16 AGRICULTURAL AND BOTANICAL EXPLORATIONS IN PALESTINE. 



mutilated by heavy stones thrown by the boys to shake down the 

 fruit. Some varieties of azarolus have fruit as large as a large 

 cherry, with a very agreeable acid taste. Although they are sold on 

 the markets of the Orient, they would not be marketable in Europe 

 or America because of the large stones, as in the case of the loquat 

 (Eriobotrya japonica) ; but specimens are often found which are 

 nearly stoneless, and it is possible that this character could be fixed by 

 selection. 



For fifteen years or more the writer has used Crataegus azarolus 

 as a stock for pears with excellent results. Top-grafted at 2 to 3 

 feet above the ground, it develops into very beautiful, productive, 

 and long-lived dwarf trees, provided the grafting is done with very 

 early varieties. This shrub occurs in extremely hot, dry places and 

 must therefore complete the greater part of its development early 

 in the season. Its roots, therefore, are unable to furnish the amount 

 of sap necessary to develop pears in August. If, however, it is 

 grafted with a pear which fruits in May or June, when the roots of 

 the Crataegus are in their period of greatest activity, the best results 

 are obtained. I have found this to be true in Palestine, and Mr. 

 Dumont, near Tunis, who has grafted hundreds of wild Crataegus 

 plants, also finds that he is successful only with early varieties of 

 pears. 



I may also mention Crataegus orientalis, having a large and 

 palatable fruit, and Crataegus sinaica. Although the fruit of 

 this species is scarcely larger than a pea, with a dry and tasteless 

 flesh, it will grow on the very driest lands. All of these species of 

 Crataegus are spiny. They are par excellence the stocks for pears on 

 dry lands and calcareous ridges. The writer speaks only of pears, 

 because he has experimented with them, but he sees no reason a priori 

 why these stocks should not do as well for apples, which he has not 



as yet tried. 



Pyrus syriaca. — This wild pear ought to be considered along 

 with the species of Crataegus. It would be adapted to an even 

 greater range of soil, for, though the Crataegus species appear only 

 on very porous soils, some races of these wild pears grow in very 

 humid localities, almost swampy, or at least submerged for two or 

 three months of the year. Pyrus syriaca is a shrub 13 to 20 feet 

 high. The branches of young plants and the suckers at the base of 

 the trunks of old trees are very spiny, but there are no thorns at the 

 top. The fruit is a favorite with the peasants and shepherds. It 

 grows, as said, on clamp soils at sea level; it is also found in the 

 forests and underbrush on hills and plateaus. Sometimes a single 

 tree stands by itself without any protection from the winds and the 

 burning sun. It grows at 2,500 to 3,000 feet altitude on the Senonian 

 chalks, as well as on the dolomitic and nummulitic limestones of 



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