JULY 1 TO SEPTEMBER 30, 1914. 37 



38855 and 38856— Continued. (Quoted note by Mr. F. N. Meyer.) 



38856. Peunus tomentosa Thunb. Amygdalaceae. Cherry. 



"(No. 2117a. June, 1914.) Stones of the North China bush cherry, 

 a fruiting shrub of great promise for the cooler, semiarid sections of the 

 United States. Chinese name Suan t'ao or Suan ying t'ao, meaning 

 ' sour cherry.' " 



38857 and 38858. 



From Asuncion, Paraguay. Presented by Mr. C. F. Mead. Received July 

 23, 1914. Quoted notes by Mr. Mead. 



38857. Manihot esculenta Crantz. Euphorbiacese. Cassava. 

 (Manihot utilissima Pohl.) 



" Yeruti (shorter and smaller canes). In June, 1913, I started a Para- 

 guayan on a small chacra belonging to myself, situated at Caballero, 

 about 50 miles south of Asuncion. That month he planted 3 hectares of 

 maize. At the last cultivation of said crop, about October 20, he planted, 

 as is customary here, mandioca or cassava, as you call it, between rows. 

 I have just returned from a two-weeks' trip to this same place, and on 

 June 1 I dug up 100 plants, weighing the tubers. From these weights, 

 as an average of the whole, the crop was 38,500 kilos per hectare. All 

 of this mandioca will not be used this year, and all that is left in the 

 ground until next year will produce nearly double the weight. Accord- 

 ing to my figures, that date is 7 months 11 days from time of planting, 

 but they have been digging and using the same mandioca since the middle 

 of April. The varieties planted are called in Guarany Mandio Yeruti and 

 Mandio Conception, both of them sweet varieties, and differing, in that 

 the Conception resists drought better. I cau not give you any statistics 

 as to chemical properties, but I have seen the practical results of feed- 

 ing, it being the staff of life here for the family and for farm animals. 

 The starch content is very high also, great quantities being used for 

 making almidon or mandioca flour or starch. The plants need a sandy 

 and very loose soil, but not too rich, or they will all run to stalk." 



38858. Ilex paraguariensis St. Hil. Aquifoliacese. Yerba mate. 



"The yerba industry is one of the most prosperous in all this district, 

 and it is getting better every day." 



38859. Achras zapota L. SapotaceaB. Sapodilla. 



(Achras sapota L.) 



From Port of Spain, Trinidad, British West Indies. Presented by Dr. J. I. 

 Senior, through Mr. A. J. McConnico, American consul. Received July 

 23, 1914. 



"Some time before I left Trinidad I came across a sapodilla tree which has 

 enormous fruits, quite the largest I have ever seen. As none were ripe, I had 

 no opportunity of testing the quality." (Frank Evans.) 



"It may not be out of the way to mention that I imported this plant from 

 Curacao, Dutch West Indies, where the sapodilla grows to perfection in all the 

 different and best varieties; among many that I imported only two of them 

 produce such very large fruits." (Senior.) 



