THE LOQUAT AND ITS RELATIVES 265 



United States to improve the loquat. His method of procedure 

 has been to grow a large number of seedlings and select the 

 most desirable ones. In this way he has established eight 

 named varieties, of which Champagne, Advance, Early Red, 

 Premier, and Victor are the best. 



Little attention has been devoted to the classification 

 of loquat varieties. Takeo Kusano, professor in the Imperial 

 College of Agriculture and Forestry at Kagoshima, states that 

 the Japanese classify them into two groups, called Chinese 

 and Japanese. The Chinese type is large, pyriform, and deep 

 orange-colored, while the Japanese is smaller, lighter colored, 

 and sometimes slender in form. This classification may corre- 

 spond to one suggested in 1908 by L. Trabut of Algiers. Trabut's 

 two groups were defined, one as having crisp white flesh and 

 the other orange or yellow flesh. 



The Chinese group, so far as is known at present, includes 

 only late-ripening varieties. The flesh differs in texture from 

 that of loquats belonging to the Japanese group, while the 

 flavor is very sweet. Kusano states that Tanaka belongs to 

 this class. The variety known in California as Thales, which 

 is thought by some to be identical with Tanaka or very close 

 to it, appears also to belong to the Chinese list. 



The Japanese group includes the loquats of California origin, 

 such as Champagne and Premier. These fruits have not the 

 firm meaty flesh of the Chinese group, but are more juicy, 

 and also are distinct in flavor. The flesh is whitish or light- 

 colored, except in the variety Early Red. 



The varieties described below are the important ones culti- 

 vated in the United States at the present time. For others of 

 minor value, the reader is referred to Condit's bulletin and to 

 the articles by Trabut in the Revue Horticole de TAlgerie. 



Advance. Shape pyriform ; size large, weight 2| ounces, length 

 2 inches, breadth 1| inches; base somewhat tapering; apex narrow, 

 the basin medium deep, narrow, abrupt, corrugated; the calyx-seg- 



