horticultural paper. I have tried to
establish a regular source of supply by importing the seed, but it is
difficult indeed to do this. To avoid root-killing at the north we
should mulch these Japan pear seedlings heavily until we get enough
orchards of this truly hardy form, _Pyrus Ovoidea_, planted so we can
raise our own stocks. I firmly believe we will extend pear culture on
the North American continent clear to the Arctic Circle if we wish.

For pear stocks I am going to try everything I can think of. Some years
ago I worked pears on Juneberry stock from a hint given me many years
ago by Professor J.L. Budd. These grew well and were in full bloom when
five feet high, but were lost in clearing off a block of trees. I hope
to try this again on a larger scale. The mountain ash and hawthorn are
sometimes used, but both will be expensive and perhaps short-lived. The
quince is the dwarf stock of commerce but would need to be very heavily
mulched to prevent root-killing. Such dwarf pears are splendid in the
back yard, or for training up against the side of the house; the fruit
is fine and large, and the trees fruit the second year. The pear will
root in nursery by grafting with a long scion on apple seedlings. I hope
there will be much work done along this line.

To sum up the question, I think there is a hardy pear in sight. We have
the requisite pedigree back of it, and it seems that the quality we call
immunity to blight is in some of these Chinese or Siberian pears. If we
can combine the hardiness and blight-resistance of this Siberian pear
with the large size and high quality of fruit of the European pear, with
thousands of years of cultivation back of it, then we have the solution
of the pear question in sight. Millions and millions of people are
watching for a good hardy pear. (Applause.)

* * * * *

WARNING TO MUSHROOM GROWERS.--As the result of a serious case
of mushroom poisoning in a mushroom grower's family recently, the
mushroom specialists of the U.S. Department of Agriculture have issued a
warning to commercial and other growers of mushrooms to regard with
suspicion any abnormal mushrooms which appear in their beds. It seems
that occasionally sporadic forms appear in mushroom beds, persist for a
day or two, and then disappear. These are generally manure-inhabiting
species and may be observed shortly after the beds have been cased. In
the instance cited, however, these fung