Evening Republican, Volume 19, Number 27, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 1 February 1915 — Progress In Plant Investigations [ARTICLE]

Progress In Plant Investigations

Satisfactory progress in the standardisation of grain has been made in the past year, according to the annual report of the Bureau of Plant Industry of the Department of Agriculture. Tentative grades for corn were first published by the department in August of 1913. The various states and commercial organizations which have independent grain-inspection departments have either adopted these grades, or declared their intention of so doing. Their gr§at virtue is that they will enable the shipper to ascertain for himself what grade- his corn will receive at the inspection point, and at the same time permit the buyer to discover whether or not he has received the grade he ordered. Hitherto all corn delivered at country stations has been bought at practically the same price regardless of its water content or soundness. For other grains commercial grades will be fixed as soon as possible and the work will be pressed vigorously, especially in the case of wheat. Preparation of official cotton grades has also been continued and good progress made. Spinning tests of the official grades have also been carried out In the course of the year the bureau has also carried on considerable work in the investigation of a number of wild sorghums scattered over Africa. The seed of these has been obtained and it seems probable that some of these varieties will be better adapted to the humid conditions of the Southern States than Sudan grass, which is now regarded as the most important hay crop in semi-arid regions. Of the new varieties, the 'most striking at present is feterita. Other work of particular Importance to the South has been the distribution of pure varieties of wheat, oats and barley adapted to this region. A marked increase in Interest in winter cereals'* in.the South has been noted in the course of the year and has been encouraged in every possible way. Of particular importance, however, is the establishment of the fact that a new cotton industry can be developed in the southwestern states beyond vhat have hitherto been considered the limits of the cotton belt. The dry climate affords protection against the boll weevil and allows the cotton to be sent to market in better condition. These advantages, it is thought, will compensate for the higher cost of labor and transportation. Other cotton investigations have dealt with the growing of long-staple cotton of the Egyptian type, with the advantages of late thinning of cotton, and wtih singlestalk culture, which is adapted especially to regions infested by the boll weevil. By aiding in forming credit associations to provide the necessary capital, the bureau has also encouraged the production of live stock in regions which are well adapted for forage crops. These crops are too bulky to be transported profitably over long distances, but they can very advantageously be turned into live stock. For this purpose, alfalfa is particularly well adapted. In this connection it is noted that in the South and Southwest, Peruvian alfalfa is becoming more and more poular. This variety has shown more disease resistance than the common alfalfa. Another series of investigations in New York and Pennsylvania has demonetrated that both the yield and the quality of the tobacco crop can be improved by the use of potash and phosphoric acid as a supplement to bam manure. In the dark-tobacco district of Kentucky and Tennessee it has also been found that it can be much more profitable by the liberal use of phosphates. In another division of the bureau’s work much progress has been made in improving the methods of transporting and storing such products as grapes, oranges, fresh figs, pineapples and! lettuce. The result of these investigations should be to put these products on the market in much better condition than hitherto; and by doing away with a large percentage of the waste hitherto considered inevitable, making the industries more profitable than before. In its investigations of various plant diseases, the bureau has found a practical method of controlling apple powdery mildew by pruning and spraying. It has also studied the peach leaf curl. Which is a serious source of loss; the possibility of preventing cranberry diseases, the citrus canker and sugar beet and sweet potato diseases. Successful methods of controlling the latter have already been demonstrated to growers, and a bulletin on the subject Issued. Promising methods of overcoming the potato powdery scab have also been developed. This disease, while confined to Maine and a small portion of New York, appears to be more virulent in this country than abroad. Progress in the development of a variety of cotton suitable to boll weevil conditions has also been encouraging.