The Bridgeport evening farmer., 1916-02-18
THIRD EXPEDITION INTO CHINA
FOR PLANTS SUITABLE TO RAISE
IN UNITED ST ATES SUCCESS SFUL
Jujube Alali Resistant wild Peach and Marsh vege-
tables Interesting New Hardy yellow Rose Is Dis
covered T. N. Meyer Completes Trio of Trips.

The third expedition into China to
discover new plants suitable for intro
duction into the United States has
been eomp1eted by F. n. Meier, plant
explprer Of the q S Depar tnent Of
Agriculture, who has returned to
Washingten after a three-year trip In
the Far East. Asa result Of this ex-
petition through the center of China.
and two previous explorations OF sim
liar dura ton covering extremely cold
ManchuTIan regions and the arid re-
gions OF Chinese Turkestan, there have
been sent to America for planting and
testing for commercial adap abihty,
seeds. roots or eaftin Is OF some 3D.
600 food and forage plants, flowers,
ornamental shrubs and vines, shade
petitions brought to America speci-
mems Of many coId-resistant and dry
land grains, sorE huns, soy beans az
faIfass and forage plants, and also Gers
tain semi tropical pIants,s such as the
gamboo, which are now under expert
mentatfon to determine their useful
ness for the extreme South
OF the many specimens forwarded
to this country during the last exc
peddtions the specialists regard as most
Significant the 5ujube. a fruit new to
this country, which may be suitable
for use In the Southwest wild peach
resistant To alka1i, cold, and drought.
the root system of which offers great
possibilities as grating hests GER
tain Chinese persimnons larger than
number of aquatic food roots and veg
STABLES which offer pr OnaiSIag{ posi-
bilities for the utilization or swamp
land some thirty varieties Of vege-l
tables, bush and climber roses shrubs
and trees
OF scientific rather than commercial
Interest is the discovery on this expe4
7ffefrr
tree, the first found in China
To locate these special varieties,
however, it is necessary for the ex-
plorerH to visit not merely individual
villages but even to study the SINGLE
Fl. rms There are no seed stores in
China. and no mechanism for Extend
ing the use of improved varieties Su-
perior varieties grown on one farm
often are not used on adj Looming farms
and are unheard of ten miles away
The farmer who develops an improv-
ed variety guards it jealousy and
gives seeds or cuttings or seions only
to his immediate relatives In the
case of fruits, the Chinese farmer is
ayerse to spraying or other treatment
for diseases, largely because his ances-
tors have never done this. and the
adoption of modern methods would be
Il considered irreverent AS a result,
excellent varieties which are tradi-
tional or mentioned in Chinese Htera-
ture have either disappeared COM
pletely or are to be found only on
isolated farms. A striking example
of this Is the fact that the section
around Shanghai even forty years ago
was famous for q special kind of
peach, although to-day this variety
has completely disa ppeared-
The most important discovery prob
: ably was the jujube tree. which bears
heavy crop of brownish fruit,
which is delicious when fresh and
when dried offers a confecti0n. very
similar in taste to the Persian date
Thfs tree is of particular interest to
rxfe Department because it can with
stand cold and drought and neglect
The section in W1ieh it is productive
in China is a semi-arid belt where
winter tenn peratures do not go much
below zero Fahrenheit This indf-
Gates that it would be of particular
value to Texas, California, New Mex
leo, Arizona, southern Utah, and per-
haps even farther north. Already,
several thousand seedlings have been
den at Chico, California, from the
specimens sent to this country, and
some of these have borne desirable
fruit which confirms. the experiment.
ers in their belief that this tree may
contribute new fruit industry to the
sections Indicated.
The Wild peach discovered in Chi
ma, and now brought to this country
for the first time is considered Of
great interest although its fruit is not
desirable. Investigation in its ma
tive habitat showed that the roots
OF this plant are not susceptible as
our native peach to aIkaH in the soil,
while 1t win Withstand cold and does
not require much moisture Expert
arfenka are under way therefore, to de-
.ecrnifne che usefulness of the roof
stock Of this peach for grating With
differsnf harcy American varieties If