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lie remarks, that this plum " is very fine flavoured and sweet, 

 and the Jirst in rank among jilums"\\\ which opinion I 

 fully concur; its present title was given to it by me, in ho- 

 nour of that gentleman. 



23. Washington. This plum, sometimes called the Bol- 

 mer, is of doubtful origin, and it is but of latter years that it 

 has been known by either of the above titles. Some few 

 years ago, Mr. Bolmer, a very respectable merchant of New- 

 York, finding it in his collection, and deeming it a new va- 

 riety, it was presented by him to a number of his friends, 

 and from one or more of them received the appellation of 

 Bolmer's Washington. Its extraordinary size and fine gage 

 flavour caused it to attract much notice, and supposing it a 

 novelty, I procured a tree for myself, for which I paid three 

 dollars, a price at which they were readily selling at the 

 time ; but what was my surprise, when, as its foliage and 

 fr-uit were developed, to find it an old and familiar acquaint- 

 ance, which had been cultivated at the Nurseries at Flushing 

 during a long course of years, under the title of *' Superior 

 Gage ;" and of which trees, of the thickness of a man's thigh, 

 were to be seen throughout the country, and particularly in 

 the garden of Mr. Van Sindren, and others in this vicinity. 

 Mr. James Bloodgood, of Flushing, (since deceased) made 

 also the same discovery about the same time. Three years 

 since, happening to be on a visit at Albany, I was again sur- 

 prised to meet the same plum in the garden of Isaac Denni- 

 sen, Esq., under the name of the " Double Imperial Gage." 

 The trees in his garden were of very large size, and he stated 

 to me, that he had obtained them under the above name 18 

 years before, from the vicinity of New-York ; it having been 

 long an object with that gentleman, who is distinguished for 

 his judgment and discrimination of fruits, to concentrate all 

 the most valuable varieties of the plum. I have taken some 

 pains to ascertain the origin of this plum, and particularly 

 whether it was brought originally from Europe, being anxi- 

 ous to establish the native country of so superior a fruit, and 

 I have come to the conclusion, that it is of American origin, 

 as I have never been able to trace it farther than to the Nur- 

 series at Flushing. I will mention one circumstance which 

 may throw some light upon the subject. It has always been 

 the custom at the establishment of the author, at Flushing, 

 to plant annually the seeds of the finest fruits, for the purpose 

 of originating new varieties; and, about the year 1790, his 

 father planted the pits of 25 quarts of the Green Gage pium ; 



