THE PEACHES OF NEW YORK 5 



a great deal of variation to be observed as regards size and shape of leaves, 

 density of foliage and general habits." 



" 40003. Wild peaches found on a mountain side, near Pai dja dien, 

 Shensi, at an elevation of 4000 feet; these small trees and bushes had borne 

 such a heavy crop that the ground beneath them was covered with a layer, 

 a few inches thick, of the small, yellowish, hairy fruits. The local inhabit- 

 ants didn't consider them worth collecting even, and they were rotting 

 and drying up." 



" 40004. Wild peaches occurring as tall shrubs in loess cliffs, at the 

 Tibetan frontier, Kagoba, Kansu, at elevations of 6000-8000 feet. Save 

 for some children who eat these wild peaches, they are otherwise considered 

 worthless wild fruit. Local name Yeh t'ao, meaning ' wild peach,' and 

 Mao t'ao, meaning ' hairy peach.' " 



" 40005. Wild peaches found on stony mountain slopes in a wild, 

 very sparsely populated country, near Kwa tsa, on Siku River, Kansu. No 

 fruit trees whatsoever are cultivated by the local settlers in the mountains, 

 and the way some of these peach bushes grow excludes them from ever 

 having been brought there by any man or even any quadruped ; only birds 

 might have transported them." 



In a letter to the author,^ Mr. Meyer says further: 



" Where did I find the peach wild? Well, I first came across it in loess 

 cliffs in southern Shensi at an elevation of about 4000 feet above sea. Later 

 on I found plenty of them in central Shensi, in southern Kansu and in 

 the Tibetan borderland, up to 7000 feet elevation above sea. All the 

 plants I found were freestone types, and according to the natives they all 

 have shell-pink flowers. In the mountains of the Chekiang Province, 

 however, I found a type which' seems to be clingstone." 



In still another letter sent me from the United States Department 

 of Agriculture, Mr. Meyer says: 



" It is about one month ago since I wrote you lalst, and so far as real 

 distance is concerned, I have not advanced much, but we went over some 

 very interesting territory and I was lucky enough to discover the real wild 

 peach, growing in loess ravines some 2-3 days to the East from here, near a 

 . village called Tchao yu. The plants are of smaller dimensions than our 

 cultivated strains, and the stones are somewhat different as regards shape 

 and grooves, but still on the whole there is little difference between a very- 

 poor seedling-peach and this wild one. 



" These wild peaches are locally cut for firewood, for the fruits are 

 pretty near inedible, being small and having hard, sourish flesh. They 

 grow at the edges of deep loess ravines and on the steep, sloping bottom 

 of such ravines. The Chinese locally do not call this peach ' yeh tao ' 



' Feb. 4, 1916. 



