B. P. I.— 415. 



SEEDS AND PLANTS IMPORTED DURING THE 

 PERIOD FROM JANUARY 1 TO MARCH 31, 1908: 

 INVENTORY NO. U ; NOS. 21732 TO 22510. 



INTRODUCTORY STATEMENT. 



With this fourteenth inventory of seeds and plants imported from 

 abroad is inaugurated a new departure. The volume of interesting 

 matter pertaining to these new introductions has become so great 

 and the desirability of getting out printed descriptions for the use 

 of those handling them is so apparent that it has been decided to issue 

 the inventory as soon as possible after each period of three months 

 of introduction work. 



This plan, it is believed, will interest the friends of these new immi- 

 grants and insure them better attention in the homes which are being 

 created for them in America. 



Since January 1, 778 introductions have come in, i. e., at the rate 

 of more than 8 a day, and among these it is worth while to call 

 attention to certain ones which are of unusual interest. 



Mr. Frank N. Meyer has continued his explorations in northern 

 China and this inventory contains 179 of his introductions. Among 

 them are some remarkable wild chestnuts, wild walnuts, oaks, crab 

 apples, and pears from the Chihli Province; seeds of the original 

 chrysanthemum from which most of the cultivated forms are sup- 

 posed to have originated; a collection of apples and pears from 

 Pangshan; several elms of some promise; Pyrus betulaefolia, the 

 species on which in China the native pears are grafted and which 

 distinguishes itself as easily grown from cuttings; and the Fei-tao 

 peach of Feitcheng, which is known all over North China as the 

 finest peach in the Empire. It is a clingstone, and individual fruits 

 in the dry region of the Shantung Province attain a weight of 1 

 pound. Possibly this is the Chinese Cling already known in America, 

 although such extraordinary fruits are not produced in this country, 

 and this may be an entirely new and most valuable addition to the 

 peaches of the United States. 



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