Dec.  t,  1896.] 
THE  TROPICAL 
AGRICUL'rURIST. 
379 
YEAR  ROOK  OF  THE  UNITED  STATES 
AO RICU LT U R A L D E I’ A R'i'M  E N T. 
We  have  l)een  greatly  interested  in  looking 
over  “The  Year  Rook  of  the  United  States  De- 
partment of  Agricnlture,”  with  a copy  of  wliieh 
we  have  been  duly  favoured.  So  ninvli  ac- 
customed to  t!ie  siiread-cagleism  with  wliiv.h  so 
many  of  tiie  descriptive  and  semi-advertising 
agricultural  journals  is  conducted  in  that  progres- 
sive country,  it  is  refreshing  to  come  across  care- 
fully sifted  facts  and  ligures  showing  the  actual 
progress  in  that — when  all  deductions  are  made — 
really  grand,  ever  advancing  commonwealth.  This 
volume  of  60G  pages  comprises  only  a very  minute 
portion  of  the  annual  reports  or  government 
publications  of  tiie  year,  an  epitome  of  which  is 
given  in  the  api»endi^c  ; but  ir  contains  the  cream 
of  all  tlie  most  valuable  paj)ers  bearing  on  agri- 
culture, written  by  eminently  competent  men  ; 
reports  Irom  the  different  bureaus  and  divisions 
such  as,  in  the  oinnion  of  the  Secretary,  are 
specially  calculated  to  interest  and  instruct  the 
farmers  of  the  country  ; and  jjapers  from  e.Kpertsof 
the  agricultui’al  e.xperimental  stations,  discussing 
in  a popular  manner  the  results  of  investigations 
in  the  science  of  agriculture,  or  new  develop- 
ments in  farming  practice.  And  with  a view  to 
make  them  attractive  as  well  as  instructive  the.se 
pa])ers,  or  i-ather  essays,  are  enrbellished  with 
many  interesting  and  beautifnlly  executed  illustra- 
tions. “500,000  copies  of  this  book  have  been 
published  at  an  cxpeine  to  the  people,”  we  are 
told,  “of  -i^dOOjOOO.”  Of  the  contents  we  can  ouljf 
give  a few  samples,  sulliciently  indicating  the 
nature  of  the  advice  tendered  to  farmers  and 
planters  by  this  ])aternal  government Reasons 
for  cultivating  tlie  soil,  by  Milton  Whitney — The 
two  freezes  (180-1-5)  in  Florida,  and  what  they 
teach,  by  II.  J.  AVebber— Some  additions  to  our 
vegetable  dietary,  by  Frederick  V.  Coville— The 
pine-apple  industry — Principles  of  pruning —Small 
fruit  culture— Tree  planting  in  the  Western  Plains 
— Relation  of  forests  to  farms— The  shade  tree 
insect  problem— Principal  enemies  of  the  grape— 
Climate,  soil  characteristics,  and  irrigafion  methods 
of  California— Human  foods— Treatment  for  fun» 
gous  'diseases  of  plants— 200  weeds:  how  to  know 
them  and  how  to  kill  them — Statistics  of  prin- 
cijial  crops,  consumption  %^cr  capita  of  tea,  colfee, 
wine,  A’c. 
Amongst  the  numerous  plates  and  text  illustra- 
tions we  specially  note  : — The  main  building  of 
the  U.  y.  Dejiartment  of  Agriculture. — Coco- 
nutgrove  near  Palm  Reach,  Florida,  showing  ell'ects 
of  freeze. — Plan  of  irrigation  by  terraces,  mono- 
graohic  display  ot  southern  economic  timber  trees. 
An  oldorange grove  killed  down  by  cold,  Ac.,  Ac. 
We  at  length  get  at  the  truth  rcganliiig  the 
fearful  freeze  in  Florida,  disastrous  enough  in  all 
conscience,  and  ought  to  make  the  purely  tropi- 
cal planter  thankful  that  at  least  he  is  free 
from  some  of  the  evils  which  afllicc  his  sub- 
tropical brother.  Rut  we  have  no  desire  to  dwell 
on  this  calamity  which,  however,  may  not  be 
altogether  unprcventible  if  only  the  tactics 
adopted  by  the  wise  Incas  of  Peru  should  be  put 
in  practice.  These  were  simply  t-o  have  always 
in  readiness  heaps  of  damp  grass  with  which  to 
raise  asmoke  tlense  enougii  to  carry  off  the  fi  os  ts 
not  infrerpient', upon  the  high  plateau  of  the  Andess. 
Ry  this  simple  means  the  grand  old  Incas  pro- 
tected their  potato  lields  probably  for  centuries 
before  the  tuljer  was  known  in  Europe. 
