68 SORGHUM. 



Plate 5 is my En-ya-ma, which I see figures as " White Mammoth." I in- 

 close some of my old seeds of it. 



Plate 7 is my Oom-see-a-na. 



Plate 8 seems to me to be the "Chinese sorgho." 



Plate 9 is an Oom-see-a-na kind (no doubt a "sport"). 



Plate 10 is undoubtedly my " Vim-bis-chu-a-pa," which, to please General 

 Hammond, I nicknamed Sorgho Ka-bai (or Sorgho Brother). Some gi-ew to six 

 pounds weight when "topped," and I had the head of one such until about nine 

 months ago, when 1 unluckily threw it away (it was twenty inches long). I 

 see you call it by the names of Honduras, Honey, Mastodon, etc. 



Plate 11 seems to be no other than my Boom-vwa-na, one of my special favor- 

 ites. Please see the description in my little pamphlet (in Olcott's book, 1857), 

 and I think you will not long be in any doubt about its origin, bogus stories 

 notwithstanding. 



Plates 12 aiid 13 are both my imphees, and 1 had some growing here twelve 

 months ago; but the seed unfortunately got spoiled. 



The seed j^ou were kind enough to favor me with, I have sown, and had sown 

 by my friends here; and mine are now eight inches high, being- only sixteen 

 days' growth. I may mention that I soaked my seed in a strong solution of sugar^ 

 with a little salt, camphor, and soap-suds, for twenty hours, and I think thej^ 

 are growing much more vigorously than those not so treated. I shall continue 

 to watch them. 



Pray, do not think me nngrateful, when I say that I felt disappointed in not 

 findinffany "Minnesota Early A7nber,^' nor any "Ooraseeana," among the seed 

 3'ou sent me; and I trust you will forgive me, if I trespass so far on your kindness 

 to beg that you will be so good as to send me some of those two kinds, also as 

 " White Mammoth" and "Siunac," all of which I particularly wish to have. 

 Even one hundred or two hundred seeds of each of these Jour sorts will be am- 

 ple for me to propagate from ; and these might come in a letter direct to me 

 here (and not by Singapore). In such case, the correct address is, "Perak, via 

 Pinang, straits of Malacca," nothing more. 



I need not say, also, how thankful I shall feel for any of your instructive re- 

 ports, or other information you may be kind enough to bestow upon me. 



I will, by no means, neglect to send you a goodly assortment of such seeds as 

 I think you will be glad to have, as soon as they are ready. With many excuses 

 for so troubling you, I beg to subscribe myself, dear sir. 



Yours, very faithfully, 



Leonard Wrat. 



In explanation of the above letter, it is necessary to say, that the 

 plates referred to by Mr. Wray, were of the riiienecl panicles, or seed 

 heads, of several varieties which had been grown at the Department of 

 Ao-riculture at Washington, from seed received from different parts of 

 the United States. Not unfrequently the same variety came under 

 several different names: e. g., Plate 1 was received under the names 

 cfLiberian, Imphee, Sumac, Chinese. Mr. AVray recognizes it as his 

 Koom-ba-na. Plates 2, 3, 4, were from seed named, respectively, Nee- 

 azana, Wolf Tail, Gray Top. They are, without doubt, very closely 



