Xo. 4.] LT. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 189 



grinding of it. Two million l)ushels will be produced this 

 year. The department predicts that this wheat will ulti- 

 mately add $20,000,000 to the annual profits of wheat-grow- 

 ing in this country, and furnish a sure crop for a large 

 agricultural region subject to drought. 



New methods of harvesting and handling blue-grass seed 

 have been discovered, which will increase the value of the 

 blue-grass crop from 30 to 40 per cent. A new method 

 has also been demonstrated for securing pasturage of Ber- 

 muda grass, which will prove a partial solution of the 

 forage crop problem in the south. 



The Bureau has also turned its attention to the solution 

 of range improvement in the west. Many of the finest 

 ranges there have deteriorated, the causes for which have 

 been stated by the department. Extensive experiments 

 are now under way, shoAving how the ranges can be im- 

 proved and reclaimed. 



The Bureau is endeavoring to open up foreign fruit 

 markets. America can ^row the finest fruit in the world, 

 and, if it can be placed upon foreign markets in good con- 

 dition, there is an almost unlimited sale for it. In the past 

 year the department has been successful in placing peaches, 

 pears and other perishable fruits in European markets, with 

 a good profit to the producers. 



Another important industry that is being stimulated by 

 the department is tea growing. A new tea farm of 100 

 acres with a fully equipped factory has been developed. 

 One thousand acres of tea have been started on the rice 

 lands of Charleston, and the tea produced on this farm is 

 pronounced by experts to be equal to the best imported tea. 

 The cost of production is 15 cents per pound, and the yield 

 5,400 pounds per acre. The wholesale price is from 40 to 

 50 cents per pound, and the retail price from 75 cents 

 to II. 



The Bureau has been extending its work in the south 

 along the Gulf of Mexico, in an effort to improve the rice 

 culture. New varieties have been secured, and over $20,- 

 000,000 have been invested in the rice industry in the 

 region mentioned. The United States wall now produce 



