XXX REPORT OF THE SECRETARY OF AGRICULTURE. 



out the oi-iginal intent of the seed-distribution law, will furnish seeds 

 of the highest character, and will avoid the evil of competition with 

 the regular seed trade. 



PLANTS POISONOUS TO STOCK. 



Early last winter an urgent request was received from Hon. T. C. 

 Power, chairman of the State Board of Sheep Commissioners of Mon- 

 tana, that the Department investigate the poisonous plants of the 

 great stock ranges of that State, which annually cause the death of 

 thousands of sheep and other stock. In response to this request, two 

 experts in poisonous plants were sent to Montana. It was ascertained 

 first what the plants are that have caused the losses of stock, and 

 means of preventing these losses were then devised, both through the 

 avoidance of the poisonous plants and through the application of 

 remedies to animals that have already been poisoned. An illustrated 

 report of this investigation will be completed early in the coming 

 winter. 



ECONOMIC PLANTS OF THE TROPICS. 



In my last Report I pointed out the desirability of securing at an 

 early date, both for the education of the people and for the use of 

 those intending to enter the field of tropical agriculture, some reliable 

 information on the useful and agricultural plants of the Tropics, and 

 although little money was available for this purpose, a fully illustrated 

 report on the useful plants of Porto Rico has been prepared. In this 

 report special attention has been paid to india rubber, coffee, and other 

 tropical plants, regarding which the Department has received the most 

 numerous inquiries. In my estimates for the next year's appropria- 

 tions I have included an item for the prosecution of this special line of 

 botanical inquiry. It is intended that this work shall occupy a ground 

 intermediate between that of the technical botanist on the one hand 

 and the actual agricultural experimenter and tropical farmer on the 

 other, and to furnish information which will be indispensable to these 

 classes, but which it would be impossible for them to acquire without 

 great expense of time or money. 



EXPERIMENTS ON THE POTOMAC FLATS. 



Two years ago Congress authorized the temporary' use of a portion 

 of the Potomac Flats as a testing ground for the Department of Agri- 

 culture. During the season of 1898 an area of 25 acres was fenced, 

 cleared, and put in shape for the reception of crops, and this year the 

 actual experimentation began. Among the many experiments carried 

 on there, I desire to call attention to two, either of which has more 

 than repaid the entire cost of maintaining the grounds. I refer to an 

 experiment iu the germination of Bcnuuda grass seed, and another in 



