OCTOBER 1 TO DECEMBER 31, 1912. 



7 



berry, may prove of commercial importance; No. 34420, the famous 

 nipa palm of the Orient, Nypafruticans, with the leaves of which the 

 houses of the natives are thatched and from the sap of which alcohol 

 in great quantities is made, preliminary trials indicating that this 

 palm will probably grow in southern Florida along the tidal swamps 

 and possibly on the Everglades where not too cold; Nos. 34426 and 

 34427, a variety of pop corn from Spain with a purple aleurone layer 

 and pecuharly adapted for cross-f ertihzation ; Nos. 34440 to 34454, 

 15 named varieties of mango from Trinidad, representing local and 

 East Indian introduced sorts; No. 34493, the che fruit from the 

 Yangtze Valley, Cudrania tricuspidata, which has already fruited at 

 Augusta, Ga., bearing a deUcate-flavored edible fruit that looks like a 

 small pink Osage orange, to which it is botanically related and with 

 which it might hybridize; No. 34620, a wild species of asparagus, 

 A. acutifolius, from the dry slopes of the Maritime Alps of southern 

 France, the shoots of which are gathered and form a regular article of 

 commerce, being thin but very dehcate in flavor; No. 34622, the 

 Bushman grass, Aristida sp., from the Kalahari Desert, which, 

 together with the Tsama melon, forms the principal stock and game 

 food of the country; No. 34630, a tall-growing tropical fruit-bearing 

 vine, Tetrastigma harmandi, from Luzon, which has fruits that 

 resemble the Scuppernong grape in appearance and make a good 

 "refresco;" Nos. 34643 to 34654, through Miss E. R. Scidmore, a col- 

 lection including the adzuki and other beans used in Japan for con- 

 fectioner}^ purposes and for the manufacture of the remarkable bean 

 cheeses, or curds, which are so much used by the Japanese; No. 34657, 

 through Mr. C. V. Piper, a subtropical lawn gross,' Osterdamia matrella, 

 for use in southern Florida, Hawaii, and Porto Rico, which at Manila 

 has proved superior to Bermuda grass ; No. 34661 , a remarkable hybrid 

 eucalypt. Eucalyptus trabuti, discovered by Dr. Trabut in Algiers 

 and named after him, which proves to be one of the most vigorous 

 eucalypts yet knowTi and is said to be the first undoubted hybrid 

 discovered; No. 34663, a variety of potato from Bogota, Bolivia, 

 which the sender thinks is resistant to the Phytophthora, which dis- 

 ease, he reports, has made the acclimatization of imported varieties 

 there impossible; No. 34697, a Korean persimmon, Diospyros JcaM, 

 which can be kept until Easter; No. 34698, a variety of avocado, 

 Per sea americana, of which a tree 100 years old was found by Dr. 

 Gustav Eisen in the Pincib Garden at Rome, the fruits of which were 

 mature in November before the early frosts of that region occur; 

 No. 34713, a small-fruited variet}^ of Chinese persimmon from Canton, 

 which is used there as a stock on which to graft the larger fruited 

 forms of this fruit; Nos. 34715 to 34724, a collection of seeds of New 

 Zealand trees and shrubs suited to practically frostless regions. 



59872°— 15 2 



