422 ANNUAL REPORTS OF DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 



to have this seed collected in ton quantities, but did succeed in 

 "i^oltinc: onouufh for exlonsivo trials by oxperiniont-station workers. 

 Afr. INIeyer imported a quantity of the Siberian bush cherry, a very 

 hardy shrub from western Siberia. He thinks this cherry is pe- 

 culiarly fitted for cultivation in the home gardens of the colder 

 portions of the country and mny prove a very valuable factor in 

 the production of hardy bush cherries for the Northwest. He ob- 

 tained from a Russian plant breeder a remarkable new large-fruited 

 cherry which has proved productive in a region where ordinary 

 cherries fail because of the great extremes of temperature, and from 

 the same noted originator he received a new apricot which should 

 prove hardier than those now in cultivation in this country. A 

 larch which grows to a great size throughout western Siberia and 

 northeastern Russia and is probably one of the most rapid-growing 

 of all conifers, was imported in considerable quantity. It is a very 

 valual)le lumber-producing tree. A species of elm, which makes a 

 remarkably dense shade and is at the same time capable of resisting 

 cold and drought, was imported and will be distributed as a new 

 shade tree for semiarid regions. 



Agricultural exploration in India. — Prof. C. V. Piper has made 

 a preliminary survey of the forage-crop conditions of the Dutch East 

 Indies and British India. Although this region has in the aggregate 

 vast numbers of cattle and goats, it is found that forage crops as 

 such are not cultivated, animals being fed on the waste of crops 

 grown for food and on native grasses. Some of these grasses have 

 excellent seeding habits and may prove to be valuable in the Southern 

 States. Incidentally, important information was gathered relating 

 to the mango industry of India. 



Exploration or the Egyptian date region. — A special investiga- 

 tion has been made of the date varieties near the mouths of the Nile 

 and of the oases lying near Siut and Aswan. Certain varieties 

 of date which do not require irrigation grow in the sand dunes. Of 

 these and other desirable varieties of date palms 150 offshoots have 

 been imported for trial in the Southwest. 



Growth of the plant-introduction gardens. — The plant-intro- 

 duction gardens, under the direct charge of Mr. P. H. Dorsett, 

 are not testing gardens for the exclusive benefit of the neighborhood 

 in which they are located, but Federal institutions for propagating 

 new plants. These gardens are under the inspection of pathologists 

 and entomologists, and imported material is held as in quarantine 

 under observation a year or more before it is sent out. The great 

 increase in the number of plants to be propagated and the growing 

 quantities distributed have made it imperative to increase materially 

 the facilities at these gardens. 



Plant-introduction field station at Chico, Cal. — All the avail- 

 able land at the Chico station is now occupied, and it will be impera- 

 tive to increase tlie area next year. It is desirable to extend this 

 station because the conditions for plant propagation are particularly 

 favorable. Over 42,000 plants, representing several hundred differ- 

 ent varieties, were propagated last season and are now ready for dis- 

 tribution. Extensive collections of forage cacti, figs, grapes, forage 

 plants, barleys, and corn were also maintained during the year and 

 the greenhouses are filled with collections of mangos and avocados. 



