and of edible cacti from Sicily ; a new blood orange from Sicily ; yams 

 from Venezuela for our tropical possessions; some native forage 

 plants from Brazil; new rices from Egypt; shade trees for semiarid 

 regions from the Argentine Republic; cashew nuts from Jamaica; 

 vegetables and flowers from Smyrna and Turkey; olives from Greece; 

 mangoes from Trinidad; a miscellaneous collection from Manila; vege- 

 tables from Italy, Bulgaria, and Peru; the algarroba bean from Peru, 

 similar to the mesquite bean of Texas, and to the algarroba of the 

 Hawaiian Islands, an exceptionally fine forage plant for arid regions; a 

 collection -of millets and beans from China; sugar beets from France, 

 Germany, and Russia; Egyptian clover and horse beans, which supply 

 practically all of the forage grown in the valley of the Nile; a wild 

 potato from Mexico, said to possess superior flavor; a new vetch from 

 Algeria, perhaps superior in many points to the hairy vetch; a col- 

 lection of nearly all the native legumes of Italy; a new blackberry from 

 Mexico; a grass for shaded lawns from France. 



The publication of this list has been considerably belated, and many 

 of the numbers are entirely exhausted. Nevertheless, the notes in 

 regard to such will undoubtedly prove an assistance to agricultural 

 experimenters in many lines. Records are kept of the source and 

 origin of each item listed. It will therefore be possible, in most 

 instances, to obtain an additional quantity at least for the use of 

 workers at the agricultural experiment stations, provided there is 

 sufficient and justifiable demand for another importation. 



Many of the forms and varieties are not, strictly speaking, new 

 introductions. However, these are often desirable for special pur- 

 poses; for example, for the use of plant breeders in creating new 

 strains by crossing and selection, or for students of particular groups, 

 who require a large number of species, varieties, and forms in their 

 work on the improvement of cultivated plants. Wherever possible, 

 the first choice will be extended to the coworkers in the various 

 divisions of the Department of Agriculture and in the experiment 

 stations. The quantities of seeds and plants secured are usually small 

 and are entirely insufficient for indiscriminate distribution. In cases 

 where an importation proves of value after trial, a larger quantity 

 may be secured for more general distribution, through the agenc}^ 

 of the experiment stations, in the region in which the plant has 

 shown marked improvement over existing varieties. But where a new 

 crop is once established, and has become so well-known that it is amply 

 handled by the trade, no further importations for free distribution, at 

 least in that region, will be made. 



The expense for exploration in foreign countries in search of varie- 

 ties of cultivated crops better than those already established in the 

 United States properly devolves upon the Department of Agricul- 

 ture. It may also sometimes prove profitable to reintroduce forms 



