The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1900-04-24
capital Chat.
Washington Gossip, Political and
Otherwise, for the Readers
of the 0Iebe.

WASHINGTON, April 23-(Special. y
The census law requires that the emu
meration Of the population, of deaths and
OF the manufacturing, mechanical and
agricultural products of the United States
shall be taken and the results published
not later than July /, 1902, that Is, in
three years and three months after the
law was passed. and In two years and
one month after the field work begins.
This time limit was set because Of criti-
cisms upon the hardness with which the
results Of the tenth and eleventh cenSuSeS
were published
Heretofore the field work for all in
quiries has begun on June l of the decen-
NAL year, the time specified by law for
beginning the count of the population,
or as soon as possible thereafter. But
nothing in the terms Of the law appears
to prevent the field work of the division
of manufactures from beginning before
June l. The act requires that the census
year for which returns are to be made
shall be the fiscal year nearest to and
preceding Jan. l. 1900. AS practically no
establishments close business on June
they can report as well on or after the
1st Of May as on or after the 1st Of
June
Taking advantage OF this fact the d.
rector has arranged in some of the chief
cities OF the country to start the field
work for this division of the census on
or about May l. An entire month will be
gained In the census of industry, and as
the field work to which this month will
be devoted is the basis Of all the subse-
quent work in the census office the gain
thus secured will be Of the greatest
value for eXpediting the completion Of
the census within the time required by
law.
Tho 0if In uyhfo ha MT q
for beginning work May l have already
been completed are as follows: Great
err New York, under the direction Of Chief
Special Agent Frank r. Williams; Chi
cago. under the direction of Chief Special
Agent ]. M. Glenn; Philadelphia. under
the direction Of Chief Special Agent
George S. Boudinot; Baltimore, under the
direction of Chief Special Agent Oscar l..
Quinlan; Cincinnati, under the direction
of Chief Special Agent George Stoddard;
Pittsburg, Pa, under the direction Of
Chief Special Agent Anthony F. Keat-
ing; Washington. D. c., under the direc-
ton OF Chief Special Agent Harrison
Dingman; Providence, r. l., under the
direction of Chief Special Agent George
H. Webb; Hartford, Conn, under the dt
rection Of Chief Special Agent w. A.
Countryman Arrangements are now be-
ing made for the addition of others to
this list, and 1t will be extended as far
as practicable.
DR.. P. Beveridge Kennedy, expert in
charge of experimental work in the di
vision Of grass and forage Investigations,
department of agriculture, in a recent
report, says:
The interest In the introduction Of Use
full grasses and forage plants is increas-
ing throughout the country every year.
An important work of the division has
been to supply the experiment stations
throughout the United States with seeds
for experimental purposes. Many Of these
varieties could not easily be obtained In
any other way, as they are not on the
market. The stations receiving the larg
est number of varieties were those In Ari-
iona, California, Iowa, Kansas, Nebras
ka, Ohio, Oregon. South Dakota, Ten
nessee, Texas, Washington and Wyoming
These lots averaged 135 different varieties
of grass and forage plants.
A large number of packages Of grass and
forage plant seeds have been distributed
by the division to foreign countries, from
many of which we have received i'll re-
turn seeds of promising varieties for Gull
tivatfon in this country. One thousand.
one hundred and ten packages have been
distributed during the last three years.
Many requests are received for seed for
purely botanical purposes SO that only
small packages have been sent out. In
1897 122 varieties Of grass and forage plant
seeds were sent to Prof. D. McAlpine, the
government vegetable pathologist for the
department Of agriculture at Victoria,
New South Wales, the object being to
test their growth under different condi-
tons of soil, climate and moisture, but
mainly to prove their drought-resisting
properties. Twenty-one Of these grasses
resisted drought, and Of these seven We're
very conspicuous for their fresh green
growth Among the forage plants other
than the grasses. two were found to be
suitable to Australian conditions, and
very resistant to drought. These were
hairy Vetch and a variety of the much
branched knotweed. The knotweed grew
freely, branching and spreading, and at.
tanning height of four and half feet.
1t withstood the drought well, but after
the leaves fell off it became rather woody.
Horses were very fond Of the foliage.
The hairy vetch grew luXuriantly and
freely. 1t terminated in twenty days,
and rapidly formed a tangled mass of
Vegetative growth It has been reported
as weed from some parts Of Victoria;
however, there IS little doubt but that it
will prove to be an excellent soiIng crop
and green manure, in Australia as we'll
as here.
LII. T. MdCOWaH, the government DOT
anist for Cape Colony, also received 123
packages of grass and forage-plant seeds
from this division in 1897 Out of these
the grama grasses and buffalo grass have
proved to be of some value. and among
the forage plants other than the grasses
the velvet bean and MetcaIfe bean are
promising varieties, the former now be-
ing widely distributed by the government
at about so cents per pound
L.. - .
sent to the department of agriculture Of
New Zealand. and it is now being widely
distributed in that country. 1t thrives
well in the vicinity of Brisbane, Queens
land, and is commonly regarded as valu-
able addition to the forage plants Of
Northern New Zealand Favorable re-
ports have also been received from Prof.
]. F. Duthie, Saharanpoor. Northwest
Province, India. in regard to the intro
duction Of the Metcalfe bean.
j. S. Van Antwerp.