8 SEEDS AND PLANTS IMPORTED. 



Probably there is no work so extensive and successful in the bind- 

 ing of drifting desert sands as that carried on at Chart chui, Turkestan, 

 by the Russian Government. The railroad, which was previously 

 in continual danger of being covered by shifting sand dunes, has 

 been completely protected by the use of certain drought and alkali 

 resistant plants, seeds of which Mr. Meyer secured for similar experi- 

 ments in this country (Nos. 28973 to 28977). 



The oleaster is remarkable for its extreme hardiness and resistance 

 to drought, and the importation by Mr. Meyer of a large-fruited form 

 (No. 29225) will interest the horticulturists of the Northwest, who 

 are beginning to see the possibilities of this plant as a hardy fruiting 

 shrub. 



The rose breeders will be interested in the wild roses from this 

 region (Nos. 29251 to 29258); the melon growers, in an unusual col- 

 lection of watermelons and muskmelons; the nut growers, in the 

 almond and Afghanistan pistache; the currant breeders, in the black 

 and red currants which Mr. Meyer has secured. 



Of material sent in by correspondents, it is worth while to em- 

 phasize a new relative of the guava, Psidium ara^a (No. 28911), 

 from Minas Geraes, which is said to be sweeter in taste than the 

 guava; a. new variety of alfalfa, which originated in Norway and 

 which is reported to be hardier and larger than the ordinary types 

 grown there (No. 28919); three distinct varieties of the Chinese 

 jujube (Nos. 28926 to 28928); a remarkable citrus relative which 

 lives on the seashore in mangrove swamps in India (No. 28933); a 

 quantity of the wild wheat of Palestine for use in breeding drought- 

 resistant varieties (No. 29026); a leguminous plant, Cassia mimo- 

 soides, from Assam, recommended as a cover crop in banana plan- 

 tations to keep down the weeds (No. 29031); the kameel-doorn of 

 South Africa, an extremely hard-wooded, drought-resistant tree (No, 

 29046); Passifiora ligularis (No. 29090), from Mexico, and a variety 

 from Java (No. 29319), relatives of the southern maypop, for breed- 

 ing experiments with this fruit ; one of the largest of the large-leaved 

 trees of the Chinese forests from Hupeh, central China (No. 29095); 

 a new hybrid of the giant wdld rose from Burma, Eosa gigantea (No. 

 29096) ; the Paraguayan tea plant, from which the mate of South 

 America is made, a drink as highly prized by millions of South 

 Americans as tea is by Europeans (No. 29097) ; four varieties of Jap- 

 anese sugar cane for trial as a forage plant in the South (Nos. 29106 

 to 29109); four species of tropical persimmons, related to the edible 

 oriental species, from the island of Ceylon (Nos. 29111 to 29114), for 

 the breeders of this fruit; the yeheb-nut plant, a newly discovered 

 leguminous shrub which occurs in the poor sandy soils of the dry 

 regions of Italian Somaliland and produces nuts which are so sweet 

 and nutritious that in their season the Somaliland natives live on 



