
          3

The new plants imported by this office 
of the Department of Agriculture
are in most cases so little known to
experimenters that their scientific or
even common names alone would convey
little idea of their character. To distribute 
them under a name simply and
depend upon the experimenters to look
them up in a catalogue entails a burden
upon the investigator which often results 
in his being ignorant at the close
of the year of what the new plant is
good for. To enable him at any time to
refresh his memory as to the use of any
one of these introductions, special celluloid 
tags have been devised upon which
are printed sixty words of description.
These descriptive tags are attached to
the plants when they are sent out. This
catalogue is made up of the identical
descriptions which will appear upon the
celluloid tags.

The information on the labels consists 
of the Plant Introduction (S.P.I.)
number, under which the plants are known
at all times, of the scientific name and
a common name, when one has been adopted
for this country, and a brief description
of the plant with its uses and, where
possible at this time, a suggestion of
the general region to which the plant is
likely to be adapted. The labels are
made of celluloid, covered on both sides
with fine linen, and if kept from contact
with the soil they will remain in good
condition for several years. If buried
in the soil they become brittle and illegible.
        