66 



SEEDS AND PLANTS IMPORTED. 



36718 to 36810— Continued. 



36795. HoLCUS sorghum L. Sorghum. 

 {Sorghum vulgare Pers.) 



"(No. 1982a. Near San kia tien, Chihli Province, China. September 11, 

 1913.) A tall-growing white-seeded variety of sorghum, often producing 

 several heads as side shoots. Its productivity, however, is not as great aa the 

 varieties that bear only one panicle." 



36796. Chaetochloa italica (L.) Scribner. Millet. 



{Setaria italica Beauv. ) 



"(No. 1983a. Kalgan, China. September 5, 1913.) A prolific variety of 

 bird millet grown on the somewhat alkaline soils around Kalgan. Chinese 

 name San pien huang goo tze, meaning 'thrice-changing yellow small millet.' " 



36797. Artemisia sp. Wormwood. 

 "(No. 1984a. Peking, China. October 18, 1913.) A biennial wormwood, 



occurring as a weed in all sorts of dry waste places. The Chinese utiUze this 

 plant as a stock to graft chrysanthemums upon and claim that the chrysanthe- 

 mums thus grafted are earlier, need less water and no manure, are more easily 

 lifted and transplanted, and in general require far less care than when on their 

 own roots. To obtain the best results, the Chinese sow the seed in late sum- 

 mer in well^drained beds. The seeds germinate quickly, but the plants make 

 very little growth during the autumn and winter. When spring comes, how- 

 ever, they develop with great vigor, and in June they have well-formed stems. 

 The Chinese then cut off the main stem an inch or so from the ground and graft 

 a chrysanthemum scion upon it by the ordinary cleft-graft method. No wax 

 is used, but only a small strip of fiber, while the plants are shaded during the 

 first days. The stock and the scion soon unite and continue to grow vigorously. 

 On very strongly developed specimens of the stock the main branches are 

 often used to insert on every one a different variety of chrysanthemum or to 

 train a beautiful 'standard' tree of it, and some of such specimens are fully as 

 good as the plants seen at home exhibitions of chrysanthemums. This pre- 

 viously described method of grafting chrysanthemums might prove to be 

 valuable for the sections of the United States where the summers are somewhat 

 too short or the nights too cool to rear the plants successfully out of doors, like, 

 for instance, the more elevated parts of the Rocky Mountain States. 



"Care has to be taken to water the plants .sparingly when lifted and planted 

 in flower pots. The Chinese name of this Artemisia is Ghau tze.'^ 



36798. Thladiantha dubia Bunge. 



"(No. 1985a. Peking, China. October 7, 1913.) An ornamental perennial 

 cucurbit, with scarlet fruits the size of small hens' eggs. Chinese name Tze 

 kua.'' 



36799. ScHizoNOTUs sorbifolius (L.) Lindl. 

 (Spiraea sorbifolia L.) 



"(No. 1986a. Peking, China. October 11, 1913.) A variety of the ordinary 

 Borbus-leaved spiraea, which grows well in Peking, thriving even in well-trampled 

 inner courtyards, where soil conditions certainly are unfavorable to plant 

 growth. Remains in flower, more or less, from the end of June until the end 

 of September. Of value especially as an attractive shrub for back yards in our 

 cities and as a garden shrub for semiarid sections of the United States. Sow 

 out on peaty soil and keep in a shady place." 



