1117 
(Malus baeeata) . There is very much variation in the 
trees as regards appearance, pubescence of leaves, 
size of fruits and of flowers, etc. Some trees pre- 
sent a silvery-gray appearance while others are quite 
green. Whether all of these strains will be equally 
immune is yet to be solved. 
"This pear will be of immense value as a stock 
for the very greater part of the United States,, but 
more especially so for those parts where the summers 
are hot and the winters only moderately cold. As a 
factor in hybridisation work it offers but little 
prospect since the fruits are ridiculously small, 
often only the size of a small choke-cherry. Pyrus 
ussuriemis however offers much better promise for breed- 
ing work, that Is, to obtain a hardy pear for cold 
regions, but as a stock It probably cannot be grown 
in regions where summer temperatures go high. Pro- 
fessor Relmer stated to me last September that the 
leaves of it got slightly scorched at Talent during a 
hot spell in July, I believe. In China, to my know- 
ledge, I have never seen a specimen of Pyrus ussuriensis 
in a real hot part of the country; It always occurs 
there where the real Malus baeeata thrives and Juglans 
mand8hurica. Both of these plants love relatively cool 
summers, just like I do myself. 
"And now as regards collecting a large quantity 
of seeds of the wild ealleryam pear, for which purpose 
I made this special sixteen-day trip. Well, around 
Ichang Itself there are too few trees and they are 
too small; around Klngmen, however, four to five days 
march due northeast, we found many trees and I have 
advanced my Interpeter 100 Hupeh dollars, which he has 
been paying out as bargain money to various parties 
around Kingmen and In the early days of September of 
this year the natives will try to bring to us in King- 
men about 5000 catties of fresh ripe fruits and we 
will have to arrange about prices and about cleaning 
methods . 
"So we have to be again here in early September 
and if not, the advance money Is spent in vain and of 
course no seeds will be received by anybody. 
"The climate around Kingmen is much more conti- 
nental than in Ichang, as the cold winds from Honan 
strike right down there on their way into Hunan. The 
Rev. J. S. Johnson, of the Swedish-American Mission- 
ary Covenant, who is stationed at times In Kingmen, 
told me that this winter the ice was 7 to 9 inches 
thick and his mandarin orange trees had suffered very 
