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It gives me pleasure to be able to tell you that I 

 have gotten quite a quantity of seeds of both Amygdalus 

 potanini and A. tarigutica. I have also found new localities 

 for both. A. potanina occurs near the village of Tchu tsai 

 tze, one day's journey by packmules, south of Siku, while 

 A. tangutica occurs on the right bank of the Siku River, on 

 several places, both South and West of the town of Siku; 

 also here and there between Siku and Minchow; also here 

 and there along the Tao River between Minchow and Kiu 

 cheng (New Taochow) and also around the town of Akanshan, 

 40 li to the South of Lanchowfu, on the main road to Titao. 

 On this last place there are so many bushes, that whole 

 mountain slides contain nothing else and local people make 

 charcoal from the stumps and the seeds are eaten when 

 boiled and a clear oil is extracted from the kernels. 



Of direct economic value, however, these two species 

 are not. A. potanini is the N. W. China form of A. da- 

 vidiana but the stones are more elongated and differently 

 grooved; the shells are even harder, the kernels smaller 

 and much more elongated and the me.at is absolutely in- 

 edible, while the skin seems to be more downy even than in 

 A. davidiana. The leaves are broader, especially in older 

 trees. The plant assumes a tree-like form when left alone 

 and the local farmers told me they were quite ornamental 

 when in bloom, though this does 'not last long, this flow- 

 ering period. I didn't find this Pontanin's peach in very 

 cold or exposed places and from these observations I con- 

 clude that it does not stand the chance which its brother, 

 the davidiana, does. However it seems to be able to stand 

 more dry heat than the last, for I have found it in some 

 narrow "pockets" in foothill sections on direct South ex- 

 posure where it certainly must be roasting hot in midsum- 

 mer; therefore, I suggest it strongly as a stock for al- 

 monds especially. 



A. tangutica is a variable species of bush almond and 

 though its kernels are bitter and though it throws up a 

 lot of stems and though it is spiny, still I believe it 

 has a decided value as a factor in breeding experiments, 

 for it seems to be very hardy and drought resistant. One 

 finds it mainly on sheltered rocky and loess slopes at 

 elevations from 4000 ft. above sea level up to about 10000 

 ft. In these higher regions, however, it does not get as 

 cold as one would surmise, for the mountains all around 

 keep off the intense cold. 



As a stock for almonds and for other stonefruits I 

 scarcely would recommend this tangut almond since it suck- 

 ers badly and since these suckers are very hard to remove 

 indeed . 



I was lucky enough to find a correspondent near one 

 of these main localities for these almonds. I showed the 



