403 



little oil, and no oue has ever thonglit it worth while to crush them, ueither have they 

 ever been tried for feeding poultry or cattle. Small plants yield more seeds than the 

 larger ones, and supposing all the plants on an acre to be allowed to ripen, the yield 

 of seed would be about one hundred and twenty pounds, as I am informed. 



To encourage the general cultivation of this valuable fiber-plant in 

 tlie Southern States, tlie Commissioner of Agriculture has ordered a 

 large quantity of the seed for distribution. The seed heretofore distrib- 

 uted by the Department is reported to have succeeded admirably. It is 

 stated that on the banks of the Lower Mississippi, with little or no culti- 

 vation, in the course of three months it grew 8 to V2 feet high, matur- 

 ing an abundance of seed. It can probably be raised as easily as hemp 

 throughout the South, and in a large part of the Mississippi Valley, and 

 possibly as far north as Virginia ami Tennessee. 



CUl^DUEAXGO. 



The Secretary of State, Hon. Hamilton Fish, has transmitted to this 

 Departmeiit a package containing specimens of the fruit and seed-bear- 

 ing capsules of the " cundurango" plant or vine, received from Charles 

 Weile, United States consul at Guayaquil, together with the following 

 extract from the official letter of the consul : 



I have just returned from a visit to the cundurango region, in the province of Loja, 

 where I spent a month in collecting the different species of the plant. Dr. Destruge, 

 of this city, an excellent botanist, has classitie<l the vine as belonging to the order 

 ascIe2)ia(Uw. The word "cundurango" is a compound of " ciDidur," eagle, and " aitgo" a 

 vine. The aborigines probably applied this name owing to the winding growth of the 

 vine, and because it seeks the highest trees for its support. Its growth is most vigorous 

 in moist places, on the banks of rivers and creeks, where the body often attains a 

 diameter of two to three inches, diminishing gradually to tendrils at the top. The 

 family is a numerous one. Leaves, vines, fruit, and flowers of the species differ materi- 

 ally, iDut all contain — some in a greater degree than others — a liquid that resembles 

 milk, and which, exposed to heat, or coming in contact with other bodies, coagulates 

 and forms an aromatic resinous substance. 



Inclosed was a list of the specimens and a piece of the balsam which 

 the milk produces. The list names the following varieties, all found at 

 Zaruma: No. 1, Cundurango Pepino ; No. 2, C. Tumho Grande ; No. 3, C. 

 Tumbo chico; No. 4, variety of C. Tumho Grande; No. 5, C. Paloma 

 Grande ; No. 6, G. Batea. Grande. 



The seeds received by this Department will be propagated, with the 

 design of testing the practicability of the cultivation of the i)lant in 

 some section of this country, should its production be found to be 

 desirable. 



ENTOMOLOGICAL EECOED. 



[The ^' Entomological Record" of the monthly report, to be a permanent 

 feature hereafter, is prepared by Prof. Townend Glover, entomologist 

 of the Department. — Ed. Epp.] 



As the Department of Agriculture has lately received several com- 

 munications inquiring about the natural history and habits of the 

 grape-vine hopper, improperly called the vine-thrips, a very small insect 

 which, for several years past, has been extremely injurious to the foliage 



