73 
®'hat we want is a quantity of seed for stocks, 
and budv/ood of the best varieties of mumes, 
photographs of the mumes themselves, and full 
accounts of the methods of preparing them. You 
will remember sending some beautiful green 
mumes which had been prepared in a peculiar 
way, and which we all thought were very good. 
A thorough investigation such as you made of 
the jujube ought to be made of the mumes, and 
it would be well on your return from China to 
stop over in Japan long enough to round up the 
question there. We ought to have grov;ing in this 
country all the principal varieties of this re- 
markable fruit tree. It is a commentary on our 
work that the Japanese army should recognize the 
mume as an invaluable part of the army ration, 
and that we have not growing in the United States 
anywhere even a small test orchard of this remark- 
able fruit tree, ^e should like to have speci- 
miens of all the different kinds of preserved 
mumes that you can lay your hands on, with full 
accounts of hov/ they are made." 
I have just gone over with Mr. Bis set the 
Chico inventory, and have asked Mr. Russell to 
prepare a full statement of all of your in- 
troductions of jujube which are represented by 
living trees in this country and all that have 
been lost. I am afraid this will be a dis- 
couraging list to you, but it may enable you to 
secure through your friends or possibly through ' 
your own efforts, some of the most valuable var- 
ieties which have been lost. You will be glad 
to know that Mr. Mills, who owns a large estate 
not far from Chico, v/ants to put out five or ten 
acres of jujubes next year, provided we can 
supply the trees. The work of propagation has 
not progressed as rapidly as I wish it might, - 
the difficulty seems to be to get a sufficient 
quantity of budwood. 
You do not say anything in your letter 
about bamboos. Do not forget that we have be- 
fore us the big problem of establishing in the 
delta of the Mississippi large groves of the 
edible bamboo and other species which have been 
introduced. It is very unfortunate that we did 
not start our plantation on that great delta, 
or near Savannah, where the large plantation of 
Indian bamboo is growing. I had dinner last 
night with Mr. Mcllhenny's brother, who is Chief 
of the Civil Service Commission, and he told me 
December 31, 1917. 
