The Barre daily times. (Barre, Vt.) 1897-1959, 1917-02-26
NEW TREES AND
PLANTS FOR AMERICA
Many Foreign Varieties Now Being Test
ed in Plant Introduction Gardens
by Department of Agriculture.

A wide variety of promising foreign
plants are now being propagated anc
tested by the government in the plant
introduction gardens maintained by the
U, S. department of agriculture in Flor.
ida, California, Washington, and Mary
! land
These gardens may be called the "El.
| lis Islands" of the plant immigration
service. Inf them the plant immigrants
are carefully studied in order to make
sure that they carry with them no dis.
ease, and only those which are known
to be desirable additions are permitted
to make home in this country. The
plants which have successfully passed
this scrutiny are distributed to the state
experiment stations and to thousands
of experimenters and breeders through
out the country.
The present time, says an article by
r. II. Dorset in the 1916 yearbook of
the department, much attention is being
bestowed upon recent importations from
China. Among these are the jujube.
This, it is said, may well prove COM
mercially profitable in California and the
semiarid south and southwest When
prepared with cane sugar, jujubes have
as delicate a flavor as many dates. 1t
is also a very good fresh fruit and has
long been popular in China
The Chinese pistache is another inn
portation which has been suggested for
use as an avenue tree. Thousands of
young trees have been distributed to
parks throughout the country for this
purpose. One advantage Of this tree IS
the great age TO which it lives. For the
production OF nuts the e.iety OF pis
tache found in central and western Asia
is being tried. At present the entire
supply of the nuts used in the coloring
and fiayoring of ice cream and candy
comes from abroad, but it is said that
there is no reason why this country
should not grow its own supply. The Sac
and San Joaquin valleys in Cal
ifornia appear to be well suited to the
industry.
Chinese perslmmons and Chinese
chestnuts are also being tested. 1t is
believed that the Chinese chestnut may
prove exceptionally valuable because of
its power to resist the chestnut bark |
llsEdhe. WHICH Is duliB 30 iuuCH I'D HisAgt |
among the native chestnuts. The per-
simmon, it is thought, might be grown |
in California and in those
sections of the South where the temper
tture does not fall much below zero. In
1hina and Japan dried persimmons are
, staple food and there seems to be no
-eason why they should not be eaten
argely in the future in this country.
Still another importation is an early
,weet cherry which has been introduced
rom Tanghsi, China. This may prove
Profitable to growers as an early cherry
or the eastern markets.
A number of new vegetables, too, are
low being tested in the plant introduc-
ion gardens. Among these are the cha
ote from tropical America. This vine
reduces pearshaped fruit in abundance
a the fall. They somewhat resemble in
avor summer squash or vegetable mar
ow, and may be used as a fresh vege- ,
able throughout the winter.
The udo is new salad plant from
apan that may be grown in practically I
very state. This is grown in much the
anne way as asparagus and may be r
1olked as well in the same way. A few
lants of udo, says the article, should be !
| every home garden. :