Mr. T. V. Munson, in his recent article in May number of Gardeners' Monthly, after describing a supposed new species of grape in Florida, uses the following language :

"Just at this point, let me make one point clear as to Scuppernong and Muscadine, orrotundifolia grapes, in the South. Generally it is understood, that when the term or phrase, Scuppernong grapes, is used, that it applies to all cultivated varieties of V. rotundifolia. The unguarded use of the term in Mr. H. W. Ravenel's 'History of the Scuppernong grape ' (Gardeners' Monthly for August, 1885, page 238), wherein he says: 'All the cultivated Scuppernong vines now in existence, are parts of that original vine found in N. C.,' leads to confusion, unless this is to apply purely to that variety very commonly called Amber; then he is correct. Scuppernong is one of the common names for this class of grapes, along with Muscadine as another. However, it would have avoided the danger of confusion, if Amber had been used, as it applies to no other of this class or species".

This criticism astonishes me. In proof that my use of the term, Scuppernong, as applicable to one particular variety of grape, was not an " unguarded " expression, I will state that I have been familiar with the name all my life, and have been cultivating it extensively for about forty years. During that time, I have seen and read most of the agricultural and pomological journals, in which there are frequent allusions to this grape; also the catalogues of nurserymen who offer it for sale. And now, for the first time, I hear that the true name of this grape is "Amber," and that the people in North Carolina who first found it and gave it a name, and those in South Carolina and Georgia, where thousands of vines are cultivated, are in error. All through the South Atlantic States, as far as I have ever heard, the name, Scuppernong, is applied strictly and exclusively to one variety, and not to a class of grapes, as strictly and exclusively as the name of Concord, or Delaware, or Catawba, is applied to other varieties.

I never heard it called Amber. In fact, the name of "Amber" is already appropriated to another and very different grape.

There are only a few other varieties of this species in cultivation, and they are all known by specific names, as Flowers, Thomas, Tender-pulp, Peedee, etc. - all dark colored, except the last. When the term, Scuppernong, is used, it is always intended to apply to that one white-fruited variety, which, to claim purity of character, must be a lineal descendant of, and by continued propaga-gation, " parts of that original vine found in North Carolina".

So I think I am justified in saying, it was not an "unguarded" use of the term. Had I called it "Amber grape," none of those for whom the article was written would have understood me. Aiken, S. C.