SEEDS AND PLANTS IMPORTED DURING THE 

 PERIOD FROM OCTOBER 1 TO DECEMBER 31, 

 1908: INVENTORY NO. 17; NOS. 23715 TO 21129. 



INTRODUCTORY STATEMENT. 



It has been the custom for some time to mention in the introductory 

 statement a few of the new arrivals which seem to be worthy the 

 particular attention of the interested plant breeders and experi- 

 menters throughout the country. This does not mean that they will 

 in the end prove the most valuable, for often the promising introduc- 

 tions are "dead failures," while those which come in like poor emi- 

 grants with scarcely a letter of introduction frequently crop up later 

 somewhere in the country as new and valuable cultivated plants. 



Those who are interested in the remarkable Chinese vegetables, 

 whose possibilities have not at all been tested as they should be in 

 this country, will find Mr. Meyer's collection, which he brought back 

 personally from Peking, a most interesting one (No. 23932 and follow- 

 ing). There can be little doubt that the Chinese restaurants which 

 are scattered all over the country are creating a taste among Ameri- 

 cans for these new vegetables, and the next step in their introduction 

 will be their culture on a small scale to supply the growing demand of 

 these restaurants. 



Mr. W. T. Swingle has called attention to the possibilities of the 

 Indian bael fruit (No. 23745), both as a possible new fruit which is 

 prized in India and as a dry-land stock for the orange, and living 

 plants of it have been secured. 



Through Mr. Pink, a plant breeder of Queensland, a new raspberry 

 has been secured which he claims has already become a favorite in 

 Australia (No. 23478). 



The Florida and California growers of the fruiting hedge plant 

 Carissa will be interested in the newly secured species from Calcutta 

 (No. 23750). 



A new green-manure legume from Sao Paulo, Brazil, is highly 

 recommended by Professor Hart (No. 23751). 



A large collection of beans, cowpeas, squashes, field peas, and 

 garbanzos and some remarkable hard-stemmed bamboos, which are 

 quite different from the ordinary oriental bamboos, have been sent by 

 Mr. Husbands (No. 23755 and following; No. 24211 and following; 

 No. 24358 and following). 



83020— Bui. 153—09 2 7 



