NATIONAL AID 



of what are called pedigreed seeds, tested seeds 

 whose whole life-history is known and re- 

 corded, and which are known to be capable of 

 producing increased yields, are now available. 

 The cooperative work in tea-raising in South 

 Carolina has resulted in the production of a 

 superior grade of tea, quite beyond the ordinary 

 commercial importation. The young tea-leaves 

 alone are selected for the best of the crop, and 

 the eight or ten thousand pounds now pro- 

 duced on the experimental farm in a season is 

 many times more valuable than the imported 

 grades. Demonstrations as to the value of 

 alfalfa as a forage crop, and that it can be 

 raised in almost every state in the Union ; plans 

 for the introduction of nitrogen -producing 

 bacteria for the restoration of worn-out soils ; 

 the solution of problems in cold storage of 

 fruits, as well as aid in the matter of better 

 methods of fruit marketing, these suggest 

 other related lines in which the Department 

 comes into close practical touch with the 

 people. 



The fact that nearly fifteen hundred new 



kinds of seeds and plants were introduced by 



* the Department during the year 1904, includ- 



359 



