24 



SEEDS AND PLANTS IMPORTED. 



34211. Amygdalus persica L. 



Peach. 



{Prunus persica Stokes.) 

 From Soochow, China. Presented by Mr. N. Gist Gee, Soochow University. 

 Received August 12, 1912. 

 " Small hardy peach." (Gee.) 



34212 and 34213. 



From Algiers, Algeria. Presented by Dr. L. Trabut, director, Service Botaniqiie. 

 Received August 12, 1912. 



34212. PiSTACiA ATLANTiCA Desf. Betoom. 

 "This round-topped tree, which grows only singly and not in forests, is 



characteristic of the high plateaus of the Atlas Mountains. The fruits are 

 gathered for use by the Arabs." {Martins, Von Spitzbergen zur Sahara.) 



34213. Phoenix dactylifera L. Date. 

 Medjhool. This date comes from the Tafilelt (also written Tafilet and Tafil- 



alet) region in southeastern Morocco. It is the finest variety in the Tafilelt 

 country, but is unknown in America and comparatively little known in Europe, 

 except in England and Spain, in both of which countries it brings a higher price 

 than any other date on the market in spite of the fact that it is almost never 

 put up in attractive form but is sold in bulk. Dates of this variety can be found 

 in practically every grocery in Spain, where they are known as 'Datiles de 

 Berberla.' 



" The fruit is large, from 2 to 2^ inches long and from three-fourths to 1 inch 

 thick. It is semitranslucent, dark brown in color, and has flesh rather firm 

 in texture and of a most delicious flavor. It is much darker in color than the 

 Deglet Xoor variety and keeps much better. The dates always have the calyx 

 (zentfa) attached to the stem end. 



"The four offshoots comprised under this number were secured for Dr. L. 

 Trabut by Si Mohammed ben Idris Fassi in the Er Reteb region, that part of 

 Tafilelt said to produce the best quality of this well-known date, which has 

 made the whole Tafilelt country famous. 



' This gift from the SerAdce Botanique of the Algerian Government to the 

 Department of Agriculture marks an epoch in American date culture. These 

 selected offshoots from the best locality in Tafilelt will not only show how this 

 famous variety succeeds in the New World deserts, but will also make it possible 

 to determine how truly it has been reproduced by the seedlings, some thousands 

 of which are already growing in California." (W. T. Swingle.) 

 For an illustration of the Medjhool date, natural size, see Plate III. 



From Tientsin, China. Presented by Dr. Yamei Kin. Received August 10, 1912. 

 Seeds of the following; quoted notes by Dr. Kin. 



34214. "This is the northern Chinese corn which is of the waxy- 

 endosperm kind, though perhaps somewhat different from the kind 

 (S. P. 1. No. 34053) I sent before." 



34215. "This species of the above corn had become mixed with some 

 foreign corn and shows it clearly. The Chinese say that the foreign 

 corn grows less cob and a given area producing corn will give more 

 grain per bushel measure, but when milled to take off the outer skin 

 of the kernel, which it seems they do before eating it, the foreign corn 

 has so much thicker skin that a given lot of corn does not give as much 

 meal as the Chinese." 



34214 to 34216. 



34214 and 34215. Zea mays L. 



Com. 



