REPORT ON THE INTRODUCTION AND DISTRIBUTION OF 

 SEEDS AND PLANTS BY THE BUREAU OF AORICUXTURE. 





INTRODUCTION. 



In the preliminary efforts of this Division to introduce improved varie- 

 ties of economic plants into the Philippines, serious obstacles have been 

 encountered owing to the difficulty of obtaining reliable data as to what 

 has been accomplished by the Spaniards. Many excellent papers are 

 extant showing that through private channels and official sources the 

 economic flora of the Islands has been enriched by exotic species from the 

 tropical regions of two hemispheres,, but there seems never to have been 

 any concert of action between the authorities nor any effort to record 

 these introductions or tabulate the results. As a consequence we have had 

 to grope and feel our way and have doubtless duplicated much elemen- 

 tary investigation that could have been avoided had the Bureau of Agri- 

 culture fallen heir to any systematic records of its predecessor's labors. 

 Still another obstacle to success has been found in the widely varying 

 physical conditions prevailing in different parts of the Archipelago, and 

 the difficulty in securing in any one region, where these conditions are 

 approximately alike, a sufficient number of experienced collaborators from 

 whose reports we feel justified at this time in drawing conclusions. 



Distribution of field, forage, and vegetable seeds has been made to all 

 of the provinces in the Archipelago, and a very manifest interest in the 

 acquisition of improved varieties developed over a large extent of 

 territory. 



The economic products of temperate regions previously introduced into 

 these Islands were chiefly from seeds grown in subtropical countries, and 

 until importations were made by this Bureau little or nothing was known 

 of the behavior of plants developed from seeds grown in northern 

 latitudes. 



The experiments so far conducted have already demonstrated that 

 many garden vegetables of northern origin may be grown to great perfec- 

 tion in these Islands, but the sine qua non of success lies in accelerating 

 their earliest possible development by the unstinted use of water, manure, 

 and constant tillage. With these resources necessary to promote early 

 maturity at hand, there is no serious obstacle to the successful commer- 

 cial cultivation of very many garden crops of colder climates. 

 . Some, attention has been devoted to exploiting the excellence of our 

 native fruits and vegetables. The facility with which they may be grown, 



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