Harrisburg telegraph. [volume] (Harrisburg, Pa.) 1879-1948, 1917-02-20
NEW TREES AND
| PLANTS FOR U. S.
Many Foreign Varieties Now
Being Tested in Plant Intro
duction Gardens

Washington, d. c., Feb. 21.-A
plants are now being propagated and
tested by the government in the plant
introduction gardens maintained by
the United States Department of Ag-
riculture in Florida California, Wash
ington and Maryland.
These gardens may be called the
Ellis Islands" of the plant immigra-
migrants are carefully studied in or
der to make sure that they carry with
them no disease, and only those
which are known to be desirable ad-
dit1ons are permitted to make q home
in this country. The plants which
nave successfully passed this scrutiny
are distributed to the State expert
ment stations and to thousands of
eXperimenters and breeders through
out the country.
AT the present time says an article
by p. H. Dorsett in the 1916 Year
book of the Department much attcn-
ton is being bestowed upon recent
lmportations from China. Among
these are the jujube. This, it is said,
may well prove commercially profit
able in California and the semi-arid
South and Southwest. When pre-
pared with cane sugar, jujubes have
as delicate flavor as many dates. 1t
is also a very good fresh fruit and
has long been popular in China.
Chinese Pistache.
The Chinese pistache is another
importation which has been suggest
ed for use as an avenue tree. Thou
sands of young trees have been dis
tributed to parks throughout the
country for this purpose. One ad-
iG
to which it lives. For the production
of nuts the variety of pistache found
in central and western Asia is being
tried. At present the entire supply
! of the nuts used in the coloring and
fiavoring of ice cream and candy
comes from abroad but it is said that
| there is no reason why this country
should not grow it's own supply. Tie
Sacramento and San Joaquin valleys
in California appear to be we'll suited
to the industry.
oejuthe ms ON IS k cation shr
Chinese persimmons and Chinese
| chestnutS are also being tested. 1t
is believed that the Chinese chestnut
may prove exceptionally valuable be-
cause of it's power to resist the chest
nut bark disease which is doing so
much damage among the native
cEestnuts. The persimmon it is
thought might be grown CONNER
| Sldlls III anu Ill JHOSe sec
tions in the South where the tenn
perature does not fall much below
zero. In China and Japan dried per-
simmons are a staple food and there
seems to be no reason why they
should not be eaten largely in the fu-
ture in this country.
Still another importation is an
early sweet cherry which has been
introduced from Tanghsi China. This
may prove profitable to growers as an
early cherry for the eastern markets.
A number of new vegetables, too,
are now being tested in the plant in
PRODUCTION gardens. Among these are
the chayote from tropical America.
This vine produces pear shaped fruit
in abundance in the fall. They some
what resemble in flavor summer
squash or vegetable marrow, and
may be used as a fresh vegetable
throughout the winter.
The udo is a new salad plant from
Japan that may be grown in practi-
cally every State. This is grown in
much the same way as asparagus and
may be cooked as we'll in the same
way. A few plants of udo, says the
article, should be in every home gar
| den.