The Modern Alchemist 



789 



this crop is increasing. From 3,000 to 

 4,000 acres of the trees are being pre- 

 pared for planting in Florida alone. 



BREEDING VARIETIES THAT CAN RESIST 

 DISEASE 



The question of securing rust-resistant 

 varieties of asparagus has been given 

 special attention during the year. The 

 rust disease of asparagus is threatening 

 this industry in a number of sections and 

 the efforts being made are for the pur- 

 pose of securing t3'pes which will be re- 

 sistant or immune to the disease. 



Work in the breeding of wilt-resistant 

 melons was practically completed dur- 

 ing the year. The new wilt-resistant hy- 

 brid melon was grown on a commer- 

 cial scale during the past season and 

 easily held its own in the market with the 

 varieties of its class. It produced an ex- 

 cellent crop on land where ordinary 

 melons were destroyed by wilt. In con- 

 nection with the breeding of wilt-resist- 

 ant cotton, further tests have been carried 

 on with upland cottons. Some of these 

 upland wilt-resistant types have not only 

 proved valuable from the character of 

 their lint, but also from the quantity of 

 fiber produced. Considerable work has 

 also been carried on in the matter of 

 breeding alkali-resistant and drought-re- 

 sistant plants. This work has included 

 such crops as cereals, forage crops, 

 grasses, and sugar beets. 



NITROGEN BACTERIA AND SEED ADULTERA- 

 TION 



The distribution of bacteria for inocu- 

 lating various legumes has been contin- 

 ued during the past year with increasing 

 success. It has been found especially 

 important to carefully examine soil con- 

 ditions before inoculation, and a method 

 of doing this quickly in the laboratory 

 has been devised. Over 18,000 cultures 

 have been distributed during the year, 

 and, from the reports received to date, 

 they have been used with success in the 

 majority of cases. 



The work against seed adulteration has 

 been continued with gratifying results. 



x\side from the continued sale of Canada 

 bluegrass seed for Kentucky bluegrass 

 seed, fewer cases of adulteration have 

 been found than in former years. The 

 importation of low-grade red-clover seed 

 has continued, some lots containing over 

 8,000,000 weed seeds per bushel. 



THE TRUSTEE OF OUR FORESTS 



At the beginning of the fiscal year the 

 area of the national forests was less than 

 107,000,000 acres ; at its close, more than 

 150,000,000 acres. Nearly all the timber 

 land of the unap'-ropriated public domain 

 is now under actual administration by the 

 Forest Service. This means that it is 

 being protected against fire, theft, and 

 wasteful exploitation, that its power to 

 grow wood and store water is being safe- 

 guarded for all time, and that neverthe- 

 less its present supply of useful material 

 is open to immediate use wherever it is 

 wanted. 



The government is not a landlord 

 owner, but a trustee. Hence timber is 

 given away through free-use permits only 

 in small quantities to the actual home 

 maker, who comes to develop the coun- 

 try, and in larger quantities to communi- 

 ties for public purposes. Otherwise it is 

 sold to the highest bidder, but under such 

 restrictions as look to the maintenance 

 of a lasting supply answering lo the needs 

 of the locality, to be had without favorit- 

 ism and without extortionate demand 

 based upon the necessity of the consumer. 



The forests are already self-supporting, 

 though they have been under the control 

 of expert foresters less than three years. 

 The total expenditures of the Forest Serv- 

 ice for all purposes during the year was 

 $1,825,319.50 — considerably less than I 

 estimate that the receipts from the forests 

 will be during the present year. As yet, 

 however, from the standpoint of true 

 economy the expenditure for the protec- 

 tion and improvement of these forests is 

 far too low. 



France spends annually upon state for- 

 ests less than one-fiftieth the area of our 

 own over $2,500,000 and realizes $4,230,- 

 000 ; Prussia spends upon 7,000,000 acres 



