GENERAL FARM PROGRAM 1011 



Industry, U. S. Department of Agriculture, arranged with Wilcox to 

 ship a large quantity of tung nuts to this country. Here is how 

 Concannon reported the incident in his 1982 bulletin: 



The larger shipment of seed was received by the Bureau of Plant Industry in 



1905 and was planted prnicipally at the plant introduction garden of the Division 

 of Foreign Plant Introduction at Chico, Calif. A large number of seedling trees 

 resulted. When the trees were 1 year old they were shipped to State experiment 

 stations, city parks, and cemeteries, and to private individuals throughout the 

 milder parts of the coinitry for test plantings. Fairly large numbers of trees were 

 set out in Alabama, at Fairhope, Robertsdale and Batesville: in California, at 

 Riverside, Pasadena, and Los Angeles; in Florida, at Tallahassee, Mcintosh, 

 Lutz, St. Petersburg, and Gainesville; in Georgia, at Augusta, Cairo, Thomasville, 

 La Grange, and Donaldsonville; in Louisiana, at Pineville, Abbeville, Alexandria, 

 and Bolivar; in IVIississippi, at Biloxi, Landon, and Lucedale; in South Carolina, 

 at Bennettsville; and in Texas, near Houston; while single trees were planted in a 

 number of other areas. 



(Note. — The seedlings, obviously because of climatic conditions, failed to thrive 

 in California and South Carolina for there are no commercial plantings in these 

 States and only small plantings in Georgia and Texas. The lung-growing area 

 may be said to be bounded by the shores of the Gulf of Mexico from a point 

 opposite Ocala, Fla., to Beaumont, Tex., and ranging to an imaginary line about 

 100 miles inland.) 



Continuing, Concannon reports: 



It seems strange to relate that the life of this promising new industry was really 

 begun in a Florida cemetery. Five of the first seedlings cultivate by Dr. Fair- 

 child at Chico, Cali^. , were dispatched to the superintendent of a cemetery at 

 Tallahassee, Fla., and were planted but given little attention. In the autumn of 



1906 William H. Raynes of that city became interested in the neglected plants 

 and was given permission to transplant them. Only one of the five trees survived, 

 but that tree, still standing, serves as a monument to early pioneering efforts to 

 establish the culture of the tung tree in the United States as an important early 

 source of seed for subsequent plantings, but in 1913 furnished a sufficient crop ta 

 make possible the first trial expression of tung oil in the L^nited States. This 

 experiment, conducted by a representative of the Paint ^Manufacturers Association 

 of the United States, yielded 2.2 gallons of oil from the bushel of whole fruits 

 submitted. 



From this small beginning an industry has developed which has 

 spread over 6 Southern States, reclaimed more than 275,000 acres of 

 cut-ov^er pineland planted to more than 14,000,000 trees, operates 12 

 modern crushing mills, produces thousands of tors of superior tung oil 

 annually, provides income and employment to 15,000 persons, and is 

 valued at more than $37,000,000. 



WHO ENCOURAGED THE TUNG INDUSTRY? 



It is a remarkable fact, indeed, that t.he same forces which have 

 been encouraging t.iie growth and expansion of the American tung 

 industry over a long period of years now slam the door in the face of 

 the industry when it is in its direst need of aid. 



From the very inception of tung in the United States, almost half 

 a century ago, the United States Department of Agriculture has taken 

 a leading part in helping to establish the industry in this country. 

 It was a Department of Agriculture horticulturist who planted the 

 first tung seeds, smuggled into the United States from China, in a 

 Department of Agricultui'e experimental station in California back in 

 1905. For the past 10 years this same United States Department of 

 Agricultin-e has m.aintained and operated eight laboratories and field 

 stations in the Tun^ Belt dedicated solelv to instructing growers how 

 to plant and cultivate the tung trees, how to enhance its yield, and 



