30 SEEDS AXD PLANTS IMPORTED. 



46764. CoRT>'OCARPUS laevigata Forst. Corynocarpacese. 



Karaka. 



From Honolulu, Hawaii. Presented by Mr. C. S. Judd, Superintendent of 

 Forestry, Board of Commissioners of Agriculture and Forestry. Received 

 November 25, 1918. 



" Seeds of the karaka tree of New Zealand. This tree was introduced into 

 these islands in 1878, when Mr. Francis Sinclair sent the seed of it from Auck- 

 land to Mrs. Valdemar Knudsen, who planted it at Halemanu, Kauai. Hawaii, 

 at an altitude of 3,500 feet. The tree has thrived and forms a dense forest 

 cover. It is considered a valuable addition to our lisl of water-conservation 

 forest trees. The tree is not very long lived, but it perpetuates itself by abun- 

 dant reproduction. The wood is soft and the foliage is relished by stock." 

 (Judd.) 



46765. RuBus sp. Eosacese. Blackberry. 



From San Lorenzo. Colombia. Presented by Mr. M. T. Dawe. Received 

 November 11, 1918. 



" I am sending you to-day seeds of a large fruiting blackberry which grow.s 

 at about 3,300 meters altitude on the Central Cordillera." (Dawe.) 

 Received as R. hogotensis, but it seems to be a different species. 



46766 and 46767. Triticum spp. Poacese. Wheat. 



From Johannesburg, South Africa. Purchased from the Agricultural Sup- 

 ply Association through Mr. J. Burtt DaA-y- Received November 28, 1918. 

 Quoted notes by Mr. Davy. 



" I have succeeded in obtaining in the Calvinia division of the Cape Province 

 some very nice samples of two breeds of wheat, which have been grown there 

 for a generation or more and which must be thoroughly acclimatized. 



" The two varieties are known locally as Golden Ball, which is a durum 

 type, and Onde Board, a bearded, soft wheat. Both are good yielders, and the 

 latter is said to be somewhat better in yield than the former, although some- 

 what less drought resisting. 



" These wheats are grown in a region where the average rainfall for the last 

 five years has been 3i inches per annum, and the incidence of the rainfall is- 

 such that it is practically of no benefit to the crop. On the other hand, the soil 

 temperature is extraordinarily high and the evaporation enormous, somewhere 

 in the neighborhood of 108 inches per annum. 



" The wheat is grown under what is known as the ' Zaaidam ' system, which 

 is identical with the basin-irrigation system of Upper Egypt, with this differ- 

 ence, that whereas the Egyptian plan deals with practically a constant water 

 supply, the Zak River is very erratic in its flow, sometimes coming down ia 

 February and at other times, perhaps, in March, April, May, or June, and some- 

 times even as late as August or September. As a rule one can only count upon 

 its coming down once in the year or at least being only once available for the 

 crop during the season, though occasionally, in an exceptionally favorable sea- 

 son, the crop gets two irrigations. 



" The land, being extraordinarily hard, is not plowed until the river comes 

 down ; the water is then allowed to stand on the land, in basins sometimes 1,500- 

 acres in extent, for two to ten days, or even three weeks, according to the quan- 

 tity of water available and the requirements lower down the stream. Storage 



