1365 
peeled off as easily as that of a ripe peach. He tried 
the first ripe ones of this year's crop and was de- 
lighted with them; he asked me to send him large quan- 
tities of seeds." (Nuttall.) 
Phormium tenax (Liliaceae), 46388. New Zealand flax. 
From New Zealand. Seed presented by Mr. J. W. Poyntbn, 
Palmerston North, New Zealand. "The yield is about one 
ton of fiber from eight tons of green leaves. The non- 
fibrous part of the leaves, stripped from the fiber, 
has a lot of protein material in it and some sugar and 
starch. Cattle eat the cut-up leaves greedily. If 
the waste were dried it would probably make a good 
cattle feed. When decayed, it makes an excellent ferti- 
lizer. Analyses have shown a high percentage of po- 
tassium salts in the ash." (Poynton. ) 
Prunus mume (Amygdalaceae), 46572. Japanese apricot 
Prom Canton, China. Seeds presented by Mr. G. Weidman 
Groff, Canton Christian College. "These fruits, known 
on the Chinese (Cantonese) markets as Hang mui, are quite 
common in Canton in the month of May. The fruit is 
somewhat like an apricot. It is said that there are 
several different types. A bitter principle exists 
in these particular fruits, but they make a very fine 
jelly. This number has possibilities as a cultivated 
fruit or as a stock." (Groff.) 
"Although every American artist who visits Japan 
in the early spring comes away with the keenest ap- 
preciation of the remarkable beauty and picturesque 
character of the so-called 'flowering plums' of Japan, 
few of these artists appear to know anything about the 
fruit which is borne by these beautiful flowering trees. 
These fruits, which are properly classed by botanists 
with the apricots instead of the plums, constitute a 
most unique food of the Japanese. Though sometimes 
eaten fresh, much in the same way as we eat our native 
American plums, they are usually pickled in brine and 
colored with the colored leaves of the perllla plant 
and packed in boxes or other receptacles for household 
use. Great quantities of these pickled mumes are con- 
sumed in Japan. Their use Is so universal that they 
formed an important part of the army ration in the 
Russo-Japanese war and it is said that they were often 
depended on to quench the thirst of the soldiers when 
on long marches. One's first impression of these Japa- 
nese pickles maybe properly compared with one's first 
impression of the Spanish pickled green olive, which 
