113 
soon winter will set in. I am trying to round 
up several things which we ought to have col- 
lected long ago had these wild pears not kept 
me down at King men. 
Prof. Reimer has come and has gone again 
and is now collecting scions of desired pear 
varieties around Peking. Our sojourn was quite 
interesting, tho ' of course he is a narrow 
specialist and takes very little interest in 
things outside of pears. Specialists are apt 
to he selfish and are at times sponge-like, and 
an all-around man gets of course at times "fed 
up" with the same sort of a dish served morning, 
night and noon.-- Well, I have given him all 
the infor:nation and assistance I was able to 
and I trust it has been of considerable help to 
him. 
There is one thing that Mr. Reimer and I 
did not agree upon, viz., the fact that _! thought 
that the one hundred pounds of Galleryana pear 
seeds should not go entirely to Talent, like he 
wished it to be and I suggested to him to 
straighten this matter out with you. A small 
station like Talent, whose support depends so 
much on the good will of a community of fruit 
growers, naturally wants to get in well with 
such people and present them with immune stocks 
but — my time given to this problem,- and do 
not let people think it was a small amount 
either,- has been Federal time and I think other 
pear growers also should be supplied with plants 
of the seeds that I got together. What is your 
own opinion about it and that of others in- 
terested in immune pear stocks? 
l?ow since Pacific Coast nurserymen and fruit- 
growers will watch Prof. Reimer 's demonstration 
with close observation, it would bo well for you 
to have Ghico give extra care to these pear seeds i 
They should be soaked in water for 24 hours and 
stratified, if possible. Do not wait until all 
seeds have arrived. I sent off circa 65 lbs. and 
maybe another quantity is waiting me in King men 
when I get there. 
Prof. Reimer was afraid he wouldn't get seeds 
enough from us and he has collected himself a fev/ 
hundred pounds of fruits of P. calleryana when we 
were on the Chin kang shan, a day's journey K. W. 
of Ichang. He has taken these with him to Peking 
to have them cleaned there. Ke thought that 
these fruits coming from an elevation of over 
3000 ft. a.s. would be of a hardier type than 
December 31, 1917. 
