SCIENCE AND THE EMERGENCE OF MODERN AMERICA 



extent the more important methods of maintaining the fertihty of our 

 agricultural lands. 



In our great territory, including lands of many different elevations 

 and climates, much exploratory work yet remains to be done upon our 

 native grasses, and by continued examinations it can not be doubted that 

 useful species new to agriculture will from time to time be found. In the 

 arid regions of the West and Southwest are nutritious grasses and other 

 native forage plants whose introduction into culture, if carefully under- 

 taken, could not fail to greatly benefit these sections. The importation of 

 the native or improved forage plants of other countries has in some 

 cases resulted in much benefit to our agriculture, and doubtless many 

 other plants can be found and tested with regard to their adaptability to 

 our climate and soils. The study of grasses for special purposes, as for 

 example, for binding the drifting sands along our ocean and lake shores; 

 for holding the embankments of our great rivers, which frequently over- 

 flow and sweep away farms, while they cover others with destructive 

 debris, materially broadens the interest in grasses and makes this work 

 of practical importance to many other classes of citizens. 



Considerations like these have induced the Secretary of Agriculture 

 to recommend to Congress the establishment of a separate Division of 

 Agrostology for investigating grasses and forage plants, with special ref- 

 erence to their use in those sections of our country where they are at 

 present little known. The establishment of such a division would demon- 

 strate to the citizens of this and other countries that our National Gov- 

 ernment fully recognizes the primary importance of the grasses in the 

 rural economy of the nation. It will be the function of the new division 

 to instruct our people in the habits and uses of these plants; to examine 

 their natural history and adaptability to our different soils and conditions; 

 to import, test, and introduce foreign kinds into cultivation; to identify 

 the plants sent in by correspondents; and to prepare circulars, bulletins, 

 and manuals for distribution. I am pleased to be able to tell you that we 

 have reason to believe that Congress will give us the authority and the 

 means with which to carry on this work. 



The Division of Botany, which has been so prolific in giving birth 

 to new divisions — the Division of Forestry and the Division of Vege- 

 table Pathology, as well as Agrostology, are its children — has recently 

 developed several other new lines of work. It has, for example, devoted 

 a great deal of attention recently to a more systematic study of weeds. 

 Among others, that czar of weeds, the Russian thistle, which some of 

 our Congressmen think to be worth its million, has received much care- 

 ful attention. The Department has done all that it could do in investigat- 

 ing the natural history and methods of distribution of this weed, and in 

 publishing circulars and bulletins relative thereto. There are other weeds 

 which are almost if not quite as dangerous as this, and they will all be 

 studied as rapidly as the means available will permit. 



A special expert has been engaged and a laboratory fitted up for the 

 systematic study of seeds with reference to their purity, germinating 

 power, etc. This is an important matter, especially in connection with 

 our studies of grasses, forage plants, and weeds, since our grass seed and 



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