EEPOET OF THE SECRETARY OF AGRICULTURE. XXXI 



reception of cowpeas or buckwheat, according- to the condition of the 

 area, and the work was completed. About 40 acres of the land which 

 in 1901 were planted in cowpeas were this 3^ear devoted to plat work. 

 The plats are uniformly one-twentieth of an acre in area. Some 1 

 acres of such plats are devoted to nursery purposes, including seed- 

 ling forest trees, while the rest is given over to experiments with veg- 

 etables, plant-breeding experiments, experiments conducted by the 

 Pathologist and Physiologist, Pomologist, etc. In surveying and 

 platting the land the location of barns and future buildings was 

 determined upon, and a barn suitable for important needs is being 

 constructed at the present time. With the facilities at hand it will be 

 practicable next season to inaugurate quite extensive Avork. 



Tea Growing in the United States. 



The work on the growing of American tea was continued during the 

 year at Pinehurst, Summerville, S. C, in cooperation with Dr. Charles 

 U. Shepard. Dr. Shepard now has at his place about lOO acres in tea 

 gardens, and his factor}^ is well equipped for carrying on work on a com- 

 mercial scale and for accurate scientific experiments. With a view to 

 bringing about a clear understanding as to the relationship of the 

 Department to this work, a proper form of agreement has been pre- 

 pared and entered into by the Department on the one hand and Dr. 

 Shepard on the other. By the terms of this agreement the Department 

 is able to secure the use of the extensive plant of Dr. Shepard for experi- 

 mental purposes, and will profit by the results from the extensive work 

 that he is carrying on. During the year careful attention has been given 

 to methods of reducing the cost of the production of tea with very 

 satisfactory results. Improved factory methods have also been put 

 into operation, with the result that better grades of tea are now being 

 turned out than ever before. To aid in this work, Dr. Shepard has 

 secured during the year the assistance of an expert tea taster in New 

 York, who has sampled his various grades and thus made it practi- 

 cable to determine not onl}' the kinds of teas which have proved of 

 the highest quality, but the effects of different methods of picking and 

 handling. 



As pointed out in my last report, the yield of tea in Dr. Shepard's 

 gardens last year was about 4,500 pounds, and this year there will l)e 

 a})out 9,000 pounds of marketable tea. Some of the gardens have 

 proved very prolific and profitable, while others have given ver^^ light 

 5''ield of tea, having poor qualit3^ All these facts, of course, will 

 enable the Department to profit in further exploiting the work. With 

 a view to increasing the interest in this crop, a tea farm will be estab- 

 lished in Texas if suitable land and cooperation can be secured. 

 Agents of the Department are now on the ground looking into the 

 question, and the outlook is very favorable. Whether or not tea 



