4 
419 
NOTES FROM FOREIGN CORRESPONDENTS . 
ARABIA. Ma skat. Mr. John A, Ray, American Consul, 
writes March 7, that he has supplied "a missionary now 
traveling in the interior, visiting places where no Occiden- 
tal has been for years" with mailing tins and expects a re- 
port from him that will interest us. 
CANARY ISLANDS . Teneriffe. Puerto Orotava. Mr. George 
V. Perez writes March 20, "Statice arborea has a very vigor- 
ous growth. Although it has not "been used as a forage plant s 
the avidity with which goats eat it and the resistance to 
salt in the soil would make it worth your while to make ex- 
periments with it. The last home of this plant was for many 
years two large maritime rocks entirely surrounded by the 
sea. Prom these rocks the plant disappeared owing to goats 
having been placed there to find their food some twenty five 
years ago, and it was supposed to be lost to botany till I 
had it rediscovered by a goatherd in some precipitous rocks 
in this island in 1906. Some years ago I made some experi- 
ments to show the great resistance of our Statice macrophylla 
to sea water by soaking the seed in it for a fortnight, then 
sowing and irrigating with only sea water. The seed germinat- 
ed under these unfavorable conditions and it took six months 
to destroy the last seedling plant." 
COSTA RICA. San Jose. Professor C. Werckle writes 
March 30 and April 2 that he will try to get us "the best va- 
rieties of anona and also of the palta or avocado; of the 
latter some admirable varieties are to be found only in the 
hot Pacific coast region. As I will go to the Coyolar soon 1 
will get some there. The seeds of Persea pittieri (P. frigida 
Linden) have shriveled so much in a few days that I had to 
plant them here; will send you young trees in a few months. 
The seed cannot be kept dry. Have just received a sample of 
bark of Escallonia poosana J. Don. Smith, which is the 
giant of the genus; (very tall, narrow trees, when old, up to 
1.50 m. diameter of trunk. After it is dry I shall send it to 
you to find out if it is as rich in tannin as some Colombian 
species. The tree forms by itself dense forests on the upper 
limit of tree-growth on the volcano Turialba. We will try to 
get this year the Guadua angustifolia H. B. K. , from Guadua, 
Cundinamarca; it is much more useful than the Asiatic spe- 
cies. We have some plants of the Sapium from the Rio Meta, 
which is the only species still more valuable than S. toli- 
mense, but it- is a warm species, (500 m. altitude), very pro- 
ductive and of extra good quality * I have just received a 
