867 



dark green above and paler below." (Proc. Royal Hort. 

 Soc., vo 1. 40, p. ex xx, 19 15). 



Trachycarpus excelsus (Thunb.) Wendl. (Phoenlcaceae . ) 

 40029. Seeds of a palm from Hulhsien, Kansu, China. "The 

 Chinese fan or coir palm, cultivated in gardens in south 

 Shensi and south Kansu as an ornamental tree, reaching a 

 height of thirty to forty feet. Withstands successfully 

 winter temperatures, unprotected, of -12 C. (+11 P.), as 

 happened in Huihsien on November 1, 1895, when all the 

 other palms around there died. Of value as a fine orna- 

 mental garden and park tree for all such parts of the 

 United States where the mercury does not go much below 

 10 F. Chinese name Tsung shu, meaning 'coir palm tree.' 

 Obtained from the garden of the Belgian Roman Catholic 

 missionaries." (P. N. Meyer's introduction and descrip- 

 tion.) 



NOTES FROM CORRESPONDENTS ABROAD. 



Peru. Ollantaytambo. Mr. 0. P. Cook writes, May 6, 

 1915. "We took a good look at the alpine crops two weeks 

 ago, but decided that none would be suited for turning 

 loose in quantity without previous handling by us, except 

 possibly the quinoa, which may turn out to be really de- 

 sirable. But that is a seed crop and can be handled easi- 

 ly. It Is being harvested now and will be ready by the 

 time we go home. Another kind of Chenopodlum and an Amar- 

 anthus are also cultivated as seed crops. The very exten- 

 sive use of the broad bean as a high altitude crop leads 

 me to repeat what I have said so many times, that we 

 should know much more than we do about this and the chick 

 pea. The later is not important here and does not go 

 nearly as high. 



"The climate here at 9000 feet is very salubrious and 

 we are feeling very well. As a place to study primitive 

 agriculture and the remains of the ancient system, no bet- 

 ter location could be imagined. After all that has been 

 said by Markham and others the nature and extent of the 

 ancient agriculture is still very little appreciated. 

 Some features, at least, we shall be able to present if 

 our pictures come out well. 



"As yet we have not been down into the eastern tropi- 

 cal valleys, though we have seen some interesting cotton 

 samples from there." 



