Retrospective Criticism. 195 



Art. it. Retrospective Criticism. 



Errata.— In my communication, published in the February number, are 

 some errors, which should be corrected. On p. 56, in mentioning the flow- 

 ers, you have it " painted cms," it should be painted cuf. ; on p. 57, fifth hne 

 from bottom, it reads, ''fears grow very fast here," should be trees, &c. 

 Also, under the head of Retrospective Criticism, p. 76, eighth line from bot- 

 tom of the article, it reads, " Are the trees good? " should be. Are the trees 

 prod. ? i. e., productive.— Fours, ^-c, very respectfully, F. K. Phcenix. 



The Nurseries of Western New York, (p. 109.)— Dear Sir, I see, by the 

 March number of the Magazine, that my article and myself are pretty severely 

 commented on, by one of your correspondents, who signs himself " Western 

 New York." I regret that he did not give his name, so that I might know 

 if those charges were applicable to him, or his nursery, which I advanced 

 against the genuineness of some varieties of fruit, I purchased, during my 

 visit to "Westera New York," the past autumn. But I will venture a 

 " guess," at the author, and, passing over the personalities contained in his 

 article, I will proceed to " specify and prove," which, judging from his re- 

 marks, he supposed I could not— premising, that I do not profess to be a 

 very experienced nurseryman ; but, nevertheless, I do claim some knowledge 

 of the theory of horticulture, and the descriptions and characteristics of fruits 

 and fruit trees, as given by the best authorities ; together with some little 

 practical knowledge which I have gained in the two years, during which I 

 stated I had been engaged in cultivating fruit trees— at least, enough of such 

 knowledge to enable me to distinguish downy shoots from smooth ones. 



In my communication, I referred to the plum trees I purchased at the 

 establishment of which I suppose the author to be the proprietor. While 

 there, I had noticed that some of the plum trees, described as having smooth 

 shoots, had those that were downy, but having the utmost confidence in the 

 proprietors, I did not notice them so particularly as I ought to, or otherwise 

 should have done. When I came home, however, I examined them more 

 carefully, and compared with my books, and the result was as follows : a 

 plum, labelled Violet Imperial, has very dovniy shoots. I do not find this 

 name', tn this shape, in any of my fruit books or Catalogues, but I find in 

 Kenrick, and the L. H. S. Cat., the Imperial Violet given as a Syn. of 

 the Red Magnum Bonum, the shoots of which are smooth ; the name stands 

 in this way in the Gentlemen's Cat.— i. e. the Imperial Violet— but this 

 may be another variety and genuine, though both seem very unlikely. 

 Acrain, a tree labelled Cooper's Large Early, shoots very downy. This 

 name I do not exactly find in any of my books or catalogues, but in Messrs. 



Cat. I find Cooper's Large Red, which, in Prince's Cat., and the 



L. H. S. C. is a Syn. of Cooper's Large; in Kenrick, I find Cooper's 

 plum and Cooper's Red, as a Syn., which describe the shoots as smooth; 

 but this also may be another genuine variety, though it looks rather improb- 



