19 
of which had come to the office before you left 
for China. These plants, we hope, will be ready 
for distribution next spring, and will go to all 
corners of our country, where there is a chance 
for them to grow. 
It would take too long a letter for me to 
tell you of our distributions of all of the plants 
that you collected on your last trip, but I might 
mention the Ulmus pumil a of which we have dis- 
tributed this year 17, ?3^ plants. The people, 
especially in the Northern Great Plains region 
and in other arid states, have begun to ask for 
these plants in quantity. Nearly everyone wants 
to get at least from 1? to 100 plants, and of 
course, we are rather favoring those who are in 
our great dryland region. The fame of Ulmus pumila 
has even got across the border into Canada and we 
have had, within the last ? or 3 days, requests 
from two Canadians for these plants, which, I am 
glad to say, we have been able to fill. 
I hope you will put away all thought of re- 
signing your position and stay by it until you 
finish yaur trip; and should you go back again I 
hope that you and Mr. Pairchild will find a good 
young man who will be able to accompany you, so 
that you can break him in before you finally with- 
drav/ from this exploration work. 
As to v/hat seeds we are specially interested 
in, I would mention the following; 
First, Pistacia chinensis . This tree has made 
a wonderful record for itself and we would like to 
have several hundred pounds of the seed so that we 
can make a wide distribution of this tree. 
?/e are also hearing a lot about Eucomia ul- 
moides and should you be able to get some seeds 
of this tree we would like to have it. I think 
you v/ill be interested in the following extract 
from a letter received from Mr. J, W. Riggs, of 
the Kansas Experiment Station, relative to Eucomia 
ulmoides ; 
Of all the deciduous trees on 
ray grounds this beautiful, rapid- 
growing Eucomia draws, even from 
. the casual observers, the great- 
est attention. Its very dark, 
rich green foliage is fine. A 
travelling friend of mine who is 
well acquainted with this tree 
says it is much more beautiful 
here than in its native habitat. 
December 31, 1917. 
