LUTHER BURBANK 



My first introduction to the genus was through 

 a number of large plants of Actinidia polygima 

 received in 1904 from an American miner in Gorea. 

 The seeds already referred to were received five 

 years later. The first fruit buds appeared on the 

 plants in 1912. But different species vary as to 

 the age at which fruiting begins. Some species 

 fruit in the first year from the seed. 



The ones under my observation have fruited 

 too recently to enable me to do more than observe 

 their attractive qualities, and form a general 

 opinion as to the possibility of improving them. 

 I have, however, after testing fruit from a number 

 of species, selected an extremely hardy, rugged 

 variety from the high mountains of Western 

 China that bears a really delicious fruit. 



The vine may be grown as readily as the grape, 

 and its improved varieties promise to be a very 

 valuable addition to the list of American fruits. 

 Its full possibilities of development, however, can 

 be judged only after more extended observations. 

 IMPROVING THE MYRTLES 



More familiar exotics, some representatives of 

 which have so long been under observation in 

 America that they seem almost like natives, are 

 the various members of the myrtle family. These 

 are curiously divergent. Some of them are small 

 trailing vines, yet the family includes also the 



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