OCTOBER 1 TO DECEMBER 31, 1913. 73 



36841 to 36845— Continued. 



36845. Cucumis melo L. Muskmelon. 



"(No. 26a. November 12, 1913.) Seeds of a large melon grown at Joazeiro, 

 on the Sao Francisco River, 250 miles inland from Bahia. This melon is 10 

 inches long and 5 inches in diameter, straw colored, and heavily ribbed. The 

 flesh is light salmon color, with a pronounced musky flavor; of fair quality. It 

 might prove of value in parts of the arid Southwest." 



36846 to 36848. Soja max (L.) Piper. Soy bean. 



(Glycine hispida Maxim.) 



From Dalny, Manchuria. Presented by Mr. Albert W. Pontius, American consul. 

 Received December 10, 1913. 



"A large variety of beans is grown in Manchuria, and together with their resultants, 

 bean cake and bean oil, they constitute by far the most valuable item in the export 

 trade of the three provinces. In the month of April they are sown by hand in drills 

 and the crop is ripe in September; but as regards the beans of commerce there is an 

 exception, namely, the small green bean known as Lu ton (Phaseolus aureus Roxb.), 

 which ripens as early as July and can be sown again in that month and gathered early 

 in October. The Chinese distinguish the beans of commerce by their colors. At 

 the end of March or beginning of April the ground fertilizer (night soil and animal 

 manure) is spread over the fields in the furrows in which the previous season's beans 

 were cultivated. The soil in the old ridges is then turned with the ordinary shallow 

 native plow, the new ridges being formed where the fertilizer has been spread. The 

 ground is broken with a wooden roller drawn by a mule, the tops of the ridges being 

 partly leveled. A line marker is then used on the leveled ridges, this implement 

 marking a shallow trench, preparing the ground for seeding purposes. 



"The planting of beans in Manchuria takes place during the month of April. The 

 seeding is effected in two manners, the beans being sown in light furrows or in finger 

 holes placed uniformly apart. The former method is quite simple and requires no 

 explanation; in the use of the latter method, the finger holes are about 9 inches apart, 

 four or five seeds being dropped in each hole. The amount of seed used differs in the 

 various districts, a higher altitude requiring a proportionately larger quantity of seed. 

 The following shows the different quantities of seed used in the varying latitudinal 

 districts of Manchuria: Liaotung Peninsula (district south of Tashihchiao), from 

 thirty to forty-five hundredths of a bushel per acre; Mukden, Tiehling, and Kaiyuan, 

 from forty-five to sixty hundredths of a bushel per acre; Kirin, from sixty -five to 

 eighty hundredths of a bushel per acre; Heilungchiang, eighty hundredths of a bushel 

 or more per acre. The first breaking and weeding of the soil takes place from six to 

 ten days after seeding and when the sprouts are from 3 to 4 inches in length. Weeding 

 is subsequently effected during intervals of four or five days (every ten days in 

 northern Manchuria). Native hoes and rakes are used for weeding, the ground being 

 broken with a wooden plow drawn by a horse or mule. The period of harvesting is 

 from the latter part of September to the beginning of October, the bean plants being 

 cut close to the roots, a stone roller or wooden flail being used in hulling. The average 

 crops per acre by districts are estimated as follows: In southeast Manchuria and the 

 coast of the Yellow Sea the yield is from 10 to 15 bushels per acre; in the Liao River 

 valley, Changtu, Kaiyua, Tiehling, and Mukden the yield is from 40 to 50 bushels 

 per acre; at Kirin the yield is from 24 to 26 bushels per acre; and in Heilungchiang 

 (Amur district) the yield is from 17 to 22 bushels per acre." (Pontius.) 



36846. "Yellow bean. Pai mei, 'white eyebrow,' from the white scar on the 

 saddle, or point of attachment to the pod. This variety is highly prized for 

 the quantity of oil or fat which it contains. Shipped from Fanchiatun 

 station, near Changchun, south Manchuria." (Pontius.) 



