THE TRUE PEACH PLUM. 



113 



are attempted ; and every where, the west- 

 ern gardens show great kindness in nature, 

 but much carelessness in man. You will 

 find abundance of corn and potatoes (not 

 diseased,) sunflowers and cabbage, beets, 

 parsneps, onions, egg-plants, tomatoes, 

 squashes and gourds of almost incredible 

 dimensions, in the very shadow, perhaps, 

 of the wilderness ; here and there you will 

 observe an orchard of apples and peaches, 

 or a strawberry " patch" of no small extent, 

 or perhaps the beginning of a vineyard. 

 Such "patches" as these suggest whatever 

 emotions of sweetness or grandeur, wildness, 

 surprise, or wonder, are to be derived from 

 so primitive and merely useful a condition 

 of the art of gardening. The enormous size 

 and great abundance of his products how- 

 ever, no doubt furnish the western cultivator 

 present satisfaction for the want of polished 

 parterres, trim walks, statues, temples, foun- 

 tains and buildings, while he feels at the 

 same time no particular obligation to divide 

 with man the tribute of gratitude he freely 

 pays to the Great Designer. 



But the glorious West is rising and ad- 

 vancing. With the increase in population 

 and wealth, our cities and towns are going 



forward in all the arts of life. Tempted by 

 offers of constant employment and high 

 wages, some of the best mechanics are 

 seeking our western towns, and every year 

 indicates improvementin the art of building. 

 As fortunes accumulate, men retire Vo the 

 suburbs or the country, purchase sites for 

 residences, begin to embellish their grounds, 

 and surround themselves with the comforts 

 and luxuries of art and nature. True, w^ 

 cannot yet boast the beautiful country seats 

 which so much adorn the vicinity of Boston, 

 yet we can point to some sites of remarka- 

 ble natural beauty, and to a few buildings 

 and decorations of some taste. 



A voluminous western writer has said that 

 "this is not so good a country for gardens 

 as the North." In my opinion, Alison is 

 nearer the truth, in predicting that " the 

 Valley of the Mississippi is to be the Gar- 

 den of the World.'" Give us a few years of 

 continued peace and judicious government, 

 and the great destiny of this Valley will 

 soon become apparent. 



Wishing success to your new enterprise, 

 I subscribe myself your obt. servt. 



Tho : Allen. 



St. Louis, Mo., July 21, 3846. 



Remarks on the True Peacli Plum and four other Varieties. 



There is a French Plum of large size and 

 very beautiful appearance, described by 

 Noisette, Poiteau, and other French po- 

 mologists, as the Prune Plche, or Peach 

 Plum. It is most probably very little known 

 out of France, since it is not recognized or 

 described as a distinct variety, by any Eng- 

 lish or American pomologist down to the 

 present time. 



Thompson, in the last edition of the Lon- 



don Horticultural Society's Catalogue, as 

 well as in the Pomological Magazine, gives 

 the Prune Peche as synonymous with the 

 Nectarine. Lindley follows the latter work 

 in his "Guide to the Orchard." In our 

 work on Fruits, never having been able to 

 find the true Peach Plum, we also placed it 

 as a synonym of the Nectarine. But, at 

 the same time, we added the following pa- 

 ragraph : 



15 



