30 SEEDS AND PLANTS IMPORTED. 



28584. DiospYROs peregrin a (Gaertn.) Guerke. 



From Sibpur, Calcutta, India. Presented by Maj. A. T. Gage, superintendent, 

 Royal Botanic Garden. Received July 26, 1910. 



"A dense, evergreen, small tree with dark-green foliage and long, shining leaves; 

 common throughout India and Burma except the arid and dry zone in the Pun- 

 jab and Sind. Distributed to Ceylon, Siam, and the Malay Peninsula; very abun- 

 dant in Bengal. It is a beautiful tree; the fruit is eatable, but excessively sour. 

 Its principal use is for paying the bottoms of boats. It is beaten in a large mortar and 

 the juice is expressed. This is boiled, mixed with powdered charcoal, and applied 

 once a year to the outside of the planks. The wood is of little value. The fruit is 

 largely used in tanning, being a powerful astringent. The juice of the unripe fruit is 

 used in medicine as an astringent. The tree produces a round fruit as big as a middle- 

 sized apple, green when unripe, rusty yellow when ripe, and in the later stages con- 

 taining a somewhat astringent pulp, in which the seeds are embedded. "WTien ripe it 

 is eaten by the natives, but is not very palatable. The leaves are also eaten as a vege- 

 table. Ainslie mentions that the carpenters of the Malabar coast use the juice of the 

 frxiit as an excellent glue . " ( Watt, Dictionary of the Economic Products oj India, vol. 3, 

 p. 145.) 



Seeds. 



28585 to 28593. 



From Domane Niemiercze, Podolia, Russia. Presented by Messrs. K. Buszczynski 

 and M. Lazynski. Received July 22, 1910. 



Seeds of the following: 



28585 to 28587. Avena sativa L. Oat. 



28585. Earliest, or Sixty-Day. 



28586. Ligovo. 



28587. The new oats (cross between Ligovo and Earliest). 



28588 to 28592. Triticum aestivum L. Wheat. 



28588. Brown bearded. 28591. Triumph oJ Podolia. 



28589. Crossed Wheat No. 1. 28592. White bearded. 



28590. Improved Banat. 



28593. Triticum durum Desf. Wheat. 

 White spring. 



28594 and 28595. 



From Spain. Presented by Mr. R. I.. Sprague, American consul, Gibraltar, Spain. 

 Received July 7, 1910. 

 Seeds of the following; notes by Mr. Sprague: 



28594. ViciA ERViLiA (L.) Willd. Bitter vetch. 

 " Yero. This vetch is sown throughout Andalusia, but never plowed under 



for green manure. When the crop in ripe it is gathered and given to cattle 

 during the winter months." 



28595. Lathyrus sativus L. 



"Alverjones. These are used for green manure and can be procured in larger 

 quantities than the preceding (S. P. I. No. 28594). At about the same price 

 the practical result is considered better." 

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