1220 



Pyrus ussuriensis Maximowlcz. (Malaceae.) 45046. 

 Pear. From Charles City, Iowa. Presented by Mr. Charles 

 G. Patten. The origin of these cuttings is given in 

 the following account: "In the reports of the Iowa 

 Horticultural Society for 1906 and 1912, Mr. Charles 

 G. Patten 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 they 

 represented would bear fruit nearly as large as the 

 Flemish Beauty. When it came into bearing the fruit 

 proved small, hard and worthless. Mr. Patten propa- 

 gated a tree from this because it had proved its great 

 hardiness during the severe Iowa winter of 1883-84. 

 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 sinensis. An ex- 

 amination of the leaves, however, shows conclusively 

 that this tree belongs to Pyrus ussuriensis. The tree in 

 Iowa is the oldest one of this species in America so 

 far as I have been able to learn. Undoubtedly there 

 are other trees in America just as old or older than 

 the Iowa tree. It is quite probable that Collins & 

 Sons sent out trees of this species other than the 

 one sent to Iowa. I hope that some of these can be 

 located and the writer would be pleased to receive 

 specimen leaves and fruits of any tree which promises 

 to belong to this species." (Reimer, Blight Resistance 

 in Pear Trees and Stocks.) 



Trichilia catigua A. Jussieu. (Meliaceae.) 45069. 

 Katigua seeds from Puerto Bertoni, Paraguay. Present 

 ed by Dr. Moises S. Bertoni. "(June, 1917.) Katigua. A 

 small ornamental tree, found throughout the forests 

 of Paraguay. The bark, according to our analyses, 

 contains 20.5 per cent crude tannin, and a large pro- 

 portion of coloring matter for dyeing. The leather 

 thus tanned is of a red color which is much esteemed." 

 (Bertoni. ) 



