B. P. I.— 637. 



SEEDS AND PLANTS IMPORTED DURING THE 

 PERIOD FROM JANUARY 1 TO MARCH 31, 1910: 

 INVENTORY NO. 22; NOS. 26471 TO 2T480. 



INTRODUCTORY STATEMENT. 



This inventory, No. 22, is a record of seed and plant introduc- 

 tions received by the Office of Foreign Seed and Plant Introduction 

 of the Bureau of Plant Industry from January 1 to March 31, 1910. 

 It contains 1,010 introductions, an increase of 588 over those of the 

 quarter ended December 31, 1909. 



Some of these introductions merit especial mention in this intro- 

 ductory statement. In Nos. 26471 to 26475 we have several inter- 

 esting introductions from Kashmir, India, embracing a cherry 

 (No. 26471), a peach (No. 26472), an apricot (No. 26473), a pear 

 (No. 26474), and an apple (No. 26475). Five hardy drought- 

 resistant Chinese pears come to us from Manchuria under Nos. 

 26485 to 26489. Another introduction of interest is a drv-land 

 shrub related to Citrus (Limonia acidissima, No. 26496) from Kirkee, 

 India. This will be especially valuable for breeding purposes. No. 

 26511 is a wild pomegranate (Punica protopunica) from the island 

 of Socotra, probably a prototype of the cultivated pomegranate. 

 This was introduced for breeding purposes and as a suitable stock 

 for the southwest sections of the country on which to graft the 

 improved form. The first generation of potatoes from seed intro- 

 duced from Chile (Nos. 26517 to 26535); a number of interesting 

 species of wild clovers from the mountains of Turkey, for testing and 

 breeding purposes (Nos. 26574 to 26578); a wild medicago (No. 

 26590) from the arid mountain regions of Algeria; seeds of the native 

 hardy Manchurian pear (No. 26591) are all worthy of attention. 



An introduction of considerable commercial value is the Black 

 Monukka seedless grape of India. This was found by the writer in 

 the greenhouses of the Royal Horticultural Society at Wisley, Eng- 

 land, and sent in at his request by Rev. W. Wilks, secretary of the 

 society. This adds a dark-purple seedless grape to the seedless grapes 

 already in cultivation in America. A number of varieties of soy 

 beans from Manchuria (Nos. 26643 to 26646) and two species of 

 dry-land alfalfa from the Crimea (Nos. 26666 and 26667); Medicago 

 orbicularis (No. 26673) from Balaklava, Crimea, an annual form 

 found growing on dry, hilly slopes and on sterile, stony plains, and 

 much relished by sheep and horses, will be of interest to forage-crop 



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