32 ANNUAL REPORTS OF DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 



mental work of this sort, but unquestionably it is tremendous. 

 The efforts to develop improved varieties of corn, which have been 

 under way for 20 years or more, have probably increased production 

 by one-fourth. Improved wheats have added greatly to the wheat 

 yield, and it is only necessary to mention Marquis, Kanred, Early 

 Baart, and the new wheats of the Washington Experiment Station 

 to realize their importance. Better potatoes have been a great factor 

 in the production of the crop, and new varieties at present under 

 test indicate that they mark a notable advance. The development of 

 early velvet beans multiplied the acreage tenfold in three years, and 

 high-yielding superior lint cottons, such as Meade, Acala, Durango, 

 Trice, and Columbia, are of inestimable value. The recently de- 

 veloped Victor cowpea is far superior to any previously known. 

 Similar, but perhaps less striking, results have been secured with 

 most of our important crop plants, and illustrate clearly what will, 

 without doubt, continue to be a fruitful field of activity for a large 

 corps of investigators. 



VALUABLE NEW PLANTS INTRODUCED. 



A somewhat similar line of work is the search for and introduc- 

 tion, acclimatization, and adaptation of new crop plants. Some of 

 the results in this field are spectacular, indeed almost romantic. 

 Alfalfa, a native of Central Asia, brought into the Western States 

 in about 1854, has become in a generation almost the basic crop of 

 the West. The sorghums are the basis of the great agricultural de- 

 velopment of the semiarid Southwest. Japanese rices, secured in 

 1899, were the foundation of the great rice industry of Louisiana 

 and Texas. The Washington Navel orange, introduced from Brazil 

 in 1872, makes up the bulk of the California orange industry, pro- 

 ducing a crop valued at approximately $16,000,000 a year. Durum 

 wheat, introduced in 1899 from Russia, now produces a crop worth 

 $50,000,000 annually. Egyptian cotton, brought in by scientists of 

 the department in 1901, has become the basis of a long-staple cotton 

 industry in the Southwest valued at $6,000,000 in 1917, $11,000,000 

 in 1918, and $20,000,000 in 1919. The culture of dates in California 

 and Arizona is already a thriving business, which is expanding 

 rapidly and will, in the near future, have impressive value. 

 Sudan grass, introduced in 1909 from Egypt, is now worth over 

 $10,000,000 annually. Feterita, secured in 1906 from Egypt, pro- 

 duced in 1918 a crop valued at $16,000,000. Over 1,000 varieties of 

 soy beans have been introduced from China and other parts of the 

 Orient. From these the experts of the department have, after care- 

 ful tests, selected eight of the best varieties, which are now largely 

 cultivated and are an important element in the very rapid increase 

 in soy bean production. Peru^vian alfalfa, introduced in 1899, is by 

 far the most productive and valuable variety for the Southwest. 



