New-York tribune., 1909-06-06
TESTING PLANT LIFE
ON FORT BROWN LAM
REMARKABLE RESULTS
OF EXPERIMENTS /,
Foreign GroSrths, Including Corg
Oak and Bamboo, Raised
Cotton Plants Crossed Z

Fort Brown. Texas. Juns B-Ths military -
walton Of Fort Brown. which served m. ~
States useful purpose In troublesouns ti-n.. a -.
Ing periods Of border warfare, is now bet,z ~ .'
a stin greater and far more beneficial ps.
abandonment OF Fort Brown as a military -.
direct result Of the shooting up OF tia 20
Brownsville August L. 1906 left the w.,
partment with this valuable property u,.
hands Soon after the abandonment an fnvsvut
ton Of the agricultural possibilities OF ~. -
was made under the direction OF the Deuar.-a
OF Agriculture. II decided that II vr,rrs -
an ideal site for the establishment Of a -.
States plant testing and introduction za,s.-
was found that 1t was the most southern &C.,
IN the United States where such a zar5s- 80
be established In point OF climate and In oths =
spects It offered opportunities for conduotin~ :
periments and investigation in the growth 40
wide variety Of products that could not IA ~.
taken in any other section OF the Unitad S.
There were two other government plant testing -
introduction gardens in this country one a, ~
Fla. and the other at Chico. Cal
Professor E c. Green was nut IN cbs--
first step was to clear the land and ins,alf -. -
TEN Of irrigation The water for irrigation -
poses is obtained from the Rio Grands nv - -
OF one s-horsepower gasolene engine. which So
centrifugal pump OF capacity OF sig br,S.'i
gallons minute A smaller engine provsds. =.
agricultural colony with It's own electric urbt, -
domestic water supply
These gardens at present embrace an ~,
fifty acres but the remaining hundred ana a.
acres will be brought under cultivation "a -
possible Even with the fifty acres IN us.
than twenty-five hundred different varieties a, -.
life are growing or have been grown since Nov.-
Der. 1901 A detailed account OF what has sl-.,s
been accomplished IN these gardens EouJd -.
many columns. Seeds and plants have baen 49,.
Sror7 all fba -9-s
with in order 10 discover whether they Ar, 49,
10 the soil and climate OF the lower Rio c.
Valley. as well as 70 other parts OF Texas s,s -.
South generally.
AS an illustration OF the possibilities +, TIT.
rection, one variety Of cotton which was ostal,,
from Nicaragua produces squares which b.-,
downward It Is proved fact thar the boI r.,
is clumsy insect and that II cIings with diA5rn.
Therefore II would have difficulty IN hanxfnv - =.
the Nicaragua cotton The Nicaragua varfs.v /.
being successfully growr IN It's native country a.
spite the fact that that is the country whsncs ~,
boil weevil originally came. II Is ProfssSs,
Green's idea 10 cross this Nicaragua cotton v4.s
the best long staple cotton OF the South IN ii,
hope that the trait OF the squares hanging down.
ward may be retained and az the same tine IA
yield OF staple Increased.
One Of the most important experiments Is th-.
OF growing the cork oak The acorns from vhla
these trees sprang were brought from Spain
DerTci OF Lle dCOEHs arc OellE pldEIeQ eacQ
The trees are Of slow growth. but valazas
when they attain a commercial size. which k ss
an age Of about twenty years Il is from the a.S
oak that the cork supply Of the world Is obtainsl
There Is one OF these trees on the Jag1a ra1eh,
near Fort Brown. which IS hourishing at the ass
Of sixteen years. Il is stated by Professor Greer
that when q cork oak has attained the aga &
twenty years IL is good for one hundred years Z
production The cork oak trees which GOV
growing IN the Fort Brown gardens dons
splendidly.
The growing Of bamboos Is anothsr feature %
thess gardens. Owing 20 the strong Gclt winds
which prevail almost constantly IN the lower Pa
Grands Valley. the need OF w.ndbreaks 70 protect
the growing crops is felt upon the taruS partsS
uIarly where certain delicate kinds ot garsn Uuct
are raised II Is the opinion OF Professor Srss1
that bamboos are the coming windoEeaks os y
valley When planted from the seed the oennoa
stalks make a growth OF 4 feet IN ons year Zns
second years growth Is 20 20 80 feet and E11
irriEation, the stalks grow 70 q height of % . "
feet The timber IS from 70 inches II 6la1ssEA
and is hard and straight This bamboo ernoE
good FOR use rafters IN houses and - Va-1A-f
IN a thousand other ways By noiste111s y
splitting handsome and dUraols IuFn4k11s -
mating may be made from u Tns oa1nooo slA-1
which are growing upon the gardens hers ss1os
strate that they are well adapted 20 tniS sou -
climate
The .xoertuneuts and investigates Saas ~
been made In growing data palms u tns -
Brown gardens show that the raising % u-< - -
IA a domestic proposition In the lower [-s-.i 80
Valley. The trees thrive. and prodocs -
aance az fruit II Is probabls that these sAsSt
will have more than one thousand eafs pam -
ready for distribution next year
Exhaustive experiments are being n1cs
cacti There ars now rs varieties OK caclH.
ing in the Fort Brown gardens. OK Us -
sixteen or seventeen varieties ars pef10o-
less The enormous production and sreas 80
,ta ..c,,,. az a forage product srs well kn0T0
stockmen Of the Southwest .-rs
Much attention is given 20 growing nAIES' ,r.-x
vegetables and grains IN these gardens - a
can variety Of corn. which has unusually I-s IS \
thick husks. that protect It from ne s"S,-,A
being grown This corn Is said to % "sA -
10 Texas.