438 
NOTES PROM FOREIGN CORRESPONDENTS . 
CHINESE TURKESTAN. Kuldja. Among the notes sent in by 
Mr. Prank N. Meyer, Agricultural Explorer, on material 
collected in the Thian Shan Mountains, the following were 
appended to certain cuttings of wild apple which did not sur- 
vive the journey. "The valley of the Chong Djighilan River 
(altitude 3700 feet) and its small tributaries is one vast 
wild apple and apricot garden, and these wild trees vary in 
all possible ways. The quality and sizes of the fruits of the 
wild apples exhibit great variations, ranging from small, 
sour, hard fruits up to medium sized apples of a very fair 
taste. The local people collect the best varieties in autumn, 
slice them and keep them dried for winter use, while bears 
and wild hogs come down from the higher mountains especially 
to enjoy both the apples and the apricots in late summer and 
autumn. These wild apples are apparently much slower growers 
than those we have in cultivation, but they make up for it in 
all round hardiness and one may expect to obtain from them 
strains able to stand much greater cold than most of the 
varieties that have been developed from the apples coming 
originally from moist and mild western Europe." 
GERMAN EAST AFRICA. Amani. Dr. A. Zimmermann writes 
April 26 that he is sending us seed of Sphenostylis steno- 
carpa, a tuberous rooted legume, cultivated and eaten by the 
natives at Tabora. Seeds of Dolichos pseudopachyrhizus have 
not yet come to hand to send us. 
MAURITIUS. Port Louis. Mr. G. Regnard writes April 15, 
that because of the severe cyclones from which the island has 
suffered this spring, he will not be able to send us the 
grafted mangos until next year. He will undertake to get for 
us seed of the Bay tree, Pimenta acris, from which bay rum is 
made . 
NEW SOUTH WALES. Burringbar. Mr. B. Harrison offers to 
secure for us seeds of the native Carissa Brownii which we 
wish for breeding purposes, and of the native Mangosteen, 
Garcinia Mestoni, which is a semitropical fruit of good 
quality. He describes certain native trees, the Melaleuca 
or ti-tree, having "a covering of many sheets or layers of 
bark, which are used for roofing houses and sheds. The timber 
is durable, the bloom is profuse and contains a large amount 
of honey, and a volatile oil resembling Eucalyptus can be 
distilled from the foliage. The brown pine is another timber 
suitable for piles and resists the teredo navalis, or marine 
worm, and bears a plum like fruit, which makes a good 
preserve." 
