6 
than on the ordinary Japanese stock; and the conclusion which Wilson 
has reached after a careful study of the subject is that these garden 
varieties of the Japanese Cherry can only succeed and make large and 
permanent plants when they are grafted on seedlings of the largest, 
hardiest and longest lived of the Japanese species. This is the north- 
ern tree which has been called Prunus Sargentii but now is known to 
be the northern form of Prunus serrulata and is to be called var. 
sachalinensis. During the last year seedlings of this northern tree 
raised from seeds ripened in the Arboretum have been used here as 
stock on which the varieties brought home by Wilson from Japan are 
being grafted, and there is no reason to doubt that the plants produced 
in this way will grow here to a large size and become as beautiful 
features in the parks and gardens of America as they are in those of 
Japan. Five Japanese species produce double-flowering forms. Those 
derived from the Sargent Cherry, the Yama-sakura or Mountain Cherry 
of the Japanese, will probably prove most valuable in this climate 
where they may be expected to grow to a larger size and last longer 
than the garden varieties of the other species. 
In the Arboretum many of the flower-buds of Cherries have been 
killed during the winter. On 
Prunus yedoensis the buds have all been killed. This is a white- 
and pink-flowered tree and one of the handsomest of the Japanese 
species. It is this Cherry which has been so largely planted in the 
streets, parks and cemeteries of Tokyo that when it blooms a general 
holiday is proclaimed by the Emperor that the public may enjoy its 
flowers. This Cherry is perfectly hardy in the Arboretum where it 
has flowered for several years and produced crops of fruit. 
Prunus subhirtella. This is the Higan-zakura or Spring Cherry of 
the Japanese. It is a shrubby plant from ten to fifteen feet high and 
broad, and is not known as a wild plant, although it is much cultivated 
in western Japan. Mr. Wilson considers it “the most floriferous and 
perhaps the most delightful of all Japanese Cherries.” This plant was 
raised in the Arboretum many years ago and from the Arboretum it 
has been widely distributed in the United States and Europe. For 
years it has flowered here regularly and has attracted as much atten- 
tion perhaps as any plant in the Arboretum. The small pink flowers 
now completely cover the upper branches; those on the lower branches 
have all been killed no doubt by a lower temperature near the ground 
than a few feet above it. 
Prunus subhirtella, var. pendiila has lost, too, many of its flower- 
buds and the trees in the Arboretum promise to be less beautiful this 
spring than usual, although in some gardens near Boston this Cherry 
is now covered with its drooping pink or rose-colored flowers. This 
weeping Cherry, which has been largely planted in parks, temple 
grounds and cemeteries in Japan, is nowhere known as a wild tree. 
It was introduced into Europe and the United States many years ago, 
