354 PEAR GROWING IN CALIFORNIA. 



species of Pyrus. In its native habitat the trees attain a very large 

 size, often reaching eighty feet in height and three feet in diameter. 

 Whether this will be a desirable stock for our cultivated American 

 varieties, in the mild climate of the Pacific coast, remains to be deter- 

 mined. We have grafted and budded this successfully on to our culti- 

 vated varieties, and liave budded our cultivated varieties on to it. 

 However, it will require a number of years to determine conclusively 

 its value as a stock for our cultivated varieties of Pyrus communis. 

 If this should make a congenial stock for these varieties it will be very 

 valuable because of its ability to resist blight. 



"Unfortunately this species has been confused by some w^riters with 

 the Chinese Sand Pear, commonly known as Pyrus sinensis,* Lihdi. 

 These two species are distinct, and can be easily distinguished. Pyrus 

 Hssuriensis bears roundish or slightly flattened fruit, which has a short 

 stalk and a persistent calyx ; and comparatively short and broad 

 leaves,' the margins of which have minute serrations and very long 

 slender bristles. Pyrus serotina bears roundish or pear-shaped fruits, 

 with a long stalk, a deciduous calyx and long leaves, with margins 

 coarsely serrate and often bristly. A number of the Japanese nurseries 

 list Pyrus ussuriensis but all of these forms which I have seen are 

 simply Pyrus serotina. 



"Introduction of Pyrus ussuriensis. So far as I can determine large 

 trees of this species are rare in this country. Since 1905 it has been 

 sent to this country several times by Mr. F. N. Meyer, Agricultural 

 Explorer of the U. S. Department of Agriculture. Mr. IMeyer's intro- 

 duction S. P. I. number 21880, is a typical form of this species. 



"In the report of the Iowa Horticultural Society for 1912 Mr. 

 Charles G. Patten, of Charles City, Iowa, called attention to a Chinese 

 Sand Pear which he has used in some of his breeding work. He states 

 that in 1880 Mr. 0. A. Bardhall, of Grundy Center, Iowa, purchased a 

 tree of the Chinese Sand Pear from John S. Collins & Sons, of New 

 Jersey, which was purported to bear fruit nearly as large as the 

 Flemish Beauty. When it came into bearing the fruit proved small, 

 hard and worthless. Mr. Patten propagated a tree from this because 

 it had proved its great hardiness during the severe Iowa winter of 

 1883-4. Mr. Patten states that his tree at Charles City, Iowa, has 

 never been injured in the least by cold and has never blighted since it 

 was planted, in 1885. 



"Since Pyrus ussuriensis has proved so remarkably resistant to 

 blight in our work and as it is the hardiest species of pear known, I 

 thought that possibly Mr. Patten's tree belonged to this species. In 

 reply to a letter Mr. Patten kindly sent me leaves of his tree, which I 

 received on November 10 of this year. As the tree had not borne this 

 year, no fruit was sent, but Mr. Patten kindly furnished a description 

 of the fruit and stated that the tree probably belonged to Pyrus 

 serotina. An examination of the leaves, however, shows conclusively 

 that this tree belongs to Pyrus ussuriensis. 



"The tree in Iowa is the oldest one in America so far as I have been 

 able to learn. Undoubtedly there are other trees in America just as old 



* Pyrus serotina. 



