THE SOULARD CRAB 261 



used for conserves, &c." But if the native crabs lack 

 in attractive qualities of fruit, they make good the 

 deficiency in beauty and fragrance of flowers. They 

 are amongst the choicest of native small tress for 

 ornamental planting. There is also a double -flowered 

 form (probably of Pyrus loensis) , introduced to the 

 trade in 1893 as "BechtePs Double -flowering Crab." 



Amelioration Has Begun 



If the forms or types of native crabs ended here, 

 the matter would be simple enough ; but there are 

 certain large -fruited kinds which have been picked 

 up in the Mississippi valley arid introduced into cul- 

 tivation, and three or four of them have received trade 

 names. We must now make an effort to understand 

 their botanical features and histories. The most 

 important of these crabs, which have been found in 

 the wild, is the Soulard {Figs. 49, 50). This Soulard 

 crab has been much talked about, and yet there ap- 

 pears to be little definite information concerning it, 

 particularly in reference to its botanical characters. 

 The fruit was named for Hon. James G. Soulard, 

 of Galena, Illinois, who introduced it. The follow- 

 ing account of its origin was given before the Hor- 

 ticultural Society of Northern Illinois by Mr. Soulard 

 in 1869 ; and the same facts are also given by him 

 in "Gardener's Monthly," x. 199 (July, 1868) : 



"At the request of the Horticultural Society of Jo 

 Daviess county, 111., I proceed to give a statement of 

 this remarkable hybrid. It originated on a farm 

 about twelve miles from St. Louis, Mo., where stood 

 an American crab thicket not enclosed, near the farm 



