The farmer and mechanic. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 18??-19??, 1911-08-29
UNCLE SANS MATRIMONIAL BUREAU
owhe Government Wedding the Plans Bringing
By FRANK G. CARPENTER.D

with other varieties. This IS espe-
cially SO Of corn, oats barley and
rice.
Our corn crop last year was worth
over fifteen hundred million dollars.
It's value was more than dozen times
that Of our gold and silver output,
and the amount raised was SO great
that it would have filed Il solid four
horse wagon train reac ching from here
to the moon if the si<ie could be
hridged. and the corn taken thither
Neverth eless the corn breeders tell ne
that by marrying the different va
rietieS and planting good seed this
crop could be doubled without the ad-
ditiOn Of one acre to the area or add
ing more fertilizer. All that is need
ed is good seed and cultivation and
the land Will produce from two to four
times what it does now. This mat
ter is understood by our Well-inform-
ed farmers. who belong to the many
COrn-breediI,g associations scattered
over the Union. The varieties of
corn are now as We'll known as those
of cattle and horses. The best are
being crossed and recrossed and a
variety may be discovered. which will
be worth . great deal Of money. AS
it is the best seed brings q high price
in the market.
Plants For Our Dry lands.
am told at the Agricultural De-
Dartment that they are making a sDe-
cial effort to discover new cereals for
the dry farms of the West Many
choice varieties have been introduced,
and some Of these are Yielding from
20 to 50 per cent more than those
of the past A great deal, of work
is being done in millets sand sor-
ghuns. and Uncle Sans agents in
Manchuria have sent several of these
! from that country. They are also
using the Siberian sorghums and
knowliangs from China These millets
| have been married to others. and their
| children may be better adapted to our
! soil and climate than the parents
! from faraway Asia.
We are introducing alfalfa from ST.
IBERIA which withstands the cold and
drought and also drought-resdstlne
! trees which will produce stock 1000
and fruit Among the fruit trees IS
an olive which grows in the hai1
! desert parts Of North Africa Where
the rainfall for years at stretch Is
often less than ten inches. In the
same connection is the date Whlcn
is being grown in the irrigated hot re-
! giOns of southern California anc
! Arizona There is also large-1rult-
ed. dry-land Chinese date, which we
are grating and which seems &c
promise new area 1IulC
The Marriage Of the Rice.
Uncle Sam is giving new crops te
the wet lands as we'll as to the ury
He is bringing rice from all parts o.
the world and marrying the dlfferen'
varieties, This is q job. There are
no less than l,4O0 different xmas o.
that grain in Japan India ana emma
and some Of these are found to grow
better than our famous South caro-.
lima rice, which was long consluefeo
The best Of the world Not long agt
NO sent the late DR.. S. A. Knapp t
Janan and he brought back rice IRON
~ island of Kiushu which ha:
revolutionized this industry ahA
addad millions of dollars to the Ndlu'
Of our crop. We have no" rice -
the uplands as we'll as Tor the ;" an =. -
and. on the prairies OF Arkansas y
are raising twice as mucn - Cnso1i,,e C,ae
&c thew are getting in South tdtolilie
and Georgia We now produce nun
Irads OF millions of pounds OF ilc'
eyarv year. and that at less cost thal
Asia can raise it with cheap cool'
I1ahor The secret is in the use OF m3
chinery and the prohts are ldiSe
averaging $50 and upward per acre
Since these introductions the rice
Elands of the United States have beer
graatlv extended The crop is nov
yarv large in Louisiana. Arkansas an(
Texas. and it is said that it can b'
crown on any soil adapted to whea
or cotton, provided the climatic con
tditionS are right.
Some Other New Crops
We are also breeding new cottons
, marrying the best Of India and Egyp
20 our favorite daughters of the up
lands and sea islands. We are breed