60 



SEEDS AND PLANTS IMPORTED. 



37822 to 37869— Contd. (Quoted notes by Mr. Dorsett and others.) 



37868. Attalea funifera Martius. Phoenicaceae. Piassava palm. 

 " (No. 218a. Bahia, Brazil. March 20, 1914.) A large, pinnate- 

 leaved palm, found in certain sections of the State of Bahia. It is 

 valuable because of the fiber which it furnishes, as well as for its 

 hard, black fruits, which are used to make buttons. The oily kernel, 

 elliptical and nearly 2 inches in length, is used as an article of 

 food by the natives of the poorer classes. Piassava fiber is an im- 

 portant article of export at Bahia, and the manufacture of piassava 

 brooms forms an industry of considerable extent. The fiber is ex- 

 tracted from the leaf stalks, and is coarse, stiff, cinnamon brown in 

 color. For trial in the warmest sections of the United States." 



37869. Elaeis guineensis Jacq. Phoenicaceje. Dende palm. 

 "Bahia, Brazil. Seeds of the dend4 palm. See No. 39a [S. P. I. 



No. 36973] for 'description." 



37870 and 37871. Panax quinquefolium L. Araliaceae. 



(Aralia quinquefolia Decne. and Planch.) Ginseng. 



From Peking, China. Presented by His Excellency Ts'ao Julin, twice Min- 

 ister for Foreign Affairs, through Dr. Paul S. Reinsch, American minister, 

 Peking, China, at the request of Mr. Frank N. Meyer, Agricultural Ex- 

 plorer for the Department of Agriculture. Received April 18, 1914. 

 " Kwantien and six other places in Fengtien Province have always been 

 famous for the cultivation of ginseng. There are two varieties — ' Mountain 

 ginseng' {Shaii shen) and 'Garden ginseng' {Yiian sMii). Mountain ginseng 

 is popularly known as 'Great Mountain ginseng' {Ta shan shen), or 'stick' 

 {Pang chi). The popular name of 'Garden ginseng' is 'Sprouting ginseng' 

 (Yang shen). 



" ' Mountain ginseng ' is cultivated at high altitudes. The length of the root 

 in the soil is over 2 feet. The stalk puts forth branches. The plant commences 

 to grow in the spring and ceases in the autumn. It is not injured either by 

 drought or by floods, and is consequently easy to cultivate. 



" ' Garden ginseng ' has always been grown on shady slopes and in black 

 earth. Every year at harvest time the seeds are stripped off and soaked in 

 clear water. The outer skin is rubbed off and the seeds dried in the sun. They 

 are then mixed with clean earth and placed on the ground. At the end of a 

 year they are taken out and replanted. In the second year they will put forth 

 buds, and in the fourth they will bear seeds. 



" If, after stripping off the seeds, it is not desired to plant them the coming 

 year, the soaking process should be omitted and the seeds left in their skins 

 and wrapped up and placed in a high place, out of reach of the least dampness. 

 They may then be left for any number of years. When planted they should 

 be left in their skins in 2 inches of earth. After two years they will begin to 

 put forth buds, and after four years they will bear seeds. But after first 

 being planted they should be covered with mats and kept moist by fine rain." 

 {Ts'ao Julin.) 



37870. " Seeds of the wild ginseng from Tunghwahsien, located in 

 Hsingking Subprefecture, Shengking Province, Manchuria, east of 

 Mukden, latitude 41° 37' north and longitude 128° 7' east." {Ts'ao 

 Julin. ) 



37871. " Seeds of the wild ginseng from Fusung." {Ts'ao Julin.) 



