;o 



NPAV ENGLAND FARMER, 



fppt. 3,1830. 



(JifTcrciioe ill the writing; probalily causing the tiiis- I man, an ami or on pomological subject?, was so ; That lie should have takL'u tliis precaution, anil 

 take and were I dispose! I mi-'ht touch on similar 'ar deceived liy trusting to figures, and tlie exam- j that this alone out of all that have borne should be 



illation of leaves and wood, as to confound two wrong, is much in favor of his accuracy, and wa 



instances and even on transpositions. 



In concluding my remarks I have to state that 

 niy comnuinicatioM was not intended for those 



pears the most unlike possibl 



I should not have made these remarks but for 



who had tlie Poniological Magazine before them, | t'leir very important practical bearing — nei her 

 and could fonsecpienlly con-eci the trror if it existed, 

 but for such as did not possess that advantage 



I did not designate or imply that the error origin- 

 ated or existed with any particular person. — And 

 even if the proprietor of the original tree (who is 

 the Mr L. referred to, and the same gentleman to 

 whom I am replying) has been iiivarially correct, 

 still if by some fatality, many others have been in 

 the wrong, my arguments as to the existence of 

 the error are equally conclusive, and I now flatter 

 myself that even the writer himself to whom I 

 am rei)lyir;g, will perhaps allow that ihe'examin- 

 ation' which commenced five years ago, has not 

 been so ' very hasty,' and that iny't'tci/ confident 



nness. 



I have a high respect for Mr Prince, for his zeal, 



his acquisitions, his ambition to houseful; but a 

 Diihamel, Miller, nor Knight, nor any other po- respect for evidence and correct princijiles is siipe- 

 mologist ever relied on tiie wood, leaves, flowers rior to the regard due to his abilities. The exarn- 

 and seeds for any other purpose but ns aids and \ l)lo of naming a fruit without seeing it — of boldly 



assistances in discriminating fruits, which are very 

 similar. 



They woidJ have rejected the idea of settling 

 a 'syiionyme,' without seeing and tastini; the fruit. 



Miller, Diihamel, and Knight agree, that there 

 are two sorts of St Germain pear, which are so 

 alike in foliage, toood, antiflower, that the most ac- 

 curate physiologist cannot possibly distinguish 

 them, yet the fruit of one ripens in autumn, and is 

 comparatively itiiserabje — the other a winter pear 

 and excellent. Knight says they are so difficult 



dssertion' was not 'founded entirely and v:kolly in | to distinguish, that much the greater number sold 

 error,' when it has many of his most in'elligent | at the nurseries in England are spurious, 

 neighbors to sujiport and confirm it ; and, lastly, I Nothing can be more injurious to us (novices as 

 have to reiterate that my communication .vas not as we are) than to rely oa anything short of the 

 intended to censure or to wound the feelings of fruit. 



any one, and least of all him who is well known 

 10 be the ' Roxbury Fanner.' 

 Very respectfully, 



WM ROBERT PRINCE. 



Linniraii lintanic GarJoii, ( 

 August ai, 1830. ) 



P. S. Presuming that the writers of the two 

 letters referred to would not object to mi mention- 

 ing their names to you, 1 do so in a pri'ate letter 

 accompanying this, and you can estima'e the cor- 

 rectness of their authority. 



• Tl.cae mimci ore in lull in llie orijiiial letters. 



putting down ' Boston Napoleon' ns a synonyme 

 to the Passe Ci;ltHar without ever seeing either 

 fruit, is not to be praised, and may lead us into a 

 confusion, if possible, worse ronfouii<lcd, than that 

 from which we have been striving to rmerge. 

 JOHN LOWELL. 



P. S. I have thought this explanation (though 

 long) due to the thousand persons who have on Mr 

 Knight's authority taken from iric grafts of his. f* 

 pears. 



Roxbury, J)ug. 27, 1830 



aJ 



NAPOLEON AND PASSE COLMAR PEARS 



Mr Fi:3SENDi:n — Wni. R. Prjnce, Esq. of New 

 York, having made a publication, in which he de- 

 nies that the pear sent to mo by the President of 

 the London llorlicultural Society, as the Napoleon, 

 is really that pear, and having with equal confidence 

 affirmed, that the pear so called by Mr Knight is 

 the Passe Colmar of the European gardens, 1 

 feel it my duty to Mr Knight and the public to 

 represent the facts. The Passe Colmar is a win- 

 ter pear, yellow within and without ; the Napoleon 

 a fill! pear, wholly green, with white flesh. If Mr 

 Prince's authority is good in relation to the Napo- 

 leon, which he never saw, it is equally good fur the 

 Passe Colmar, which he aho never saw. The Na- 

 ))oleon of Mr Knight has repeatedly borne fruit 

 with U3, and it ripens in October as the Napoleon 

 of Europe does. The Passe Colmar ripens with 

 lis in December and January as it does in Europe. 

 I\Tr Prince is therefore wholly wrong, in stating 

 as the result of most carefiil deliberation, so 

 careful as to remove ail doubts, that the Napoleon 

 of Mr Knight is the true Passe Colmar of Euro- 

 pean authors. Being then so mistaken as to one 

 point, have we any reason to think his opinion of 

 any weight on the other ? 



