The Breckenridge news., 1906-03-07

ing upon the work of the Department
in the collection and distribution Of cX-
perimental seeds and plants which
contains much of interest The Secre'
tary says to the committee:
II am pleased to give you a state.
ment showing in a general way the i'm
portance of the work of seed and plant
Introduction to this Department and
to the agriculture of the United States.
The appropriation for 1906 is S290,000,
which will be practically all used in
this work"
In Touch With the Farmers.
Through the medium of the distribu
tion of seeds and plants, the Secretary
continues, the Department workers put
into practice the discoveries which they
may have made in the laboratories and
in their field work. He mentions the
distribution of disease resistant cotton
seed to such portions Of the south as
are affected with the cotton wilt dis
ease. The annual loss to the south
from this disease will easily reach
100000, and the Department has done
much to reduce or prevent this loss at
Il cost of not more than $1,000 for the
seed and experimental work. The in
PRODUCTION of some of the hardy
oranges developed by the workers In
the Bureau of Plant Industry is another
similar Illustration. BY series of
cross-breedins experiments between the
ordinary sweet orange and the hardy
japanese citus trfOidtG, q very valu-
able and semi-harGy orange has been
produced, which will probably grow
almost as far north as Washington. 1t
is expected that with several more gen
erations of improvement, an orange
practically equal to the ordinary type
of Florida or California orange will be
able to withstand comparatively severe
freezing weather Through the CO.
operation Of the Laboratory of Drug
Plant Investigation with the Office of
Seed and Plant Introduction and Dis
tribution, we are endeavoring to in
troduce into the United States the cul-
ture of a number of different drug
plants the annual importation Of which
at the present time runs into millions
of dollars in value. II is this prin-
ciple OF cooperation which renders the
work Of particular value to the Depart
ment itself and of course enables the
Department to do better work for the
country at large.
Great Value from Small Expenditures
an regard to the value Of this work
to the United States, IN my opinion"
the Secretary says, there can be no
doubt that the distribution of seeds
from the time the work was first be-
hum, introduced in the early sixties at
ance in the development of our agricul-
ture. The rather hasty survey of the
old records that the time at our dis
posal has permitted, shows that the De
partment has been helpful in the in
PRODUCTION of many Of the crops that
are at present considered the most val
liable in the United States. Among
these may be mentioned the Fultz and
other varieties of wheat; Chinese sor-
gum, introduced in the early sixties at
a cost of about $4,000 and now worth
easily many millions Of dollars an
nually to the country; Kaffir corn, the
introduction Of which cost the Depart
ment not more than $4,000, of which
the annual value at present is estimat-
ed to be about $20,000,000; macaroni
wheat, on which, during the past three
years, we have expended about $4,000,
and which has enabled the farmers Of
the arid west to grow crops worth
from S6,000.000 to $7,000,000 on lands
on which they could not grow the or
dinary varieties of wheat; Japanese
rice, which has been a large factor in
the phenomenal growth of the rice In
dustry in Tevss and Louisiana. The |
acreage devoted to this has increased