132 ANNUAL REPORTS OF DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 



peanut industry through the South, a remarkable extension of the 

 use of the peanut both as a human food and as a stock food has 

 developed. Single firms use as many as 150 carloads annually in the 

 manufacture of peanut butter and confections. 



PROGRESS IN POMOLOGY. 



The fruit industries of the country are assuming large proportions. 

 Their growth, especially during the past decade, has been rapid. 

 The work of the department in this field has for its object the aiding 

 of fruit growers along a number of important lines. Special efforts 

 have been put forth in the matter of educational work in connection 

 with the simplification of fruit nomenclature. As the interest in 

 orchard and fruit planting develops, there is more and more demand 

 for authentic facts relative to varieties. The identification, classifi- 

 cation, and grouping of varieties have formed an important line of 

 w^ork and have been fully systematized and organized, to the end of 

 helping fruit growers everywhere. 



MAPPING OF FRUIT DISTRICTS. 



Early in the development of the pomological work it was deemed 

 important to inaugurate investigations in connection with the map- 

 ping of fruit districts. It was understood that certain kinds of 

 fruit would succeed in one place and would not succeed in another. 

 No very definite and specific information was at hand as to the 

 factors governing successful fruit production in different parts of 

 the United States. 



Work along these lines has proceeded now for 10 years, with the 

 result that some of the more important fruit regions of the Eastern 

 States and the western central portion of the United States have 

 been indicated. Last year this work was extended into Oklahoma, 

 Kansas, Nebraska, northern Texas, and portions of New Mexico and 

 Colorado. 



FRUIT MARKETING, TRANSPORTATION, AND STORAGE. 



One of the most important fields of effort in aiding the fruit 

 grower has been in the direction of fruit marketing, transportation, 

 and storage. These investigations have been pushed vigorously now 

 for nearly a decade, with the result that in a number of sections of 

 the country the handling, transportation, and storage of fruits have 

 been practically revolutionized. This is especially the case in southern 

 California, where the conditions affecting the fruit industry, includ- 

 ing the cooperative-marketing organizations among the fruit growers, 

 afford an unusually favorable opportunity to work out through ex- 

 periments in orchards and packing houses the fundamental principles 

 involved in fruit handling and storage. 