But Mr Prince's errors will be of public service 



Let me now say one word as to Mr Knight's fruit. 

 I have more confidence in their correctness, than 

 in any fruits ever im|)orted, even from the Lon- 

 don Horticultural Society itself. I have known 

 mistakes from that source. The reasons of my 

 confidence are, — 



1. That Mr Knight, having Iieen requested by 

 me to name a nursery-man on whom I could rely, 

 replied, that he feared there was too much confu- 

 sion in all the large nur^-ies, owing to the number 

 of laborers, but he would cheerfully send me fraits 

 which be hail ?aise(/, and tasted. That it would be to 

 him a source of pride and pleasure to be the first 

 to send these then neio fruits to America. 



2. Mr Knight described all the first fruit he seit 

 as of his own knotvleilge; indeed it mu«i have bein 

 So, as at that time no written or printed descr^- 

 tions of them existed. 



3. They were all labelled in his own hand wri- 

 ting. 



4. Eight sorts have borne, and no one jas 

 differed from his description. 



These facts furnish so strong a presumption in 

 favor of his Napoleon being correct, that I scaice- 

 ly deem it needful to add, that I have raised and <at- 

 en it, and compared it must carefully with a dnw- 

 ing of it, and I could not discern the least difcr- 

 ence. 



I pledge myself, as a friend of Horticulture ind 

 correctness in the nomenclature of fruits, to rnike 

 known to those who have taken the Knight fuits 

 on my recommendation, as soon as I am satisfied 

 of any error in Sir Knight's name. I Iiold nrself 

 freely open to conviction. 



In pursuance of this resolution I must say that 

 I am convinced from actual inspection of the fruit 

 grown by Gorhani Parsons, Esq. that the Mela 

 Carla apple sent by Mr Knight is not the trucMela 

 Carla of Italy. 



But this, so far from being any impeachment of 



— they will show the danger of trusting to do- ] Mr Knight's accuracy, afl"ords a strong proof of bis 

 scription; audio the leaves, and wood, without , gcrupiilous caution. It was the only fruit out of 

 seeing the fruit. This case proves, that a 38 he has sent, which he explicitly disclaimed 

 man may mistake one fruit for another to which 'any personal acquaintance with. His words were 

 it bears no resemblance. There can never be a | ' abudded tree which shot two branches the last 

 stronger case than the jirescnt. Our Napoleon ' season, of an apple, which came <o «e Hor/iciti/tira/ 

 13 no more like a Passe Colmar, than a Jargonelle Society as the .Mela Carta, svpposed the best ajiple 

 IS like a Pound pear, and yet this experienced > in the world.' 



CONNECTICUT RIVER PLUMS. 



Mr J. B. Russell — 



Dear Sir — I take the liberty of sending you at w 

 few samples of PZi(?ns from various gardens in 

 this to^vn. They are not sent with the expects- 

 lioii of competing successfiilly with eminent hor- 

 ticulturists in the vicinity of Boston, but to en- 

 deavor to convince you, that although the science 

 here is yet in its infancy, some little attention is" 

 paid to it. We think our soil and situation re- 

 markably favorable for the production of fruits- 

 generally, and you need not be disappointed if in 

 a few years you should see samples from the 

 banks of -the Connecticut that will be far from 

 inferior. 



The upper sample in the box which is not pack- 

 ed IS from my own gardens, and the othera ar« 

 from the gardens of Henry Dwight, Esq., and 

 other gentlemen, whose names are on the jiapers 

 spread over them. These are not selected from 

 the trees (whjch were very heavily laden with ilia 

 fruit,) but were taken promiscously. The varia- 

 gated Plum, from Maj. E. Edwards, was from a 

 seed (or scion, I am not certain which) and was 

 brought from the city of Amsterdam to Whites- 

 borough in the state of New York a few yeat» 

 since; and I do not know the proper name for it. 

 We call it the Lombard Plum, from the circum- 

 stance of Mr Lombard of this town having 

 brought it from Whitcsborough. 



Yours very respectfully, 



Springfield, Aug. 26. CHARLES STEARNS. , 



P. S. I received the cherry and pear bud«i 

 that Gen. Dearborj) was so kind as to forv^ard 

 through you, but the buds were so much wilted 

 that I fear they will not live; they are however 

 all inserted. The truth is, there cannot be any 

 profitable communication between your city and 

 the Connecticut River until the Rail Road is built, 

 (vliich wc all trust will take place sooner or later. 



05^The box containing the above Plums reach- 

 td us with the fruit generally in good order. The 

 plums, which were of several of the finest varie- 

 ties, exceeded anything of the sort we have seei 

 in Dur market, this season. Some of thciu mens- 

 ired 6 inches in circumference. 



Officers of the Salem Society for the Detection and 

 Piosecvtiov of Trespassers of Orchards, Sfc. E, 

 ■^lersy Derby, President ; Daniel Sage, Vice Presu 

 lent; Samuel Webb, TVeoiwrer; Eben Hathome, 

 Hetretary ; Robert MaiMMDg, fie^ianain Balch, 

 ' tbilip Cbasc, Dirttt»r>. 



