shall here only notice those which have some pretensions to distinctness of character, and have been cultivated either for ornament or profit. 1. P. D. ARMENIÖIDES, De Candolle. Apricot-like Plum-tree; Mirabelle or Drap d'or, of the French. The leaves, the fruit, and the general habit of this variety bear some resemblance to those of the Armeniaca brigantiaca. It appears to be intermediate between the wild plum and the wild apricot. 2. P. D. CLAUDIANA, De Candolle. The Empress Claudina's Plum-tree; Green Gage, of the English; Reine-claude, of the French; and Grüne Königspflaume, of the Germans. This variety is regarded as one of the best of plums, and is too extensively known to require description. It was introduced into France by the wife of Francis I. Hence the name, Reine-claude. It is called Gage in England, after the name of the family who first cultivated it there. 3. P. D. MYROBALANA, Linnæus. Myrobalan Plum-tree, Cherry or Indian Plumtree; Prunier myrobalan, or Cerisette, French; Kirschpflaumenbaum or Indischer Pflaumenbaum, German. This variety appears to be first removed from the bullace plum, (Prunus insititia,) and may be distinguished by its narrow sepals, globose, depressed fruit, and small-pointed nut. It is supposed by some to be a native of North America, but it is only found in this country in a state of cultivation. It well deserves culture as an ornamental tree, on account of its very early flowering, which takes place much sooner than the fruit-bearing varieties, generally; consequently, it is liable to be injured by frost. 4. P. D. DAMASCENA, De Candolle. Damask or Damascene Plum-tree; Prunier de damas, of the French. 5. P. D. TURONENSIS, De Candolle. Orleans Plum-tree; Monsieur hâtif of the French. This variety is said to have been introduced into Britain from Orleans, in France, when that part of the country was in the possession of the English. 6. P. D. JULIANA, De Candolle. Ste. Julienne Plum-tree, which yields the officinal prunes. 7. P. D. CATHARINA, De Candolle. St. Catharine Plum-tree. The fruit of this variety is a large, yellowish plum, of an oval shape, tapering towards the base, and is distinguished for its remarkably sweet and agreeable flavour, when fresh and ripe from the tree. 8. P. D. AUBERTIANA, De Candolle. Egg Plum-tree, or Magnum Bonum. This variety, as in the plums cultivated for their fruit, generally, has larger leaves, flowers, and fruit, and comes later into bloom than the other kinds. 9. P. D. PRUNEALINA, De Candolle. Damson-tree, common and well known. 10. P. D. WASHINGTONENSIS. Washington or Bolmar Plum-tree. This variety may be known by its roundish, yellow fruit, of an excellent quality, vigorous growth, and pyramidal head. It is very hardy, a great bearer, and particularly deserves cultivation. 11. P. D. FLORE PLENO, Loudon. Double-blossomed Plum-tree, with large, handsome flowers. If the roots of this variety are not supplied with an abundance of nourishment, the flowers will degenerate into semi-double or single ones. 12. P. D. FOLIIS VARIEGATIS, Loudon. Variegated-leaved Plum-tree. Geography and History. The Prunus domestica appears to be more widely diffused in its original locality than the apricot. It is believed to be indigenous to the south of Russia, Caucasus, the Himalayas, and to many parts of Europe. In England, and in some parts of the United States, it is sometimes found in hedges, but never truly wild. This species and many of its varieties are cultivated for ornament, or their fruit, in all the temperate countries of the habitable globe. Faulkner, in his "Kensington," makes the plum a native of Asia, and an introduction into Europe of the Crusaders. Gough, in his "British Topography," says, that Lord Cromwell introduced the Perdrigon plum into England in the time of Henry VII. The introduction of this tree into the United States dates back to the earliest periods of their settlements. Several valuable and interesting varieties have originated in this country, among which, the Bolmar or Washington plum stands conspicuous. The parent tree is said to have been purchased in a market in New York, about the end of the last century. It remained barren for several years, till, during a violent storm of thunder, the entire trunk was severed to the earth, by lightning, and destroyed. The part remaining in the ground, afterwards threw up several vigorous shoots, which were allowed to remain, and finally produce fruit. Trees of this variety were first sent to England in 1819, to Mr. Robert Barclay, of Bury Hill; and several others were sent to the London Horticultural Society, in 1821, by Dr. Hosack, of New York. Soil, Situation, Propagation, &c. The domestic cultivated plum prefers a free, loamy soil, somewhat calcareous, and a little inclined to clay, and a situation open, and exposed to the sun, but sheltered from the blasts of northern winds. It is almost invariably propagated by grafting or budding, and is generally performed on stocks of the most free-growing varieties; or, when the plants are intended for dwarfs, on the Mirabelle plum. The stocks may either be raised from seeds, or by layers. The former should be gathered when the fruit is dead ripe, mixed with sand, and turned over two or three times in the course of the winter, and being sown in March, or as soon as the ground is sufficiently open, they will come up in the May or June following. In Britain, or any other country having a humid climate, plants of this species may be very expeditiously obtained, by pegging down the shoots of the preceding year, which have risen from the stools, and covered with soil to the depth of an inch, or an inch and a The entire shoot being thus covered, and kept moist, each bud will produce a vertical shoot, a foot or more in length, according to the soil and the season; and each of the shoots, when separated from the stool, in the autumn following, just before the falling of the leaves, will be found to have an abundance of roots. The branches which were laid down to produce these shoots should be cut off close to the stool. This method is practised in many of the European nurseries, where stocks are raised in immense quantities, to supply the general demand of the trade. "Numerous as are the cultivated fruit-bearing