POMACES 381 



rich in malic acid. It grows wild in Ontario and North Atlantic States, west 

 to Kansas and Missouri. 



M. ioensis, Western or Prairie States Crab-apple. — It is a small tree with 

 large leaves, firm in texture and of various shapes, large flowers, and green 

 fruit with light-colored spots. It is native of Minnesota, Wisconsin, Illi- 

 nois, Iowa, Missouri, and Kansas. 



Bechtel's Double-flowering Crab is probably a double-flowered form of 

 Malus ioensis. 



M. soulardii, Soulard Crab. — This is a natural hybrid between the common 

 apple {M. sylvestris) and the Western crab-apple {M. ioensis) . It is a small, 

 stout tree, with leavci similar to those of M. ioensis, in close clusters on short, 

 densely woolly pedicels; the fruit is larger and of better flavor than that of M. 

 icensis. It grows wild in the Mississippi Valley. 



M. sylvestris, Common Apple. — The common apple is a large tree with 

 twigs and under surface of leaves gray-woolly; the flowers are in close clusters, 

 and on short pedicels; the fruit is very variable. There are numerous varieties 

 differing as to form, size, color, and taste of fruit. In order to keep the va- 

 rieties true to type, propagation is vegetative rather than sexual. 



The common apple is considered to be a native of western Asia and south- 

 eastern Europe. In eastern United States, it occasionally escapes from cul- 

 tivation. It is grown commercially in all parts of the United States except 

 in Florida, the regions bordering the Gulf of Mexico, and warmer portions of 

 the Southwest. The leading apple-growing section of this country is from 

 Nova Scotia south and west to Illinois and Missouri. 



The Classification of Apples ( Malus sylvestris) . — There have 

 been a number of systems of classifying cultivated varieties 

 of apples. A brief sketch of the most important of these is 

 given in' the American Horticultural Manual Part II, 

 Systematic Pomology. The principal classifications men- 

 tioned in the above work are those of Johann Jonston, Ger- 

 many 1668, Manger, Germany 1780, Dr. Diel, Germany 

 1792, Diel-Cochnahl, Germany 1855, Diel-Lucas, Germany 

 1856, John A. Warder, America 1867, John J. Thomas, 

 America 1849, Robert Hogg, England 1876. 



The system of Dr. Diel of Germany, was the first to be 

 widely adopted in Mo or with modifications. He divided the 

 varieties into seven classes, and these into orders. These 

 classes are as follows: Ribbed apples, Rose apples, Ram- 



