THE AMERICAN BOTANIST 145 



ward into the range of the other two. Wherever it grows, how- 

 ever, it may be readily distinguished by the size of its fruits. 

 Some in the Editor's garden have fruits seven inches in circum- 

 ference, but otherwise are hke the common wild crabs. The 

 trees from which these fruits come do not conform in all 

 respects to the specifications. The leaves are not pubescent 

 at maturity, even on the veins, as they should be, the flowers 

 are not decidedly fragrant and they are not so highly colored 

 as those of F. gluacescens with which they grow. It is possi- 

 ble that our trees are hybrids, but until this in certain it may 

 be best to call the form Pyrus (mains) loensis var. glabra. 

 Seedlings from these trees occasionally have slightly pubescent 

 leaves. 



Levulose Syrup. — Levulose is perhaps better known as 

 fruit sugar. It is found in honey, many fruits and can be 

 produced by splitting cane sugar into two simpler sugars. The 

 interesting thing about levulose is that it is reported to be from 

 30 to 50 per cent sweeter than cane sugar. It does not readily 

 crystallize like cane sugar, but may be used in the from of 

 syrup for sweetening all sorts of foods and beverages. While 

 both glucose and levulose are found in a variety of plants, the 

 commercial source of glucose is corn starch which is artificially 

 digested to corn syrup. Levulose is most economically made 

 from inulin a substance allied to starch that is found in arti- 

 chokes, dahlias, oyster plant, and numerous other composites. 

 According to a writer in Science, an acre of ground will yield 

 about 2000 pounds of starch, 1600 pounds of sorghum sugar, 

 3000 pounds of beet sugar, from 3000 to 4500 pound-s of cane 

 sugar, or nearly 4000 pounds of levulose. And levulose is the 

 sweetest of the lot. The only thing that stands in the way of 

 £orever putting an end to sugar famines is a scheme for 

 economically extracting the inulin and turning it to levulose. 



