11 
cold later in the month destroyed them. The flower-buda of the Jap- 
anese H. japonica and its variety were not hurt, but they did not open 
until late in March or six weeks later than usual. The flower-buds of 
the Chinese H. mollis were badly injured and only partly opened to- 
ward the end of March. 
Qaercus arkansana, from the neighborhood of Fulton in southern 
Arkansas, has been killed, but the Nutmeg Hickory {Carya myristicifor- 
mis) raised from nuts gathered within two miles of the place where 
Q. arkansana grows is uninjured, as are Sapindus Drummondii from the 
same general region and Malus angustifolia from Florida. More re- 
markable is the hardiness of Carya texana, the so-called Bitter Pecan, 
raised here from nuts gathered on the lower Brazos River in one of 
the hottest parts of the Texas coast region where sugar is the prin- 
cipal crop. On the other hand, more northern trees like the Liquid- 
amber and the Persimmon {Diospyros virginiana) have lost many buds 
and will certainly be disfigured. These are not Massachusetts trees 
but they are natives of southern Connecticut and have been growing 
for years in the Arboretum; and it might well have been supposed that 
they would be hardier than trees from southern Arkansas, Florida and 
the Texas coast. But the hardiness of a plant can only be determined 
by experiments conducted through many years, as the effects of the 
last winter have clearly shown. It is the office of the Arboretum to 
make such long sustained experiments and to report on the results 
obtained from them, and if nurserymen and other planters will study 
this work of the Arboretum they will be saved many disappointments 
and the loss of valuable time and unnecessary expenditures. 
Asiatic Crabapples. Some of these trees are blooming very early 
this year and many of them are carrying an unusually large crop of 
flowers. Much attention has been paid at the Arboretum to this col- 
lection because few plants have more beautiful flowers and fruits or 
are better suited to this northern climate, and as the Apples of pom- 
ologists have been obtained by crossing a few of the species of the 
wild Crabs there is a chance that the future may disclose new and 
perhaps improved races of Apples obtained by crossing some of the 
recently introduced species with some of the varieties of orchard Apples. 
A general interest in this collection is shown by the number of requests 
for Crabapple grafting wood which are sent to the Arboretum from 
Agricultural Experiment Stations and nurserymen from all the northern 
parts of the country. The Arboretum collection is a large one and now 
contains well established plants of all the wild Crabapples with the 
exception of the Himalayan Malus sikkimensis which has not always 
been quite hardy here. It also contains many hybrids both of Asiatic 
and American species. The Asiatic species and several of the American 
species, as well as many hybrids, are now large enough to flower and 
produce fruit, and the collection affords an excellent opportunity for 
study. The Crabapples are in two groups, the first on the left-hand side 
of the Forest Hills Road, and the second at the eastern base of Peter’s 
Hill where will be found the greatest number of species. The Japanese 
and Chinese species can be considered hardy as they have not been 
injured by the past winter, with the exception of Malus yunnanensis. 
