REPORT OF THE SECRETARY. 59 



irrigation cotton can often be grown on lands not now supposed to 

 have agricultural possibilities. 



Increased yields from corn hybrids. — Numerous experiments 

 have shown that crosses or hybrids between two kinds of corn are 

 usually more productive than either of the parent varieties. Even 

 in crosses of improved strains the yields are notably increased, some- 

 times more than 50 per cent, and the crossed plants are more resistant 

 to disease and to unfavorable conditions of growth. Simple methods 

 have been devised to enable corn growers to take advantage of this 

 factor of increased production. 



DRUG-PLANT INVESTIGATIONS. 



During the past year the camphor work has made considerable 

 progress. Seeds selected from trees showing a high camphor content 

 have been propagated under various conditions, with the result that 

 enough young trees are now ready to plant a large part of the test 

 areas. The effort to secure improved apparatus for working up this 

 crop has been continued wdth much success. Especial attention has 

 been given to the development of the best form of condensing appa- 

 ratus. The area of camphor planted as a result of private enterprise 

 continues to increase at an encouraging rate. 



In South Carolina the paprika-pepper crop has increased in size. 

 The Department is supervising the growing of about 50 acres of 

 peppers on a number of tj^pes of soil in different localities. Thus far 

 the present crop promises to exceed former crops considerably. The 

 reception of these peppers by spice millers has been favorable, and 

 the demand for a large home-grown supply seems established. Work 

 has been chiefly centered on paprika peppers of the Hungarian type, 

 but since the market for the Cayenne type is much larger, future 

 efforts are to be directed toward the production of pungent peppers. 

 A growing demand is felt for a mild sweet pepper of high color, 

 similar to the so-called "Spanish paprika," now imported in large 

 quantities. Work on this important sort has demonstrated the 

 great liability of this group of plants to disease, and ways of meeting 

 this difficulty are being worked out. As soon as success is secured a 

 material \\ddening of the market for American-grown peppers will 

 follow. 



The hop work of the past year has been directed toward the im- 

 provement of varieties and toward better methods of handling the 

 plants in the field. A statistical study of a small area has shown that 

 in all probability certain methods of practice exert more effect than 

 has been suspected. For example, it appears that a better yield is 

 obtained when four to six vines are trained in a hill than when fewer 

 are permitted to grow. The criteria to be used in judging hops are 

 an important object of study also. At present there seems to be 



