BUREAU OF PLANT INDUSTRY. 147 



compensate for the higher cost of hibor and transportation. But in 

 order to maintain the superior qualit\'^ of the fiber, slvillful farming 

 is necessar}^, and special precautions must be taken to preserve the 

 purity and uniformity of the varieties. 



FOOD VALUE OF THE DATE. 



At the present time the commercial culture of dates in this country 

 is limited to the growing of the choicest varieties only, such as the 

 famous Deglet Noor, and the product is of so high a quality that 

 it is sold along with confectionery at prices exceeding that paid for 

 any other dried fruit. This bureau's experiments have shown, 

 however, that other varieties can be grown successfully and put on 

 the market at a very low unit price, providing the packing, trans- 

 portation, and marketing are properly systematized. In particular, 

 the so-called " dry dates " of the Arabs, which in the date-growing 

 countries of the Old World largely take the place of bread, are 

 capable of being grown and marketed with profit in this country at 

 a very low price. The better varieties of dry dates are of surpris- 

 ingly good quality and keep very well, besides having the great 

 advantage of being much easier to pick and pack than ordinary 

 dates and requiring no curing whatever. 



CONGRESSIONAL SEED DISTRIBUTION. 



During the fiscal year 1917 there were distributed on congressional 

 and miscellaneous requests 12,170,418 packages of vegetable seed and 

 3,812,467 packages of flower seed, or a total of 15,982,915 packages, 

 each containing five packets of different kinds of seed. There were 

 also distributed 12,735 packages of lawn-grass seed, 650 packets of 

 tobacco seed, and 11,159 boxes of imported narcissus and tulip bulbs. 

 The seeds and bulbs were purchased on competitive bids, as hereto- 

 fore. Each lot of seed w^as thoroughly tested for purity and via- 

 bility before acceptance by the Department, and tests of each lot of 

 seed were conducted on the Department's trial grounds to determine 

 trueness to type. Approximately 35 per cent of the seed was secured 

 from " surplus " stocks, the remainder being grown for the Depart- 

 ment under contract. 



NEW AND RARE FIELD-SEED DISTRIBUTION. 



A distribution of new and rare field seeds was made throughout 

 the entire United States, having for its object the dissemination 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 satisfac- 

 tory field trial, and the recipient was urged to use the seed, if feas- 

 ible, for the production of stocks for future plantings. A report 

 card and a circular giving full directions for the culture of the crop 

 accompanied each package of seed. 



Only seed of new crops or of improved strains of standard crops 

 was distributed, including the following: Grimm, Baltic, Peruvian, 



