OCTOBER 1 TO DECEMBER 31, 1920. 5 



The guar of India ought to be given unusual attention, and four 

 new varieties, Cyamopsis tetragonoloha (Nos. 51598 to 59601), used 

 as a vegetable, should l)e thoroughly tried because of the drought re- 

 sistance of the species. 



Vitex cuncdtd (No. 51004:), with leaves larger than the horse-chest- 

 nut and large, highly scented flowers, may prove valuable as a shade 

 tree in the South. 



Rihes Jongeracemosum (No. 51617), from the mountains of western 

 China, bears large black fruits in racemes 1\ feet long, and ought to 

 be useful to plant breeders. If it proves resistant to the white-pine 

 blister rust, for which black currants generally are hosts, it might be 

 the beginning point of a race of long-clustered black currants. 



Doctor Pittier has sent in a new cultivated fruit tree, the guayabo 

 pesjua (No. 51626), an undescribed Myrciaria, which bears fruits 

 that are favorites among the Venezuelans and should have a chance 

 of succeeding in Florida. 



Cuttings of Pyi'us malifoUa (No. 51702) have been procured from 

 the Museum of Natural History in Paris. This is a supposed hybrid 

 with leaves resembling those of the apple. 



The guisquil de papa, Chm/ofa edulis (No. 51704). is a perfectly 

 smooth skinned white chayote, which when cooked is unusually 

 mealy in texture and reported to be of a better flavor than the com- 

 mon kind. It should be widely tested Avherever the chayote will 

 grow. 



Leonard Coates, of Morgan Hill, Calif., has been using the seeds of 

 a hybrid peach-almond (No. 51705) as a stock and strongly recom- 

 mends it as making double the growth of the ordinary peach. 



The director of the plant-breeding station in Buitenzorg, Java, has 

 sent a remarkable collection of palm seeds (Nos. 51707 to 51726 and 

 51733 to 51739) and seeds of screw pines or Pandanus (Nos. 51727 to 

 51732) for trial in Florida, where both palms and screw pines thrive 

 remarkably well and are beginning to be of very great landscape 

 importance. 



The Turkish hazel. Corylus colurna (Nos. 51779 and 51780), of 

 which Mr. Dunbar has a beautiful specimen in the i^ark in Rochester, 

 N. Y., unlike our hazel, is a good-sized tree, attaining when mature 

 60 feet in height. Its nuts, although smaller than the cobnut or 

 commercial filbert, compare favorably with the wild American hazel- 

 nuts. This hazel will probably make a good nut tree for roadside 

 planting in the Northern States. 



The Mimvsops kauki (No. 51820), which o-rows on the islands 

 scattered around the Straits Settlements region, bears fruits re- 

 sembling dates in shape which are of unusual value to the natives, 

 who dry them and keep them for seasons of scarcity. Perhaps it 

 would grow on the Florida keys. 



The guada, Trichosanthes anguina (Nos. 51824 to 51827), is a 

 rapid-growing cucurbit from the Solomon Islands which within a 

 few months from the time of planting produces as imich as 25 pounds 

 of fruit. These are 3 to 6 feet long, range from orange to green in 

 color, and weigh as much as 2 pounds apiece. When sliced and 

 served with a French dressing they are said to be quite a luxury. 

 They may serve as a substitute for cucumbers in the South. 



