﻿6 SEEDS AND PLANTS IMPORTED. 



which genus yield such closely allied but specific products. There 

 are no records of any work of selection or hybridization having yet 

 been done with these rapid-growing trees. The remarkable results 

 which have been obtained by physicians in the treatment of leprosy 

 with chaulmoogra oil and the isolation of the effective principle 

 of this oil by Dr. Power have made it seem important to introduce 

 and acclimatize in our tropical possessions the invaluable tree, 

 Hydnocarpus kurzii (No. 43227). Whether the amounts of oil 

 yielded by the fevillea (No. 43213), a forest climber of Jamaica, 

 will warrant its cultivation is a question. 



Useful hardy palms are so few in number that the testing out of 

 two little-known ones from Argentina, by Dr. H. Nehrling, at his 

 remarkable place at Gotha, Fla., is a matter of particular interest. 

 These palms would seem to be adapted to a wide range of territory 

 throughout northern Florida, since they were quite uninjured by the 

 freeze of February, 1917, when the temperature went down to 20° F. 

 One of them, Butia bonneti (No. 43116), bears edible fruits the size 

 of a plum, having an apricot flavor and being intensely fragrant 

 and very juicy. They are orange-yellow with a red cheek, and a 

 single bunch borne by one of Dr. Nehrling's trees comprised 980 

 fruits. The other species, Butia capitata pulposa (No. 43238), is 

 quite as hardy, and bore fruit clusters of a thousand edible fruits 

 weighing 50 pounds. Both are suited to the high pine lands of 

 Florida, where economic plants are particularly needed. 



From Italian Somaliland the yeheb nut, Cordeauxia edulis (No. 

 43260), has been again introduced. The fact that it contains about 

 12 per cent of albuminoids, 11 per cent of oil, 25 per cent of sugars, 

 and 37 per cent of other carbohydrates and that it is said to be pre- 

 ferred to rice and dates by the inhabitants should entitle it to 

 especial consideration in the southwestern arid regions. The degree 

 of cold that it will stand is a factor to be determined. 



Of forage plants recently introduced, few have come to us with 

 so high a recommendation as Pennisetum purpureum (No. 43241), 

 the gift of Mr. B. Harrison, of Burringbar, New South Wales. In 

 dry seasons, plants under observation in Australia made a growth 

 of 11 feet. The plant is succulent, greatly relished by stock, richer 

 than green maize, and remains green even during six or eight months 

 of drought when other plants are dried up. It is a perennial, yields 

 27 tons per acre, and is, altogether, considered to be an ideal forage 

 crop for arid regions. 



The Spanish garbanzo (Cicer arietinum) i , although grown now to a 

 limited extent in California, is not given the consideration that it 

 deserves when it is recollected that it is the staple food of the poorer 

 classes in Spain and is grown in large quantities in Mexico and shipped 



