445 
(horse tooth). It was a pure white maize and used principally 
for making flour. He also reports having seen peanuts as long 
as his finger, six kernels to each, also a wild potato, 
' Iby-a' in the upper Paraguayan chaco, not as good as the 
regular potato, but containing more starch. I have sent for 
both of these, hoping they may be of use to you." 
TUNIS. Gabes. Mr. Prank Edward Johnson, the American 
artist, writes May 25 that he has arranged to have sent to us 
young shoots of the fine olives and the figs of the Mountains 
of the Troglodytes. In the very dry region southwest of Gabes 
the modern ploughs of the French do not do as well as the 
Arab wooden ploughs which merely scratch the earth, since the 
grain dies from lack of moisture if the soil is too well 
prepared. From Tunis he will go into Spain, and will investi- 
gate mushroom cultivation in that region, securing spawn for 
us if possible. A report on fenugreek with much new informa- 
tion will be sent us as soon as he can prepare it. 
TURKEY IN ASIA. Smyrna. Mr. Edward Whittall writes 
June 1, that the native beet is "sweeter to the taste than 
the European one and he has ceased importing seed from 
England". He will send us all the local forms he can obtain. 
RECENT CALLERS FROM ABROAD. 
Mr. F. H. Hope, of Kribi, Kamerun, West Africa, called 
June 8, and in conversation described a number of the native 
fruits, the Irvingia which furnishes the so-called "Dika but- 
ter" , a native vegetable glue so strong that boards fracture 
before the glue gives way, and a palm, locally called bamboo, 
and used for building. Of the fruits and other interesting 
plants he has promised to send us pictures, fruits, seeds and 
full descriptions, and especially of a number of the native 
drug plants of which he had noticed the effects. 
Mr. Arthur Garrels, American Consul, now at Catania, 
Sicily, late of Zanzibar, in conversation June 12, spoke of 
the clove industry of Zanzibar. This district furnishes from 
90 to 95 per cent of the cloves of the world, but mainly for 
oil production, and not for the spice, which comes from 
Penang. The trees for the first three years are almost 
impossible to grow, but after they are once established are 
almost impossible to kill. They grow like a pear tree with 
erect branches; the olive like fruit, which has two seeds, 
has very little oil, but the seeds have started germination 
before they fall. This rapid germination is the probable 
cause of poor results in shipping the seeds. The fruits are 
sometimes planted immediately on falling, and at other times 
thrown in piles and allowed to ferment, which they do very 
quickly, before planting. Probably the only way to import 
the clove is in Wardian cases. 
