I would like to mention the continuous cluster of wild beach plums along the southern side of the house near the road. Their botanical name is _prunus maritima_, plums near the sea. They are an indication of the age and tranquility of the house location. Whether some were first brought here and transplanted, or more likely, by chance arrived by natural methods is not known. We are almost five miles from the sandy seashore which is their natural habitat. An occasional surviving clump can still be seen in a few spots on the incoming roads. The soil around the house seems to be hospitable for their thriving, since there is a small residue of white sand in it, a remnant of the scouring of the bed rock by the ice sheets. The bush has deep tap roots going down several feet. There are also side roots for shoots. The beach plums seem to be almost indestructible, for some were chopped down to the base of the trunks of 3 inches in diameter, perhaps fifty or more years ago, yet have come back to heights of 7 or 8 feet. They have thrived and spread out over the years and run continuously for a distance of 100 feet. Toward the end of April or early May they are in bloom along each spikey branch for a period of two weeks. They always bloom even if they later do not produce fruit. They are a delightful sight. Their fruit yield has a wide variation from year to year. Some years there are no plums. Occasionally they are bountiful and might produce up to a bushel or more. They are considered to be self sterile and require cross pollination, so having blossoms from other growing things nearby is helpful, so that the bees can act. Late spring frosts or too much rain at the wrong time can have effects. The color of the beach plum varies from a deep purple, light red, light green, and a few with yellow skins. Some of this variation is due to plums maturing at different intervals on the same bush. Their size is not uniform, either, but most of them are hazel nut and some are like cranberries in size. They were noted along the shores of New York and Narragansett Bays by John de Verrazano, the Florentine voyager, in 1524, who called them “damson trees.” They are a fine gift from nature to this homestead. In 1959 after being in the Burgess family for a period of 158 years, the homestead and lands at Boot Pond were sold by Susan and Mary Burgess to Warren Reed, Judge Paul Reardon, and Dr. Milton Brougham, friends of mine and summer residents and neighbors of the Burgess sisters who had spent their summers at the Pond continuously since 1918.