In  his  paper  on  “ some  adiUtions  to  our  vege- 
table dietary  ” F.  V.  Coville,  Rotanist,  gives 
some  good  grandmotherly  advice  regarding  the 
virtues  of  certain  ))Ot  herbs  the  use  of  which 
he  says  “ both  in  the  form  of  salads  and  boiled 
green  vegetables  is  much  more  prevalent  in 
Europe  than  America,”  and  he  seems  to  attribute 
the  cada\  erous  look  of  many  of  his  countrymen  to 
the  lack  of  this  food,  or,  to  (piote  correctly,  “ to 
the  lack  of  this  kind  of  food  is  due  in  large 
part  the  reputation  of  Americans  as  a bilious 
race.”  There  are  more  bilious  races  however,  to 
whom  a study  of  this  paper  might  prove  proli- 
table,  the  persistent  beef-eating  Europeans  and 
Eurasians  to  wit.  “There  seems  little  doubt  in 
general,”  says  Mr.  Coville,  “ that  a wider  use  of 
green  vegetables  in  the  dietaries  of  most  of  our 
people,  particularly  those  with  healthy  digestion 
w'ould  be  a marked  benellt.”  Yet  when  he  goes 
on  to  enumerate  and  describe  t!ie  ditt’erent  pot 
herbs  he  recommends,  we  do  not  find  much 
that  is  new'  to  us.  Indeed,  with  the  single  ex- 
ception of  Nevj  Zealand  spinach  brought  home 
to  England  by  Captain  Cook,  there  is  not  a 
vegetable  mentioned  but  what  was  familiar  to 
Pliny  .sges  ago.  One  of  the  plants  men- 
tioneil,  the  Amaran,  is  commonly  used  by 
our  estate  coolies,  and  might  with  advantage 
be  added  to  the  dietary  ot  the  doray  ; 
while  another— the  doch — we  do  not  think  any 
European  could  stomach,  the  '•  docl'cn"  as  we 
know  it — is  one  of  the  most  U'.dess  and  objection- 
able of  weeds.  Not  even  an  a-!s  will  tackle  it, 
ami  the  good  farmer  is  always  bent  on  eradi- 
cating it.  The  late  Dr.  Alexan  rr  in  his  “Life 
among  Our  Ain  Folk,”  tells  us  of  an  excellent  old 
farmer  bub  very  w'icked  man  wdio  “ banned  all 
the  w'eek  and  delved  dockens  on  Sunday”!  Evi- 
dently, however,  the  rjcu'dcn  sorrel  is  meant— a 
near  relative  of  the  dock  but  not  possessing  much 
more  of  a nutritive  character. 
Another  early  acquaintance  recommended  for 
table  use  is  Caltha  palustris  and  though  here 
called  a ‘ cowslip  ’ is  none  other  than  the  common 
marsh  marigold  of  Rritain,  which  we  w'ere  always 
assured  by  our  grandmothers  had  certain  virtues 
but  we  never  thought  of  eating  it.  AYe  feel 
more  in  agreemc'it  wdtli  the  w'riter,  when  he 
speaks  of  daudeli<'ii  (Taraaxacuml,  which  wdiile 
extensively  cultivated  around  Paris  for  its  tender 
blanched  leaf  and  relished  in  many  of  the  colonies 
as  an  excellent  tonic,  it  has  never  been  sufiiciently 
appreciated  in  Rritain,  excei>b  by  rabbits. 
We  cannot  alford  space  to  dwell  longer  on 
this  paper,  and  would  now  turn  to  what  is  of  more 
universal  importance,  viz. : — 
'I'lll':  .ST.\TI,STICS  OF  THK  PKINCIFAI.  CUOP.S, 
Reginning  with  the  staff  of  life  the  quantity 
of  wheat  raised  in  1895,  was  467,103,009  bushels 
compare  Rritain's  38,348,000,  or  Australasia’s 
32,461,000  over  76,000,000  bushels  were  exported 
besides  1830,000,000  worth  of  flour  to  the  U,  K. 
Of  cattle  the  estimate  is  16,137,586  milch  cows, 
and  32,085,409  oxen. 
Rub  w'heat  is  by  no  means  the  inincipal  crop. 
There  were  more  than  twice  the  average  under 
corn,  in-oducing  2,151,138,580  bushels  value 
.8.544,985,534.  Oats  also  figure  at  824,443,537 
Im.shels,  and  barley  87.072,744— to  .say  nothing  of 
rye,  rice,  hay,  hojis,  cotton  and  fruits,  &c. 
The  canning  of  fruits  is  itself  a big  bu.siness, 
employing  50,881  hands,  the  wages  paid  during 
the  year  being  .85, '243, 707,  cost  of  materials  used 
818,665,163,  total  value  of  iiroduct  .829,862,416. 
AA'e  are  tohl  that  “The  capital  employed  in 
this  industry  was  only  8701,388  less  than  tliat  em. 
])loyed  in  the  creamery  and  cheese-factory  business, 
w'hile  the  value  of  the  products  exceeded  the 
