144 ANNUAL REPORTS OF DEPARTMENT OP AGRICULTURE. 



are in many areas rapidly replacing red clover. Extensive investiga- 

 tions have been conducted with sweet clover in determining the best 

 methods of culture. As a result of this work, manuscripts for two 

 Farmers' Bulletins are now ready for publication. Field tests Avith 

 the crimson-clover seed-harvesting machine devised by this bureau 

 have given exceedingly satisfactory results. 



Soy bean. — During the past year notable progress has been made 

 in bringing about the commercial utilization of soy-bean seed for the 

 manufacture of oil, meal, and various more or less complex products. 

 The soy bean is well adapted to the whole cotton belt and indeed to 

 the whole corn region. In the cotton belt it promises to be an im- 

 portant crop wherever the acreage of cotton has been reduced. 

 The immature bean seeds make a very delicious vegetable and are 

 canned with ease. Inasmuch as soy beans can be more cheaply pro- 

 duced than any other bean seed, it is believed that there is a large 

 field for the canning of green soy beans. Efforts are now being made 

 to induce canning factories to put the product on the market. In 

 the growing of the soy bean and in manufacturing products there- 

 from the United States can compete successfully with the Orient. 



Sudan grass. — Tests of Sudan grass in cooperation with State ex- 

 periment stations were continued during the past year and a large 

 body of accurate knowledge obtained concerning the crop. Seed 

 production north of the region where Johnson grass is abundant 

 has been encouraged, with the result that there is now available a 

 good supply of pure seed which can be purchased at reasonable 

 prices. The lower prices of seed have greatly encouraged the grow- 

 ing of Sudan grass for hay. 



Cactus. — Cactus investigations have been continued in the ex- 

 tensive cactus garden at Chico, Cal. Breeding work has resulted in 

 the production of a number of new forms, some very promising as 

 forage plants, others for fruit production. 



Vetch. — Vetch investigations are being continued in cooperation 

 with the Oregon experiment station and some of the species of 

 vetch have been hybridized. An especially interesting hybrid is that 

 between Vicia sativa and V. augustifolia which, from the known char- 

 acteristics of these two species, is likely to prove of very high im- 

 portance on the south Atlantic coast. 



Natal grass. — A notable development during the past two or three 

 years has been the interest in Natal grass in Florida. A very large 

 acreage of this grass is now being grown for hay, and in some sections 

 it is coming to be regarded as a basis for land values. Natal grass 

 was introduced by the department some 25 years ago, and while its 

 culture has been urged in a conservative way in various publications, 

 it is only within the past few years that it has made the progress its 

 high merit deserves. Natal grass promises to produce all of the hay 

 required in Florida and will probably furnish a surplus for export 

 from that State. 



Hemp. — Marked improvement has been made by continued selec- 

 tion with the progeny of the best plant of the Minnesota No. 8 variety 

 of hemp. The original plant was 10 feet 5 inches high. The tallest 

 plant in 1914 was 13 feet 4 inches, and in 1915 the tallest plant was 



