Meyer: Seeking Plant Immigrants 



113 



PRUNUS MICROCARPA AT HOME. 



Central Asia contains many varieties of hardy plums, some of which are already valuable 

 commercially, while others ofTer most promise as stocks on which to graft improved 

 varieties for propagation in desert regions. Even in their wild state, the fruits are prized 

 by the natives of Turkestan, and with a little cultivation they are considerably improved. 

 This photograph of P. microcarpa (standing in the center of the picture) was made on June 

 4, 1910, in the mountains of Bachar-den, Russian Turkestan. (Fig. 5.) 



IMPRESSIONS UNFAVORABLE. 



I cannot say that my first impressions 

 of Central Asia are so very pleasant, 

 after having seen so much of the 

 beautiful Caucasus. There is inuch 

 heat, much dust, much vermin here, 

 and relatively little comfort — even 

 washing water is hard to get. The 

 vegetation too, is, as could be expected, 

 not very varied in general. Around the 

 houses and railway stations one finds 

 mostly our Acacias (Robinia pseud- 

 acacia), Ailanthus glandulosus, Ulmiis 

 puniila, U. campestris, Populus bolleana, 

 Sophora japonica, Koelreuteria pani- 

 cidata, Morus alba, Gleditsia triacanthos 

 and here and there an Osage Orange 

 {Toxylon pomiferum). All those trees 

 are periodically irrigated. If not, they 



die within one or two years. In 

 Krasnawodsk, hcwever, where it is quite 

 mild in winter, I noticed a beautiful 

 flowering bush, Pomciana gilliesii, which 

 thrives with verv little irrigation ; 

 Elaeagnus angustifolia, Populus diversi- 

 folia, and a species of Saxaul-bush 

 {Ammodendront) also need very little 

 water. There are, however, apparently 

 few trees to be found that resist the 

 aridity of the Central Asian plains, 

 where hot summers are followed by cold 

 winters, while high winds blow very 

 frequently both winter and summer. 

 The trees that looked the best are the 

 native form of Ulmus campestris, the 

 Chinese Ailanthus glandulosa and the 

 North American Robinia pseud-acacia. 



