OCTOBER 1 TO DECEMBER 31, 1923 



17 



58432ito|58434— Continued. 



58432. Musa fehi Bert. Fehi banana. 



Fehi. An upright-fruiting Hawaiian variety 

 with red fruits. The young shoots are very long 

 and slender. (Pope.) 



For previous introduction see S. P. I. No. 54673. 



58433 and 58434. Musa paradisiaca sapientum 

 (L.) Kuntze. 



58483. Lady' 's- Finger. The Hawaii Experi- 

 ment Station obtained its first offshoot of 

 the Lady's-Finger variety March 21, 1912, 

 from E. W. Howell, since deceased, who lived 

 on Vineyard Street, Honolulu. The station 

 records give no information as to where the 

 original plants in Hawaii came from. The 

 plant is well known in Costa Rica, Jamaica, 

 and British and French Guiana. 



The Lady's-Finger banana is generally de- 

 scribed as a variety of superior flavor, but on 

 account of tenderness is a poor shipper. 

 W. Fawcett in a recent publication, "The 

 Banana," says that in British Guiana, where 

 there has been great loss, ranging from 25 to 

 75 per cent of the Jamaica variety (Blue- 

 fields), from the fungus disease known as 

 " Panama disease," the Lady's-Finger has not 

 been attacked. 



Plant: At maturity of fruit the plant is 

 about 20 feet tall, trunk rather slim; with- 

 stands considerable wind, indicating good 

 root system. With good culture, offshoots are 

 fairly abundant; outer trunk sheaths appear 

 dark with reddish brown streaks. Foliage: 

 Dark green, leaf petioles greenish with edges 

 tinged light yellow; blade averages about 7 

 feet in length, 14 inches wide, dark green 

 above, dull green below. Flowers: Terminal 

 spike on long stout flower stalk, which begins 

 to turn downward on emerging from the 

 trunk; spathe greenish, bracts which cover 

 .undeveloped flower hands purplish and with 

 frosted bloom outside, reddish brown inside; 

 floral parts pale yellow with calyx split at 

 margin into four or five parts which are bright 

 yellow and curved outward. Fruits: Bunch 

 long, slim, very compact. Average weight of 

 Hawaiian-grown specimens 36 pounds, 10 to 

 12 hands; number of bananas to the hand 

 vary from 13 to 20 from extreme to base; 

 number of bananas to the bunch, usually over 

 200. Individual bananas 4 to 5 inches long, 

 spindle shaped, apex beaked, attached end of 

 stem three-fourths to 1 inch long, skin light 

 yellow, thin, tender; pulp, yellow, melting, 

 of good subacid flavor, placenta of 3-celled 

 ovary very rudimentary. (Pope.) 



58434. Popoulu. A well-known variety of cook- 

 ing banana, common in the Honolulu mar- 

 kets. The plant is of medium height. The 

 stem is green with a slight tendency to pinkish 

 tints on the petioles. The scape is rather 

 slender; the bunch itself is of medium size. 

 There are 8 to 10 fruits per hand. The fruits 

 are short, thick, rounded, and blunt at the 

 ends. This banana is of good quality when 

 cooked; the flesh is firm and sweet. Other 

 members of the Popoulu group are: Kaio, 

 Hua moa, Moa, Nou, and Ldhi. (Plant 

 World, vol. 21, p. 6.) 



58435 to 58441. 



From Tientsin, China. Seeds presented by J. C. 

 Huston, American consul in charge. Received 

 November 28, 1923. Notes by Mr. Huston. 



58435. Gossypium sp. Malvaceae. 



Cotton. 



White cotton from Chinhsien, which is sown 

 the latter part of April and ripens the latter part 

 of October. The average yield per mow (about 

 one-sixth of an acre) is 100 catties (approximately 

 800 pounds per acre) . 



58435 to 58441— Continued. 



58436. Medicago sativa L. Fabaceae. Alfalfa. 

 From Tientsin, where it is sown early in July. 



It matures the following June. The average 

 yield per mow is 2,000 catties (approximately 7 

 long tons per acre) . 



58437. Nicotiana tabacum L. Solanaceae. 



Tobacco. 

 From Shaho. Planted the first part of April, 

 transplanted and harvested late in September. 

 The average yield per mow is 100 catties. 



58438. Oryza sativa L. Poaceae. Rice. 

 Large, white-bearded water rice, from Tientsin. 



This variety is sown the latter part of March and 

 harvested the latter part of September. The 

 average yield per mow is 2 piculs (approximately 

 1,600 pounds per acre). 



58439. Soja max (L.) Piper. (Glycine hispida 

 Maxim.) Fabaceae. Soy bean. 

 Large black beans from Chinghaihsien; sown 



the latter part of April and harvested the first 

 part of September. The average yield per mow 

 is 1 picul (approximately 800 pounds per acre) . 



Triticum aestivum L. (T. vulgare Vill.) 



Poaceae. Common wheat. 



From Feihsiang; sown late in September and 



harvested the following June. The average yield 



per mow is 1 picul (approximately 800 pounds per 



acre) . 



58441. Zea mats L. Poaceae. Corn. 

 Yellow corn from Peking; sown the latter part 



of April and harvested the latter part of August. 

 The average yield per mow is \ X A piculs (approxi- 

 mately 1,200 pounds per acre) . 



58442 and 58443. Gossypium spp. 

 Malvaceae. 



From South America. Seeds presented by E. L. 

 Prizer, Bureau of Plant Industry. Received De- 

 cember 5, 1923. 



Collected in Para, Brazil, October 31, 1923. 

 (Prizer.) 

 Introduced for cotton specialists. 



58442. Gossypium sp. Cotton. 



58443. Gossypium sp. 



Kidney cotton. 



58444. Persea Americana Mill. (P. 

 gratissima Gaertn. f.) Lauraceas. 



' Avocado. 



Growing at the Plant Introduction Garden, Miami, 



Fla. Numbered December, 1923. 



Alfred A. Winslow, consul general at Guatemala 

 City, sent to this office in 1904 an avocado seed 

 which was planted at the Miami Plant Introduction 

 Garden [S. P. I. No. 10978]. It grew into a tree 

 which bore its first fruits in 1911. A few fruits from 

 the first crop were sent to P. H. Rolfs at Gainesville, 

 Fla., with the suggestion that he save the seeds. 

 This was done, and two seedlings were inarched on 

 old trees at Buena Vista, near Miami, where Profes- 

 sor Rolfs owned property at that time. One of 

 these two fruited in 1917 and was called Winslowson 

 by Mr. Simmonds, superintendent of the Miami 

 garden, and young trees of the variety were soon in 

 the hands of nurserymen. 



In all probability the variety is a cross between 

 the Guatemalan and West Indian races. The seed 

 parent, Winslow, is a typical Guatemalan, round, 

 small, and having a very hard shell, rough on the 

 exterior. The pollen parent was probably one of 

 the West Indian varieties cultivated at the Miami 

 garden. Winslowson ripens earlier in southern 

 Florida than most of the true Guatemalans, No- 

 vember being its season, though the fruits may hang 

 on the tree as late as January. It is a productive 

 sort and a sturdy grower. The fruit is large, 

 attractive, and of very satisfactory quality. 



