APRIL 1 TO JUNE 30, 1917. 7 



has " attractive lavender-purple flowers distinguishable for long 

 distances across the plains"; and a wild cherry {Prunus salicifoUa, 

 No. 44885) of the Guatemalan highlands, which bears fruits three- 

 fourths of an inch in diameter, with a flavor suggesting the Bigar- 

 reau cherry. The facts that this cherry produces its fruits in 

 racemes and that the individual fruits are of such unusual size sug- 

 gest that it be tried in crosses with the chokecherries of the northern 

 United States. 



The desire persists in the Tropics for a tropical grape of good 

 quality, and possibly the callulos {Vitis sp., No. 44921), which has 

 unusually large berries in a solid bunch and which has shown itself 

 adapted to cultivation in Florida, may contribute toward that end. 



Of seeds and plants which have come in as a result of the interest 

 of foreigners or have been imported through correspondence, the 

 following merit mention in this statement: 



The guabiroba {Com'poinanesia femliana^ No. 44784), a fruit tree 

 of which a new quantity of seed has been sent in from Lavras, 

 Brazil, by Mr. Hunnicutt, was first brought to this country by 

 Messrs. Dorsett, Shamel, and Popenoe in 1914. Three-year-old trees 

 of it which were standing in the plant-introduction garden at Miami 

 were not injured by the freeze of 1917 and have already flowered. 

 This shows promise of becoming a valuable fruit plant where it 

 can be grown. 



Consul Dawson, of Rosario, has sent in the seeds of a bitter variety 

 of corn {Zea mays^ No. 44564) which has proved of interest to those 

 sections of Argentina which are overrun by locusts or grasshoppers, 

 owing to the fact that the leaves are so bitter that these insects will 

 not eat it unless there is nothing else to devour. Although the va- 

 riety is a poor yielder and the corn itself is not immune to the 

 attacks of the locusts, is it not possible that so striking a character 

 as that of bitterness might be valuable in breeding work for the 

 purpose of producing varieties of corn immune to various insects and 

 fungous diseases? 



It is a curious coincidence that the highbush cranberry of the 

 Northwestern States and the Kansu viburnum {Viburnum han- 

 suense, No. 44547) should both be used for the making of preserves. 

 In the improvement of our native species (F. americanum) , may 

 not the Chinese species be of value ? 



The susceptibility of one of our best ornamental bushes, the bar- 

 berry, to the wheat rust and the fact that the various species of 

 barberries cross easily make it a problem of not a little importance 

 to get the various species of these shrubs together and by crossing 

 them to produce superior forms. The existence of hardy evergreen 

 forms and of forms with seedless fruits can not but add to the possi- 