varieties of the common plum," says Mr. Loudon, "it is clear that they might be increased ad infinitum; and it is also highly probable, that numerous varieties, with fruits totally different from those of the original species, might be procured by cultivating the North American species, P. maritima, and P. pubescens; if, indeed, these are anything more than varieties of P. domestica. There are two forms, which every description of tree seems capable of sporting into, which are yet wanting in the genus Prunus, as at present limited; the one is with branches pendent, and the other with branches erect and fastigiate. There can be no doubt but that an endless number of hybrids, varying in their leaves, blossoms, and fruit, might be produced by fecundating the blossoms of the plum with the pollen of the almond, the peach, the apricot, and the cherry; and, though some may be disposed to assign little value to these kinds of productions, yet it must not be forgotten that almost all the cultivated plants of most value to man, have been produced by some kind of artificial process. Experiments of this kind, therefore, ought never to be discouraged. What culture has done we know; but what it may yet accomplish is concealed in the womb of time." As in the peach-tree, the most proper time for pruning the plum, as well as for most kinds of stone-fruits, is in autumn, just as the leaves are falling, when the sap is in a downward motion, and when a more perfect cicatrization of the wound will take place, than if pruned in the winter or spring. Insects. In America, the Prunus domestica is preyed upon by various insects or their larvæ, among which are those of the Ægeria exitiosa, that bore into its trunk or roots, in a similar manner as they do into the peach-tree; and the slugworm or slimy caterpillar, (Blennocampa cerasi, Harris,) which rests on the upper surface of the leaves of the plum, as well as upon those of the cherry and the pear, eating away their substance, and leaving only the veins and the skin beneath untouched.* But by far the most injurious insect which attacks the plum, is the Curculio nenuphar, (Rhynchanus Conotrachelus Nenuphar, Harris,) * See Harris' Report, p. 384. to which allusion is made under the head of "Insects," in our article on the peach-tree. Dr. Harris describes the perfect insect as a little, rough, dark-brown, or blackish beetle, looking like a dried bud, when it is shaken from the tree, which resemblance is increased by its habit of drawing up its legs, and bending its snout close to the lower side of its body, and remaining for a time without motion, and seemingly lifeless. In stinging the fruit, before laying its eggs, it uses its short, curved snout, which is armed at the tip with a pair of very small nippers; and by means of this weapon, it makes, in the tender skin of the young plum or apple, a crescent-shaped incision, similar to what would be formed by indenting the fruit with the finger nail. Very rarely is there more than one incision made in the same fruit; and in the wound, the weevil lays only a single egg. The insect hatched from this egg is a little whitish grub, destitute of feet, and very much like a maggot in appearance, except that it has a distinct, rounded, light-brown head. It appears from some observations made by Dr. Harris and others, that the large, black, warty tumours found on the small branches of plum and cherry-trees, are infested not only by these insects, but also by another kind of grub, provided with legs, and occasionally by the larvæ of the Ægeria exitiosa, or peach-tree borer. When the grubs of the plum-weevil are fully grown, which occurs at various periods from May to September, they usually fall with the punctured fruit, and go into the earth, where they are changed into chrysalides of a white colour, having the legs and wings free, and capable of motion; and finally they leave the ground in the form of a little beetle, exactly like those above described, which takes place in Massachusetts from the early part of March till towards the middle of June, according to the nature of the season and the exposure of the situation.* Among the various remedies recommended for checking the ravages of these insects, are the paving of the ground directly beneath the trees with bricks, or other materials, so as to prevent the worms from entering the earth, to transform; the pouring of boiling-hot water around the trees, towards the end of August, in order to scald the insects to death; and the shaking or jarring of the trees every evening and morning, during the time that the beetles are occupied in depositing their eggs. When thus disturbed, they contract their legs, and fall; and as they do not immediately attempt to crawl or fly away, they may readily be caught on a mat or sheet, spread under the tree, and then be crushed or burned to death. In addition to the method last described, Dr. Harris recommends that all the fallen wormy plums should be immediately gathered, and, after they are boiled or steamed, to kill the enclosed grubs, they should be given as food to swine. The diseased excrescences, he says, should be cut out, and burned, every year, before the last of June. Properties and Uses. The wood of the Prunus domestica is hard, close, compact, beautifully veined, and susceptible of a fine polish. When dry, it weighs from forty to fifty pounds to a cubic foot, according to the age and growth of the tree. Its texture is silky, and when washed with lime-water, its colour is heightened, and may be preserved by the application of varnish or wax. Unfortunately for this tree, its wood is sometimes rotten at the heart. In France and Germany, it is much sought after by turners, cabinet-makers, and the manufacturers of musical instruments. The leaves are sometimes given to cattle for forage. The use of the fruit in domestic economy for dessert, and for making tarts and puddings, is well known. In France, plums are principally used dry or preserved, and enter extensively into commerce. The kinds usually employed for preserving, are the Brignole, the prune d'Ast, the Perdrigon blanc, the prune d'Agen, and the Ste. Catherine. In warm countries, plums or prunes are dried on hurdles by * See Harris' Report, pp. 66, 67, 68, 351, 352. |