THE SOULARD CRAB 265 



very fragrant, and, cooked with plenty of sugar, it 

 makes a most delicious preserve or sweet-meat, highly 

 prized by the pioneer housewife. The tree is a fine 

 pyramidal grower, rather ornamental in form, leaf and 

 flower. It is propagated by root -grafting on seed- 

 lings of the common apple. With me in Illinois it 

 was not fully hardy, our severe test winters reducing 

 its vitality plainly. I could not recommend the 

 Soulard crab as being a fruit of much value. With 

 me it was for many years a scanty bearer. It is a 

 rather fine ornamental tree, and did not have the 

 suckering habit, which would make most of the 

 varieties of the species nuisances in the garden." 

 J. S. Harris, of La Crescent, Minn., gives me these 

 notes of it: "The Soulard crab was introduced 

 here about thirty years since, as being a cross 

 between Pyrus coronaria and the common apple ; as 

 hardy, fruitful and a good substitute for the quince, 

 which it is supposed will not grow here. At one time 

 it was planted quite freely, with the view of making 

 cider from the fruit, but I think it has never proved 

 satisfactory. The fruit is used to some extent in our 

 western cities as a substitute for the quince for pre- 

 serves, and mixing with better fruit, to which it 

 imparts its aroma; but it has never had a 'boom,' 

 and hence the demand for the fruit is limited and its 

 commercial value not great. It is no better than the 

 wild crab as a stock upon which to work the apple. 

 There is no reliable evidence that it is a hybrid, and 

 I believe it to be a natural variation." The "Farmer's 

 Union," of Minneapolis, published the following state- 

 ment in 1873, in reply to a remark made in the "Gar- 

 deners' Monthly:" "The Soulard grows at Pembina, 



