1252 



NOTES ON BEHAVIOR OF PREVIOUS INTRODUCTIONS. 



Rev. Jno. B. Katzner, of Collegeville , Minnesota, 

 in letter dated December 10, 1917, reports: "All trees 

 and plants to succeed in Minnesota must be able to 

 stand a cold of from 35 to 40 degrees below zero. The 

 many varieties of pears from northern China and Man- 

 churia I received from the United States Department 

 of Agriculture could not endure that cold. Yet 2 va- 

 rieties of pears, Nos. 21880 (Pyrus ussuriensis] and 21982 

 (Pyrus betulae folia) , after freezing back from 3 to 4 

 winters became perfectly hardy and have not lost a 

 bud since, and grafts made from them are just as 

 hardy. These trees are now 7 feet high and may bear 

 next season. I regret not to have kept the other va- 

 rieties that long on trial. Maybe some more would 

 have been found hardy in that time. But what is the 

 cause of these 2 varieties becoming hardy after freez- 

 ing down to the ground for several years? It may 

 sound somewhat heterodox in horticulture, but I look 

 at it this way: These varieties of pears along with 

 some others coming from northern China and Manchuria, 

 would have been hardy originally in Minnesota if they 

 had been propagated directly in our State, but having 

 been grown for several years in the mild, congenial 

 climate of California, these pears have naturally lost 

 much of their original hardiness." 



Notes from Correspondents abroad. 



Mr. Barbour Lathrop, writes in a recent letter: 

 "The second lot of seed, Cryptotaenia japonica (Anglicized 

 by the Yokohama Nursery Company to 'Japanese Celery' 

 and known in Japan as 'Mitsuba') produces a vegetable 

 that pleased my palate on the two occasions on which 

 I tried it. It is very popular in Japan, its consump- 

 tion coming next after rice and soy beans. As a crop 

 it is very profitable. Enclosed is an article by the 

 Nursery Company on t the methods of its planting and 

 eating. Those people say it, (Mitsuba), has not been 

 introduced into America or any 'Western Country' -and 

 even if it shouldn't prove a success, experiments 

 with it would certainly be interesting and possibly 

 our people may take to it quicker than they have to 

 'Udo' ." 



