44 
WISCONSIN HORTICULTURE 
November, 1916 
PLANTS FROM CHINA 
The third expedition into 
China to discover new plants 
suitable for introduction into the 
United States has been com- 
pleted by F. N. Meyer, plant 
explorer of the U. S. Department 
of Agriculture, who has just re- 
turned to Washington after a 
three-year trip in the Far East. 
As a result of this expedition 
through the center of China, and 
two previous explorations of 
similar duration covering ex- 
tremely cold Manchurian re- 
gions and the arid regions of 
Chinese Turkestan, there have 
been sent to American for plant- 
ing and testing for commercial 
adaptability, seeds, roots, or cut- 
tings of some 3,000 food and for- 
age plants, llowers, ornamental 
shrubs and vines, shade and tim- 
ber trees. The previous expedi- 
tions brought to America speci- 
mens of many cold-resistant and 
dry-land grains, sorghums, soy 
beans, alfalfas, and forage plants, 
and also certain semi tropical 
plants, such as the bamboo, 
which are now under experimen- 
ation to determine their useful- 
ness for the extreme South. 
Of the many specimens for- 
warded to this country during 
the last expedition, the special- 
ists regard as most significant 
the jujube, a fruit new to 
this country, which may be 
suitable for use in the South- 
west; a wild peach resistant to 
alkali, cold, and drought, the 
root system of which offers great 
possibilities as a grafting host; 
certain Chinese persimmons larg- 
er than any hitherto known in 
this country; a number of aqua- 
tic food roots and vegetables 
which offer promising possibili- 
ties for the utilization of swamp 
land; some thirty varieties of 
vegetable and limber bamboos; 
and a number of Chinese vege- 
tables, bush and climber roses, 
shrubs and trees. 
Of sc'entitic rather than com- 
mercial interest is the discovery 
on this expedition, near Hang- 
chau, of a hickory tree, the first 
found in China. The existence of 
this tree, together with the facts 
that the sassafras and tulip 
trees are common in both coun- 
tries and the Chinese tea box tree 
is closely related to the sweet 
gum of the South, confirms the 
fact that the flora of the south- 
eastern United States and that 
of sections of China are closely 
related. Another discovery of 
botanical interest was the finding 
in a remote and hitherto unvisit- 
ed valley in Tibet of a hazel tree 
100 feet high — a surprising de- 
parture from the hazel bush. 
Elsewhere English walnuts were 
discovered in a wild state; and 
the discovery of the wild peach 
is regarded as significant because 
it seems to establish that the 
peach may have been a native of 
China rather than of Persia, to 
which ; ts origin has been as- 
cribed. The discoveries of na- 
tive and hardy oranges and other 
citrus fruits, a number of which 
have been brought to this coun- 
try for breeding work, give added 
evidence that Chma was the 
home of the orange, which was 
introduced into other countries 
probably by early Portuguese 
travelers. Similarly many plants 
commonly ascribed to other 
countries, such as the wistaria, 
chrysanthemum, lilac, azalea, and 
certain peonies and rambler roses, 
have been developed by the 
Chinese, although, because they 
reach Caucasian use through 
other neaiby nations, their Chin- 
ese origin often has been over- 
looked. 
The first or experimental ex- 
ploration for new plants in China 
in 1905 was undertaken by the 
Department because the wide 
range of climate, rainfall, eleva- 
tion, and soil conditions in that 
immense country gave promise 
that the Chinese, who had been 
farming successfully m some sec- 
tions for about 4,000 years, 
might have found solutions for 
special difficulties which con- 
fronted American farmers in re- 
gions of excessive cold, or 
drought, or alkaline or swampy 
soils. 
The investigators quickly 
found that China also offered a 
particularly fertile for plant in- 
troduction work because for 
many centuries the Clhnese far- 
mers, in a crude way, had been 
selecting seeds and developing 
improved varieties now ready 
for commercial use in the United 
States. In many cases all that 
is needed is to bring the seed or 
plant to this country and use it, 
although in other cases, Inas- 
much as Chinese methods rarely 
produce pure strains, some fur- 
ther seed or plant selection is 
necessary to obtain constant 
varieties. 
To locate these special vari- 
eties, however, it is necessary for 
the explorers to visit not merely 
individual villages but even to 
study single farms. There are 
no seed stores in China and no 
mechanism for extending the 
use of improved varieties. Su- 
perior varieties grown on one 
farm often are not used on ad- 
joining farms, and are unheard 
of ten miles away. The farmer 
who develops an improved va- 
riety guards it jealously and 
gives seeds or cuttings or scions 
only to his immediate relatives. 
In the case of fruits, the Chinese 
farmer is averse to spraying or 
other treatment for diseases, 
largely because his ancestors 
have never done this, and the 
adoption of modern methods 
would be considered irreverent. 
As a result, excellent varieties 
