The Dawson news. (Dawson, Ga.) 1889-current, 1923-09-25
MOST REMOTE CORNERS OF
THE EARTH ARE SEARCH
ED TO AID FARMERS.
VAST POSSIBILITIES IN WORK
Introduction of Durum Wheat One
Evidence of Value of Experiments.
Fifty Thousand New Varieties I'm
ported to the United States.


Only a few OF the plants OF our
fields. gardens, orchards and door
yards are native to our American soil
writes F. w. B. in the Baltimore Sun
Continuing. he says: The first settlers
brought over seeds and plants to try
out in the New World, and ever since
those hard adventurous days new
plants have been added from time to
time, some of them so well suited to
the soil and climate and the needs OF
the people that they have been multi
piled greatly and are now OF WIDE
commercial importance.
FThe United States department OF
agriculture. since its establishment,
has given much attention to the in
PRODUCTION and development OF new
plants OF all kinds, and during the last
rs years particular efforts have been
made to search out in all parts OF the
world new plants with possibilities
for use in this country. The work IS
handled by the office of foreign seed
and plant introduction.
$4,000 New Plants Imported.
During this quarter century more
than $4,000 new plants or seeds OF
them have been brought here Tor
trial, and many of them have proved
useful and are now an important part
of our agriculture. Certain regions III
the United States owe their present
prosperity, and, in some cases, the
very existence of their agriculture to
one of these naturalized aliens brought
in by some government plant explor-
err or sent in by a transient correspond
ent from some distant corner OF the
world. Among such regions may be
mentioned the date GASES OF Calltor-
MIA and Arizona, the durum wheat
areas OF the great plains region, the
feterita. kahr and Sudan grass fields
OF the west. the dasheen patches OF
the south, the Panarit1 currant vine
yards of California and the rice fields
of California and Texas.
When these strange, new plants are
first brought into this country they
are started in a propagating garden
or greenhouse, and some OF them
must be treated very carefully at the
start Later, after the plants have
been multiplied to some extent in
these gardens and seeds or cuttings
are available they are sent out to
amateurs in all parts OF the country,
those plants adapted to the north go
are available, they are sent out to
suitable regions.
10000 Persons Cooperating.
There are now 10000 persons in
various parts OF the United States
who cooperate with the scientists in
trying out these alien plants to see if
they give promise of making good
American soil citizens. If a plant
shows up we'll in some mans field or
garden, then it is tried out more ex-
tensively in that part OF the country,
and finally it may be found suitable
for commercial growing. That is
what has happened with great num-
Der of these foreigners to which we
gave hearty welcome not so many
years ago.
In spite OF all the plants we have
found and brought to this country
there are still many more, say the
scientists, and we may hope for new
ones year after year for a very long
time.
The dearth." Says DR.. David Fair
child, chief plant explorer for the de
partment of agriculture, is not in
plant material of great potential pos
sbiities, but in eNperimcnters who
can adapt these plants to the wide
uses OF mankind Ten thousand indie
pendent experimenters scattered over
this country could spend their lives
working on the material we have
brought in and not exhaust its posi-
bilites'
Hold Great Interest.
The propagation gardens where
these thousands OF plants of unknown
possibilities are first tested are places
full of great interest to the plant ex
plorers and the propagators. They
are really elimination grounds where
it is determined whether or not the
contestant, as you might say, is to re-
main in the contest any longer. There
are several of these government prop
agation gardens, so situated in differ
ent parts of the country as to cover a
great variety of climatic and soil con-
ditions. One of them is in Maryland,