WAUGH ON THE HORTULANAS 205 



to a conclusion which we ought to have reached independently 

 before; namely, that no full classification of our cultivated varie- 

 ties can be made which shall be satisfactory to everybody. It is 

 a matter of unquestionable convenience to divide our multiform 

 varieties into several groups, but the lines between these groups 

 are purely imaginary and arbitrary, and certain varieties which 

 come near the division line somewhere may be put into one 

 group by one man and into the other group by another, and 

 both men be right. It is all a matter of judgment, and a very 

 delicate matter, too. There has already been too much contro- 

 versy over some of these doubtful varieties. What plum students 

 need now is less controversy and more patience. 



The cultivated hortulana plums may be best understood by 

 arranging them in four groups. Three of these have been men- 

 tioned the Miner group, the Wild Goose group, and the Schley or 

 Clifford group. These form an unbroken series from Prunus 

 Americana to P. angustifolia. There is a fourth group at present 

 classified with the hortulanas, but comparatively distinct from the 

 others. This group is made up of such varieties as Wayland, 

 Moreman, Golden Beauty, Eeed, Leptune, Kanawha and others. 



Waugh makes a further contribution to the subject 

 in the following sketch of "The Wayland group of 

 plums:"* 



In an article in last week's issue [quoted above] I called 

 attention to the continuity of the series of intergradients 

 between the Americana and the Chickasaw plums, and said 

 that the series might be roughly marked by three types, the 

 Miner, the Wild Goose, and the Schley or Clifford. It was 

 also noted that another group, standing somewhat aside from 

 this series, might, for the present at least, be regarded as 

 belonging among the hortulana plums, and that this group 

 is comparatively distinct, and very interesting. This I have 

 designated as the Wayland groupt from one of its best types, 

 the Wayland plum. Golden Beauty is also a good type of this 

 group, and is well known in the southern states, though not 



*Garden and Forest, September 8, 1897. 

 tVermont Experiment Station, 10th Report, p. 103. 



