A WONDERFUL PEACH.

Poverty Bay Herald, Volume XXXX, Issue 13093, 5 June 1913, Page 4

A WONDERFUL PEACH.

Twehty-five thousand' m'ilejs Modkihg" for. a, peach— that is the. stupendous journey undertaken' by Frank JN.' Meyer, agricultural explorer for the United States Department of Agriculture (says a recent Washington, despatch). The " peach is AA-orthy of the. effort, according to the stories, "that have crept into coast, areas of Man .churia' ahdyEastern 'China. .The' peach, is" described 'by' travellers avJio' have, seen and tasted it. as the biggest ahd' most" marvellous combination, of external beauty and internal ldsoiousness. Three pounds is the apocryphal limit ascribed to the fruit by irresponsible natives of the Avilds.of West China. Mr Meyer, in a report to the-depart-ment, : promises a peach that will weigh at least a pound, and as large as a musk- | melon. This Avoiider.fnl peach groAvs in the province of '.Shantung. It is known to tho Chinese as the Feit Ching, or Feit rau. No specimens have ever been brought to the coast of China. 'Mr Meyer did bring back Aytyh him from a previous journey several scions of the Feit Ching peach and a number of seeds. The scions failed to produce Avhen grafted upon .- Ameiicaivgrown seedlings stocks. They had failed to withstand transportation. The department experimenters took a chance Avitli the seeds, and , have groAvn several trees at' the experimental station at FayettfeA'ill, N.C. None of them have yet fruited. The 25,000-mile journey of Mr Meyer began when he sailed fpr London for a conference Avith notable European agriculturists before he takes the final dive into the Orient, lt is not only the. Feit Ching peach which is sounding the call of . the East for. the American explorer. Under the direction of the Bureau of Plant Industry, Mr Meyer is inaugurating, a three-year sojourn in the AviTds of South-eastern Russia and Western China for the purpose of studying suitable crops of all sorts for. ,'jprowtli and development in those sections of the United States where the limit of' frostless days is not more than 85 or 90 per annum. Not one branch of the activities of the Department of Agriculture, but all branohoa of its work, Avill be observed by Air Meyer. Fruits, vegetables, cereals,; and also trees especially -suited for the development of windbreaks in the AvindSAvept areas of the great plains regions Avill be observed by him. . Mr Meyer expects to return to the United States late in 1915, but Avhenever possible during his long sojourn specimens for American experimentation Avill he despatched to the department, and he will send in from time to time detailed reports of progress.