THE FIRST NAMED VARIETY 175 



there obtained their first notoriety. Thus, some forty 

 or fifty years ago, a native plum was taken from Ala- 

 bama to Texas, and it is now introduced from Texas 

 under the name of Saffold. The most interesting 

 instance of this migration and subsequent fame is 

 that of the Miner plum ; and as this appears to have 

 been the first native plum to have received a name, it 

 may well serve to introduce our narrative. 



The seed which produced the Miner plum was 

 planted in 1814, in Knox county, Tennessee, by Wil- 

 liam Dodd, an officer under General Jackson. Dodd 

 appears to have had two batches of seed, one which 

 he gathered the year previous upon Talaposa creek, 

 and the other given him by an Indian chief. It is 

 not clear from which lot this plum sprung. The 

 plum gained some notice when it came into bearing, 

 and was known as Old Hickory and General Jack- 

 son. In 1823 or 1824 Dodd moved to Illinois and 

 settled near Springfield, taking sprouts of this plum 

 with him. The plums soon attracted attention among 

 Dodd's neighbors, and the variety was called in its 

 new home William Dodd and Chickasaw Chief. The 

 year following William Dodd's removal to Illinois, his 

 brother moved to Galena, Illinois, and took some of 

 the plums. About Galena the plum became known as 

 the Hinckley. I do not know how the name Miner 

 came to be applied to it, but Down ing's reference to 

 Mr. Miner of Pennsylvania who probably grew and 

 disseminated it undoubtedly explains it. It is said 

 by D. B. Wier that the late Hon. James G. Soulard, 

 of Galena, introduced this plum to general cultivation. 

 As the variety became disseminated, it received new 

 or local names. Downing gives Hinckley, Isabel, 



