Plums are more liable than most other fruits to produce disorders of digestion, and when eaten raw should be carefully selected, that they be neither unripe nor unripe.  Cooking renders them less objectionable.

THE PRUNE.—­The plum when dried is often called by its French cognomen, prune.  The larger and sweeter varieties are generally selected for drying, and when good and properly cooked, are the most wholesome of prepared fruits.

THE APRICOT.—­This fruit seems to be intermediate between the peach and the plum, resembling the former externally, while the stone is like that of the plum.  The apricot originated in Armenia, and the tree which bears the fruit was termed by the Romans “the tree of Armenia.”  It was introduced into England in the time of Henry VIII.  The apricot is cultivated to some extent in the United States, but it requires too much care to permit of its being largely grown, except in certain sections.

THE CHERRY.—­The common garden cherry is supposed to have been derived from the two species of wild fruit, and historians tell us that we are indebted to the agricultural experiments of Mithridates, the great king of ancient Pontus, for this much esteemed fruit.  It is a native of Asia Minor, and its birthplace.

THE OLIVE.—­From time immemorial the olive has been associated with history.  The Scriptures make frequent reference to it, and its cultivation was considered of first importance among the Jews, who used its oil for culinary and a great variety of other purposes.  Ancient mythology venerated the olive tree above all others, and invested it with many charming bits of fiction.  Grecian poets sang its praises, and early Roman writers speak of it with high esteem.  In appearance and size the fruit is much like the plum; when ripe, it is very dark green, almost black, and possesses a strong, and, to many people, disagreeable flavor.  The pulp abounds in a bland oil, for the production of which it is extensively cultivated in Syria, Egypt, Italy, Spain, and Southern France.  The fruit itself is also pickled and preserved in various ways, but, like all other similar commodities when thus prepared, it is by no means a wholesome article of food.

THE DATE.—­The date is the fruit of the palm tree so often mentioned in the Sacred Writings, and is indigenous to Africa and portions of Asia.  The fruit grows in bunches which often weigh from twenty to twenty-five pounds, and a single tree will bear from one to three thousand pounds in a season.  The date is very sweet and nutritious.  It forms a stable article of diet for the inhabitants of some parts of Egypt, Arabia, and Persia, and frequently forms the chief food of their horses, dogs, and camels.  The Arabs reduce dried dates to a meal, and make therefrom a bread, which often constitutes their sole food on long journeys through the Great Desert.  The inhabitants of the countries where the date tree flourishes, put its various productions to innumerable uses.