1174 



presumably will enable it to be grown in California 

 and Florida; a South American black walnut (Juglans sp., 

 No. 41334), of distinct value of plant breeders, the 

 bark of which is used for dyeing wood the color of 

 the famous vicuna ponchos; and a remarkable species 

 of the papaya (No. 41339), which produces fruits that 

 will keep for two weeks or more after they are ripe 

 and which are as deliciously fragrant as a well-ripened 

 muskmelon and of excellent flavor but tough texture. 

 Although the quinoa ( Chenopodium quinoa, No. 41340), has 

 often been introduced into America and has nowhere yet 

 found a home, it is important to get an opinion re- 

 garding this plant from a keen observer and thorough- 

 ly trained agricultural explorer. Mr. Cook reports 

 that previous to the introduction of wheat and barley 

 this cultivated pigweed was one of the two most wide- 

 ly grown crops of the remarkable Inca civilization, 

 that it is pronounced by a Scotchman resident there 

 to-day as being better than oatmeal for a breakfast 

 food, and that it appears very vigorous and produc- 

 tive and may possibly be gathered and thrashed by 

 machinery. 



Among the introductions sent in by correspondents 

 or collected by travelers, there are several unusual 

 things covered by this inventory. To Rev. George 

 Campbell, the American missionary who has sent in so 

 many interesting plants from South China, we are in- 

 debted for a most remarkable dwarf peach (No. 41395), 

 which is handled as a pot-grown tree in China and 

 which he says comes true to seed. He reports that 

 one small tree 15 inches high with a stem no larger 

 than a lead pencil ripened five good-sized edible 

 clingstone peaches. The behavior out of doors at 

 Chico of a number of seedlings of this peach suggests 

 the possibility of a dwarf race of peach trees of 

 value as fruit producers and for plant breeding. Mr. 

 Carlos Werckle, of Costa Rica, sends seeds of the 

 sansapote (Licania platypus, No. 41393), the most beauti- 

 ful forest tree in Costa Rica, which grows to gigantic 

 size, bears an edible fruit, and produces timber 

 nearly as good as the Cedrela timber of Cuba. Mr. A. 

 Rolloff, director of the Tiflis Botanic Garden, who 

 has sent so many new hardy plants from the Caucasus, 

 presents us with seeds of the beautiful sulphur-yellow 

 peony (No. 41476, recently discovered near Lagodekhi 

 in eastern Central Caucasus by Mlokosewitsch, for 



Remember that a fifty dollar Liberty Bond will 

 buy twenty-three hand grenades. 



