JAVA, Buitenzorg. Department of Agriculture, Aug. 20, Cuttings 
have been taken of Talauma mutabilis and its varieties, long- 
ifolia and splendens, and hope to grow them in such a way that 
they can send us the plants next spring in a Wardian case. 
MANCHURIA, Mukden. Mr. E. C. Parker, Aug. 3. Sends through Mr. 
W. H. Tomhave, of the University of Minnesota, a report on the 
proposed reorganization of the Mukden Experiment Station. 
PALESTINE, Jerusalem. Mr. E. P. Beaumont, Sept. 12. Sends pho- 
tographs of a wheat field on the plain of Sharon. This land 
has never been fertilized and yet has been farmed continuously 
for centuries. The peasants practice rotation with crops of 
the pea family. Another photograph shows the difference in 
winter growth between the Turkestan alfalfa and the Syrian 
variety. The winter there is not severe, and the alfalfa grows 
more or less during the whole season. The Turkestan variety, 
however, acts like winter wheat and stools out, making no 
growth to speak of until the warmer weather sets in. The 
Syrian variety, therefore, is ready for cutting earlier. 
