122 Nebraska State Horticultural Society. 



Nebraska, it rarely attains a height of more than two feet, but low as it 

 is, it is often loaded with fruit. The cherries are on short stalks in 

 umbellate clusters, as in the common cultivated cherries, globose in 

 shape, half an inch or more in diameter, and when ripe a very dark 

 purple in color, and sweetish in taste. By simple selection of the wild 

 plants, a considerable improvement has been made upon this cherry as 

 it is grown in the gardens and orchards of many people in Central 

 Nebraska. Still better results have been obtained by the more scientific 

 methods employed by Professor Hansen: He has shown that this is 

 one of the best of our wild cherries for experimental work in breeding 

 and cultivation. 



BUFFALO BERRY. 



The tall shrub or small tree which is universally called the Buffalo 

 Berry (LepargjTaea argentea) is a near relative of the Russian Olive 

 (Elaeagnus angustigolia), which it resembles in its silvery foliage and 

 yellowish flowers. The fruits are spherical, about a quarter of an inc'i 

 in diameter, red, or less commonly, a clear amber color, and of a 

 pleasant sour taste, somewhat resembling that of ripe cranberries. The 

 fruits are produced in abundance in clusters on the twigs, and ripen 

 in the latter part of the summer. The tree is perfectly hardy and 

 easily propagated, and would, in my opinion, repay the care which 

 would be necessary to develop it into a desirable addition to our too 

 short list of acid fruits for garden or orchard cultivation. 



LOW SUMACH. 



Often when tired and thirsty in my botanizing upon the plains or 

 in the broad canyons I have refreshed myself by gathering a handful 

 of the small red fruits of the Low Sumach (Rhus trilobata), placing 

 them a few at a time in my mouth, and allowing the sour flesh to dis- 

 solve. Whenever I have done so I have wondered whether these dense 

 clusters of red drupes might not be so improved as to make them 

 profitable to cultivate for this pleasant acid. I commend this pretty 

 bush, with its dense clusters of sour red drupes, to your careful con- 

 sideration. 



HAWTHORNS. 



Nowadays the botanist who does not refer to the Hawthorns (o' 

 the genus Crataegus) in any paper of his is a rarity, but you need no. 

 fear that I am going to lead you into the amze and confusion of thi 

 recent systematic botany of the species. I wish merely to call your a" 



