IOWA ACADEMY OF SCIENCES. 133 



tunity to examine during the past few years have shown almost 

 complete gradations from one of those species to the other. I 

 cannot now define Pyrus soulardi by any characters which are 

 not also common to one or both of the other species, Pyrus 

 lowensis or P. malus. " 



After a critical study of flower, leaf, fruit and general char- 

 acteristics of the Soulard crab, we agree with Professor 

 Bailey's later opinion. 



In the fruit of the Soulard there is a very decided lessening 

 of normal seed reproduction. For instance twenty well 

 developed apples selected at random from a tree gave an 

 average of only three seeds to the apple. The leaves also 

 show intermediateness of character. It is totally different 

 from P lowensis in the character of fruit spurs; the thorny 

 aborted spurs of P. loioensis are not present, while the 

 characters of P. malus are quite noticeable. The Soulard is a 

 remarkably vigorous tree, one specimen on the college grounds 

 measuring fourteen inches in diameter close to the base, is 

 thirty-five feet in height and forty feet in spread of branches. 

 It bears freely every year. 



The Soulard crab, according to Hon. James Soulard, of 

 Galena, 111., originated on a farm about twelve miles from 

 St. Louis, Mo., where stood an American crab thicket, not 

 enclosed, near a farm house, about 1844. The thicket was cut 

 down, and the ground cultivated. Later, cultivation was discon- 

 tinued, and a second thicket sprang up in which this crab was 

 found. (Synopsized from a letter dated, Galena, February 13, 

 1869, written by James G. Soulard, and presented before the 

 State Horticultural Society of Illinois, held at Bunker Hill, 

 December 15-18, 1869.) The crab was propagated and dissem- 

 inated by Mr. Soulard. 



Its fruit has been looked upon as good, bad and indifferent, 

 some claiming for it most excellent qualities, others relegating 

 it to the same category of bitterness, sourness and uselessness 

 as the common crab. 



Mr. James G. Soulard says of it: "I consider it the most 

 desirable of all crabs that I have seen. Adding sweetness, it 

 is delicious baked. It makes excellent preserves, being large 

 enough to be quartered, and unsurpassed by any crab for jams, 

 jellies, etc., imparting its delicate taste and rich crab aroma. 

 I have made some cider as clear as wine, with sugar, or a 

 quarter part of sweet apples. " 



