142 
THE NATIONAL NURSERYMAN 
a IVw !iyl)ricls and varieties arc now established in the 
Arhorelinn. The most iin])ortaid species hut not the most 
heaiitirnl in flower is Pyrus conuniuiis, one of the Euro¬ 
pean s|)eeies from wliieli the eonujion garden pears have 
h(‘('n d(M'iv(Hl. The w ild form ol this tree is in Ihe Arl)oi'e- 
lum eolleelion. Some of the species, like P. el(W(i(jTilolid 
of southeastern Europe, are conspicuous in early S!)i'iug 
before Ihe llowers op('n from the silvery color of the un¬ 
folding’ h'aves, hut as ornamental trees some ol the (diin- 
('S(' spe(‘ies arc' hettei' woi'th cultivating lu're than those 
of Eui'opc' or western Asia. All the east(*rn Asiatic* 
specie's arc' now growing in the' Arhoretum; many oi 
thc'in have' large', handsome and lustrous leave's, aud oii a 
f('W the' fruit is ee)ns])ieue)us. Among the Chinese sieeeies 
w Inch have hee'ii thoroughly tested in the Arhoretum the 
haudsomc'st i)e'rhaj)s is P. avoided, a native of the 
noi’thern province's and eene ot the first in the collection to 
eejeen its flowers. These are followed by yellow^ iiiWy 
fruts e)f ge)e*el flavor w hieh. unlike theese of all eethcr Pear 
Ire'C'S. are largest at the base and gradually tai)er to the 
a|)ex. Another remarkable thing about this tree is that 
in the autumn the leaves turn as bright scarlet as those 
e)f any Asiatic Red Maple or Gum tree. As an ornamental 
tre'e this Pear deserves the attention of gardeners and its 
hardiness and the e}uality of its fruit suggests its possible 
value in the preeduetion of a new^ race of fruit trees. 
Another Chinese species, P. Brefschneideri, is also well 
worth the attention of pomologists; it is a tree wnth large 
lustrous leaves, large flowers and yellow, nearly globose 
fruit of good flavor. This is probably, in part at least, the 
w ild origin of the excellent pears which are sold in Pe¬ 
king during September and Oetoleer. The brown-fruited 
Pyrus serraldtd, one of the new species discovered by 
Wilson in western China, is of particular interest, too, as 
from this species are evidently derived the round russet 
jjears which in many forms have been so generally cul¬ 
tivated in .Tapan and are occasionally seen in American 
collections. The largest specimen of P. serruldfa in the 
Arboretum is growing among the Japanese Azaleas on 
the southern slope of Bussey Hill where it flowmred for 
the first time last year. The Leconte and the Keiffer are 
two hybrid pears w^ell knowm in this country where they 
were raised many years ago hy crossing a garden pear 
w ith some Chinese species of doubtful identity and un- 
c('i'tain origin. These hybrids have not proved very 
hardy in the north, hut have been planted in immense 
numbers in some of the southern states wdiere they pro¬ 
duced hrrge crops of fruit until the trees were attacked 
bv the Pear blight which has ruined many of these or¬ 
chards. P. ovo'idea has been growing in the Arhoretum 
foi’ eighleeu years and P. Bretsrhneideri for thirty-four 
years and have never been attacked by the Pear blight, 
ll is suggested that by crossing these species wdth some 
of the garden Ih'ars valuahle results in the way of a new" 
aud very hardy race of Pear-trees may he secured. Among 
byhrid plants in this group attention is called to 
Pyhus M.VLTFOI.IA. Tliis is a natural hybrid between 
Hie common Pear and the White Beam-tree of Europe. 
Sorhus Arid, and is very similar and perhaps a seedling 
of Ihe hybrid Bollwyller Pear which appeared in Alsace 
more than three hundred years ago as it w"as first men- 
lioned hy llu' botanist Bauhin in 1619. P. malifolid has 
large ])ale oval leaves and large flow"ers in few"-flow"ered 
clusters. It is jierfectly hardy and a remarkably fasl- 
growing tree wdiich promises to attain a large size in 
this climate. It well deserves a place in INew' England 
collections of tlowering trees. 
The Asi.vtu: Chahapples are beginning to How er and as 
the American species do not bloom until later it w ill be 
possible to ('iijoy in the Arboretum the beautiful llowers 
of tlu'se tiei's for several w eeks. The collection is a large* 
OIK' and now contains jilants large or small of all the 
American and Old World s})ecies w ith the single exceji- 
lion of the little know n Mdlus forowsdUd, a native, as its 
name inijilies. of the island of Formosa. Tlu' collections 
made by Mi’. Wilson in Gbina and .lajian have Ibrown 
mucb light on several of tbe Asiatic sjiecies wbicb are 
now" mucb better known than tbey w ere a few" years ago. 
Tbe discovery that a common A])ple-tree of western 
(hiina. largely cultivated as a fruit tree in tbe moun¬ 
tainous districts of Hupeb and Szeebuan. is a form of 
Mdlus prunifolid w bicb, altbougb it lias been in European 
gardens for nearly a century, w"as not known before as 
a w ild tree, is interesting. This form is now called 
Mdlus prunifolid, var. rinki. 
FUTURE SHORTAGE OF APPLES 
Follow ing the Avorld w"ar, the export markets are not 
only to be reojiened but possibly may assume a larger im¬ 
portance than ever before. Commercial apple grow"ers 
in the United States must meet any such increased de¬ 
mand w ithout increased acieage. Apple production does 
not respond (juickly to supply and demand. Trees re¬ 
quire several years to come into full bearing. Little can 
be done tow"ard immediately increasing the supply w hen 
an unusual demand appears. 
AIUST INCREASE PLANTINGS 
Taking the United States as a w"hole, there has been 
very little planting of apple trees sinee 1910. Compara¬ 
tively few" young trees, therefore, are coming into bear¬ 
ing at this time. This is show n by an investigation of the 
commercial apple industry recently made by the United 
States Department of Agriculture. Indeed, the largest 
single commercial apple-producing section in the United 
States has reached its maximum production, and unless 
the planting rate increases a decline is to be expected. 
That region is Western New York which, early in the 
sixties, became and has since remained the center of com¬ 
mercial a])ple production in the United States. Western 
New" York has produced regularly about one-fourth of 
the normal commercial apple crop of the eountry. But 
most of the present hearing trees w"ere planted in the 
late sixties and early seventies and are now" nearly 50 
years old. Vigor and productivity continue longer in 
Wi'stery New" York than anvw"here else in the country, 
perhaps, yet they cannot be maintained indefinitely, and 
the center of production may be expected to shift. Sim¬ 
ilar declines are taking plaee in what is know"n as the 
N('W" England Baldwin belt, including portions of Maine, 
New" Hampshire, Vermont and Massaehusetts, but as this 
