202 THE EVOLUTION OF OUR NATIVE FRUITS 



and elastic hypothesis which explains and co-ordi- 

 nates the rapid events of contemporary evolution. 



An interesting peculiarity of the Wild Goose 

 plum is the facility with which it appears to 

 hybridize with the peach. The most famous in- 

 stance of such apparent hybridization is that of 

 the so-called Blackman plum. About thirty years 

 ago, Mrs. Charity Clark procured from an orchard 

 in Rutherford county, Tennessee, which contained 

 Wild Goose and Washington plums, seeds of plums, 

 and gave them to Dr. Blackman, of Nashville. One 

 tree among the resulting seedlings bore good fruit, 

 which was called the Blackman, and was dissemi- 

 nated by a local nurseryman. A competing nursery. 

 in endeavoring to procure cions from this tree, inadver- 

 tently cut them from an adjacent tree — itself one of 

 the batch of seedlings — and sold the trees which it 

 grew as Blackman. Now, this second tree makes fruit- 

 buds in abundance, but they never open ; and from the 

 resemblance of the leaves to those of the peach, tin 1 

 plant is generally thought to be a hybrid between the 

 Wild Goose and the peach. Curiously enough, the 

 genuine Blackman has never been widely disseminated, 

 but the spurious and worthless substitute has been sold 

 in large quantities. In order to avoid confusion, the 

 original Blackman has been rechristened Charity Clark. 

 There are, therefore, two Blackman plums, one of 

 which is practically unknown to cultivation, but which 

 has been renamed, and the other is barren and will 

 soon pass from sight . 



The only authentic hybrid which has come from the 

 union ol the Wild Goose and the peach has been pro- 

 duced by .1. W. Kerr, of Maryland. Mr. Kerr's tree. 



