\ 
REPORT OF THE POMOLOGIST. 
" 
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Again, under date of April 13, 1887, he says: ) Se aah 
According to your second request, | repaired at once to Dr. Blackman’s, but =~ 
found the flowers very scattering on the tree'from the effects of age and frost. On 
the ‘‘mule” flowering had been intercepted entirely by frost, but I secured the ane 
embryo of this, and all the flowers I could of the other, and now have them under 
pressure and will send them as soon as dry. 
Tt will be seen from these letters that there were two seedling trees 
-on the premises of Dr. Blackman from which buds have been taken 
by two rival nursery firms and sent out to the world, one of which | 
was probably good and the other worthless. By some ill-fortune.  — 
the valuable variety has not been generally distributed, but the bad >“ > 
one has been sent far and wide. The samples from this original - 
‘““mule” tree sent to me by Mr. Clark correspond exactly with all * 
those received from nurserymen and seen by me in many States. It — 
is rather a significant coincidence that the fruit-buds on this original 
tree failed to open into flowers, just as in the cases of those on the 
premises of Hoopes Brothers & Thomas, and others. , 
The other seedling tree in Dr. Blackman’s yard (having since died) | 
produced flowers, and the samples of branches and flowers of it sent 
here by Mr. Clark appeared almost identical with Wild Goose plum, 
but very unlike the variety under consideration. It has recently 
been named ‘‘Charity Clark” by Dr. Blackman and Mr. W: M. 
Clark, of Nashville, Tenn., who have the prior right to give the name 
the fruit shall bear, and in honor of Mrs. Clark, who got the seed of - 
Dr. Manson. 
That such a mistake should have been made (and no doubt it was 
a mistake on the part of Truett’s Sons, of Morgan, Tenn., in getting 
buds from the wrong tree, and not an intended deception) is a serious 
matter tomany nurserymen who have propagated the variety largely, 
and to many growers who have planted trees of it. Although thou- 
sands of dollars have been lost on this worthless freak of nature 
under the name of Blackman plum, the discovery by me of its true 
character when in Texas, in 1886, and having informed the ‘public . 
of the same at once through the public press, checked its distribu- 
tion and saved the country from further waste of time and money. 
Any persons yet having trees of this spurious variety should either 
dig them out or graft them. That there may be no uncertainty as 4 
to their identification, I will say that the tree in both leaf, bark, and 
arrangement of buds almost exactly resembles those of a peach tree. ~ 
It is moreover avery thrifty grower. It is thought by several ex- 
pert botanists to be an accidental cross between the peach and plum, : 
but of course this is only the presumption entertained from the fact” 
of the original tree having grown from the seed of a Wild Goose plum 
and from examination of its general characteristics. As a tree it is 7; 
a success, but as a fruit a complete failure. 
THE ORANGE. 
(Citrus auranteum.) 
The culture of this fruit in the United States is rapidly increasing. © 
What is known as “the big freeze of 1886” in Florida, and which 
was indeed unparalleled in the history of that State, did not mate- 
rially injure the orange trees there. In Louisiana a considerable | | 
area lying near the mouth of the Mississippi River is devoted to this 
fruit, and excellent oranges are grown there, In the immediate vi- 
