LOQUATS. 35 



Even in the wild state there is a good deal of variation in the 

 appearance and behavior of the plants. Some specimens have very 

 small leaves and are heavy fruiters; others, again, are very large 

 leaved and bear few fruits, etc., but they all seem able to stand 

 drought, cold, and adverse conditions to an unusual degree, and 

 they therefore hold out great promise as to their future behavior in 

 the United States. (S. P. I. Nos. 17170,17751, 20108,20109, 20350, 

 21921, and 22607.) 



LOQUATS. 



[Chinese name, "Bibaw."] 



The loquat (Eriobotrya japonica) is in all probability indigenous 

 to the hills of the mild- wintered, moist regions of central-eastern 

 China. The writer observed some specimens growing wild among 

 the scrub in the region near Tangsi, Chekiang Province. That sec- 

 tion is one of the most noted loquat regions of China. As far as 

 the eye can see one observes nothing but loquat orchards, growing 

 luxuriantly on the low, rich land, where the roots never suffer from 

 lack of water. 



There are several varieties of loquats in cultivation, differing a 

 good deal in flavor, color, and quality. The finest kind is con- 

 sidered to be the white loquat, the fruit of which is said to be of a 

 pale-yellowish color and of a very fine flavor. It is called in Chinese 

 "Pai bibaw/' or white loquat. (S. P. I. No. 22976.) 



The different varieties are all grafted on seedling stock; but as the 

 Chinese are not always very successful with their grafting, they 

 generally lose a large percentage of them, and thrifty young plants 

 are exceedingly hard to obtain. 



The Chinese consider the loquat a very profitable tree, although 

 apparently it bears a good crop only every two or three years. Rev. 

 Alexander Kennedy, a missionary in Tangsi, who assisted us a great 

 deal in obtaining various plants, stated that in the spring of 1906 

 the loquat crop was so great in his vicinity that from the village of 

 Tangsi, alone, twenty thousand dollars' worth of fruit was exported. 



JUJUBES. 



[Chinese name, "Tsao."] 

 CULTIVATED VARIETIES. 



The jujube (Zizyphus sativa) is quite an important fruit in northern 

 China, grown everywhere in those sections where winter tempera- 

 tures are not too low. The trees can stand a remarkable amount of 

 neglect without any apparent detriment. They are found equally 

 productive on a piece of strongly alkaline land or in an inner court- 

 yard where the ground has been tramped down until it is as hard as 

 stone. (See PL V, fig. 2.) 



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