The silver state. [volume] (Winnemucca, Nev.) 1909-1925, 1912-11-07
NEW DEPARTURE
IN AGRICULTURE
Especial to the Silver State, ,

(opeclal TO Jne SILVER state.
I WASHINGTON, Nov. 7.-One Of the
useful scientists of the department of
agriculture, A. D. shamel, who has
been making study for the past three
years in California of the individual
characteristics Of orange trees, be-
i lieyee that he has established fact
which viii prove of the greatest i'm
lportance to the growers of all plants
and trees which are propagated by 9TH
/ er means than seeds. Mr.. Shamel by
careful study and tabulation of the
/ performance of individual trees has
i demonstrated to his own satisfaction
that bud variation is much more i'm
portant in the development of an or
ehard than has ever been supposed. 1T
has been taken for granted by most
fruit growers that tree would pro-
/ duce fruit true to the characteristics
OF the tree from which it was budded
1 Mr.. Shamel has found that one tree,
+ from single bud, will sometimes pro-
+ duee eight or ten distinct varieties Of
fruit. Perhaps ten per cent of the
trees examined throw off no sprouts
and therefore are considered Of es-
peeial value as sources Of buds for pro-
pagation. "Our hope isl he says in
an interview with the correspondent
of this paper, that in propagating
from record trees of high production
and the best quality Of standard types
we may be able to propagate and main
tain uniform standard type Of each
variety, best adapted to the conditions
of soil and climate in which they are
grown.
The Importance Of this investigation
may be estimated from the fact that
it was found in some orchards that
fifty per cent of the trees were not
producing fruit true to type, or in
satisfactory quantity.
Mr. Shamel has made tentative in
vestigations during the past summer in
New York of peach and apple trees
which tend to confirm the deductions
he has drawn from his California work
Apple Storage.
A. v Steubenrauch who is in charge
Of Pomological Field investigations, is
doing valuable work, on lines similar
to those inaugurated by G. Harold
Powell, when the latter was in the de
partment Of agriculture to determine
the best methods for apple storage, and
when certain varieties Of apples should
be picked. lie is centralizing his work
Eat Portland, Ore. ard has already Sc
cured data which viii he Of much value
to apple growers and shippers.
Agricultural Scientists Needed.
While the scientific study of agricul
tural problems is constantly receiving
Imore attention from the various col
leges having agricultural departments,
the department of agriculture finds it
difficult to secure as many specialists
in various lines as it needs in the great
work it is doing for the American
agfarian interests. The day of the
hap hazard farmer is almost past. With
land values rising and the cost Of labor
mounting steadily upward, it is becom-
ing daily more needful that the best
scientific skill should be brought to
bear on the problems that confront the
farmer. Young men --who have been
reared on the farm can find in scien-
tific agriculture promising fields for
their best endeavors The government
service itself EMPLOYS some 5000
young men, graduates of agricultural
colleges and scientists in every sense
of the term, who not only receive good
pay but are encouraged to undertake
Independent research, and who find
their work in the department of agri-
culture a stepping stone, very often,
to wider and more lucrative fields in
commercial life or in tn eservice of
other governments.
Timber Conservation.
In a bulletin Just issued, Secretary
Wilson of the department Of agricul-
ture, calls attention to the fact that
the state of Louisiana, ranking second
Ill .f.,,,. IN, ha Do
cifc coast states, win have cut all of
its 1919 billion feet of lumber in
thirty years at the present rate of con
sumption unless it begins plan Of
conservation and re-forestation. He
SAYS: "With efficient protection of
this young growth. and better utiliza-
tion Of the present commercial stands,
the forests of louisiana, even in the
face If a much greater agricultural de-
velopment than now, should remain an
important source of wealth.
Apple Propaganda.
The apple growers are pushing with
yigor' the propaganda of the fruit
which started Eve on her discovery
of our great national institution,
Showing day. aud which led to I'M
. pleasantness on Olympus when Venus
was awarded an apple in a beauty con
test Eat an apple dav and You II
keep the doctor away is a slogan
many of the apple men are shouting. 1t
sounds all right, but a wag replied:
'' Yes, and if you eat an onion a day,
you II keep everyone away
However, the apple is a fine fruit,
and if more people ate it there would
doubtless be fewer doctors bills. In
cidentally, the growers would find the
market for their fruit improving very
rapidly.