BUEEAU OF PLANT INDUSTRY. 99 



FUTURE PLANS FOR TEA WORK. 



Owing to sliji:htly increased appropriations, plans have been made 

 for extendin<2: the tea work into other parts of the South. The work 

 at Summerville will be continued and the main lines undertaken will 

 be for the purpose of obtaining additional information in regard to 

 the improvement of the product by factory methods, the chemical and 

 physiological study of the leaf during various operations involved, 

 and the testing of such machinery as it is believed may prove of 

 advantage in facilitating the work and giving a better finish to the 

 product. Plans have also been made for some work at Summerville 

 to determine the practicability of growing tea from cuttings. Practi- 

 cally all the plantations are now from seed, and little or no attempt 

 has been made to increase the forms which have given the highest 

 grades of tea and the best fields. With a view to encouraging the 

 growth of this crop in other parts of the South, plans have been made 

 for establishing a tea garden either in Texas or Louisiana, preferably 

 the former State, if suitable conditions in the matter of labor, soil, and 

 rainfall can be secured. The primary object of this work will be to 

 demonstrate the practicability of commercially growing tea. With 

 the funds available it is hoped to secure, through cooperation with 

 State authorities, a tract of land which will enable the Department to 

 establish gardens to the extent of about 100 acres; 50 acres will be 

 put out at once, and increased from time to time as the work pro- 

 gresses. The i^oint of location has not yet been determined upon, as 

 it is important to secure a combination of factors, and this can only 

 be done through a careful field investigation. This work is now under 

 way, and as soon as a location is detei-mined upon and the proper 

 cooperation is secured the gardens will be established. It will be two 

 j'ears, possibly longer, before the necessity for factory work will arise, 

 in the mean time the details of the gardens will be looked after by 

 an expert who has had special training in tea growing, and it is hoped 

 sufficient aid for the ordinary labor connected with the work may be 

 secured through cooperation with interested private individuals. 



Whether or not tea growing in this countrj^ can be made a commer- 

 cial success will depend, in large measure, on most rigid attention 

 to details connected with every phase of field and factory work. It 

 is not expected that any large profits can be made from this industry, 

 but it is believed that by proper and judicious management sufficient 

 profit will result to encourage the planting of the crop in many parts 

 of the South. The primary object in all such work is not so much to 

 secure large profits as to point out the feasibility of diversifying crops, 

 a matter which needs special attention on the part of those who have 

 been accustomed to depend largely on one staple. 



CONGRESSIONAL SEED DISTRIBUTION AND FOREIGN SEED AND PLANT 



INTRODUCTION. 



CONGRESSIONAL SEED DISTRIBUTION. 



The plans set forth in the last report of this Bureau outlining the 

 proposed changes in the methods of handling the Congressional dis- 

 tribution of seeds and plants were put into operation with beneficial 

 results. Notwithstanding the fact that the appropriation for seed was 

 nearly doubled, the increased work was handled without serious delay 

 or loss of time. The statement on the next page shows the seeds 

 received, tested for vitality and purity, packeted, and mailed. 



