Belgian Purple (Bleu de Belgique)

Fruit, medium sized; roundish, marked with a shallow suture, one side of which is a little swollen. Skin, deep purple, covered with blue bloom. Stalk, about an inch long, inserted in a cavity. Flesh, greenish, rather coarse, very juicy, sweet, and rich, slightly adherent to the stone.

A valuable cooking plum; ripe in the middle of August. Shoots, smooth.

Belle De Louvain

Fruit, large, two inches and a quarter long, and an inch and three-quarters wide; long oval, marked with a well-defined suture. Skin, reddish purple, covered with a delicate bloom. Stalk, three-quarters of an inch long, stout, and inserted in a considerable depression. Flesh, yellow, firm, adhering closely to the stone, and with an agreeable flavour.

A culinary plum, in use in the end of August. Shoots, smooth.

Belle De Septembre (Autumn Beauty; Reina Nova; Gros Rouge de Septembre)

Fruit, large, roundish oval, marked with a shallow suture. Skin, thin, violet-red, thickly covered with yellow dots, and a thin blue bloom. Stalk, half an inch long, slender, inserted in a shallow cavity. Flesh, yellowish white, firm, juicy, sweet, and aromatic, adhering rather to the stone.

A first-rate plum for cooking or preserving; it furnishes a fine crimson juice or syrup. Ripe in the beginning and middle of October. Shoots, downy.

Belvoir Plum

Fruit, above medium size, the size of a Green Gage, round, marked on one side with a faint suture, which is deepest towards the stalk. Skin, thin, black when quite ripe, covered with markings of russet and russet dots, and a fine bright blue bloom. Stalk, half an inch long. Flesh, yellow, tender, richly flavoured and sweet, separating from the stone.

A first-rate late plum, which hangs till the middle of November in perfect condition. Shoots, smooth.

Bingham

Fruit, large and handsomely shaped; oblong. Skin, deep yellow, and somewhat spotted with bright red next the sun. Stalk, slightly inserted. Flesh, yellow, juicy, rich, and delicious, adhering to the stone.

An excellent dessert plum; ripe in the middle of September. It is of American origin, and does not acquire its full richness of flavour in this country when grown as a standard, but is much improved against a south-east or south-west wall. The young shoots are downy, and the tree is an excellent bearer. It originated in Pennsylvania.

Black Damask. See Morocco. Black Morocco. See Morocco. Black Perdrigon. See Blue Gage. Bleeker's Gage. See Bleeker's Yellow. Bleeker's Scarlet. See Lombard.

Bleeker's Yellow (Bleeker's Yellow Gage; Bleeker's Gage; German Gage)

Fruit, medium sized; roundish oval, suture obscure. Skin, yellow, with numerous imbedded white specks, and covered with thin white bloom. Stalk, downy, an inch and a quarter long, and attached without depression. Flesh, yellow, rich, sweet and luscious, separating from the stone.

A delicious dessert plum; ripe in the middle of September. The young shoots are downy, and the tree is hardy, and an excellent bearer.

It was raised about the year 1805 by Mrs. Bleeker, of Albany, U.S., from a stone of a German prune which had been imported from Germany.

Bleeker's Yellow Gage. See Bleeker's Yellow. Bleu de Belgique. See Belgian Purple.

Blue Gage. See Early Blue.