The sun. (Jacksonville, Fla.) 1905-1908, 1906-07-07

explorer In charge or foreign explora-
ton In connection with the depart
ment of plant introduction, has an
interesting paper on "Our Plant I'm.
migrants" in the May issue OF the Ma
tional Geographic Magazine, In which
he gives an account OF the results OF
the work OF the office of seed and
plant introduction of the Department
of Agriculture and of some of the
problems in process Of solution. The
paper Is the substance of an adj
dress to the National Geographic So
ciety at its meeting last February and
Is full Of information about the work
that Is being done In the line OF ex-
perimenting with grains, grasses,
fruits and vegetables that may be
grown In so variable a climate as our
country possesses, having In one great
connected area territory that is ex.
posed in It's north to temperature of
fifty degrees below zero In winter and
whose southern tip puts out into the
zone of perpetual warmth,
New things to grow seems to be the
motto of the Foreign Seed and Plant
Bureau and Mr.. Fairchild has for
years been a traveller In search OF
them. During the last ten years he
has traversed the Russian Steppes
and entered Turkestan; secured the
coast Of North Africa from the Suez
Canal to Morocco; investigated the
industries of Italy, Greece, and Aus
tro- Hungary; the valley Of the Nile
has been studied for its irrigated
crops; Japan has been explored and
many of It's fruits been found, as we
Of Florida know, admirably adapted
to the Sunny South; India and the
Dutch East Indies were visited,
though their wealth of material Of
value for the South has been only
suggestive; the Arabian date regions
gave him hints Of possibilities for Cal
ifornia and Arizona; South America,
East Africa, Cape Colony and the
Transvall, Sweden and Finland, all
came within the range Of his investi-
cation and the grounds of the Agri.
cultural Department show how valua-
BILE his services have been to the
country and how greatly will be diver
sified in the near future, the great
plant industries that create the
wealth of the nation
Mention Is made in this paper OF a
few things peculiarly adapted to Flor
ida and to the South generally. For
instance, the new short kerneled Jap
anese rice, introduced several years
ago into Louisiana and Texas (no
mention Is made Of any experimental
ton In Florida) and known as the
Kinshu rice, supplies half the rice
grown today in these states, being far
superior to the long kerneled variety
OF the Carolinas, that breaks so badly
when milled
The Corsican Citron may also be
mentioned. And this the writer knows
will grow In Florida equally as we'll
as In California, where It Is grown,
candied and found to- be even better
than the foreign kind, Of which two
million pounds are annually used In
this country, imported from Italy and
Corsica. It seems, by the way, TO
carry fruit at this season Of the year
or we have them ON trees that are of
large size; but no test has yet been
made Of their adaptability to be can
died. though there IL no reason to
doubt II.
The tropical Mango, known as In.
dian Mulgoba, Is beginning to be
known on the East Coast; thousands
OF trees, Mr.. Fairchild says, are being
grown In Florida and It will not be
long before 1t will be found in the
Northern markets.
A new clover called Berseem. from
Egypt where the native Fellahs have
for centuries grown II as a soil i'm
proven as well as for fodder, Is now
being tested, In acre areas in Califor-
MIA and the warmer parts Of Arizona;
though 1t would seem as II Alfalfa
perfectly filled the bill for all the
western region. Berseem, however.
q