B. P. I.— 105. S. P. I. D.— 39 



SEEDS AND PLANTS IMPORTED DURING THE PERIOD FROM 

 SEPTEMBER, 1900, TO DECEMBER, 1903. 



INTRODUCTORY STATEMENT. 



This inventor}^ of seeds and plants which have been collected by 

 agricultural explorers, or received through other sources by this 

 Office, covers the period from September, 1900, to December, 1903. It 

 includes 4,396 accession inventory numbers. Since the last inventory 

 was published in 1901 the explorers and special agents of this Office 

 have continued their extensive searches after new and promising 

 varieties of plants for introduction into this country. The notes fur- 

 nished regarding the different introductions vary greatly with regard 

 to their completeness and it is desired to point out clearly that this 

 inventory makes no pretenses to being an embodiment of all the infor- 

 mation we possess regarding the various seeds and plants listed. It 

 is merely a collection, largely for use in this Office and by members 

 of the State experiment stations, of the notes which accompanied the 

 various seeds and plants when they were sent in. Their value will in 

 many cases be more historical than explanatory. For some of the 

 most important numbers, separate detailed reports have been issued 

 in the form of bulletins or are being prepared for publication. 



It will be noticed that no attempt has been made to follow the latest 

 reforms in nomenclature, the Kew Index having been taken in most 

 cases as a convenient guide in the spelling of the different scientific 

 names. 



The quantities of seeds or plants represented by these different num- 

 bers are, as a rule, small, and in the vast majority of cases it has been 

 necessary to distribute them as soon as possible after arrival to com- 

 petent experimenters throughout the country. It will therefore be, 

 in most cases, impossible to furnish seeds or plants described in this 

 inventory. If, however, special reasons can be shown b}^ reputable 

 experimenters why further introductions of certain species or varieties 

 should be made, this Office will be glad to take the matter up, for it is 

 desirous of introducing any new variety which may be called to its 

 attention by plant breeders or others in a position to carry out con- 

 secutive and careful plant-introduction experiments. 



7 



