107 
Meyer's request by Mr. G. C. Schlosser. This material reached 
us on December I9, 1917. Mr. Meyer v/rote in this letter of 
November ?, regarding his work with Prof. Reirner on the pear 
problem, as follows: 
Prof. Reiiaer is strongly of the opinion 
that v;e should not grow these pears at more 
than one locality and he would prefer Ghico, 
since he could visit it easily from his sta- 
tion at Talent. Have we got there c.a. 15 
acres available for this work? If not, could 
arrangements be made to rent additional land? 
We are not sure of course that the Pyrus 
betulaef olia from around here is fully as sus- 
ceptible to blight as the northern forms are, 
but, on the other hand, there is no valid reason 
to suppose that it is not less so. 
Mr. Reimer and I have been discussing some 
interesting facts, for instance, how far North 
<^oes P yrus calleryana occur and how far South 
does P. betulaefolia run. Wilson apparently 
never""found the last in Hupeh, for it is not 
mentioned in Plantae V/iJsonianae . In the In- 
ventory No. 38 I see under No. 37500 that P. 
calleryana occurs in Shantung; where was this 
information obtained? I notice that Hupeh has 
been left out, so has Chekiang and Japan and 
Korea. I wonder v/ho made up that note? 
Another problem we went over is this: who 
is going to prevent nurserymen from selling any 
old stock as the true calleryana or the true 
ussuriensis? P. ealleryana may get winter killed 
in cold localities while P. ussuriensis may be 
totally unfit for southern sections,"" and the 
damage done to fruit growing might be very con- 
siderable should these stocks be mixed up. 
Another fact is. this: Prof. Reimer has 
stated to representatives of the Yokohama Nur- 
sery Co. in Japan that American fruit growers 
v/ere in great need of quantities of seeds of the 
true calleryana pear, as occurs in Southern Japan 
and in South and Central Kore where no P. betulae -- 
folia is found, and of the true ussuriensis as 
occurs in Central and North Manchuria, and to 
members of the iiraerican Legation he has stated 
that v/e want a lot of seeds of the ussuriensis 
from the Shing lung shan region. Now who is 
going to receive these seeds and who will pay for 
them?--These problems may come up already next 
fall and v/inter. 
December 31, I917. 
