Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1908-05-10

curry addressed To this wonderful Govern
department. Another little council IL
Washington. and away sailed an explorer u
the wIdS Of AlgerId, where after travels. adj
ventures. and inquiries covering twelve
month. he lighted upon the curious fenugreek.
grown IN autumn between rows of vines by
the North African Arabs. who find il sol.
enrichIng plant OF exceptional value. Al
though the meat of animals fed on the dry
grain cannot be eaten. and even eggs are I'M
possible from hens fed fenugreek the native
JewesSeS of the Barbary Coast actually fatteu
themselves for marriage on its seeds. hoping
to increase their weight to what David FAIR
child calls the fashionable figure of tw"
hundred and eighty pounds.
Is there no fruit in the world that will
vIve our winters, pleaded the hardy farmers
of the Dakotas' And, To- in their midst APP
pears the Vladimir cherry from Northern
Russia. and the crabapple of Siberia which
withStandS the zero blizzard. The same story
is told OF Bohemian horseradiSh. certain pota-
toes from Colombia and Peru. Central Asian
rhubarb. the Beldi and Tell barleys from AL
geria: and the Russian Ivanov rye NOW grown
in Maryland and Kansas. and hundred
Others. Tn Old wealth Is waiting To be in
vested IN these new ops. and thousands Of
intelligent private experimenters ready To
try the arrivals as soon they have passed
their preliminary examination with the Wash
lngtOn experts.
1t is the mission of this handful Of scientists
to educate the farmers in the new cultures.
and the public IN their This done. the
soil with great zeal. and with the benefit of all
the experience of the Washington testing
grounds. But Washington. of course cannot
deal with every specimen. owing to exgencies
OF climate. And therefore there
responding experiment stations IN every State.
Zeal Of the Explorers
A 5 to the experimenters. they are more than
proud of their work: much more So than
mere geographical explorers. because they
realize M he frnr, t.tI
they purchase So dearly. with many hardships
and much exercise of patience ingenuity and
scientific skill " What did Sven Hedin bring
back from Central Asian wilds" they ask
more valuable to man and beast than Pro-
lessor \. +. Hansen alfalfa"
They have secured the Russian steppes
and Turkestan. the Central African littoral
from Suez to Morocco. visiting forgotten GASES
where white face had been seen in thirty
years. The industries of every Eur opean ma
ton have been examined for tips and hints
and samples. and the irrigated crops of the
Nile Valley with those of India and the Dutch
Indies. Arabia South America. South Africa
and dozen other regions have been fairly
:Combed on the same lines. Even the
hottest corners of Finland have been explored
for cereals such might grow in Alaska
At this moment Frank \. Never is investi-
eating the unlimited plant resources of China:
for consulS. missionaries. and travellers of late
years have sent home many valuable plants
and fruits from all quarters OF the Flowery
Kingdom
The central bureau has received and an
Swered 4 quarter of a million letters in the
year and careful records are kept of the right
men in various States that are able and willing
to cooperate IN growing experimentally But
not grain of seed the smallest cutting Is
passed out for the asking. And even when II
Is found that an applicant climate and ex-
perience all that they should be. he is re-
quired to furnish a complete history of the
specimen sent him.
The Office has a remarkable morning mail:
for America ; cOnsulS Shrewd fellows. more
than anxious To serve the folks at home. Thus
the man at Teheran will send a note advising
Washington Of big shipment of poppy: and
Consul John Skinner at Marseilles sends few
Shrewd hints about the introduction of ar
AbySsinian coffee into Porto Rico
In the big greenhouses of the testing sta
tons one will bundles of date palm shoots
from TuniS and Arabia. mangoSteens from
Malaga. loquats from Japan and many an
other little known fruit being tried out in the
hope that 1t may mean money for the farmer
fruit grower The Arlington test farm of
the department covers three hundred ami
seventy acres and its range of glass Is scien-
titicallv perfect. As to the branch stations.
that AZ Chico. California distributed last year
fifty-three thousand two hundred and seventy
plants 10 private exper1menters, and propa-
gated sixteen thousand seeding trees.