XXII REPORT OF THE SECRETARY OP AGRICULTURE. 



AMERICAN AND EUROPEAN RED CLOVER SEED. 



The study of the merits of red clover of American as compared 

 with that of European origin has been continued, with the cooperation 

 of a number of agricultural experiment stations in the clover-growing 

 States. From the 1901 plantings the results were practically the same 

 as those of the year before in the testing garden at Washington. The 

 European clovers were not able to stand the hot and dry periods of 

 our summer, but suffered badh^ from sun scald, and were generally 

 of a much lighter color and less thriftv than those from our own 

 seed. The same facts hold true for the plantings made this j'ear, and 

 it is evident that the European clover, unless it be some from the 

 extreme north, is not adapted to the clover-growing sections of the 

 United States. 



NEW REMEDY FOR SHEEP POISONING ON THE STOCK RANGES. 



The great stock ranges of the Northwest contain approximately one- 

 third of the sheep in the United States, representing a value of more 

 than $40,000,000. The owners of these sheep suffer an annual loss 

 conservatively estimated at 1 per cent, or $400,000, from poisonous 

 plants. During the past year the Department has continued its 

 investigation of this loss and has succeeded in isolating poisonous 

 principles from the species of camas and from one of the lupines, the 

 two kinds of plants which, next to the loco weeds, cause the greatest 

 percentage of loss in the Northwest. The antidote for poison camas 

 announced by the Department in 1900, viz, drenching with a 1 per 

 cent solution of permanganate of potash and sulphate of aluminum, 

 while effective, can be successfully applied by one man to only a few 

 sheep. Some remedy was demanded which could be more ijuickly 

 applied when a large number of sheep are poisoned. Our physio- 

 logical tests of the active principle of poison camas on rabbits and 

 other small animals, subsequently verified with sheep, showed that 

 considerable quantities of the poison passed from the sj'stem in the 

 urine. A series of tests was then instituted with drugs that are known 

 to stimulate the action of the kidneys. It has now been demonstrated 

 that a combination of diuretin and caffeine is a satisfactory antidote 

 for this poison; and as it can he given very rapidly b}^ means of a hypo- 

 dermic syringe, one man can apph' the remedy to several hundred 

 sheep in a few hours. 



AN IMPORTANT STEP IN HEMP CULTURE. 



More than nine-tenths of the hemp produced in the United States is 

 grown in Kentuck}^ and at present prices it is regarded as second 

 onl}'- to tobacco in profit as a farm crop. It yields a good profit there, 

 notwithstanding the fact that practically no labor-saving machinery or 



