951 
sprout in constantly wet sand and after about three or 
four weeks they are taken out and planted Into the water 
fields like the rice. They want good manured fields and 
always covered with water then they spread like potatoes 
in the ground and in the fall they are dug up after the 
water is drained off. 
I also send you some seeds of a kind of a turnip' the 
English name however I could not learn till now. The ed- 
ible part Is the root and it has a sweet and delicious 
taste. The seeds are planted or sown in April or May and 
the flowers when they come are all cut down except those 
wanted for seeds and in fall also dug up. Now I do not 
know whether you will not have this latter kind already but 
if so just throw the seeds away and be done with it. The 
natives tell me the seeds are very poisonous." 
NOTES ON BEHAVIOR OF PREVIOUS INTRODUCTIONS . 
Carissa grandiflbra . This handsome shrub, which is con- 
sidered one of the best hedge plants in Natal, South Afri- 
ca, is rapidly becoming very popular in South Florida, not 
only because of Its spiny character which makes it an im- 
penetrable hedge,, easy to grow, but because of its large 
white fragrant flowers and brilliant red edible fruit. Mr. 
Bisset, when at Mr. G. P. Taft's place at Orange, Cal. , 
wrote as follows: . 
"Mr. Taft has a Carissa grandiflora that is bearing a 
fine crop of beautiful, large-sized fruits. This is the 
first time I have seen the Carissa bearing a good crop of 
fruit in California. This bush was frozen back when the 
temperature was 27 degrees last year." 
For photographs see Label Catalogue for 1915-1916. 
Litchi chinensis (21204). Excerpts from Mr. Bisset's 
notes on a visit to Tampa, Fla. , August 14th. 
"On August 17th *I visited Mr. W. S. Taylor's place to 
see the Litchi trees. I found them In excellent condition. 
The tallest one is 31 Inches in height by 50 inches in 
spread. The trees are planted in a hollow where they get 
all the raln-fall and the drainage into the basin from the 
land close by. They are protected by buildings and tree 
growths. If the frost does not injure them or if Mr. Tay- 
lor protects these trees from it, he may succeed in fruit- 
ing this Litchi in the vicinity of Tampa. 
"After looking over Mr. Taylor's Litchi trees, I went 
to see Dr. Richardson's place on Bay Shore Boulevard , where 
another plant of Litchi was growing. This plant is 5 feet 
6 inches in height, with straight stem, unlike Mr. Taylor's 
