The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1897-12-27
new PLANT SPECIES
WORK OF THE DEPARTMENT OF
AGRICULTURE IN INTRO
DUCING THEM.
APPLE GROWING AS AN ART.
GOOD JUDGMENT AND CAREFUL
STUDY ARE ESSENTIAL TO
ANY SUCCESS.
ARTISTS IN MODELS OF FRUITS
Specimens Duplicated Down to the
Smallest Details of Form and
Color by Experts.

| Special to the Globe.
WASHINGTON, Dec. 26.-"The de-
partment of agriculture is busily en-
gagged promoting the production Of the
various products that we have on hand,
such as the fig, olive and camphor
trees" says Horticulturist Saunders,
of the department. ut is slow work,
| however, and can only be successfully
carried on by patience and hard work.
Although there are a number of other
products that we might try to introduce
| into the United States, still the depart
ment thinks that it is great deal bet
ter to get one good crop thoroughly in
troduced than to deal with a dozen or
more without any tangible success. We
are at the present time handling a
large line of strawberries, with a view
Of distributing the seed next spring by
orders from the congressman of the
| country. 1t is a well-known fact that,
although a variety of fruit may be the
| favorite this year, in a few years 1T
may fall out of favor and another will
! come to the front for it's turn of popu-
larity The great majority of new vari-
cites introduced by greenhouse men
are old varieties under new names.
They are bought up by the farmers of
the country, and by the time they dis
| cover that they are old varieties the
greenhouse men have reaped their
harvest for that year and therefore are
| satisfied.
THE same thing may be said of
roses and almost all flowers. 1t is very
seldom that a real new variety of a
fruit or flower is discovered, and the
| Of Of
old varieties, that temporarily have
fallen out of favor, under a new title.
We are getting the departmental
grounds at Washington in shape for
the coming spring, and it is our hope
that we shall be able to make them
look even more beautiful the coming
season than heretofore.
Our department greenhouses are
well stocked with choice varieties of
trees and shrubs, as well as with a
number Of experimental varieties of
plants, and to those loving these prod
ucts of nature are well worth a visit
through them. 1t is the earnest hope
of the department that before a very
great while we may be able to say that
the plants and trees that we are at
present endeaVoring to introduce have
! proved succesSful; and that therefore
they may be counted as our home
grown products of agriculture. We de-
sire that the growing of walnuts, olives,
figs and the tree from which cam
phor is made should be undertaken in
the regions to which they are best
| adapted and in this way the depart
ment will have succeeded in it's aim,
and the farmers of those sections great
| ly benefited.
1.-THE department of agriculture takes
only the preliminary steps in the intro
| duction of new species of plants, and
Just as soon as the farmers begin to
| take hold of the product with any kind
Of zeal the department drops that prod
uct and takes up another. The green
house men then take up the product
where the department left it, and in
this way the success Of the plant is
generally secured
The division of pomology of the de-
partment of agriculture of which Maj.
| G. T. Bracket is chief, is one of the
| most interesting as well as important
| divisions of the department. 1t Is here
! that the fruits of our own and foreign
countries are studied and examined,
technically, for the sake of ascertain
ing their proper nomenclature, char
| acteristics, etc. 1t is we'll known that
there is very little difference between
| some varieties of apples, and only an
| expert can distinguish them. Another
well known fact is that the same
variety of fruit may have various sizes
| and shapes, and to a majority of farm
| ers and fruit growers these facts have
| given much trouble; and in many cases
! the farmers are unable to tell to what
| class of fruits a certain specimen be-
| longs. This drawback to the farmers
| is obviated by the division of pomel-
| ogy, for the department will examine
any and all varieties of fruits that
| NAV be sent in to them, and promptly
report to the farmers all data and in
formation concerning each variety in
| question that they may have on hand.
The division is constantly receiving
| samples of fruits sent in by farmers Of
| the different sections Of the country,
| and in this way there is a very large
collection of fruits in their exhibit in
the department museum, as well as a
| large number of wax models of fruits
| Of all kinds.
The wax models of the department
are all made in this division, and the
moulds from which they are formed
are made over the fruit ITSELF so that
| the exact shape Of each object is OBJ
| tanned even to the smallest indentation.
| After the figures are nodded the artist
of the division paints the exact color.
Streaks, ETC., even down to the smallest
dot on the surface of the skin, are imi-
tated exactly, for If 1t should be other
wise the model would not be perfect,
as no two species Of fruit have the
same shaped specks on their surface.
| The artist Of this department has spent
lifetime in the study Of the charac-
| teristics Of the skins Of fruits, and 1t
| Is said that there Is no better fruit
delineator in this country, or perhaps
| in the whole world, than is engaged In
| this work.
The employees Of this division are all
expert pomologists, and have spent
their lifetimes in the study of fruits.
| All OF them are practical fruit grow
ers, having had practical experience on
farms in different sections of the coun-
| try. Maj. Bracket, the chief Of the
| division, owns a large farm in Iowa,
where he has been growing fruit for
many years, and there Is very little
| about fruits that he does not know. In
! conversation a couple of days ago con-
| corning the apples of this country he
| was led to say:
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