B. P. I.— 541. 



SEEDS AND PLANTS IMPORTED DURING THE 

 PERIOD FROM JULY 1 TO SEPTEMBER 30, 1909: 

 INVENTORY NO. 20; NOS. 257 18 TO 26047. 



INTRODUCTORY STATEMENT. 



This inventory, covering the first quarter of the fiscal year from July 

 1 to September 30, 1909, contains 329 introductions. The first quar- 

 ter has always been light, so far as the number of introductions is 

 concerned. This quarter's introductions have been unusually so, 

 owing to the fact that no explorers were in the field and changes in the 

 office force interfered with regular correspondence; further, to the 

 fact that only those introductions deemed of special interest are 

 being included, those considered of minor importance being recorded 

 in the office files only. 



Of unusual interest in this invent ory might be mentioned the 

 following introductions: 



Numbers 25858 and 25859 cover the seeds of the rattan palms 

 which supply the valuable material for the manufacture of cane- 

 seated chairs, street-car seats, baskets, etc., and whose cultivation 

 as a tropical crop seems to have been given very little attention. 

 The ability of these climbing palms to thrive in dense jungles is be- 

 lieved to be worthy the attention of tropical planters in the Western 

 Hemisphere. 



An importation of seeds of the ^Queensland nut,' Macadamia 

 ternifolia (Xo. 25845), calls attention to the possibilities of cultivating 

 this plant in parts of California and southern Florida. Trees are 

 now growing in southern California which have borne nuts for the 

 past two seasons. The Macadamia is being cultivated in Queens- 

 land and New South Wales, and, according to our information, the nuts 

 are verv well liked in Svdnev, where they retail for as much as a 

 shilling a pound. 



In order to aid in the experiments with the horse bean, Vicia faba, 

 which are being carried on by the Office of Forage-Crop Investiga- 

 tions, a collection of this important winter legume, adapted to the 

 mild winters of the Southwestern States, has been gathered together 

 from India, Egypt, Holland, Hungary, China, Kashmir, and Spain, 

 and it is hoped that more definite information can be secured regard- 

 ing the adaptability of this crop to our southwestern country. 



The "Monketaan' stock melon (No. 25934) comes to us recom- 

 mended by Mr. Lounsbury and Mr. Thornton, of the Department of 



176 7 



