Plums, Damsons and Gages Part 1 by Martin Welsh

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Plums

Plums, Damsons and Gages

All of the above are closely related, being derived from Prunus spinosa, the blackthorn or sloe which is endemic to the British Isles, Prunus domestica, the wild plum sometimes called P. institia, or bullace (possibly native of the British Isles) and Prunus cerasifera the cherry plum.

All of these originate from the Black Sea area and central Russia. Another source of breeding material is Prunus triflora, the Salacine plum, from which the large fruited plums are produced. This originated in the Far East producing tender trees unsuitable for use in the British Isles.

It is possible that material from the Salacine plum may be introduced into breeding programmes in order to produce hardy large fruited varieties, but it will not be considered further here. It is obvious from the botanic names that the plums are closely related to the cherry family, as the structure of their fruit, the habits of the trees and their history and cultivation are indeed very similar.

Traces of sloes have been found as fossils in glacial deposits in East Anglia, and signs of sloe gathering have been found in Neolithic remains. The fruits of the blackthorn, sloes, are very astringent, so it is possible that the collections were made for dyestuffs rather than foodstuffs, although presumably honey was also collected which could have been used to sweeten them, or they may have been used in an exotic beverage used to warm up the Stone Age raves!

Once you leave these uncivilised periods of our heritage the presence of particular types of trees is influenced by the tastes and ingenuity of the various travellers, conquering and otherwise, who came to our shores. Certainly there are remains of sloes at Iron Age and Roman sites, together with remains of bullaces which are quite palatable when fully ripe

The other features which should not be overlooked are that our forbears were dependent upon wild plants for treating bodily ailments, and they were always anxious to find food that could be preserved for use during the winter months. Peter Treueris writes in his herbal in 1526: Plomes; They have vertue to smothe and polyshe y bowelles. He was certainly right and one should not tarry too long beneath a tree full of ripe plums!

In the wild the fruits of the plum family occur in several colours. Around the northern Black Sea coast yellow fruit is common, in southern Russia, where P.cerasifera has crossed with P.spinosa, red fruit is common and on the coasts of the Caspian Sea and the southern coasts of the Black Sea black fruits are common.

Obviously where these areas join many crosses between different varieties and strains will occur these combinations producing the variations in fruit colour which we see today. As in the case of most other fruits, natives have selected trees producing the most desirable fruits and encouraged them to increase and multiply.

When visitors arrive who admire the results of their efforts, gifts are thrust upon them, and samples of the bountiful strain are spread by the returning visitors to their home area, or taken with them on their extended travels to be planted in some distant far off land.

Strangely, little is written about plums in the early classics, and it is not until Pliny, who expresses surprise that they were overlooked by Cato 250 years previously, when coherent mention of the growing, cultivation, selection, and storage of plums is made. He mentions some twelve distinct varieties including the damson which he refers to as a foreign tree named after its area of origin, Damascus.

The Romans certainly took their favourite varieties to Britain, after which there are signs of Viking and Saxon collections of cultivated plum stones, but after that, there is little trace of serious plum culture until the monasteries started to record their gardening activities.

In 1270 Westminster Abbey required the gardener to produce plums; in 1362, plums figure in William Langlands Piers Ploughman; in 1548, William Turner includes them in his Names of Herbes and they were well described by Gerard in 1597 with Parkinson detailing 61 varieties in 1629.

Meanwhile many varieties and cultivars were being developed on the continent where the climate is a little more hospitable for their commercial culture and these newer varieties slowly spread to the monasteries and large gardens in great Britain where the more fruitful varieties were marketed by the burgeoning nursery trade. Similarly throughout the history of the plum and its relatives, techniques for preserving them were improving so that dried plums, prunes and pickled plums were available in the markets at the time of Parkinson in 1629.

Grafting techniques were widely used for the propagation of plums from Roman times and over the years selections of rootstocks contributed to improved crops and faster breeding of new cultivars.

Initially, selection of materials for rootstocks was normally directed towards the most easily obtained material, but slowly, after difficulties with compatibility between rootstocks and some of the selected varieties St Julian became the preferred rootstock upon which to graft or bud scions of the desired variety.

St Julian or Julien is a form of P.institia producing a plum which is good for drying. It was originally bred in France from a seedling and is still widely used today as it is compatible with all varieties.

In the 17th and 18th centuries the number of allegedly different varieties increased and multiplied with many records being made of enormous collections but it is probable that there were only about 70 or 80 true varieties in widespread cultivation.

At the beginning of the 19th century the Horticultural Society initiated a breeding programme to develop more hardy varieties which were not susceptible to early frost damage but their attempts were not successful.

During the 19th century English nurserymen began to breed varieties which were more vigorous and fruitful in the British climate with Thomas Rivers producing `Early Rivers' in 1820 with a seedling from Précoce de Tours which in its imported form did not thrive at Sawbridgeworth, the site of Mr Rivers' orchard.

In 1873 he repeated this success producing Early Transparent Gage from a seedling of Reine-Claude Diaphane and this was awarded a First Class Certificate by the RHS in 1898.

Further success was achieved in 1875 by cross fertilising Early Rivers with a Belgian variety, Prince Englebert, to produce Czar. All of these plums are still available from reputable nurserymen.

Other English introduced crosses are Oullins Gage a chance seedling imported by Thomas Rivers in 1856, Victoria a chance seedling from a garden in Alderton, Sussex, brought to market by a Brixton nurseryman Mr Denyer. Introductions from America include Dennistons Superb, a selection from 25 quarts of germinated Green Gage stones, Jefferson's Gage, raised by Judge Buel in Albany New York, and Ontario Gage also raised in New York.

To these selected and bred varieties must be added the local varieties which earned their niche by thriving in particular localities such as the Cambridge Gage, the Aylesbury Prune, Pershore Purple, Shropshire Prune Damson and Warwickshire Drooper, all of which are currently available.

This article originally appeared in the Members Bulletin, the journal of the National Vegetable Society, which is sent quarterly to members. You can Join the National Vegetable Society here

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