699 



know most times not where their supplies really come from, 

 they buy them up from here and there and everywhere and as 

 China is the land of small doings and of everybody for 

 himself and as almost no cooperation exists, it truly is 

 hard to get exact information. On chestnuts I have to say 

 but little, as the districts I went through possessed but 

 very few chestnuts. I noticed however small outbreaks of 

 bark-disease, even on isolated trees and suspect that this 

 disease really is as old as the hills here in North China. 

 Of walnuts we didn't see any groves like one encounters 

 nowadays in Southern California, only scatterd _trees here 

 and there and such variation as regards quality and size 

 of nuts. The Chinese haven't managed yet to graft the 

 walnut, hence all trees are seedlings and therefore they 

 all vary so much. In the Hwai lai district and right up 

 to the Hsiao Wu tal shan, I found lots of Medicago ruthenica 

 and for grazing purposes and for :^>a-ing purposes only, at least 

 for the present. I consider this wild alfalfa much more valu- 

 able than Jl . fitlcata . It is specially suited for the in- 

 termountain sections of the United States and I wonder 

 whether much attention has been paid already to this valu- 

 able forage plant. I collected only a small quantity of 

 the seeds, but enough to grow a little plot of it some- 

 where. In Kalgan I obtained seeds of the largest variety 

 of Kohlrabi in China, good sized specimens weighing as much 

 as Jo pounds. Some vegetable dealer ought to make some 

 noise about this, don't you think so?" 



Mr. Meyer also writes under date of September 24 and 

 27. "I leave Peking early October 1913, by train to 

 Honanfu, by cars from Honanfu to Sianfu, Shensi, passing 

 through the great persimmon region of North China. From 

 Sianfu to Lanchowfu, Kansu, passing through more persimmon 

 districts and through jujube orchards. Returning from 

 Lanchowfu either along the same road or by other ways, 

 collecting cuttings and scions en-route. Back in Peking 

 in early January. Shipping off all collections. End of 

 January 1914, or early February, to Shantung, especially 

 around Tsinanfu, collecting peaches, jujubes, persimmons 

 and large fruited haws. Back in Peking toward the end of 

 March or early April, 1914. Then making ready for a big 

 exploration trip of the mountains and valleys of the Kansu 

 province, starting out from Lanchow in all directions, 

 collecting herbarium material during the summer, seeds in-" 

 the fall, and scions and cuttings during the winter 1914- 

 1915. Towards spring back to the coast and leaving per- 

 haps by way of Japan and the Panama Canal for New York, 

 arriving in Washington before the close of the fiscal year 

 1914-1915. This present winter's trip into Kansu is one 



