10 
Beechees ( Sleocharis tu"berosa ) can "be har- 
vested in midwinter, after the land has dried 
out; it is hard work, hov/ever, since the clayey 
soil 136000168 quite hard. 
Tung oil trees, Aleurites fordii , do not grow 
very old; the oldest tree standing T saw was ?6 
years of age; a cut-down specimen, however, showed 
3? year-rings, which surely is a maximum age. The 
trees keep on "bearing till death, "but the fruits 
in general are consideralDly smaller on old speci- 
mens than on young trees, tho some old trees seen 
v/ere very heavy "bearers. ¥/hen between ?0 and ?5 
years old the lower "branches die off first, then 
"borers and fungi get at them and "before the tree ■ 
has gone entirely, the ever-watchful Chinese farm- 
er cuts it dov/n and chops it up for fuel. The 
tungjoil tree delights in rich soil, but on account 
of such soil giving high returns in grains they 
are relegated to mountain and hill slopes too steep 
or too poor to plant to other crops. One notices 
however a tremendous difference in grov;th "between 
specimens on poor decomposed granite soil and 
those in pockets of rich red clay. Where the trees 
look "best one generally finds around the farmsteads 
coir palms, pummeloes, tall "bamboos and lucidum 
privets, shov/ing that the plant delights in high 
summer temperatures and withstands but very mod- 
erate winter cold. --Please call these observations 
to the attention of Mr. R. A. Young. 
Pyrus betulaofolia occurs all around I chang, 
contrary to our expectations, since Wilson didn't 
collect it in Hupeh. It also grows around Chang 
yang and at several points in betv;een this place 
and Ichang. Often P. calleryana is associated with 
it making it exceedingly difficult to obtain seeds 
of the last which have not been subjected to cross- 
pollination. 
' Sing^o biloba undoubtedly is a wild tree in 
certain districts betv/een Ichang and Hsing shan 
hsien. The trees are much used as poles and as 
lumber; they sprout up again from the stumps, just 
like Gunninghamia lanceolata and Cryptomeria jaTJon - 
ica. 
Cunninghamia lanceolata occurs here and there 
in blue varieties, like Araucaria excelsa glauca . 
They would make fine evergreens for Southern parks; 
they do not thrive however on level lands. 
Rhus verniciflua was seen in large specimens 
at elevations of about 4,000 ft.; most trees had 
September PI, I918. 
