The star. (Reynoldsville, Pa.) 1892-1946, 1909-07-28

Inc military reservation at FOrt
Brown, which served the United
States useful purpose in trouble.
some times during periods of border
warfare, is now being put to a still
greater and far more beneficial use
writes the Fort Brown (Texas) cor
respondent of the New York Tribune
The abandonment of Fort Brown as
military post as a direct result OF
the shooting up Of the town of
Brownsville on August 13, 1905, left
the War Department with this valu-
able property upon its hands. Soon
after the abandonment an investlga-
tion of the agricultural possibilities
of the land was made under the di-
rection of the Department of Agrlcul-
ture. 1t was decided that 1t would
be an ideal site for the establishment
of United States plant testing and
Introduction garden. 1t was found
that 1t was the most southerly local
ity in the United States where such
garden could be established. In
point of climate and In other respects
1t offered opportunities for conduct
Ing experiments and investigation in
the growth of wide variety of pro-
ducts that could not be undertaken in
any other section of the United
States. There were two other govern
ment plant testing and introduction
gardens In this country, one at Miami,
Fla. and the other mt Chico, Cal.
Professor Il. c. Green was put in
charge. His first step was to clear
the land and install system of irri-
cation. The water for irrigation
purposes Is obtained from the Rio
Grande by means of one eight horse
power gasolene engine, which drives
a centrifugal pump of a capacity of
six hundred gallons a minute. A
small engine provides the agricultural
colony with its own electric lights and
domestic water supply.
These gardens at present embrace
an area of fifty acres, but the remain
ing hundred and fifty acres will be
brought under cultivation as rapid
ly as possible. Even with the fifty
acres in use more than twenty-five
hundred different varieties of plant
life are growing or have been grown
since November, 1907. A detailed
account of what has already been ac-
complished in these gardens would
occupy many columns. Seeds and
plants have been brought from all
ov% the world and are being expert
mented with in order to discover
whether they are adapted to the soil
and climate of the lower Rio Grande
Valley, as well as to other parts Of
Texas and the South generally.
AS an illustration of the possblli-
ties in this direction, one variety of
cotton which was obtained from Mica
ragua produces squares which hang
downward. 1t Is proved fact that
the boil weevil is a clumsy insect and
that it clings with difficulty. There
fore 1t would have difficulty in hang
ing on to the Nicaragua cotton. The
Nicaragua variety is being successful
ly grown in its native country despite
the fact that that is the country
whence the boil weevil originally
came. 1t is Professor Green's idea to
cross the Nicaragua cotton with the
best long staple cotton of the South
in the hope that the trait OF the
squares hanging downward may be
retained and at the same time the
yield of the staple increased.
One of the most important expert
ments is that of growing the cork
oak. The acorns from which these
trees sprang were brought from
Spain A barrel Of the acorns are
being planted each year. The trees
are of slow growth, but are valuable
when they attain a commercial size,
which is at an age of about twenty
years. 1t Is from the cork oak that
the cork supply Of the world is OBJ
tanned. There is one of these trees
on the Jagua ranch, near Fort Brown,
which is flourishing at the age of six
teen years. 1t is stated by Professor
Green that when cork oak has at