Greene County herald. (Leakesville, Miss.) 1898-current, 1899-08-10

Secretary Wilson's investigations
convince him there is a zone of terri
tory through tho South well adapted
TO the culture of tea. 1t will be his
work to import choice varieties OF
plants from China, and to Get men of
learning to study the industry. with
view to giving American planters q
thorough knowledge of tea culture.
He will try to persuade Southern land
owners to embark in tea growing, and
he will also strive to enlist capital by
practical demonstrations of the profit
ableness of the new field of endoavor.
He secured an appropriation from
Congress for this crusade.
The average cost of the ten brought
from Asia is only about fourteen cents
)u0d. and it may seem impossible
for Americans to compete with the
cheap labor of the Orient. Secretary
Wilson is not alarmed by that diff
Guilty. In the first place, he would
only attempt to grow the higher
grades of tea at the outset He saws
there are teas OF such fine flavor they
sell for as much as S. pound, but
these are never seen in the United
States, because they lose their aroma
during transportation. He believes
these teas would command a large sale
# it were possible to put them on the
American market with their flavor I'M
impaired. While the labor of the
South is not as cheap as that of Asia,
the Secretary thinks Yankee ingenuity
Will invent machinery or special pro
cesses to Offset the difference.
The beet sugar industry has led to
the invention of an entirely new class
of agricultural implements, and it is
interesting to know that manufac-
turers at Rock Island and Moline lead
In this line. 1t is possible with some
OF these Implements for a boy to do
as much work in a beet field as two
men in Germany with their antiquated
tools. Secretary Wilson has domen-
stratcd that the pulp of the beets,
after the sugar has been distracted,
csn bs used as fodder for dairy cattle,
aud Is equivalent to tho cost of raising
the bee.s. The United States is import
ing about $50, ZOO, 900 worth of sugar
this ysar, but Secretary Wilson thinks
Yankee soil and brainG and energy are
equal to the problem of competing
successfully with foreign cheap labor.
Senator Tl.imau. of South Carolina.
had tax Of ten ceafs pound put on
tea IN the last tariff and the Secretary
of Agriculture would not hesitate to
increase that for n few years to foster
the new industry of tea growing.
Secretary Wilson is not visionary.
He is hard-headed Scotsman, a race
not given to reckless dreaming. He
has bean highly successful farmer in
Tama County, Iowa, whence his name
of llama Jim" to distinguish him
from the late United States Senator
James Wilson. At the Iowa Agri-
cultural College, az we'll as in Wash
ington, he brought scientific processes
to sear to get exact knowledge about
the problems OF farm life. His aim
since coming to Washington has been
TO stimulate tho growth OF products
formerly imported. In his boet sugar
propaganda he brought from abroad
and gave away hundreds OF tons of the
seed of sugar beets. He has not only
distributed broadcast pamphlets ex-
planning the new industry, but he has
enlisted the personal cooperation of
thousands Of men. Ii this results in
keeping in the United States e-half
or one-quarter of the $50, 900, 900 paid
for foreign sugar he will feel the Gov
eminent is we'll repaid for oil it has
expended.
One of his latest efforts il to intro
duce the date palm into Arizona, and
he is seeking to make Texas the home
of the Easter lilies, most Of which are