284 



NA TURE 



[Januaky 19, 1899 



produciiiin of cultivated plants, with special reference to diseases, 

 nutrition, and development of new and improved sorts by 

 breeding and selection. 



During the year valuable knowledge was obtained relative 

 to increasing the sugar and starch-producing power of plants, 

 and the eftect of soil foods on their growth and productiveness. 



The work of hybridrising the sweet orange with the hardy 

 trifoliate, with a view of obtaining a variety resistant to cold, 

 was pushed on, and about one hundred and fifty hybrids obtained. 

 In .iddition to this about one thousand hybrids of other citrus 

 plants were obtained. Considerable work was done in crossing 

 pineapples, and as a result two hundred and fifty-nine hybrid 

 seedlings were secured. These produced plants of great vigour, 

 and confirmed the belief that by this means there may be 

 produced fruits which will be larger, of better quality, better 

 shippers, and more resistant to blight. Similar work was 

 carried on with pears and with wheat and other crops. 



Bioi.ocii Ai, Slrvkv. 



With a view to determining Ihe areas best adapted for 

 various crops, the Biological Survey has been engaged for 

 several years in collecting data for mapping the natural life 

 zones of the United States. A detailed study of the distribution 

 of the native animals and plants has been made in the belief 

 that areas inhabited by indigenous species coincide with 

 those most suitable for certain varieties of fruit and cereals and 

 for breeds of domesticated animals. This investigation has now 

 progressed far enough to permit the publication during the past 

 year of a revised map of the life zones of the United States and 

 two reports containing the results of more general interest to 

 farmers and horticulturists. 



One of these reports comprised a description of the life zones 

 and crop zones of the United States, with lists of the more 

 important varieties of fruits and grains adapted to each area ; 

 the other, an investigation of the geographic distribution of some 

 of the more important cereals. 



The Biological Survey is often called upon to determine the 

 value of birds and animals to practical agriculture. A careful 

 study is made of the food of useful and injurious birds and 

 mammals, and thousands of stomachs of birds are examined in 

 the laboratory. Two thousand three hundred and twenty-nine 

 stomachs, mainly of sparrows, swallows and woodpeckers, 

 were examined during the year. A report has been published 

 on the' native cuckoos and shrikes (sec p. 61), and reports on 

 flycatchers and native sparrows are in preparation. Several of 

 the latter birds feed largely on weed seed during the winter, 

 and it is a matter of no little interest to determine how far they 

 can aid the farmer in checking the increase of noxious weeds. 

 The importance of this work is emphasised by the increasing 

 demand made on the Department for information and public- 

 ations on birds, in consequence of the recent widespread popular 

 interest in ornithology. 



F"ORESTRV. 



At the end of the fiscal year the creation of the New York 

 State College of Forestry and the election of Mr. B. E. Fernow 

 to the directorship created a vacancy in the position of Chief of 

 the Division, which .Mr. Fernow held for twelve years, and 

 Mr. Gifford I'inchot, of New York, was appointed his suc- 

 cessor. 



One of Ihe most useful lines of work has been an investigation 

 of the forest conditions of the Slate of Wisconsin, in co-operation 

 with the Slate (ieological Survey (see p. 82). 



The accumulated data of the investigations in timber physics 

 has been worked out in part and yielded some most important 

 results, among which the law that the strength of a beam at the 

 elastic limit, is equal to the compression strength of the material, 

 which was established by the tests of the Division, will influence 

 the practice in the use of wood for construction most ad- 

 vantageously. 



AOROSIOI.OGY. 



Through the efforts of this Division the needs of the several 

 sections of the United Slates are being determined, and Ihe 

 forage problems which they have to meet are being found. The 

 work leads lo a belter knowledge of the distribution and value 

 of the native grasses and forage plants, as well as the peculiar 

 conditions of soil and climate best suited to their growth. .More 

 than 500 varieties of grasses and forage plants valued for forage 

 have been grown in the grass garden on the grounds of the 

 Department during the past season. 



