926 
indicate that it may be adapted to acid soils, which would 
be a distinct advantage in some parts of the United 
States. " (Cook. ) 
' Pennisetum longistylum Hochst. (Poaceae.) 41055. Cut- 
tings of Klkuyu grass from Pretoria, Union of South Africa. 
Presented by Mr. I. B. Pole Evans, Chief, Division of Bot- 
any. "We originally obtained this grass from British East 
Africa, and it, so far as our experience goes, would ap- 
pear to be one of the most promising grasses that we have 
in this country.- So far, although the grass has been un- 
der cultivation at our Botanical Station for the past 4 
years, it has shown no signs of forming seed, and it was 
only last summer that it flowered and enabled us to have 
it determined botanically. The grass has a creeping habit 
and cattle are passionately fond of it; it also makes a 
nice hay grass." ( Pole- Evans . ) 
Pimento, officinalis Lindley . (Myrtaceae . ) 41134. Seeds of 
allspice from Kingston, Jamaica. Presented by Mr. W. Har- 
ris, Superintendent, Hope Gardens. "A small tree with 
smooth, white bark, 25 to '30 feet high, native of the West 
Indies and Central America. The dried unripe berries, 
which are the size of small peas, are the Allspice or Pi- 
mento of commerce. The name 'all-spice' is due to a sup- 
posed resemblence of the spice to a combination of the 
odour and flavour of cinnamon, nutmegs and cloves. The tree 
has been introduced into Ceylon over a century ago, and 
established at Peradenlya, where it flowers in the dry 
weather and occasionally sets a few fruits,but outside the 
Botanic Gardens it is rarely met with in this country. It 
is considered to yield best in a hot and rather dry cli- 
mate, and prefers a loose loamy or alluvial, well-drained 
soil. In Jamaica the berries are picked by hand while 
green, but just ripe, and are then dried in the sun, the 
latter process taking six to ten days. The fruits are 
known to be sufficiently dry when the seeds rattle on shak- 
ing and are of a dark colour. A crop cannot be expected 
within six or seven years from the time of planting, and 
when in full bearing a tree will yield a hundredweight of 
dried spic-e. Jamaica is the only country that exports this 
spice, which is sold at present in England at about 2d. to 
3d. per pound." (MacMillan, Handbook of Tropical Gardening 
and Planting. ) 
Polakowskia tacaco Plttler. (Cucurbitaceae'. ) 41141. 
Fruits of tacaco from San Jose, Costa Rica. Presented by 
Mr. J. E. Van derLaat, Director, Department of Agriculture, 
through Dr. Carlos Werckle. "The tacaco is not of perish- 
able nature, as the chayote; it has a hard skin, when ripe.,, 
and keeps in perfect condition for weeks; at last it shriv- 
els and in this state it is planted. The fruits for plant- 
