Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1907-08-26
Vegetable Immigrants.

II seems strange, says the author q,
a startling article in Applcton's Maya
z!nc, 20 look back on the days when
we imported fruit and vegetables.
with the whole plant kingdom ready
to he conquered for our farmers. W.
smile when sc recall the days before
the war when the tomato was 4 Curl,
from Pcru-a poison apple" used 4,
friGht"n the slaves into obedience. Yet
last year W grew ii on co.., 500 acres ar
LAND,
Til" Franciscan fathers were early
workers in this respect. The alfalfa
they i.:trpduccd in the fftics-whicn
found it,: wty here from Asia Minor.
by way Of Chill has turned 2,O0O,po
acres into an Immensely profitable
area. Their spriGs Of olive. too, nov
| cover 1,o0e orca@r1e. Md D few
| orange cuttings from the Brazilian
East Coast, due to the foresight of an
| american woman, today represents S.
00o.oa0 a year for Tie California crop
alone. -.S n
These things go on in silence. No hiss
torian chroniclcd the arrival among Us
in 1920 Of the Lima bean, which today
is such q plentiful and important crop
for il between southern California arti
the Atlantic coast. We save some OF
the names, even while we forget thefr
stout-hearted Vladimir cherry and the
explorers brought from Russia the
source. Few are apt to recall that the
Siberian crab apple, to provide hardy
fruits for our own northern regions.
AS one of the smaller things take
Al V.l, nf MnIf
Iage near Vienna the best of its kind
III the world. Then behold roots Sc
cured on the spot, and in due time
handed over to New Jersey growers.
The result was surprising. Not only
did it yield a ton more per acre, but
the cash result was 800 an acre over
and above the ordinary yield. And in
a single county of that small state tho
production of horseradish grew froni
a few hundred pounds a year to more
than 100000 pounds. 1t has been the
same with the potato from the High
lands of Colombia and Peru; the rhu-
barb from Central Asia; the asparagus
from England; the celery of South
Europe: the Beldi and Tell barleys
from Algeria, which have given such
wonderful results in our Southwest;
likewise the Ivanov rye from Russias
now grown in Maryland and Kansas
and the Abruzzes rye from the Italian
Highlands.
Send out and get the best in thee
world; then educate the farmers in Its (
culture and the public in its use; and
after that grow it here at home with
scientific zeal. Such was the theory
which created the Bureau of Seed and /
Plant Introduction at Washington,
now recording a dozen new arrivals
day from every part of the earth
And remember that in any one or
these tiny seeds or apparently, wilted
cuttings may lie possible millions of
money and the changing of desert into
farm.
We are all familiar with polar ex-
ploration-its thrills, its tcrrors; the
| heroism with which its dcvotces face
dreadful death; and with pioneer work
in equatorial Africa. But what. is the
practical value to mankind of such
tasks, compared with those Of the men
whose work is here describcd?' They.
too risk life and limb and health:
suffer many hardships, great heart
and cold, fever and thirst-all the dis
comforts of Peary or a Stanley. But
what did Sven Hcdin bring back from
Central Asian wilds one half 50 valun
bic as Prof. N. Il. Hansen's new
alfalfa?
And while we have rich men in
plenty, how few there are who have
served their country as Barbour
Lathrop of Chicago has served it. He
loves world-travel this man, and SO he
works hard for US in Asia, Africa. the
South Seas-wherevcr he may be; an
Honorary Explorer these sevcns
years. taking with him David Fair
child as plant expert and going round
the world twice, visiting every con-
tinent and every important archipela-3
go, sending home thousands of
specimens, from a single cutting I'm a
tin tube to a ton Of some Arabian or
African grain. !