SEEDS AND PLANTS IMPORTED. 



Perhaps the most remarkable of all of Mr. Meyer's finds are the 

 Chinese dates, which, by the way, are not dates at all, but delicious 

 fruits home on deciduous tree- (Zizyphus sativa) which will stand 

 droughl remarkably well. In the Shantung Province there appear 

 in lie a- many kind- of these fruits as there are of plums in America. 

 Large orchards of the plants are grown there, and the specimens of 

 fruits which Mr. .Meyer ha- sent in encourage us to think that they 

 may vie with the real date as an orchard culture in the dry 'West 

 where they can he grown. Good judges of fruit have not hesitated 

 to pronounce the -ample- -cut in as equal in delicacy to, though 

 entirely different from, the finest date-. The Office of Plant Life 

 History Investigations ha- the development of this new industry on 

 it- programme for the coming year. 





stock for the peach (Amygdalus davidiana) , nev and most interest 

 ing sorghums, more forms of the Chinese hardy persimmon, a horse- 

 chestnut thai i- evidently new to the country and may be a superior 

 shade live new drought-resistanl cherries, and one or perhaps tw 

 new yellow roses, for which the rose breeders are already clamoring, 

 are other- of Mr. Meyer's finds. 



A i- the importations which have come in through our foreign 



correspondents, the following may he especially emphasized: A ship- 

 ment of cork-oak acorn- from Spain: a collection of Pheuins from 

 Russia I'm- the rhubarb breeders; seeds of the Chilgoza pine, a re- 

 markable nut-bearing pine from Baluchistan; the Grano Marzuolo, a 

 variety of dwarf wheat used in Italy for the plaiting industry; the 

 Ainoy pomelo: the wild emmer, a remarkable new grain from 

 Pale-tine: large collections of cowpeas and sorghums from the 

 Orient: the Guayaquil pineapple from Ecuador ; the nut oak (Quercw 

 I from Hongkong; an African asparagus for the asparagus 

 breeders; the wild licorice of Greece; a collection of taros from 

 Hawaii: a collection of 215 varieties of tobacco, the most generous 

 gift of the noted tobacco expert, Prof. Dr. O. Comes, of the Agricul- 

 tural School of Portici. Italy (doubtless the largest collection of 

 tobaccos ever gotten together) ; wild olives and pistaches from Balu- 

 chistan: and a collection of Japanese radishes. 



Botanists will note that an attempt is made in this inventory to 

 name each introduction and give the botanical authority for the 

 name. Anyone familiar with such work will realize that it is not pos- 

 sible to do this with absolute accuracy, as often only seeds or cuttings 

 are at the disposal of the determining botanist. Mr. W. F. Wight 

 and, under his direction. Mr. H. C. Skeels have been given charge of 

 this feature of the inventory, and with Miss Mary A. Austin responsi- 

 ble for the preparation of the inventory cards it is believed that in the 



