TBE PINES AND THEIR COMPARATIVE VALUE IN MINNESOTA. 259 



The Chairman : It might be of interest to know that I was 

 down in Nebraska and saw what the government is doing there 

 in the sand hills. I am in close touch with Mr. Scott and with 

 Mr. Mast, and Mr. Mast informed me that he had gathered some 

 1,100 pounds of pine seed in New Mexico which they are plant- 

 ing out there, as well as some pinon pine and jack pine. At our 

 station one of our students has 150 bushels of jack pine seed that 

 will be planted in Nebraska. 



A PLANT-INTRODUCTION GARDEN. 



The United States Department of Agriculture has decided to 

 establish a "Plant Introduction Garden" and Experiment Station 

 at Chico, California. Contracts for the necessary land have been 

 closed, and work has been begun on what will undoubtedly be the 

 greatest institution of its kind in America and, perhaps, in the world. 

 A beginning will be made with ninety acres, but it is the intention 

 of the department to extend the area as the needs of the institution 

 require. The garden will be devoted to experimental culture of the 

 plants introduced from various parts of the world and to a careful 

 study of plant life. 



Such an institution has long been contemplated by the Agri- 

 cultural Department. California was selected for its location on ac- 

 count of climatic conditions which admit of the culture of tender 

 plants from the tropics and of northern products as well. The ideal 

 location for such an institution is that which admits of the success- 

 ful cultivation of the widest possible range of products, and the com- 

 mittee entrusted with the duty of selecting the site believe they have 

 found it at Chico. 



This committee was composed of Prof. P. H. Dorsett, Govern- 

 ment Expert, who will have charge of the institution, and Prof. A. 

 V. Stubenrauch of the University of California, acting with Dr. A. J. 

 Pieters, head of the division for seed and plant distribution. Messrs. 

 Dorsett and Stubenrauch spent months in making a careful study 

 of conditions affecting plant life in various portions of the state, 

 visiting and carefully inspecting each locality likely to prove avail- 

 able. The decision in favor of Chico was reached some time ago, 

 but the site selected could not be secured, and another tract had to 

 be chosen, which has now been done and the purchase consummated. 



Chico is situated near the eastern border of the great Sacramento 

 Valley, seventy-five miles north of Sacramento, the state capitol, and 

 was the most northerly point considered by the committee. Climatic 

 conditions in California are affected but little if at all by conditions 

 of latitude, the orange, the lemon and the olive being staple products 

 of a district that measures fully five hundred miles north and south. 



Rich Soil for Flowers. — In the fall dig up a large box of loose, mellow 

 dirt, and mix with it about a gallon of dry, powdery, henhouse droppings. Pu 

 this away in a dry place and when ready to start flower seeds or to set out some 

 house plants, you have some extra high-grade dirt. 



