

NO ----- 



William Stuart, 



NATIONAL COUNCIL OF HORTICULlREw 101 



varieties, very distinct from the Smooth Cayenne, which was t 

 smooth-leaved variety cultivated when the experiments began. 



In the breeding work on sweet corn the object has been to secure 

 improved strains for canning purposes. In certain localities it has 

 been demonstrated that an excellent quality of sweet corn seed can 

 be grown and that, with good care, it will germinate much better and 

 produce better than seed obtained from other localities. The breeding 

 work with lettuce is conducted in connection with other intensive hor- 

 ticultural work, and many promising hybrids have been secured. This 

 work, in which I have been personally interested, has been conducted 

 during the past three or four years by Mr. George W. Oliver, who 

 has succeeded admirably in crossing lettuces something, so far as I 

 know, never attempted before. We have worked largely with lettuces 

 for growing under glass. Our aim has been to secure types better 

 adapted to the needs of the eastern United States and the middle west. 

 Some work has been done in the improvement of potatoes, the breed- 

 ing of rust-resistant asparagus, and the production of a wilt-resistant 

 watermelon. These lines, however, are conducted incidentally to other 

 work and do not call for extended comment. 



TROPICAL AND SEMI-TROPICAL WORK, INCLUDING THE TESTING, PROPAGATION, 



AND DISSEMINATION OF SEEDS AND PLANTS ADAPTED TO 



TROPICAL LATITUDES. 



For some years the Department has devoted considerable atten- 

 tion to tropical and subtropical horticulture, and we now have two sta- 

 tions located in the southernmost portions of the United States. The 

 older of these gardens is located at Miami, Fla., the other having only 

 recently been established on the Fort Brown Military Reservation at 

 Brownsville, Tex. At our Miami gardens we are conducting many 

 lines of work in plant improvement, propagation, acclimatization, etc. 

 Attention is here being given to the propagation of the mango, avocado, 

 guava, and other tropical fruits, as well as of new varieties of seeds 

 and plants secured by exploration in foreign countries. Much atten- 

 tion is also being given to the propagation of citrus fruits. Frequent 

 distributions of seeds and plants for trial are made from the Miami 

 gardens. 



At our Brownsville garden we propose to ascertain the possibili- 

 ties of south Texas in subtropical horticulture, and work is already 

 under way in the growing of citrus fruits, grapes, the date palm, etc. 



Some work on tropical fruits and vegetables is also being con- 

 ducted in connection with other lines of work. Especially is this true 

 in relation to our foreign exploration work, the many new varieties 

 which are secured being sent to the subtropical gardens for trial. 



GENERAL HORTICULTURAL INVESTIGATIONS IN CONNECTION WITH FARM 

 MANAGEMENT WORK. 



In connection with its Farm Management Investigations the 

 Bureau of Plant Industry is making detailed investigations of the 