NO. 1525. VOL. 59] 



Over 5000 specimens of American grasses have been 

 identified during the year, and nearly 3000 sheets of herbarium 

 specimens mounted and added to the National Herbarium. The 

 grass collection now in the Department numbers over 30,000 

 sheets. 



Soils. 



Records have been continued of the moisture content of some 

 of the principal soil areas in the country with the electrical 

 method of moisture determination. As the soil is the immediate 

 source of the water supply of plants, this record becomes an 

 essential part of climatology, and it seems probable that this 

 work of the Division of .Soils, in connection with the present 

 work of the Weather Bureau and of the Division of Statistics, 

 will develop a distinctively new line of agricultural climatoh^y. 

 This work is closely related to the work of the Weather Bureau, 

 but is supplementary to it. It includes the record of evapora- 

 tion to which Ihe plant is subjected, the water supply main- 

 tained by the soil for supplying the loss due to this evaporation, 

 and Ihe intensity of the actinic and heat radiations which 

 influence the physiological activities of the plant. Numerical 

 values can be given to the evaporation and to the soil-moisture 

 conditions, so that it is possible to express numerically the 

 relative conditions of plant growth from day to day so far as 

 these two important factors of evaporation and water supply 

 are concerned. This will add greatly to the practical value of 

 our knowledge of climatology. 



Among the most important lines of work which the Depart- 

 ment can take up for Ihe tobacco grower is the study of the 

 diseases in the tobacco bed and the comparatively few diseases 

 in the field, and particularly the study of curing and fermen- 

 tation. A large amount of research work has been done, par- 

 ticularly in Germany, in Ihe fermentation of tobacco, but very 

 little is yet known of the changes which go (jn in the process or 

 regarding the specific agents which bring about these changes. 

 So much information and practical benefit have been derived 

 from a study of butter and cheese, in the control of the ferments 

 and bacteria which produce Ihe texture and flavour of the 

 product, that it is very desirable that .similar knowledge in the 

 curing and fermentation of tobacco, and similar control of the 

 finished product, should be secured. This work will require 

 very careful study of the changes in the fermentation pile in 

 the different tobacco districts. 



If American tobacco growers are to attempt to raise a product 

 equal to that of Cuba and .Sumatra, and if this is to be done not 

 by chance, but through s)'slemalic, scientific investigations, 

 then the soils and other conditions of growth must be thoroughly 

 understood, and the fermentation changes carefully worked out 

 in Cuba and Sumatra. It is necessary, therefore, that a soil 

 expert and a bacteriologist extend their work to these foreign 

 countries. 



Botany. 



The Division of Botany is at work to reduce the importations 

 into the United .States of the little things thai have been costing 

 the Americans 8,000,000 dollars annually Western States are 

 now growing chicory. In 1896 16,317,888 pounds were im- 

 ported, in 1898 only 315,707 pounds of raw chicory were im- 

 ported. The farmers ol Michigan, Nebraska, and other States 

 will now furnish Ihe supply. Ginseng is also a promising plant 

 for cultivation. The Division of Botany will make tests to pro- 

 tect farmers and merchants against foul and fraudulently im- 

 ported seeds, and test the importations of the Department before 

 distribution. 



The distribution 01 young plants to various parts 01 the 

 country was continued during the year, reaching a total of 

 nearly 190,000, including bulbs. Among these were olive, fig, 

 and camphor plants and cuttings. Attention is called to the 

 fact that the growing of rubber plants, even in the most favour- 

 able localities of p'lorida, can hardly be commercially successful. 



Exi'KRiMKNT Stations. 



The annual grant of 720,000 dollars for the agricultural ex- 

 periment stations is supplemented by 400,000 dollars from the 

 Stales. Almut four hundred reports and bulletins were issued 

 by the stations in 1897, which were directly distributed to over 

 half a million addresses. 



The need and value of scienlific researches on behalf of 

 agriculture are now very clearly undersicod, and the number 

 and importance of institutions organised for this work are con- 

 stantly increasing in all parts of Ihe world. Nowhere has so 



