1906.] New Crops in the United States. 



In other States excursions have been run to bring farmers, to 

 the college and station, in order that they might see for thern- 

 selves what was being done, and have the aims and applications 

 of the experiments pointed out to them. In North Dakota, for 

 example, these annual excursions have been a feature for several 

 years past. In the morning the party is conducted round the 

 .fields, stables, and dairy, and in the afternoon a meeting is held 

 in the assembly hall, where questions are answered and short 

 addresses given on subjects of interest. 



It is obviously impossible to estimate the effect of all the 

 experimental work which has been carried out during the past 

 twenty years, but there seem to be a number of instances in 

 which its influence can be definitely traced. This is particularly 

 the case in the introduction and distribution of new crops and 

 new varieties, such as kafir corn, durum wheats, numerous 

 kinds of other cereal and forage crops, and sugar beet, A 

 number of these introduced crops are regularly grown in many 

 States, and a large number of the new varieties have now 

 become m.ore popular than the common sorts. The " Year-Book 

 of the Department of Agriculture " contains an interesting article 

 by Mr. G. J. Schulte, of the Office of Experiment Stations, in 

 which he endeavours to trace the influence of experiment station 

 work on the culture of field crops. The extension of the culti- 

 vation of new varieties affords naturally the most striking and 

 obvious examples, but numerous changes in methods of culti- 

 vation which have taken place in the last fifteen or twenty years 

 seem largely attributable to the teaching and practical work of 

 the experiment stations. 



The vast areas of land open to cultivation in the United 

 States as well as the varieties of climate and soil, have naturally 

 encouraged the introduction of new crops, 

 New ^^P^ and even as early as 1839 a sum of about 

 United States. ^^oo was voted by Congress for the 

 purchase of seeds of new and rare 

 varieties of plants, and from this time seeds continued to 

 be distributed annually. Between the years 1839 and 1880 a 

 number of important new crops were introduced, but the distri- 

 bution of seeds, especially after 1880, was chiefly confined to 



