Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1923-09-30

also as result or the failure OF many
| attempts to start new trees from OFF,
| shoots of the desired varieties.s In
| 1910. Investigators of the University
| Of Arizona worked out a method of
ripening the fruits by incubation and
| by chemical treatment. In the same
year. one OF those odd things that
| happen gave a lead that resulted In
overcoming many of the difficulties
| that had been encountered. 1t Is an
other instance where nature points
the way to the man who. while striv-
ing for a result. keeps his eyes open
for any lead that may appear.
Walter T. SwingIe. who has had
| charge OF the departments investi-
cations on date culture since their
inception, noticed that fruits which
he carried in his grip from Cali
fornia to Washington ripened and i'm
proved In eating quality en- route. owing
to the heat in the warm sleeping cars
in which he travelled. This obser-
| walton led to the development of a
method OF artificial ripening in warm.
moist rooms. which has given excel
lent results. Four years ago a very
| satisfactory method Of aiding the
ripening of the fruit on the trees
| was worked out by modifying the So
called bag-ripening process used in
North Africa. The entire fruit bunch
IL inclosed in tough paper bags.
| which serve to equalize the tenn
perature. preventing the dates from
drying out in midday and protecting
L INT l,ryd q n
as we'll as from occasional ravages
OF coyotes" This method has prac-
tically doubled the percentage of
| fancy dates. and the fruits, being
protected from dust and insects. are
| most attractive in appearance and
OF the highest flavor.
II n \ X
TINE most promising varieties are
j the Deglet Moor and Sadly. The
former Is ranked as the finest of the
old world varieties. while the Sadly
has long been recognized as of a
superior quality. Eight importations
of Sadly offshoots have been made
from Egypt, the first in 1901 and the
last a year ago. Although these Off
| calities In Egypt. they are now grow
! ing side by side at the government
stations in the great southwestern
section of this country.
Another million dollar baby is the
avocado industry, fostered for the
last ten years by the department.
| which sent out one OF its plant ex-
perts into the tropical jungles. He
discovered many valuable kinds of
this fruit, which have proved useful
in California and Florida. There are
already 1000 acres of avocado groves
in this country. and last year sin
gle grower shipped 10000 crates to
market. While there are about $4,000
trees now registered. many of these
are not in bearing and many more
are dooryard trees not intended for
commercial purposes.
The avocado weighs from eight
ounces to a pound. Its protein con-
tent is one that is desirable, its pro-
portion Of fat Is valuable from a
standpoint of health. and when
served at the proper point of ma
turity It has taste that appeals
to many. Great care. however. should
be exercised in selecting an avocado,
for 1t may have been plucked before
1t had reached the point of real ma
turity. The method generally en-
ployed is to harvest this fruit while
hard and then keep 1t in storage un-
til 1t has softened. If 1t is picked
too early 1t has tendency to shrivel
and become mulberry" is watery, and
lacks the characteristic flavor of the
well matured fruit.
There may be persons who have
eaten the avocado and believe it will
never be a popular article in the food
marts. but some said the same thing
about the orange and the grapefruit
when they were novelties.
X y X
a MOTHER article of food that the
"A department introduced Is the
dasheen. In fact. it grew the first
specimens in this country and since
then has made a systematic search
for better varieties In many parts of
the world. Work on the improve
ment of those found suitable to the
south Is being carried on by the gov
ernment's plant hunters and propa-
gators. A nematode disease attack
ed the potatolike tubers and a method
of destroying the pest was successfully
worked out.
All Of the operations-planting. cul-
tivating. harvesting, storing, pack
ing and cooking-have been carried
out with a marked degree of success
and now the growers in the West
Indies, the new tuber's native home.
come to Washington for the latest in
formation on producing and handling
the crop, rather a nice tribute to the
men In Uncle Sans employ.
1t is q good crop in parts of the
south where fall potatoes are a fall
ure. Although the distribution OF
improved dasheens began only a few
years ago, already more than 1000
largely for home use. although last
year several carloads were shipped
to northern markets.
1t is not always possible to put q
definite money value on a new plant.
Pear blight, a bacterial disease which
is carried from tree to tree by bees.
is one Of the most destructive Of dis
eases of fruit trees and causes mil
lions of dollars loss annually. The
solution. Of the problem Is consid-
cred to be in the use of blight-re-
sistant species as stocks and as
direct producers. In recent years
plant explorers have introduced such
resistant varieties from north and
central China, and already thousands Of
pears are being worked on them.
The Chinese jujube. which is des-