1172 



several other trees which seem, like 32, to bloom and 

 ripen entirely out of the main season, but 32 is the 

 only one whose fruit is up to standard. This variety 

 is of excellent quality. The fruit is long and slender, 

 which may be a slight defect from our point of view, 

 but so far as I can see this is the only defect that 

 it has, and if it ripens as far out of the main season 

 in California and Florida as it does here, it will be 

 so valuable that the slender form will not matter. It 

 remains to be seen whether or not the variety will 

 retain its habit of flowering out of season in Cali- 

 fornia and Florida. 



"Replying to your letter of the 18th ult., re 

 papaya seed, it seems to me that there are much better 

 regions than Guatemala in which to obtain this. The 

 papaya is not very abundant here, and there are very 

 few superior varieties. To obtain large quantities 

 of seed of the latter, such as you desire, would be 

 a very slow job, and I do not believe more than two 

 or three pounds could be obtained within the next 

 month. I believe it would be much more satisfactory 

 to obtain seed from Hawaii, where better varieties are 

 available in abundance. 



"I will try to get specimens of chayote roots 

 and the soil around them, so that Dr. Cobb can make 

 an examination. I expect to go to Antigua this week, 

 and while in that region will see if I can get any 

 more information re chayote culture. In the Indian 

 villages around Antigua there are a great many chayo- 

 tes grown. 



"I expect to ship 4000 avocado seeds within a 

 couple of weeks, but they will probably not reach you 

 until a week later than this letter." 



INVENTORY OF SEEDS AND PLANTS IMPORTED. 



Owing to the war demands upon the government 

 printing funds, it has been necessary to suspend tem- 

 porarily the publication of the inventories of seeds 

 and plants, which under normal conditions should ap- 

 pear every three months. There are now prepared sev- 

 veral of these inventories, which have been ready for 

 the printer for many months. 



While it is out of the question to publish these 

 Inventories in Plant Immigrants, it does seem advisable 

 to reproduce here the brief Introductory Statements 



Do not forget that a fifty dollar Liberty Bond will 

 render painless four hundred operations. 



