700 
of reconnoitering more than one of thorough exploration, 
but as Kansu is difficult land I first want to become ac- 
quainted with local conditions before starting out on any- 
thing very big. " 
"In the splendid bracing autumn weather which we are 
experiencing here these last days I have seen several ■ 
Chinamen carrying plants of the dellciously fragrant tea- 
olive Olea fragrans through the streets of the city here. 
These plants are all grafted on Ligustimm sp. (L. sinense or 
L. quihoui?) In the Shantung Province however they use as 
stock Chionanthus retusa, while in Central China the plant 
thrives on its own roots. 
"Now this thought occurs to me. Our olive is a very 
near relative of this Olea fragrans, our olive suffers much 
here and there from frosts, from ill-drainage and from 
root-rot. Could not we make some extensive experiments in 
grafting or budding olives of various species of Ligus- 
trum on various species of Chionanthus and on various 
species of Fraxinus, with the aim to make Olea europaea 
hardier, more resistant to various uncongenial factors and 
above all to make it more fruitful? Have also experi- 
ments been made already, for so far as you are aware, to 
make "standard" trees out of Forsythia vir dissima and F. 
suspensa by grafting it on Ashes, Fringe- trees and Privets 
or Lilacs, for instance on Syringa amurensis'i Since this 
whole family of Oleaceae seems to bear grafting and budding 
of one species on the other so remarkably well, our office 
might be able to produce something remarkable along these 
lines. For the olive I should say the large-leaved ever- 
green Ligustrwm lucidum would make a fine stock. This 
tree privet does well in gardens in the city of San 
Antonio, Texas. Chionanthus retusa S.P.I. 21617 might also 
be a good stock for same. 
"We are having here a very bad persimmon year, few 
fruits are coming in. The growers say it was the early 
rains which prevented the fruit from setting and even when 
set, water that lodged beneath the 'large calyx caused the 
young fruit to drop. As such I have not quite been able 
to make out whether all fruits on a tree are exactly alike 
as regards the position of the incision around or whether 
there is a variation among them even on one tree. Yester- 
day I obtained some fruits from a seller and two varieties 
were all mixed up; one a very flat form, with the incision 
close to the calyx and the other, somewhat rounder, with 
the cut more toward the middle of the fruit." 
