November, 1916 
WISCONSIN HORTICULTURE 
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which are traditional or men- 
tioned in Chinese literature have 
either disappeared completely, 
or are to be found only on iso- 
lated farms. A striking example 
of this is the fact that the section 
around Shanghai even forty 
years ago was famous for a spe- 
cial kind of peach, although to- 
day this variety has completely 
disappeared. 
In the last trip the explorer 
penetrated through the center 
of Chma 1,500 miles on foot to 
the borders of Tibet and returned 
to the coast by a different route. 
On this expedition he covered 
territory the agricultural con- 
ditions of which are very similar 
to those of the southern Rocky 
Mountain regions and portions 
of the Great Plains. 
In this territory, the most im- 
portant discovery probably was 
the jujube tree, which bears a 
heavy crop of a brownish fruit, 
which is delicious when fresh 
and when dried offers a confec- 
tion very similar in taste to the 
Persian date. This tree is of 
particular interest to the depart- 
ment because it can withstand 
cold and drought and neglect. 
The section in which it is pro- 
ductive in China is a semiarid 
belt where winter temperatures 
do not go much below zero 
Fahrenheit. This indicates that 
it would be of particular value 
to Texas, California, New r Mexi- 
co, Arizona, southern Utah, and 
perhaps even farther north. Al- 
ready, several thousand seedlings 
have been grown at the Plant 
Introduction Garden at Chico, 
California, from the specimens 
Do not go into the business of 
growing drug herbs hurriedly. 
While there is a good demand for 
some of these, it is not likely that 
this demand will be permanent, 
and besides the cost of preparing 
many of the herbs is prohibitive. 
sent to this country, and some 
of these have borne desirable 
fruit, which confirms the experi- 
menters in their belief that this 
tree may contribute a new fruit 
industry to the sections indi- 
cated. 
The wild peach discovered in 
China, and now brought to this 
country for the first time, is con- 
sidered of great interest although 
its fruit is not desirable. In- 
vestigation in its native habitat 
showed that the roots of this 
plant arc not as susceptible as 
our native peach to alkali in 
the soil, while it will withstand 
cold and does not require much 
moisture. Experiments are undei 
way, therefore, to determine the 
usefulness of the rootstock of this 
peach for grafting with different 
hardy American varieties. If 
success is achieved, the specia- 
lists believe that they can de- 
velop peach trees which will 
make possible the raising of 
peaches in the Southwestern or 
alkaline sections, and at the 
same time offer possibilities of 
peach cultivation in many 
droughty and cold regions, and 
possibly even into portions of 
Iowa beyond the northern edge 
of our present peach region. 
Of special interest also are the 
collections of aquatic food plants 
secured in the recent expeditions. 
These include water chestnuts, 
water nuts, and a number of 
aquatic bulbs, as well as the 
water bamboo. The Chinese, 
the explorer found, have master- 
ed through centuries of experi- 
ments the process of using swamp 
lands for the raising of food 
crops, and their success is be- 
lieved to point to commercial 
possibilities for some of our 
swamp regions where reclama- 
tion by drainage is not practic- 
able. Whether the American 
farmer would ever be willing, 
however, as a commercial enter- 
prise, to grow crops which call 
for cultivation in water waist- 
deep is, the specialists admit, 
open to question. 
The kauba, sometimes called 
wild rice or water bamboo, now 
to be made the subject of ex- 
periment, is a vegetable in taste 
somewhat between grass and 
asparagus. The swollen stalks 
of the plant are eaten much like 
our asparagus. The ordinary 
bamboo, contrary to the pre- 
vailing opinion, is not an aquatic 
plant, and for successful culti- 
vation calls for fertile and well- 
drained soil. 
In selecting Chinese vegetables 
for introduction the explorer was 
greatly limited by the fact 
that many articles favored by 
Mongolian palates would be un- 
pleasant to Caucasians. lie has 
sent over, therefore, only those 
things which promise to add 
valuable vegetables or fruits to 
the American table, and also 
which fit in with a general plan 
for the introduction of certain 
food crops which will find a 
ready market among our Chinese 
populations. The Chinese, in 
many cases, are importing large 
quantities of favorite native 
foods in canned or dried form 
from China because they find 
difficulty in getting them in a 
fresh state in our larger cities. 
Some of the vegetables brought 
over which promise to find a dual 
market are a number of varieties 
of vegetable bamboo and im- 
proved varieties of pe tsai, the 
odorless Chinese cabbage, some 
kinds of which already are on 
sale as “celery cabbage” in 
American markets. This cab- 
bage is suitable for cooking or for 
cold slaw and can be grown 
wherever ordinary cabbage is 
raised. A vegetable novelty now 
under experiment is a Chinese 
radish with a root as large as a 
child’s head. This is somewhat 
