60 DEPARTMENTAL REPORTS. 



ments have been inaugurated in varions parts of Virginia, but as yet 

 the results are not apparent. The demoralized condition of the p<'ai- 

 orchards in the coast country of Texas made it imperative to under- 

 take some work looking toward the prevention of pear blight in that 

 region. Work was undertaken at Algoa in the matter of extermi- 

 nating this disease by the practical application of principles alreadv 

 Avorked out. The remedial methods, in brief, consisted in cutting- 

 out tlie diseased wood under proper conditions and at proper times. 

 The results obtained show that by far the larger part of the disease 

 has been prevented, and have greatly encouraged the peargroweis in 

 that section. In addition to the foregoing work, Mr. Waite has under 

 way a number of problems connected with pear i^ollination, and has 

 also been pushing investigations in the matter of securing, by breed- 

 ing, hybrid pears — crosses between the Orientals and such varieties 

 as Seckel, Anjou, and other choice fruits. Several thousand seed- 

 lings have been obtained, the object being to secure, if possible, 

 varieties having some of the vigor of the Orientals and some of tlie 

 fruit-bearing qualities of such well-known sorts as the Seckel and 

 Anjou. 



PLANT-BREEDING W^ORK. 



The xjlant-breeding laboratory is in charge of Dr. II. J. Webber, and 

 he is endeavoring to increase the production of various crops and 

 secure varieties of better quality and better adapted to various soil 

 and climatic conditions. The work of amelioration and improvement 

 of plants, tlnnigh recognized as of the highest practical importance, 

 has, until recently, been mainl}' conducted by seedsmen and planters, 

 and lias seldom been carried on systematically' through a series of 

 years. The following are some of the more important lines of Avork 

 which have been taken up by this laboratory during the year: 



Cotton. — The problem of the greatest interest in cotton improvement 

 is the production of long staple Uplands. The long staple Upland 

 varieties at present existing are all rather light i:)roducers, and are 

 defective in that the fiber is borne on fuzzy or tufted seed, which makes 

 them difficult to gin on a roller gin. A number of crosses were made 

 in 18i>0 to bring about the production of an ideal Upland long staple, 

 and the first generation hybrids were grown in the summer of 1900. 

 Work is now under way fixing the types, and already promising results 

 have been obtained. Aside from the work on hybridization of cottons 

 for the pui-pose of securing new varieties, there is another important 

 method of imi)rovement, viz, the straight selection of standard races 

 to secure more productive strains. Work of this kind was started 

 last year in Mississippi with several standard sorts. The seed from 

 the selections made then is being grown the present season to furnish 

 seed for further selection, the aim being to obtain highly selected ped- 

 igree seed for distribution. The same method of selection is being 

 applied to discover disease-resistant sorts, and already marked suc- 

 cess has been accomplished along this line, as was outlined in my last 

 report. We annually import about $6,500,000 worth of Egyptian cot- 

 ton, and the present year quite extensive investigations were inaugu- 

 rated for the purpose of determining where the standard Egyptian 

 cottons would best succeed. The present season varieties of Egyptian 

 cotton are being grown in fourteen 2-acre patches in Texas, New Mex- 

 ico, Arizona, and southern California in order to test the value of this 

 crop for general culture and furnish opportunity for conducting selec- 



