JULY 1 TO SEPTEMBER 30, 1917. 21 



45020 to 45022— Continued. 



bearing good crops of fruit, and tliis naturally brings up tbe question, 

 Is the productiveness of these trees due to the fact that they have been 

 topped? It rather looks as though it may be, and it would be well 

 worth while experimenting with some of the old seedling trees in south- 

 ern California to see if topping would render them more productive. 

 Topping is not done here with the intention of making the trees pro- 

 duce more fruit ; it has been purely accidental in these two cases. The 

 large limbs have been cut back within a foot or two of their union with 

 the trunk. From the stubs numerous sprouts have made their appear- 

 ance, and on these much more fruit is produced than upon the fruiting 

 branches of tlie ordinary crown. 



" The tree from which this bud wood was taken has a trunk about 

 10 inches in diameter, and the crown is now about 10 feet broad. I 

 counted over 50 fruits on the tree, which is a large crop for a cherimoya. 



" In form the fruits are heart shai)ed or bluntly conical, much freer 

 from iri-egularities than many varieties, of large size, averaging about 

 a pound in weight. The surface is clean and almost smooth, the carpel- 

 lary areas being indicated'by raised lines. 



" This is a variety of pleasing form and appearance, of good size for 

 handling and marketing, and the quality seems to be good. It ripens 

 earlier here than mo.st of the other seedlings, the first fruits having 

 already dropped, while the fruits on most of the other trees I have seen 

 are still immature. It should be tried in California." 



45021. Annon.\ cherimola Mill. Annonace.'e. Cherimoya. 



"(No. 165. Cuttings from the sitio of .lulio Guerra, Antigua, .July 

 16, 1917.) A productive variety of the cherimoya, or anona as it is 

 called in the Guatemalan highlands. 



" The tree is small, though not young. Apparently it has been cut 

 back heavily, leaving only one limb of the several which formerly com- 

 posed the crown. The height of the tree at present is about 15 feet, 

 while the trunk is about 8 inches thick at the base. The crown is 

 slender and unsymmetrical. 



"At this date (July 16) the tree is carrying 102 young fruits and is 

 still flowering. The season of ripening is from November to January. 

 In form the fruits are cordate to conical. When ripe the larger ones 

 will weigh more than 1 pound. The surface is rough, the carpellary 

 areas on some specimens giving rise to short protuberances, while on 

 other specimens the protuberances are almost wanting. 



" Julio Guerra says the ripe fruit has very, white flesh and is of 

 good quality. The unusual productiveness of the parent tree com- 

 mends the variety for trial in California and Florida." 



45022. Chamaedoeea sp. Phcenicacese. Pacaya palm. 

 "(No. 167a. Seeds from San Cristobal, Department of Alta Vera 



Paz, July 16, 1917.) Nearly every garden in Cohan, San Cristobal, and 

 other towns of Alta Vera Paz contains a number of these attractive 

 palms, grown not so much for ornament as for the edible inflorescences 

 which they produce. In some parts of central Guatemala, such as San 

 Antonio Aguas Calientes, the pacaya is occasionally .seen, but it appears 

 to be much more abundant in Vera Paz than in any other section of 

 the Republic. It is cultivated at varying altitudes, the lowest observed 

 being about 3,000 feet and the highest 5,200. From the fact that it 

 succeeds at such high elevations as 5,0(X) feet it must be considered 



