334 ANNUAL REPORTS OF DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 



In no previous exploration work have the difTiculties of getting 

 living cuttings through to AVashington been so great, but by means 

 of postal shipments JNIr. Meyer has successfully sent from the in- 

 terior of Chinese Turkestan such cuttings as willows, poplars, plums, 

 apples, and various ornamental plants, although they have required 

 a month to reach us in addition to several weeks of transport by 

 caravan. 



At an altitude of 7,700 feet in the Tien Shan Mountains Mr. Meyer 

 found apples growing wild, and made a special study of the some- 

 what bushy forms that grow on the barren slopes of the mountains 

 of this region, which is characterized by short, hot, and dry summers, 

 and long, cold winters. The valley of the Chong Djighilan is one 

 vast wild apple and apricot garden, with a host of varieties differing 

 in size and form. These are slow growers but very hardy, and 

 such as will be of value to the fruit breeders of the upper Mississippi 

 Valley for originating by crossing hardier types of apples and apri- 

 cots for the Northwest. 



Among the large number of things which Mr. Meyer secured dur- 

 ing his explorations of Russian Turkestan, Chinese Turkestan, and 

 Siberia, the following are worthy of special mention: A collection 

 of table grapes, some of them possessing special shipping qualities; 

 several species of desert poplars and willows which may withstand 

 the cold and droughty conditions of the Northwest; forms of the 

 bush cherry, an exceptionally hardy fruit for testing in the Great 

 Plains ; varieties of peach, nectarine, and apricot promising for trial 

 along the northern border of the peach belt; seeds of the hardy wild 

 apples and wild apricots which form the orchards previously men- 

 tioned; and large-fruited varieties of the oleaster, which are among 

 the hardiest of all fruit plants. 



Mr. Meyer will collect in considerable quantities the seeds of the 

 hardy wild alfalfas which grow in the steppe regions of western 

 Siberia and will explore the northern slopes of the Altai Mountains. 

 Then he will work his way east to Peking, from which point he will 

 proceed into the Kansu Province of western China in search of the 

 hardy pears, jujubes, and persimmons of that region. 



Progress of new introductions. — After three years' observation 

 in the neighborhood of Indio, CaL, one of the most reliable observers 

 in the region predicts thi.t the stock of the Chinese wild peach 

 {Amy g dolus davidana) will become the earliest fruiting stock for 

 stone fruits, except cherries, ever introduced into California. In a 

 region where early fruits bring high prices this character may make 

 it of very great value to horticulturists. Larger quantities of the 

 seeds of this species will be introduced and budded trees will be dis- 

 tributed to a large number of orchardists for trial. 



A new light has been thrown on the problem of the production of 

 a hard-shelled almond, comparable to the best Spanish almonds, by 

 the fruiting of authentic trees of the Jordan almond at Indio in the 

 desert region, at Niles in the coastal region, and at Nevada City in 

 the foothills. None of the nuts produced by trees budded with 

 stock imported from Spain have as fine a flavor or texture as the im- 

 ported nuts, although those from the foothill region are superior in 

 these respects to the others. An investigation of the soil and other 

 conditions and the influence of the stock should be made to determine 

 the cause of this marked difference. 



