The Garden Nurseries, Penn Valley, Narberth, Pa. 
27 
given them a more thorough-going test. Some of them appear to have 
brighter colored flowers, others larger and more brilliant fruit, a great many 
have much deeper red foliage than any Flowering Crab yet known in 
cultivation. Whether this red foliage is going to be of any value is a 
problem, but many plant lovers admire red foliage-giving effect of autumn 
coloring in the summer. Some of these new varieties have scarlet foliage, 
others just blood red, and many are green, but a tremendous assortment of 
varieties are produced from a few seeds. 
We have had the honor of supplying nearly all the leading nurserymen 
in America with foundation stock of Flowering Apple and Crab and 
Oriental Cherries, but many nurseries have not been able to keep the 
varieties separated. In one case the mixing was so bad, that in a trial 
order of three varieties, none were true to name. They did not bear even 
a slight resemblance to the varieties they were supposed to represent. To 
prevent such a mix-up. eternal vigilance must be exercised by the nursery¬ 
man. The only safe way is to get the cuttings for grafting or budding from 
labelled stock trees that are permanently fixed in the nursery^planted there 
for the sole purpose of supplying bud wood and grafting scions. Inci¬ 
dentally, these specimen trees help to sell the young trees. 
Cultural Directions: The general directions for Japanese Cherries 
apply also to Flowering Crabs, except that Crabs have a wider range of 
adaptability to soil; wet or dry, rich or poor, they thrive, but, of course, 
they respond with more growth to a good soil and good culture. Some 
varieties, such as Atrosanguinea, may be sheared into a pyramidal, standard 
or ball-shaped tree. Of course, all pruning and shearing is done after the 
flowers have passed. In pruning, keep in mind that you should not attempt 
to thin out the branches—the more branches, the more flowers. Further¬ 
more, if branches are thinned out too much, there is a tendency to produce 
a lot of straight so-called "suckers ’ from near the cut, and these do not add 
to the appearance of the tree. If one wants to improve the size of the fruit, 
thinning out would be beneficial, but for no other reason. Therefore, let 
flowering trees alone, do not prune. 
“There are Crab Apples suitable for the lawn or park, for steep banks or 
edge of woodlands, for open places or forest glades: Crab Apples garlanded 
with myriad blossoms in the Spring; Crab Apples brilliantly jewelled with 
countless fruits in autumn. Crab Apples whose scented flowers are my 
lady’s delight: Crab Apples whose characteristics are the artist’s joy: Crab 
Apples whose wholesome fruit makes delicious preserves: Crab Apples 
whose tiny fruits save our feathered friends from starving in the depth of 
winter. Their beauty is indescribable, their charm irresistible. Come to the 
Arboretum at Crab Apple time.’ 
—Extract from “America’s Greatest Garden’ ’ by E. H. Wits on. 
