June 19, 1908] 



SCIENCE 



961 



all the requirements of convenience and free- 

 dom from contamination. 



A. F. Blakeslee 

 Connecticut Ageicultukal College, 

 Stobes, Conn. 



BOTANICAL NOTES 

 SANE AND SCIENTIFIC FREE-SEED DISTRIBUTION 



In these days when we hear so much in 

 very proper denunciation of the continuation 

 of the congressional free-seed distribution 

 which the United States Department of Agri- 

 culture is annually compelled to make, it is 

 well to call attention to some work now quietly 

 carried on by the Bureau of Plant Indiistry 

 which is not only not open to such criticism, 

 but, on the contrary, very much to be com- 

 mended. Through inquiries made by a repre- 

 sentative of Science the following authorita- 

 tive statements have been elicited, and are 

 here published in order to show the nature 

 and scope of a legitimate seed and plant dis- 

 tribution, in contrast with the annual farce 

 which is enacted at the imperious command 

 of a majority of the congressmen. It is due 

 the department to say that in these statements 

 only a few of the lines of work conducted 

 under the appropriations for " the purchase 

 and distribution of valuable seeds " are men- 

 tioned. 



FORAGE CROP WORK 



Iniroduction and Extension of Alfalfa. — 

 This work includes the extension of the pres- 

 ent range of alfalfa culture in the east and 

 the introduction of new varieties in the west. 

 Special attention is being given to the de- 

 velopment of varieties which will resist cold 

 and drought, as well as varieties which will 

 give greater yields than those ordinarily 

 grown. Arabian alfalfa, secured by explora- 

 tion in 1905, has proved to be by far the 

 heaviest yielder in the southwest. Twelve 

 cuttings were obtained at Mecca, Cal., during 

 the past year as compared with eight cuttings 

 of ordinary alfalfa. This is the most remark- 

 able alfalfa yet found for rapidity of growth. 



Propaganda Worh with New and Standard 

 Grasses. — This work has for its objects the 

 wider utilization of the standard grasses and 



the introduction and extension of the culture 

 of new and improved varieties. Experiments 

 with improved varieties of timothy, with 

 meadow and pasture mixtures, and with sev- 

 eral new grasses, such as Para grass, Guinea 

 grass, and Natal grass, are being made. Dur- 

 ing the past year seed has been distributed 

 of the two improved timothies developed by 

 Dr. A. D. Hopkins, both of which possess 

 very superior merit. One of these ripens with 

 red clover and the other is a large yielder. 



Cowpea Investigations.- — The chief object of 

 this work is to secure cheaper and better 

 cowpea seed, so as to bring about a great in- 

 crease in covTpea culture. The need is for 

 good varieties producing small, hard seeds 

 that will not crack and that ' retain their 

 vitality for more than one year. The cowpea 

 is to the south what clover is to the north, 

 and the lessening of the cost of the seed and 

 the improvement of varieties are important 

 problems. Much attention is being given to 

 the study and development of harvesting ma- 

 chinery. 



Worh vnth Vetches in, the South. — This 

 work consists of the introduction and en- 

 couragement of the growing of vetches 

 throughout the south. The vetch is an ex- 

 ceedingly important plant and its much wider 

 use is greatly to be desired. The development 

 of varieties that will mature in time for cot- 

 ton-planting, and the distribution of seed of 

 desirable varieties are features of the work. 

 About sixty varieties and species of vetch 

 have been tested for two years. One of 

 these, Vicia dasycarpa, is of especial promise, 

 resembling hairy vetch, but being so early 

 that it can be used as a winter crop in rota- 

 tion with cotton. Seed is being grown in 

 quantity. Extensive cooperative experiments 

 with farmers, especially in the south, with 

 common vetch and hairy vetch have been 

 conducted during the past two years, result- 

 ing in great interest in the crop and a greatly 

 increased culture. This work is being con- 

 tinued. 



Tests of New Forage Crops. — Among the 

 new forage plants under test are the Tangier 

 pea and guar, an East Indian forage plant. 



