6 



SEEDS AND PLANTS IMPORTED. 



tains of Algeria, where it has been grown for centuries by the natives 

 and appears to have become fixed in character. 



The possibility of greater or less resistance of the Chinese chestnut 

 (Castanea mollissima) to the chestnut bark disease will make Frank 

 N. INIeyer's discovery of two superior fruiting varieties (Nos. 37547 

 and 37548) in the region south of Sianfu of peculiar interest. 



Varieties of Abyssinian flax from Addis Abeba (Nos. 37085 to 

 37089), secured through the courtesy of Capt. Sandford, of the 

 British Legation, may be valuable to the students of the flax in- 

 dustry if the peculiar adaptability of Abyssinian barleys to Cali- 

 fornia conditions is an indication of similarity of climate. 



Egyptian-cotton growing has become an industry in California, 

 but experimenters are still at work testing different strains, and they 

 may find something of value in a reported nearly wild form from 

 Angola, Africa (No. 37125), which there develops a very strong 

 fiber. Although it is perhaps a question whether American paper 

 manufacturers are yet ready to put on their program the investiga- 

 tion of any grass for paper-pulp purposes, the preliminary trial of 

 Ischaemum hinatum (No. 37014), which has been experimented with 

 for this purpose in British India, can hardly fail to interest them. 



There are now a number of bamboo groves in the Southern States, 

 and the fact has been abundantly demonstrated that there are thou- 

 sands of square miles of territory which might be covered with species 

 of this remarkable plant. Whether the Takuara bamboo of Para- 

 guay {Bambos guadua^ No. 37009), which grows on low, sandy lands 

 along the rivers and attains a height of 60 feet, will prove hardy re- 

 mains to be determined. 



The expedition from this office sent to Bahia and Rio de Janeiro 

 to investigate the culture of the navel orange found in occasional 

 use there as a cover crop a species of Crotalaria (No. 36969) 

 which may prove valuable for dry or semiarid orchard lands in this 

 country. Information has come through the same source regarding 

 the use in that region of the fruits of the Macaiiba palm (Acrocomia 

 sclerocarpa, No. 37382) for hog feed. The thick layer of white, 

 starchy material surrounding the hard kernel is said to be preferred 

 to corn and to be very fattening. The fruit clusters of these palms 

 weigh as much as 65 or 75 pounds. 



Of grain crops for trial perhaps the most interesting are the 

 sorghum varieties (Nos. 36960 to 36963), which are -grown by the 

 Matabele, Setchuana, Mambukuschu, and Serotse tribes of southwest- 

 ern Africa, the pearl millet (No. 36959), from German Southwest 

 Africa, and a collection of wheat, rye, barley, and buckwheat (Nos. 

 37154 to 37167) from the Tulun Experiment Field of Russia. 



This inventory contains a number of interesting new fruits as a 

 result of the work of the Brazilian expedition composed of Messrs. 



