324 On the Classification of Plums. 



These divisions I have subdivided, resorting to the colours 

 of the fruit for the characters of the subdivisions, and forming 

 them under the heads of dark-coloured and light-coloured ; 

 the former term comprehending the reds, violets, and blacks ; 

 the latter the whites, yellows, and greens, with all their in- 

 termediate shades. The subdivisions might have been mul- 

 tiplied, by creating one for each colour ; but such an increase 

 of the number would rather tend to perplex the system than 

 render it more perspicuous, or practically useful ; the colours 

 of fruit occasionally varying so much, and blending with 

 each other so indistinctly, as to render it difficult, by any 

 precise terms, to express the versatile appearances they often 

 present under different circumstances. 



I have illustrated each subdivision by a reference to a 

 well known variety. It was my wish to have given a table 

 of all the kinds with which I am acquainted by cultivation 

 in my own collection ; but I have been deterred from at- 

 tempting this, on account of the liability to error which I 

 labour under from the uncertainty of names, not having any 

 standard of reference, by which to verify my nomenclature. 

 This want will, I hope, at some future time, be supplied by 

 the horticulturists in the vicinity of the capital, who, with the 

 advantages of various and rich collections, superior climate, 

 and mutual intercourse, under the guidance of the Horti- 

 cultural Society, may be expected to form a Catalogue 

 Raisonne of all the known varieties of fruits in the United 

 Kingdom, to become the settled guide in correcting the 

 names of the productions of our gardens. 



Should it be desirable further to divide the subdivi- 

 sions, it might be done by adopting the separation of each 



