Arizona republican., 1899-04-03
What the Agricultural Depart
 ment is DOiug
EXPERIMENTS WITH SEEDS
HuSkmeIonS for inc Dry Valleys From AfghaniSfan-EaSfe Lilies Hay Be Grown Here-The Smyrna Bee Needed By California Fig TrCeS-Dafe Palms From AIgerS for ArIzona-GraSS From Russia.

Washington, April 2.-"It is true. .
 said Secretary Wilson of the depart
 ment of agriculture 'that we are di-
 verting part of the money for the dis
 tribution of seeds Of the appropria-
 tion of $13OOOO we are allowing S71,-
 900 for the distribution Cf seeds
 through congressman, and the re-
 mainder we are cxpending in cur own
 way We believe we are getting much
 more good from the present method than from the old. All seeds are now
 tested before being sent. Formerly seeds were tested after distribution and
 the contractor was paid accordingly. Now seeds are tested by cur experts and S5 per cent must germinate or the
 seeds are rejected. This insures the recipients good seeds. Not only must the seeds germinate, but they are tested for fertility also. The seeds we are sending out through members of con gress this year are the best the depart ment has ever handled. This distri button is regarded by the members of the department as a very excellent thing, and we are constantly trying to improve the system.
 But we are doing much more than simply distributing common seeds. The great country lying in the temperate zone and stretching from ocean to ocean has within it's confines almost every condition of climate and soil. tis possible, therefore, to grow tCl highest perfection somewhere in the United States almost everything in the world We are trying to ascertain what partic- ular parts of the United States will grow certain grains, fruits and vege- tables, and to what parts certain grains, etc, are peculiarly adapted We ind for instance that the finest musk melons sold in the eastern markets come from the dry valleys of Colorado There is, however, in the valleys of Afghanistan. perhaps the original home of the melOn, a muskmelon great ly superior even to those raised in the west. So to Afghanistan we sent our agent, who returned us a quantity of seeds of the famous muskme.on, which Cften grow to a weight of twenty CT thirty pounds, and these seeds we are sending to the west this year.
 Years ago the calIa lily was very rare and very expensive Its place in the popular esteem was taken by the beautiful Easter lily Every one at Eastertime likes to see Easter lilies 1 about, but they are expensive. The | bulbs come from Bermuda, where inc i soil is very rich. But the production ! of the bulbs of these lilies, which grow ! so rapidly, eXhausts the soil, will ! scarcely De able to produce the lilies | much longer. They must have three things-a rich soil, heat and water So | we have imported 800 bulbs which we arc distributing across the southern | states. Arizona and New Mexico got some, for the irrigated portions Texas received some because of it's rich soil and abundant rainfall Mississippi and Louisiana also get some We hope, by this means, to find some place where the Easter lily can be brought to per- lection and then the florists can do
 
 muda for bulbs will be retained in this country. and every one will be able to have Easter lilies.
 "The CalifOrnians complained that their fig trees were like those in the bible which bore no figs. They had fine flowers, and very favorable con ditions. Everything was there except ba 6o- Our coioutictc ovaroirod tho situation carefully and decided that the trouble was that the pollen was not the female flower. This was demonstrated by means of artificial The pollen was blown into the flowers by blow-pipe, and those flowers produced fruit. An agent was sent to Smyrna to see how the .rees there were fertilized and he found peculiar bee which lived among the ig trees and carried the pollen from lower to flower by means of Is hairy egs. The people of Smyrna did not want to let any of these bees go cut if the country, but our agent brought ome away on tWigs. Unfortunately hey were dead before they reached US , md some more will have to be ob~ f ained "On the shore of the MediterrancaE, n Algiers, is a branch of this depart nent. We find that the date palm oarishes in Arizona, SC our agent in I Ilgiers has had the date palm grafted I nd when the young trees are ready to I ie removed he will take them tip and arry them to Arizona, and we will pro- [ uce our own dates. i Some years ago there were no beet 1