812 
It gives me pleasure to be able to tell you that I 
have gotten quite a quantity. Of seeds of both Amygdalus 
potanini and A. tangutica. I have also found new localities 
for both. A. potanina occurs near the village of Tchu tsai 
tze, one day's journey by packmules, south of Siku, while 
A. tangutica occurs on the right bank of the Siku River, on 
several places, both South and West of the town of Siku; 
also here and there between Siku and Mlnchow; also here 
and there along the Tao River between Minchow and Klu 
cheng (New Taochow) and also around the town of Akanshan, 
40 li to the South of Lanchowfu, on the main road to Titao. 
On this last place there are so many bushes, that whole 
mountain slides contain nothing else and local people make 
charcoal from the stumps and the seeds are eaten when 
boiled and a clear oil is extracted from the kernels. 
Of direct economic value, however, these two species 
are not. A. potanini is the N. W. China form of A. da- 
vidiana but the stones are more elongated and differently 
grooved; the shells are even harder, the kernels smaller 
and much more elongated and the meat is absolutely in- 
edible, while the skin seems to be more downy even than in 
A: davidiana , The leaves are broader, especially in older 
trees. The plant assumes a tree-like form when left alone 
and the local farmers told me they were quite ornamental 
when in bloom, though this does not last long, this flow- 
ering period. I didn't find this Pontanin's peach in very 
cold or exposed places and from these observations I con- 
clude that it does not stand the chance which its brother, 
the davidiana, does. However it seems to be able to stand 
more dry heat than the last, for I have, found it in some 
narrow "pockets" in foothill sections on direct South ex- 
posure where it certainly must be roasting hot in midsum- 
mer; therefore, I suggest it strongly as a stock for al- 
monds especially. 
A. tangutica is a variable species of bush almond and 
though its kernels are bitter and though it .throws up a 
lot of stems and though it is spiny, still I believe it 
has a decided value as a factor in breeding experiments, 
for it seems to be very hardy and drought resistant. One 
finds it mainly on sheltered rocky and loess slopes at 
elevations from 4000 ft. above sea level up to about 10000 
ft. In these higher regions, however, it does not get as 
•cold as one would surmise, for the mountains all around 
keep off the intense cold. 
As a stock for almonds and for other stonefruits I 
scarcely would recommend this tangut almond since it suck- 
ers badly and since these suckers are very hard to remove 
indeed. 
I was lucky enough to find a correspondent near one 
of these main localities for these almonds. I showed the 
