"40003. Wild peaches found on a mountain side, near Pai dja dien, Shensi, at an elevation of 4000 feet; these small trees and bushes had borne such a heavy crop that the ground beneath them was covered with a layer, a few inches thick, of the small, yellowish, hairy fruits. The local inhabitants didn't consider them worth collecting even, and they were rotting and drying up."
"40004. Wild peaches occurring as tall shrubs in loess cliffs, at the Tibetan frontier, Kagoba, Kansu, at elevations of 6000-8000 feet. Save for some children who eat these wild peaches, they are otherwise considered worthless wild fruit. Local name Yeh t'ao, meaning 'wild peach,' and Mao t'ao, meaning 'hairy peach.'"
"40005. Wild peaches found on stony mountain slopes in a wild, very sparsely populated country, near Kwa tsa, on Siku River, Kansu. No fruit trees whatsoever are cultivated by the local settlers in the mountains, and the way some of these peach bushes grow excludes them from ever having been brought there by any man or even any quadruped; only birds might have transported them."
In a letter to the author,[3] Mr. Meyer says further:
"Where did I find the peach wild? Well, I first came across it in loess cliffs in southern Shensi at an elevation of about 4000 feet above sea. Later on I found plenty of them in central Shensi, in southern Kansu and in the Tibetan borderland, up to 7000 feet elevation above sea. All the plants I found were freestone types, and according to the natives they all have shell-pink flowers. In the mountains of the Chekiang Province, however, I found a type which seems to be clingstone."
In still another letter sent me from the United States Department of Agriculture, Mr. Meyer says:
"It is about one month ago since I wrote you last, and so far as real distance is concerned, I have not advanced much, but we went over some very interesting territory and I was lucky enough to discover the real wild peach, growing in loess ravines some 2-3 days to the East from here, near a village called Tchao yu. The plants are of smaller dimensions than our cultivated strains, and the stones are somewhat different as regards shape and grooves, but still on the whole there is little difference between a very poor seedling-peach and this wild one.
These wild peaches are locally cut for firewood, for the fruits are pretty near inedible, being small and having hard, sourish flesh. They grow at the edges of deep loess ravines and on the steep, sloping bottom of such ravines. The Chinese locally do not call this peach 'yeh tao' or 'shan tao' but 'Mao t'ao,' meaning 'hairy peach.' In the vicinity where they grow, no peaches are cultivated although half a day's journey lower down, one meets with some poor looking trees in gardens.
The elevation I found them was almost exactly 4000 feet above sea. I gathered some fruits, but they are not quite ripe; I am trying to ripen them off, however, so that we may obtain at least a few ripe seeds. As a stock, however, it has not the value the Davidiana peach has, not being as vigorous and apparently being attacked by the same pests that infest cultivated peaches. This 'find' is of great interest, however, showing that wild peaches exist much nearer the coast than we suspected, and that the peach naturally is a native of semi-arid regions."
The explorations made by Mr. Meyer cover, of course, but a small part of the vast empire of China. Further search will, no doubt, show many other localities in Central and Eastern Asia where the peach grows naturally and has probably done so from time immemorial.