60 Editorial Miscellany. 



rampant vegetation, to which it has long been a stranger. We have rea- 

 son to be grateful for the present favorable crisis for the cultivator. War 

 and pestilence are stalking in the midst of our trans- Atlantic friends. The 

 seed-tirae and garnering are permitted to pass them by, and the gathering 

 of the fruitful harvest is substituted for the harvest of human blood. These 

 nations must be fed, and the surplus produce of the United States will 

 find a ready market at remunerating but not exorbitant prices. The poor 

 also of our country can again indulge in a loaf of increased dimensions. 

 Speculators have endeavored, previous to the harvest, to invest the cereal 

 with a fabulous value, by spreading reports of the ravages of the Weevil 

 and Hessian fly ; it is quite true a few localities were devastated by these 

 pests, but scarce worth mentioning. The story of grain sprouting, occa- 

 sioned by the continued rains, has agitated the public mind, but like the 

 Hessian fly report, it proved to be a floating straw, to which wily specu- 

 lators clung as a last buoy to sustain their drowning hopes. The good 

 time which has loomed in the vista is upon us ; mellow orchards, frag- 

 rant meadows, and the tinkling lullaby of the brook, gleefully coursing 

 its pebbly bottom, are once more with us; they had almost been number- 

 ed with reminiscences of the past. 



An Error Uorrected. — Amid the chaos arising from the many sy- 

 nonyms of favorite fruits, it is a very easy matter for the Pomologist to 

 commit the most egregious mistakes, albeit he flatters himself he has 

 made the most thorough investigation. Mr. Barry, a gentleman whose 

 correct Pomological knowledge is almost beyond dispute, has revived an 

 error originally made public by Mr. Downing. The matter we allude to 

 is the Duane Purple Plum, of which a beautifully colored plate is given 

 in the June number of the Horticulturist for the present year. The 

 Duane Purple is not a distinct variety; as there stated it is the Purjyle 

 Magnum Bo7iU7n, which is a local variety at Schenectady and vicinity. 

 The mistake occurred in this manner : some twenty-five years ago Jas. 

 Duane, Esq., of Schenectady, imported from France several varieties of 

 plum; among them was the famous Peach Plum, the label, however, of 

 which was lost on the voyage. The earliness of this fruit and its large 

 attractive appearance, made cultivators solicitous to obtain it for their 

 gardens, and in the absence of the true name it was called Duaneh Plum. 

 Subsequently a gentleman from Albany visited Mr. Duane, who on his 

 return home took with him some scions, of what he supposed to be the 

 Duane [Peach) Plum, but by mistake they were cut from a seedling 



