2 SEEDS AXD PLAXTS IMPORTED, 



In Nos. 40316 to 40820 we have a collection of strikingly orna- 

 mental trees and shrubs from New Zealand, sent in ])y our corre- 

 spondent. Mr, H. R. AVright. Freycinetia hanksii (Xo. 46317) with 

 its striking fruit. Meryta shidairii (Xo. 40318) witli its immense 

 leaves. Plttosponim ralphii (Xo. 46319) with bell-shaped, dark-crim- 

 son flowers, and Slderoxylon costatum (Xo. 40320), a handsome 

 shade tree, should all find a place somewhere in America. 



Mr, John Gossweiler has sent in from Loanda, Angola, a species 

 of Solanum {S. viacrocarpon; Xo, 46330) bearing fruits the size 

 of an apple, and also a brilliant violet-purple flowered species of 

 sesame {Sesamurn angolense; Xo. 46332) that may possibly be used 

 to advantage in the improvement of the oil-producing sesame, which 

 has the defect of scattering its seeds, thus making mechanical har- 

 vesting impossible. 



A red-fleshed pummelo {Cities grandis; Xo, 46336) from Shen- 

 chowfu, which its sender, Mr, N. T, Johnson, says ripens two months 

 earlier than other varieties, may prove valuable in Florida. 



The collections of beans and closely allied plants, accessioned in 

 this inventorv. mav be cited to show how the machinerv of plant 

 introduction works when a plant breeder wants to get together as 

 many varieties of a certain plant as possible for experimental pur- 

 poses. Xos. 46338 to 46354, from Gua^^aquil, Ecuador; Xos. 46358 

 to 46373, from Caracas, Venezuela: Xos, 46490 to 46499, from Ro- 

 sario. Argentina ; Xos. 46502 to 46521, from Para, Brazil ; and Xos. 

 46525 to 46530. from Punta Arenas, Chile, will put in his hands a 

 total of 63 probable strains, including, of course, some duplicates. 



Whether or not there would be any distinct advantages to truck 

 groAvers in grafting eggplants on the root of the susumber {Solanum 

 manuiiosuvi) ^ which is closely related to it, remains to be shown. 

 The idea is interesting, and seeds of the tree have been obtained 

 (Xo, 46374), 



The white sapote, which is much hardier than the avocado, is 

 gradually winning adherents, at least the large-fruited varieties of 

 it, A new one from Guadalajara {Casimiroa edidis; Xo, 46375), 

 with pear-shaped fruits, is welcome, and Mr. Furnivall may have sent 

 a sort superior to any we now have. 



The large-fruited Mexican oaks {Quercus sp.; Xo. 46383) are so 

 strikingly interesting that it is to be hoped they will withstand our 

 winters in the South and, like LithocarjJu^s cornea from Hongkong, 

 will find a congenial home along the Gulf coast. 



Could the kauri pine {Dammara cvustraliH; Xo. 46387). stateliest 

 of all the giant forest trees of the world because of its perfectly' 

 columnar trunk, be grown anywhere in the western hemisphere, it 

 ought to be, for disquieting stories of its threatened extinction in Xew 

 Zealand are rife. We are protecting our redwoods and sequoias, and 



