THE DIVERSIFIED FARM. 



A TRAVELER'S GIFT TO THE FAR- 

 MERS OF AMERICA. 



One of the most remarkable collections 

 of rare economic plants and seeds is now 

 being worked up by the department of 

 agriculture. Mr. Barbour Lathrop of 

 Chicago, with Mr. David G. Fairchild as 

 assistant recently completed a tour of the 

 world, covering a period of two years and 

 embracing travels which amounted to ex- 

 plorations. Mr. Lathrop has given the 

 results of the expedition, undertaken at 

 his own expense, to the farmers of the 

 United States through the medium of the 

 section of seed and plant introduction of 

 the department of agriculture. 



The expedition left New York Dec. 31st 

 1898, and returned last fall, having visited 

 in order the following countries and sent 

 in from each, living economic plants and 

 seeds for cultivation by American farmers 

 and horticulturists: Jamaica, Grenada, 

 Barbadoes, Trinidad, in the West Indies; 

 Venezuela, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, 

 Chili, Argentine, Brazil in South Amer- 

 ica; Portugal, Tyrol and Bohemia in 

 Austro-Hungary, Italy, Egypt, Amboina, 

 Banda, Lombok Bali, Moluccas, Aru and 

 Kei Islands, Tenimber archipelago and 

 New Guinea in the Dutch East Indies; 

 Hong Kong, Canton in South China; the 

 Philippine Islands; Bankok, Siam; and 

 ^Sweden and Finland in northern Europe. 

 Many thousands of dollars have been 

 spent by Mr. Lathrop upon this expedi- 

 tion and he has put into it some of the 

 best thought of a practical man who is 

 alive to the general wants of his country- 

 men. He is not an agriculturist and en- 

 trusted the technical part of the work to 



his assistant, Mr. Fairchild, who was de- 

 tailed by Secretary Wilson from his posi- 

 tion as chief of the section of seeds and 

 plant introduction. The dangers of such 

 a trip into malarial-infested regions will be 

 evident to old travelers, and is a matter of 

 deep regret to Mr. Lathrop's friends that 

 the Caracas fever so seriously affected his 

 health that two visits to Carlsbad were 

 necessary, while the botanist of the 

 expedition was laid up with malaria in the 

 Moluccas and with typhoid in Stam and 

 Ceylon. Notwithstanding these serious 

 drawbacks the expedition has been brought 

 to a successful conclusion and the farmers 

 of this country should be made acquainted 

 with this valuable gift which Mr. Lathrop 

 has patriotically but modestly made to his 

 country. 



The trip was primarily planned to be 

 one of reconnaisance. The object in the 

 first place was to find out what each 

 country offered in inducements for ex- 

 ploration work, how it should be entered 

 and studied, whom of its inhabitants could 

 be relied upon as correspondents and what 

 would be the probable expense of an ex- 

 haustive study from the standpoint of 

 plant introduction. This object has been 

 attained and is embodied in a mass of 

 notes and piles of publications and note 

 books. 



The secondary aim of the expedition 

 was to purchase and import for trial such 

 promising seeds and plants as were suited 

 for culture in various parts of the United 

 States. The material thus purchased has 

 not all come in yet but the maiu part has 

 been distributed or will shortly be sent 

 out by the department to the various ex- 



