8 



SEEDS AND PLAXTS IMPORTED. 



do well. He has sent in four varieties, Nos. 35610 to 35613, one 

 from Shantung Province and three from Peking. 



The interest in muskmelons appears to be perpetual, notwith- 

 standing the susceptibility which the plant shows to a change in its 

 environment — a change, by the way, which the Chinese growers 

 have recognized for many years. Thirteen varieties of seed (Nos. 

 35645 to 35657) from Shantung Province can hardly fail to be of 

 interest to melon breeders. 



^Ir. Meyer discovered in use as a hedge plant Oudrania tricaspi- 

 data, No. 35258, the near relative of our ordinary Osage orange 

 (Toxylon pomiferum), and the hterature records the making in 

 France of a true hybrid between these two species. 



One of the results of ^Ir. W. F. Wight's trip over the Andes into 

 Chile and Peru, on his return from employment for several months 

 by the Government of Argentina, was the introduction of a collection 

 of varieties of potato and wild forms of Solanum more or less nearly 

 related to the potato. This collection, consisting of 79 numbers, 

 35491 to 35569, can scarcely fail to yield material of value for the 

 breeders who are working with this staple crop. It includes the 

 remarkable yellow potato with yellow flesh of excellent quahty, a 

 form distinct from anything we have. 



Among the fine varieties of tropical papayas, Nos. 35582 to 35586, 

 which were presented to this Government by the Belgian minister of 

 colonies, from the Belgian Kongo, one at least shows unusual prom- 

 ise because of its small size, compact shape, and good quahty. Nos. 

 35142 and 35143, the mountain papaya {Carica candamarcensis) , have 

 acid fruits and may be valuable for breeding purposes. 



The Bogorodsky Experiment Field, in the Government of Kursk, 

 and the Charkof Agricultural Selection Station, in Russia, have 

 furnished 15 selected strains of clover which will interest the breeders 

 of this forage crop, Nos. 35265 to 35279. 



Five species of Hedysarum, Nos. 35444 to 35448, from xAJbano, 

 Stockholm, have been sent by the director of the station there for 

 use in the breeding of new forms of this forage plant, one species of 

 which, sulla (H. coronarium) , is an important forage crop in many 

 Mediterranean countries. 



Mr. C. F. Baker caUs attention through his introduction of a truly 

 edible tropical fig {Ficus ulmifolia), No. 35449, to the possibihty of 

 producing good figs for the Tropics. 



A named collection of Javanese mangos, Nos. 35403 to 35412, 

 presented by the Botanic Gardens of Buitenzorg, Java, including 

 the wild species Mangifera foetida var. mollis, may assist in the solu- 

 tion of the mango problems of southern Florida. 



Through the kindness of Dr. Bailey Willis, formerly of the United 

 States Geological Survey, a collection of seeds of grasses has arrived 



