ROOT-KILLING OF APPLE TREES. 457 



ROOT-KILLING OF APPLE TREES. 



Extracts from a bulletin with the above title just issued by the South Dakota 

 Agricultural Experimental Station, and edited by- 

 Prof. N. E. Hansen, Brookings, S. D. 



Dr. Regel was for many years director of the Imperial Botanic 

 Gardens, at St. Petersburg-. The following- extracts from Kegel's 

 "Russian Dendrology" (Vol. IV., P. 269, St. Petersburg, 1874) was 

 translated for me while in Russia in 1897, from Russian into Ger- 

 man, by a translator at the St. Petersburg Botanic Gardens, and I 

 have rendered this into English, as follows : 



THE SIBERIAN APPLE TREE (Pyrus baccata L.) 

 The leaves are oval, tapering, flat, shining on the upper surface, 

 light green, sharply toothed on the margin. The petioles are 

 usually longer than one half of the leaf surface. The fruits are 

 borne on long, thin stalks, which are several times longer than the 

 fruit, and are attached to the same in a depression on the base 

 [cavity]. The calyx is cast off towards the time of ripening, through 

 which characteristic Pyrus baccata is easily distinguished from 

 PjTus prunifolia, to which it is closely related. 



PjTus baccata flourishes throughout all Siberia into northern 

 Jai>an, and on that account deserves consideration, because it is one 

 of our best and hardiest trees for the garden. The large white or 

 reddish blossoms are set on one-colored stalks arranged umbrella 

 fashion. The calyx is externally flat, on the inside downy. The 

 style is flat. Pj^rus baccata is in full blossom the end of May and 

 in June. The red cherry-like fruits of several of the varieties serve 

 in the fall to beautify gardens and parks. The fruits of other 

 varieties are used, when they have been touched by frost, for pre- 

 serves; or, in spite of a certain acerbity, as a delicacy by the 

 peasantry, as, for example, the fruit of Pyrus prunifolia. 

 Varieties are as follows: 



1. Genuina. The fruits are nearly spherical, approximately of 

 the size of a large currant; the ripe fruits are yellowish-purple. 

 This variety is in its wild state the most widely distributed, 



2. Praecox. The fruits are very small, the size of a common cur- 

 rant, dull purple when ripe, transparent after the first frosts. The 

 flavor is milder. 



3. Oblonga. The fruits are elongated oval, five-eighths inch in 

 length and not much smaller in breadth; blood-red when ripe. 



4. Aurantiaca. The fruits are roundish oblate (flattened), often 

 ribbed. When ripe, orange colored, with dark, narrow stripes; five, 

 eighths inch in length, three-quarters inch in breadth. 



5. Macrocarpa. The fruits are roundish oblate, three-eighths 

 inch in length and somewhat more in breadth. When ripe, yellow, 

 with red on the sunny side, 



6. Cerasiforxnia. The fruits resemble in size and form a moderate 

 sized cherry; elliptical, ribbed, five-eighths inch in length and 

 breadth. When ripe, yellow; later, scarlet red on the sunny side or 

 over the entire surface. In fruit gardens this variety is known 

 under the name "Chinese apple tree." The fruit is used chiefly for 

 preserves. The tree presents a beautiful appearance in autumn. 



