4 



SEEDS AND PLANTS IMPORTED. 



For some time the desirability of a dwarf mango has been felt by 

 the Florida growers, and the introduction of the Pere Louis (No. 

 54526), a new one from Port of Spain, Trinidad, should be of especial 

 interest to mango growers. 



A form of the cereal called Job's-tears, the seeds of which, instead 

 of being so hard that they are useful only as beads, are soft when 

 roasted or boiled like rice or pearl barley, should be called to the 

 attention of tropical agriculturists. We are indebted to Mr. Wester 

 for seeds (Nos. 54454 and 54455). 



The improvement of the conmaon papaya through hybridization 

 has not, so far as I am aware, been attempted, although there are 

 several unidentified species of Carica which might contribute to the 

 problem. My son, Graham Fairchild, found on the banks of the 

 Eio Pescado in Panama (No. 54529) what appears to be a species 

 quite similar to one found by Mr. Popenoe in Costa Rica. 



The yellow mombin, Spondias momhin^ seems to be as popular a 

 fruit with the children of the Canal Zone as the Wildgoose plums 

 were with the descendants of the pioneers on the Great Plains; but, 

 notwithstanding the fact that the trees bear fruit varying greatly in 

 quality, nothing seems yet to have been done to improve this fruit 

 tree. Seeds (No. 54532) were imported from Panama to see if the 

 species will grow in Florida. 



The Chorisia of Paraguay {G, speciosa^ No. 54551), which is re- 

 ported to be a tree that will stand more cold than the kapok tree of 

 Java and yields a silky fiber similar to the best kapok, should be 

 thoroughly tried out in our island possessions and even in southern 

 Florida. 



The shisham of British India, Amerimnon latifolium (Nos. 

 64554 and 54555), because of its habit of suckering and its great 

 vigor, enabling it to compete with other forest trees, as well as because 

 it produces timber of excellent quality, deserves to be called to the 

 attention of tropical foresters. 



During his brief visit to Chile Mr. Popenoe spent some time with 

 the veteran horticulturist of Chile, Sr. Salvador Izquierdo, of 

 Santa Ines, who has one of the most remarkable collections of plants 

 of horticultural interest in all South America. Thanks to Senor 

 Izquierdo's kindness, we are in possession of some very interesting 

 plants, among them being four varieties of peach of Chilean origin 

 and of excellent quality (Nos. 54622 to 54625) ; seven interesting native 

 trees, including the Belloto (No. 54627), the Patagua (No. 54628), 

 the Laurel de Chile (No. 54633) , the Litre (No. 54634) , the Tipu (No. 

 54643), the Boldo (No. 54639), and the Peumo (No. 54629) ; a col- 

 lection of strictly Chilean strawberries (Nos. 54630 and 54631) of the 

 Frag aria chiloensis group; also the Huidobro apple (No. 54635), 

 which he has found resistant to the worst insect pest of apples in 

 Chile, the woolly aphis; and the so-called evergreen poplar (No. 

 54641). which is one of his selections from the common species of 

 poplar of that region. 



Mr. Popenoe calls attention to what appears to be a true dwarf 

 orange (No. 54651) found growing in Senor Izquierdo's nursery, 

 which, because of its dwarf habit and the quality of its fruits, he 

 considers promising for dooryard plantings ; also to the little-known 

 species of fruit tree, Luciima ohovata (No. 54653), which is a popu- 



