APRIL 1 TO JUNE 30, 1909. 21 



25464— Continued. 



" This is produced much in the village Makuwa, in the province of Mino, whence 

 the name is derived. The male and female flowers are grown separately on the 

 same vine. The fruits ripen in midsummer. They are oval shaped, about 5 inches 

 long, and of a yellow color, with longitudinal stripes. They are eaten 1 or 2 days 

 after having been collected, and are very sweet and delicious. There are several 

 varieties of different colors and forms." {Yokohama Nursery Company.) 



25465. Melilotus indica (L.) All. Melilot. 



From King Island. Presented by Mr. Henry S. Baker, American consul, 

 Hobart, Tasmania. Received April 20, 1909. 



This yellow-flowered melilot, which has made for itself such an enviable reputa- 

 tion in the improvement of the soil of King Island, was introduced there supposedly 

 from the mattresses left on the shore by sailors or washed up on the beach from 

 wrecks of vessels along the coast. 



Mr. Henry D. Baker, American consul, Hobart, Tasmania, has furnished the 

 following information about its usefulness on King Island: 



Melilot has in the last few years transformed the island, which seemed 

 absolutely barren or given up to worthless vegetation, including chiefly bracken 

 fern and ti-tree scrub, Tussock grasses and rushes, into what is now the most profit- 

 able grazing and fattening area in Australasia. It has grown even on raw white 

 sand near the seashore, and in the course of 5 or 6 years has transformed the soil 

 into rich, dark-brown, almost black loam, and made it capable of growing good 

 crops of oats, lucern, etc. Land which half a dozen years ago was worth only a 

 little over one dollar an acre now has an assessed valuation, where melilot is thriv- 

 ing, of about 35 dollars an acre. 



Not until there had been severe fires over the island did the growth of melilot 

 become luxuriant or have its usefulness recognized. The seed, encased in a hard 

 shell, appears to germinate more quickly when this shell has been cracked open by 

 fire. Farmers, in securing a stand of melilot on new ground, sow the seed in the 

 scrub and bracken ferns late in the fall or winter and then burn off the brush. 

 This burning of the brush adds potash to the soil and covers the seed, and also im- 

 proves the germination, as stated previously. If a rain follows the fire, the seed 

 usually germinates quickly and an excellent growth is secured. 



This melilot is strictly an annual and dies off each year, the practice being to burn 

 the old stems in January and February. This burning clears the soil of rubbish, and 

 the stand of melilot becomes more perfect each season. 



Melilot, in the latter part of November, was on the average about 3 feet high. 

 Cut for hay about the middle of December, it makes splendid feed and all stock like 

 it in this form. The estimated average yield of melilot in dry hay is 2\ tons per 

 acre. Melilot-fed horses are of great size and strength, and have great endurance. 



Mr. Baker suggests that melilot might possibly be introduced to advantage on the 

 sandy wastes along the Atlantic and Pacific coasts of the United States, where the 

 climatic conditions are not unlike those of King Island, which is intercepted by the 

 fortieth degree of south latitude and normally has a good rainfall. 



It would be a mistake to consider melilot better than alfalfa or other useful home 

 fodders, its advantage being in its ability to redeem poor land. On very fertile soil 

 in New South Wales and Victoria it has proved a rather baneful weed. 



25466. Rubus sp. Raspberry. 



From Bataan Mountains, Philippine Islands. Presented by Mr. William S. 

 Lyon, Gardens of Nagtajan, Manila, Philippine Islands. Received May 7, 1909. 

 168 



