NOVEMBER 1 TO DECEMBER 31, 1919. 



8 



chowskA' says is most strikingly beautiful, producing large bunches 

 of pale-rose blooms, is worthy of emphasis. 



With this inventory begins the description of the collections which 

 were made by Dr. H. L. Shantz, agricultural explorer for this office, 

 during the time in which he was attached to the Smithsonian expedi- 

 tion through South and East Africa. As described in the daily 

 papers of the period. Dr. Shantz made, in company with Dr. Raven, 

 of the Smithsonian Institution, a study of the native agriculture of 

 the eastern part of the Belgian Kongo. German East Africa. Portu- 

 guese East Africa, and British East Africa, starting at Cape Town 

 and coming out at Cairo. The trip took approximately a whole 

 year and resulted in the collection of invaluable information, photo- 

 graphs, and living material bearing upon the customs of the re- 

 markable agricultural people of these portions of Africa and also 

 in the introduction of hundreds of samples of potentially valuable 

 seeds which should make it possible to discover whether any of the 

 crops grown by these remarkable races have value for the American 

 farmer. 



Dr. Shantz finds the m'tsama melon {Citrullus vulgaris, No. 

 48761) of the Kalahari Desert the cliief water supply of travelers 

 and dwellers in that region and recommends its further trial 

 in Texas and California. He suggests the use of D Imorphotheca 

 spectubiJis (No. 48768) for our Great Plains and western 

 desert regions. He found a large-fruited form of Mimusops (J/. 

 zeyheri^ No. 48777), wliich was said to be delicious and would 

 probably grow in southern Texas. He reports Theineda triamlra 

 (No. 48787) as the most dominant grass of the sweet veldt of 

 Africa. He got a collection of cowpeas {Vigna sinensis, Nos. 

 48791 to 48793) from Cape Province: a new jujube, which is pro- 

 lific and an attractive ornamental {Ziziphus sp., No. 48796) ; and a 

 beautiful shade tree {Combretuin salicifolium, No. 48809), which 

 grows along all the watercourses of the arid region around Pretoria 

 and the Orange River region and appears very promising for southern 

 Texas and California. 



Regarding the grass called teff {Eragrostis ahyssirdca. No. 48815), 

 the staple hay crop of the high veldt. Dr. Shantz remarks, " It is the 

 most important plant next to corn in the Transvaal. It should grow 

 from Amarillo. Tex., to Judith Basin. Mont." It requires summer 

 rain and therefore is not adapted for cultivation in the Southwest. 



Of the kikuyu grass (Pennisetum dundestinum, No. 48818) the 

 Union of South Africa Department of Agriculture reports that in 

 wet weather it keeps green all the time, in spite of heavy frosts, and 

 even makes some growth. For soiling dairy cows it is the grass 

 par excellence; it grows almost as rapidly as lucem. yielding four 

 or five cuttings in a season : in food value it is superior to any of our 

 other grasses. 



