THE MAGAZINE 



OF 



HORTICULTURE. 



MAY, 1843. 



ORIGINAL COMMUNICATIONS. 



Art. I. The London Horticultural Society's Catalogue of 

 Fruits. 3d Edition. With notices of all the principal 

 varieties enumerated since the 2d Edition, and other Re- 

 marks. By tlie Editor. 



Plums. 



Great confusion formerly existed in this class of fruits ; 

 and it was not until the London Horticultural Society un- 

 dertook the labor of clearing up the errors of cultivators, 

 that any thing like a correct nomenclature was established. 

 In the 2d edition two hundred and seventy-four varieties 

 were enumerated ; but of this great number, only one hun- 

 dred and eight were described as then having fruited ; and 

 it is remarked in that edition, that " our knowledge of this 

 class of fruits must be considered very imperfect." This 

 certainly has proved true: for of the one hundred and eight 

 varieties, several have since been detected as synonyms. 

 Of the unproved ones in 1831, a great number have since 

 then been ascertained to be synonymous with others. The 

 list in the present edition numbers about two hundred and 

 forty names in all ; — seventy-five have •' either proved false, 

 or have been lost, or for some other reason are no longer in 

 the garden;" — thirty-five are of inferior quality, and "no 

 longer cultivated in the garden ;" and upwards of thirty 

 have not yet been proved ; thus leaving less than one hun- 

 dred varieties as having been, after the experience of six- 

 teen years, ascertained to be worthy of cultivation. 



To facilitate the progress of clearing up the confusion 

 among plums, the Society found it necessary to adopt a 



VOL. IX. — NO. V. 21 



