NOTES FROM A GARDEN HERBARIUM— VI. 



THE SOULARD CRAB AND ITS KIN. 



HE Soulaid crab has been 

 much talked about, and yet 

 there appears to be little 

 definite information con- 

 cerning it, particularly in 

 reference to its botanical 

 characters. The fruit was 

 named for Hon. James G. 

 Soulard, of Galena, Illinois, 

 who introduced it. The following account of its ori- 

 gin was given before the Horticultural Society of 

 Northern Illinois by Mr. Soulard in 1869:* 



" At the request of the Horticultural Society of Jo Da- 

 viess 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 Amer- 

 ican crab thicket not enclosed, near the farm house, 

 about 25 years since. The thicket was cut down and 

 the ground cultivated some two or three years ; culture 

 being discontinued, another crab thicket sprang up, and 

 when bearing, one tree (the identical kind now called 

 Soulard crab) was discovered. The fruit astonished me 

 by its remarkably large size, being sent to me by a friend 

 whose widowed mother, Mrs. Freeman Delauriere, oc- 

 cupied the farm. I immediately propagated by grafting 

 upon crab stock and upon our common seedlings. Upon 

 both stocks producing the same fruit and thriving admir- 

 ably, I disseminated it among my friends as a very desir- 

 able fruit, having nothing of the Siberian type. It is to 

 me conclusive that this crab is the offspring of an acciden- 

 tal hybridization of the wild crab by our common apple. 

 The tree, its foliage, habit, increased size of fruit and 

 tree, and decreased acerbity, convince me it is a hybrid, 

 and as far as I know, the first instance of such cross. 



"I consider it the most desirable of all crabs that I 

 have seen. Adding sweetness, it is delicious baked. It 

 makes most excellent preserves, being large enough to 

 be quartered, and unsurpassed by any crab for jams, 

 jellies, etc., imparting its delicate taste and rich crab 

 aroma. The largest have measured over seven inches 

 around. In form, color and smell it is like the common 

 crab, and it hangs on the tree until destroyed by frost. 

 It will keep two years, with common care, in a cellar, 

 and will stand repeated freezing and thawing in a dark 

 place. It is agreeable to many palates in the spring. 



" The tree is an immense grower in the nursery, com- 

 ing early into fruit and making but little growth after- 

 wards, and is an immense and regular bearer. I have 

 made some cider as clear as wine, with sugar or a quar- 



* The same facts are also given by Mr. Soulard in Gardeners' 

 Monthly, x. 199 (July, 1868). 



ter part of sweet apples. It will make delicious strong 

 cider. Tree perfectly hardy, having stood the severest 

 winters here and at St. I'aul, Minn., for 25 years. I 

 have none for sale, and never expect to dispose of any ; 

 I am too old. But I believe that there is money in it 

 for younger ones." 



Downing, in his first Appendix, says that the Soulard 

 crab originated with Antoine Lessieur, I'ortage des Sioux, 

 a few miles above St. Louis, Mo. Confusion appears to 

 have arisen from the fact that a seedling apple raised at 

 Galena by Mr. Soulard has been distributed as the Soul- 

 ard apple. And some writers have said that the Soulard 

 apple came from St. Louis, and the Soulard irab from 

 Galena. It probably all turns upon whether the St. 

 Louis fruit should be called a crab or an apple. I am 

 inclined to think that Downing was confused on these 

 fruits, as the description in the Appendix does not appear 

 to be meant for the same fruit as that in the original 

 volume, although he records them both as of St. Louis 

 origin. Professor Budd, writing in a recent issue of 

 Kitral Life in answer to a question from myself, says 

 that the St. Louis fruit is the apple, and the Galena 

 seedling the crab : 



"The Soulard crab originated with J. G. Soulard, of 

 Galena, 111. The original tree came up as a seedling in 

 his garden. As cultivated apples were near, he sup- 

 posed it might be a cross with the native apple. When 

 it came into bearing, the fruit proved to be larger than 



Fig. I. PvRus coronaria ; from Michigan. 



any of the native wild crabs in that section, and yellow 

 in color. This confirmed him in the belief that it was a 

 hybrid. Standing beside the original tree, I directed 

 attention to the similarity of the leaves, buds and wood 



