494 
Africa in a day or two to attend the cotton growers* congress 
at Orleansville on the 20th. An important new office has just 
"been created in the Colonial Office. M. Chevalier has been 
made a sort of traveling inspector of the Colonial' gardens 
and experiment stations. He is full of energy and will he a 
valuable man to work with." 
INDIA. Calcutta. Mr. William H. Michael, American 
consul, writes November 13, that he has been looking into the 
matter of canning mangos as practiced in India. He finds that 
the work is being done by a young Indian who was trained in 
the United States, and with machinery obtained from the 
United State's. This young man, whose factory last year turned 
out 20000 cans of manges and pineapples, and who this year 
expects to put up 18000 cans of mangos and 12000 cans of 
litchis, says that there is practically no difference in 
canning mangos from the methods. used in canning the large 
freestone peaches of California. The fruit so far put up has 
withstood shipment to England and in the cans examined the 
fruit retained its flavor as well as could be expected. 
MEXICO. ZaCuapam. Huatusco. Dr. C. A. Purpus writes 
October 31, that he has been collecting seeds and cones of 
Pinus rudis, P. pseudostrobus , and another which may prove to 
be P. teocote. .On account of the insecurity of the country 
he was unable to ascend the peak of Mt. Orizaba in order to 
obtain seeds of P. hartwegii. 
RUSSIA. Samara. Mr. Frank N. Meyer writes November *S, 
that he has returned to European Russia and will probably get 
into the alfalfa regions of the northern Caucasus > since the 
troubles in China have probably effectively prevented any 
work in the northwestern provinces of that country this 
winter. 
SPECIAL NOTE. 
Through the kindness of the Eorest Service we. are 
enabled to offer a small quantity of the seeds of the bigtree 
(Sequoia washingtoniana) to experimenters interested in culti- 
vating this tree. 
Issued December 20, 1911. 
