154 ANNUAL EEPOETS OF DEPARTMENT OF AGEICULIUKE. 



DuRANGO COTTON. — ^The Durango cotton, recently acclimatized 

 from Mexico, affords a striking illustration of plant adaptability to 

 a wide range of natural conditions in the United States. Early ex- 

 periments have shown its superiority to other long-staple types in the 

 Southwestern States, where it is now being grown extensively as a 

 commercial crop. More recent experiments with the Durango cotton 

 at Norfolk, Va., and at Easlej^, S. C, show that this new type of 

 cotton is distinctly earlier than the Columbia variety, even under the 

 eastern conditions where the Columbia cotton was originated, and has 

 been selected for earliness for several generations. The more up- 

 right habit and more open foliage of the Durango cotton represent a 

 further advantage over the Columbia. Further experiments are 

 being made to test the adaptability of the Durango to eastern condi- 

 tions in other respects and to determine the possibility of a general 

 substitution of Durango for Columbia. 



New and RARE FIELD SEEDS. — FoT the fiscal year 1915 an appropria- 

 tion of $100,000 was made for the purchase, propagation, testing, and 

 distribution of new and rare field seeds, and the distribution of such 

 seeds was made throughout the entire United States. This distribu- 

 tion was in effect a development from the provision in the appropria- 

 tion bills for 1912-13 and 1913-14 for the purchase, propagation, 

 testing, and distribution of drought-resistant field seeds, and re- 

 placed that item. The distribution had for its object the dissemina- 

 tion of seed of new and rare field crops, seed of improved strains of 

 staple crops, and high-grade seed of crops new to sections where the 

 data of the department indicate such crops to be of considerable 

 promise. Each package contained a sufficient quantity of seed for a 

 satisfactory field trial, and the recipient was urged to use the seed for 

 the production of stocks for future plantings. A report card and a 

 circular, giving full directions for the culture of the crop, accom- 

 panied each package of seed. Only seed of new crops or of improved 

 strains of standard crops were distributed, including the following: 

 Canadian, Grimm, Peruvian, Baltic, and Kansas-grown alfalfas; 

 Bromus inermis,' alsike, red, sweet, and white clovers; New Era, 

 Groit, Brabham, Iron, and Early Buff varieties of cowpeas; the 

 Golden Vine, Prussian Blue, Bangalia, Amraoti, Kaiser, and Khaba 

 varieties of field peas; a grass mixture for hay and pasture; Natal 

 grass ; orchard grass ; Rhodes grass ; tall meadow oat grass ; Schrock 

 kafir ; lespedeza ; Kursk millet ; dwarf milo ; rape ; Italian rye grass ; 

 the Mammoth Yellow, Haberlandt, Peking, Tokio, Manchu, Black 

 Eye-Brown, and Barchet varieties of soy beans; Sudan grass; Sumac 

 sorghum ; timothj^ ; the Florida, Lj^on, Chinese, Yokohama, and Hun- 

 dred-Day Speckled varieties of velvet beans; and the Columbia, 

 Dixie, Durango, Holdon, Lone Star, and Trice varieties of cotton. 



During the year 275,814 packages of new and rare field seeds were 

 distributed, including 106,770 packages of cotton seed. The results 

 obtained have been very gratifying, indicating the value of a dis- 

 tribution of this kind. Such a distribution enables a farmer to pro- 

 cure seed of new and improved crops in sufficient quantities to pro- 

 duce similar stocks for future seeding, thus resulting in materially 

 improving the crops of the country. 



