The Elk County advocate. [volume] (Ridgway, Pa.) 1868-1883, 1881-12-29
The nanartment of Agriculture.

In his annual report Mr.. Loring, the COM
missioner of agriculture, says that upon enter
ing upon the discharge of his duties on July
last he found an elaborate plan Of operations
for the year already laid out by his prede-
cessor Such of the investigationsas he thought
Of value he has pushed forward with az ardent
desire to bring them to legitimate conclusions.
The commissioner says; provision had been
made for investigating the agricultural condi-
ton of the Pacific coast; for continuing the
work on the artesian well in Colorado; for pro-
ceeding with the experiment in the cultivation
of the tea-plant; for concluding the investga-
tion into the manufacture of sugar from
sorghum; for observations on the existence OF
pleuro-pneumonia and other contagious dis
eases of animals, both in this country and in
those English ports to which American cattle
are exported for continued examinations into the
necessities and opportunities of American for
estry; for tests oftextile fbers, both animal and
vegetable; for a scientific investigation of the
habits of insects injurious to vegetation and of
the best methods of destroying them, and for
the usual work of the various divisions OF the
department for which appropriations had been
made by Congress" All of these subjects have
| been given the most careful attention both by
| the commissioner and by experienced experts
in the various branches, and the report con-
| tains many valuable conclusions arrived at by
| the department, The expenses of the attempt
! to cultivate the tea-plant in South Carolina
| have been somewhat curtailed without detri-
ment to the experiment. One of the experts
| Mr. Saunders-who has visited the tea farm
| established in Summerville, S. O., reports that
'the 200 acres of land selected for the expert
! ment are most of them covered with heavy
forest growth, the soil being poor, hungry
sand of a character TO support only the scan
| tiest kind of vegetation OF this about fifteen
acres had been cleared and was under prim-
tive cultivation. On these acres operations
were begun in January last. A space was pre-.
pared for sowing the tea-seed and preparation
was made for covering the plants which, when
young, suffer severely on being exposed to the
sun. The plants were growing well and con-
stituted the entire tea crop of the farm" Mr..
Saunders reported that with regard to the fu-
ture prospects of the enterprise, if continued III
the line of the present scheme and under the
present system, it may be said that there is
! not much room for announcement. The pov-
erty of the soil and the character ofthe climate,
in which frosts sometimes occur, seem to be
unfavorable to the production of strong, highly
favored teas as had already been proved by
an experiment in Mcintosh, Ga.
The investigation of contagious diseases
among domesticated animals has been contin-
ued with good results. The results of some of
these inquiries, such as the discovery Of in
fected head-ropes in ocean steamers, are al
ready known. The fact has also been estab-
| lished that pleuro-pneumonia exists in several
of the Eastern States, although in most cases i'll
| q very mild form. Prominence is given to tho
report of the veterinary surgeons sent to Great
Britain to inquire into the alleged importation
from the United States of diseased cattle, and
the commissioner believes that most of the mis-
understandings on this subject have given way
before the convincing proofs presented blythe
American surgeons.
''The special investigation of the insects af-
fectng the cotton CROP" the commissioner
says sis being actively carried on, partic-
ularly in its more practical bearings, and most
valuable discoveries have been made in me-
chanical details and principles that lessen the
cost of protecting the crop and simplify the
necessary machinery. Recognizing the i'm
portance to our Western farmers of acquiring
data upon which to predicate as to the prob
able action of the Rocky Mountain locust in
1882, 1 have had an agent specially engaged,
under the direction of the entomologist, to
gather such data in the permanent breeding
grounds of this pest, lying for the most part in
the thnly settled sections of the Northwest
Remembering the incalculable loss and suffer
ing which this insect entailed between the
years of 1873 and 1877, losses which largely
helped to prolong the commercial depression
of that period, this information seems to me OF
sufficient moment to warrant annual obserya-
tions of more extended nature"
Commissioner Loring expresses his intention
of making the crop reports much more accur-
ate and exhaustive than heretofore.