6 



SEEDS A^T) PLAXTS IMPORTED. 



year or prove otherwise more valuable will require several years to 

 determine, but it seems probable that out of these new importa- 

 tions new and valuable strains will come. 



As further results of this BraziUan expedition covered by .this 

 mventory may be mentioned the discovery of the Rosa mango at 

 Rio de Janeiro, the showiest and one of the best mangos in that 

 region (S. P. I. Nos. 36688 and 36841, PI. IV), and the interesting 

 fiTiit knomi as the j aboticaba. This latter, curiously enough, although 

 one of the favorite fruits of the Brazilians, appears to have attracted 

 Httle or no attention in other parts of the world, notwithstanding 

 its dehcious character and the remarkable way in which the fruits 

 are borne on the trunk and limbs of the tree. (S. P. I. Nos. 36702 

 and 36888. Reproductions from photographs appeared in Plant 

 Immigrants," No. 92, December, 1913.) 



Prof. S. C. Mason, of the OflQ.ce of Crop Physiology and Breeding 

 Investigations, prosecuted an extended stud}" of the date-palm varie- 

 ties of Egypt and Xubia, visiting the Oases of Dakhleh and Khargeh, 

 where he established the identity of the long-sought "Wahi" with 

 the Saidy, the choice export date of the Libyan Oases. A visit to 

 Merowe, capital of the Province of Dongola, Sudan, was a very 

 satisfactory and profitable trip. Through the unusual courtesies 

 extended to him by Governor Jackson and the British officials 

 generally, in Egypt, he secured as gifts from the important sheiks 

 to the American Government, or by purchase, date oflPshoots of 

 rare and valuable varieties. The Gondeila (S. P. I. No. 36827), one 

 of the choicest dry dates; the Bentamoda (S. P. I. No. 36818), which 

 Prof. Mason thinks will rank with the Deglet Noor ,and Menakher in 

 quaUty; the great staple food date Barakawi (S. P. I. No. 36826), 

 a variety as hard as bone but softening quickly in water; and the 

 Kulma (S. P. I. No. 36828), which reminds one of the Moroccan 

 variety, the Tafilelt, are among those described in this inventory. 



In the governor's garden at Merowe Prof. Mason discovered a suh- 

 tTopicsil -plant, Dodonaea viscosa (S. P. I. No. 36813), which will be 

 tested in Florida and California as a new hedge plant. 



The collections of ^Ir. Frank N. Meyer, agricultural explorer of 

 this oflace, during the three months covered by this inventory, were 

 for the most part made in the Chihh Province of China. They 

 include large-fruited varieties of the Chinese wahiut (S. P. I. Nos. 

 36662 and 36663), suited, he thinks, for the lower Rocky Mountam 

 region; a species of Chinese chestnut, Castanea moUi^sima (S. P. I. 

 No. 36666), which, wMle it does not form a large tree, bears excel- 

 lent nuts and is seemingly more resistant there to the bark disease 

 (EndotJiia parasitica) than our American chestnut is here; a wild 

 hazelnut of good quahtj^ (S. P. I. No. 36726), occurring at an eleva- 

 tion of 5,000 to 7,000 feet, for trial in cool regions in America and 



