Evening star., 1924-10-26


try has been established and now our
national agriculturists know more
about date culture than the scientific
experts Of any other country under
the sun, despite the fact that dates
have been grown since the dawn Of
history. Uncle Sam has devised prac-
tfcal methods of roofing the suckers
of the date palm and has ripened the
fruit in paper bags and processed 1t
in special ovens.
in 1910 the department secured a
small bag of Sudan grass seed for
experimental purposes. A million
dollar crop, which is raised on 500.-
600 acres of American farming soil,
has resulted
The avocado raising industry, in
troduced to Florida and California
from abroad, is another Of our mil
lion dollar enterprises.
Three thousand Florida farmers
now produce dasheens, a crop which
was introduced from the West Indies.
From north and central China
blight-resistant varieties of pears
have been brought in, as we'll as
chestnut trees which also withstand
attacks by blight fungus.
The Chinese jujube, which never
fails to fruit, stands i'll treatment
and in dried form is much like a
Qdlcp lS dHOlneT valuable pIdnC AMEN.
NAPIER grass from Southern Rho
desia. Rhodes grass from South
Africa, Siberian millet, Japanese
sugar cane, Natal grass and a great
variety of soy beans rank high
among the foreign forage crops
which have been brought to our
shores by the Federal plant hunters.
The plants from hot countries pre-
dominate in those introduced and
populartzed in the United States. For
the most part. the plants now accli-
mated to the colder regions are those
that have slowly crept from the
tropics and have gradually adapted
themselves to lower temperatures
There are 10 times as many undis-
covered. useful plants remaining IN
the tropical regions as are to be
found In the colder regions of the
globe. Plant breeders are aiming to
select the best of these southern
plants and adapt them for cultiva-
tion as far north as they will grow
successfully.
From Mexico seed of a certain plant
related to an American weed has been
imported. Centuries ago seed of this
Mexican plant filled the granaries Of
the AztecS. The neem tree, from In
dia, with wood like mahogany. fruits
that yield a medicinal oil and sap
that may be made into a cooling
drink; the giant lilies of the Hima-
layas; the mitsuba, a common vege-
| table from Japan. a night-blooming
| cereus from Colombia: the corkwood
| tree from New Zealand, whose wood
weighs only one-half as much as
cork; an ornamental dooryard tree
| from Yucatan: citrus fruit from
| India, which tastes like a peach; Aus
tralian elephant grass, which yields
| 80 tons of hay per acre, and an edible
Gamma from Australia, a single plant
! of which produced so pounds of tu-
! bers in F1orida-these are but few
of tho many horticultural marvels
! which our national plant hunters
| have found and brought to the United
| States.
other plant curiosities introduced
| to our Federal gardens from abroad
include rare tree of Moiokai related
| to the cotton plant, which has been
| saved from extinction by our agricul-
tural explorers; a tropical tree from
Nigeria, whose berries, II eaten in
quantity, make everything you eat,
| even vinegar. taste sweet: an Indian
! tree related to the linden, whose
| wood is ideal for ak handles and oars;
| palm tree from Para, which pro-
duces a potatolike food, and spek-
boom, a plant of South Africa. used
| as forage by wild elephants, and also
, relished by cattle, sheep, ostriches
and children.
"Huauhtli." from Mexico, was cul-
tivated by the Aztecs before Column
tus discovered America History
| shows that Montezuma harvested
about 10000 bushels of this grain
annually, and it was ground into -four
| and used in making cakes. This plant
= %
American conditions, as it will yield
| well in localities that are too dry to
produce corn.
Tiger grass, from which brooms are
made; tho mtsama melon, which is
the chief water supply of travellers
and dwellers in the Kalahari Desert.
and the knob thorn, one of the most
valuable hardwood trees of the Trans
vaal, are also OF outstanding interest.
|MIssIoNARIEs and voluntary eS-
AVA lies in all parts Of the world aid
the agricultural explorers by sending
| them specimens of new and novel
plants. American consuls at distant
ports frequently seek out local plants
and send them to Washington for
testing purposes. A multitude of
agencies Is actively interested In this
experimental work. The State agri-
cultural colleges. superintendents of
parks, plant breeders and amateur
gardeners aid in the field work.
Each December Uncle Sam sends
a plant inventory to all his cooper
ators of the plants and seeds which
will be available for ditribution the
following season. Each co-operator
selects the plants which he wishes to
test and notifies the Department Of
| Agriculture. Last year $4,000 plants
and 5000 packets of rare seed were
sent out to private and public grow
local gardens. The experimenters
promise to give the plants good care
and to report on their behavior.
These experimenters live in all
parts Of the United States, the Canal
Zone. Porto Rico. Cuba. the Philip
pines and Guam.
The late F. N Meyer, who was
drowned seven years ago in Chinese
river. lost his life during his ninth
year Of exploration for the Depart
ment of Agriculture. He treveled the
highways and byways of Russia,
Turkestan and China.
Wilson Popenoe, a present Wash.
ingtonian, spent eight years search
ing the remote villages and farms OF
the Orient. Africa and tropical
America from the Rio Grande to the
southern extremity of Chile, for new
and valuable fruits. vegetables and
crops.
Joseph F. Rock, another Capital
City scientist, made a six months
trip to Burma and Siam. where he
obtained seeds OF the famous chaul-
moogra trees which yield the oil that
cures leprosy. Explorer Rock has
also travelled the unexplored sections
of southwestern China, where he Sc
cured blight-resistant chestnuts, ap-
pies and pears, as well as new rhodo-
dendrons and other ornamentals