24 SEEDS AND PLANTS [MPOBTED. 



23535. Indigofera glandulosa Wendl. Befri. 



Fn»in Baroda, India. Procured by Mr. William II. Michael, American 

 consul-general, Calcutta, India, through Lieut. <'<>i. M. J. Meade, 0. I. EC, 

 superintendent, Baroda Presidency. Received September I. L908. 



"The befrl plant is :m annual and belongs to the natural order Leguminosse. 

 It generally grows In black Boil, and does nol require much water. Befri is 

 contained In very small pods, which are gathered after the rainy season is over. 



"Befrl contains 21.13 per cenl of albuminoids, whereas their proportions in 

 [ndian wheal and oatmeal are, respectively, 13.50 and L6 per cent. In other 

 words, befrl Is 56 i»<t cent more nutritious than wheal and '■'<- per <<*i 1 1 more so 

 than oatmeal, it is ground, mixed with Hour of bajrl or other loss nutritious 

 grains or grass seeds, and made Into bread, bhedki, etc." (Shamsudin •/. sule- 

 HHini. chief medical officer of Baroda State.) 



23536. Canarium luzonicum (Blume) Gray. Pili nut. 



Prom Tayabas Province, P. I. Presented by Mr. William S. Lyon, Manila, 

 P. I. Deceived September 8, 1908. 



•• I sent some of these nuts to a New York fruit seller some five years ago, 

 and in his opinion they rivaled the famous Brazil nut (Bertholetia) as a des- 

 sert nut. He. however, expressed an adverse opinion of their ever having any 

 commercial value as dessert nuts, owing to the hard shell resisting any ordinary 

 hand nutcracker. 



"In a lot I picked up in Tayabas I found two or three which, though far 

 from having paper shells, were amenable to my heel on a board floor. I thought 

 the matter worth looking up, and ascertained that they came from the neigh- 

 borhood, and spent a few days collecting fruits from all the fruiting trees in 

 the vicinity. Although 1 made no 'find,' I send on the fresh collected seeds for 

 you to grow as stock in case I am able to secure later scions of the paper-shell 

 variety." (Lyon.) (See No. 21860 for previous importation.) 



23542. Cucumis melo L. Muskmelon. 



From Paris, France. Presented by Mr. W. W. Keen, 1729 Chestnut street, 

 Philadelphia, Pa. Received August 26, 1908. 



" Seed of melons now so abundant here (Paris). They are much larger than 

 our cantaloupe and of quite as fine a flavor, if not even better. The interior is 

 a beautiful reddish yellow." (Keen.) 



"This is probably one of the varieties of the large Persian melons which do 

 not thrive in this region (Washington, D. C), but do much better in the hot, 

 dry climate of Colorado and westward." (W. W. Tracy, sr.) 



23543. Phaseolus vulgaris L. Bean. 



From Helsingfors, Finland. Presented by Mr. V. F. Sagulin. Received 

 September 10, 1908. 

 Finnish runner bean. 



23544 to 23547. 



From Ningyuenfu, Szechuan, via Chengtu, China. Presented by Rev. 

 R. Wellwood, American Baptist Mission. Received September 10, 1908. 



Seed of each of the following. Varietal descriptions by Mr. H. T. Nielsen. 



23544 to 23546. Glycine hispida (Moench) Maxim. Soy bean. 



23544. Large yellow with dark hiluin ; similar in appearance to 



Xos. 19986 and 22877. 



23545. Yellow with brown hilum; similar in appearance to No. 

 17862. 



23546. Very small, black, smaller than any black-seeded soy bean 

 we have had. 

 23547. Pisum arvense L. Field pea. 



148 



