H w**r * At**' .^<*^ -t"*^ ■ V ^ ^ p* tw *?•■" <' «V* -# '^ ' " <*wl\* ^■> ^ . \ J*. * '-^b> •»* TO£ &*? I * VK;' .t k* , Hi V llfSH ■ i .**- .^__ ^.QMilA^ U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE, BUREAU OF PLANT INDUSTRY, B. T. GALLO'.VAY, Chief of Bureau. BULLETINS OF THE BUREAU OF PLANT INDUSTRY NOS. 173 TO 183, INCLUSIVE, 1910. V O L U M E XXIII. ■ WASHINGTON: GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE. 1910. u / CONTENTS Bulletin No. 173. — Seasonal Nitrification as Influenced by Crops and Tillage. Page Introduction "i Description of the soil in which the experiments were conducted S Field history of the plats 9 Methods of making determinations 9 Discussion of results of determinations 12 Nitrates in the fallow plat 12 Nitrates in the spring-wheat plat 14 Comparison of nitrates in fallow, spring-wheat, and corn plats__ 16 Withdrawal of nitrates by corn roots 17 Relation of nitrification to field factors 18 The disappearance of nitrates 21 Denitrification 22 Seasonal variations in nitrification 23 Change of water-soluble nitrates to albuminoid nitrogen 25 Relation of nitrification to summer fallow 26 Summary 27 Index 29 Bulletin No. 174. — The Control of Peach Brown-Rot and Scab. Introduction 7 Teach brown-rot S History of the disease S Economic importance of the disease 9 Nature of the disease and the fungus causing it 11 Influence of the weather 12 Influence of insects 13 Peach scab ' 13 Character of the disease 13 Economic importance of the disease 14 spraying for the control of peach brown-rot and scab in 1909 14 Preparation of self-boiled lime-sulphur mixture 15 Self-boiled lime-sulphur treatment and results 16 Commercial results 17 Self-boiled lime-sulphur and arsenate <>f lead in combination IS Commercial results 19 Marketing test 20 Cost of the treatment 21 Danger of injury to the fruit and foliage 22 Danger of staining the fruit 22 Results obtained by growers in commercial orchards 23 3 4 BULLETINS OF THE BUREAU OF PLANT I X lil'STK V. Bulletin No. 174.- Tin: Control of Peach Brown-Rot and Scab Continued. vn-^r. Course of treatment recommended 24 Brown-rot, scab, and curculio treatment--. 25 Brown-ro1 and scab treatment , 26 Scab treatment 26 Application of the spraying mixtures 26 Description of plates . 28 Index 29 Bulletin No. 175. — The ILstoky and Distribution of Sorghum. Introduction 7 Key to the principal groups of sorghum s Agricultural history and distribution of sorghum 8 Origin 8 Antiquity 10 Geographical distribution 11 South Africa 13 Natal 13 Orange River Colony ! 14 Transvaal and Rhodesia 15 Madagascar If. Equatorial Africa : 1G German and British Last Africa It; Sudan L6 French Sudan 16 Upper Guinea 17 British-Egyptian Sudan 17 Abyssinia 17 North Africa 18 Egypt 19 Barbary States 19 Southwest Asia 20 India 21 China 23 Pacific islands-- ^ 25 Europe 26 South America 31 West Indies and Central America 31 United States 32 Canada - 35 Botanical history and nomenclature of sorghum ■ '•■'> Pre-Linnean period, first century to the year 1753 35 Origin of popular names 35 Early authors and early names 36 Sixteenth century writers 37 Seventeenth century writers 39 Eighteenth century writers 11 Linnean period, 1753 to 1850 41 The species of Linne and Porskal 41 The species of Arduino 42 Numerous species of later authors 11 Recent period, 1850 to the present time : 45 Beginnings of classification In CONTENTS. 5 Bulletin No. 175.— The History and Distribution of Sorghum — Con- tinued. Page. Summary 4S Agricultural history and distribution 48 Botanical history and classification 49 Bibliography 51 Index 55 Bulletin No. 17<;. — Seeds and Plants Imported during the Period from July 1 to September 30, 1909 : Inventory No. 20 ; Nos. 25718 to 26047. Introductory statement 7 Inventory 9 Publication of new names 31 Index of common and scientific names 33 Bulletin No. 177. — A Protected Stock Range in Arizona. Introduction 7 Early history of the inclosed area ± 7 History of the area since 1903 8 Surface covering 9 Conditions inside and outside of the fenced area 10 Natural reseeding 11 Artificial reseeding 12 Temporary changes in vegetation 14 Permanent changes in vegetation 15 Peculiarities of the feed 17 Weeds 17 Yield of vegetation 19 Carrying capacity 21 Increase of shrubs 21 Summary 24 Index 25 Bulletin No. 178. — Improvement of the Wheat Crop in California. Introduction 7 Common methods of cultivation unsatisfactory 8 Original methods of cultivation 8 Changes from original methods 8 Bad results of past and present methods 9 Soil low in humus and nitrates 9 Soil foul with weeds 10 Requirements for the production of profitable crops 10 Smaller farms and personal supervision by owners 10 Improved methods 11 Deep plowing 11 Addition of humus and nitrogen to the soil 12 Crops to be used as green manure 13 Time and method of handling 13 Effect of deep plowing and green manuring 15 Increased yields 15 Increased profits 17 Cleaning the laud of weeds 18 Development of better varieties of wheat 1 19 Variety tests in California 19 Selecting varieties for California 20 Climate and soil 20 6 BULLETINS OF THE BUREAU OF PLANT INDUSTRY. Bulletin No. 178. — Improvement oi the Wheat Crop in California— Continued. Requirements for the production of profitable crops — Continued. Development of better varieties of wheat— Continued. Selecting varieties for California — Continued. Page. Habit of growth 21 Nonshattering habit - 21 Milling quality 22 Other requisites 22 Seed improvement by the grower 23 Small compared with large seed 23 The seed plat - 23 Two new varieties of wheal adapted to California conditions 24 The Chul variety 24 Origin and history 24 Introduction into California 25 Description 25 Yields obtained 25 Milling quality 20 The Fretes variety 2(1 Origin and history _'<'> Description 27 Yields obtained ' 27 Milling quality 28 Pure seed of the Chul and Fretes varieties 29 Protein content as affected by time of seeding 21) Summary 30 Index 33 Bulletin No. 179. — The Florida Velvet Bean ami Related Plants. Introduction 7 General character of the genus Stizolobium 9 Analytical key to the species 10 Stizolobium deeringianum 11 Stizolobium capita turn 12 Stizolobium utile 14 Stizolobium cinereum : 15 Stizolobium niveum i 15 Stizolobium hassjoo 17 Stizolobium aterrimum 18 Stizolobium pachylobium . 19 Stizolobium velutinum 20 Index 23 Bulletin No. ISO. — Agricultural and Botanical Explorations in Pales- tine. Introduction 7 Analogy between Palestine and California 8 General conformation of Palestine S Climate and rainfall of Palestine i 8 Geological formations of Palestine 10 Vegetation of Palestine 11 Economic plants worthy of introduction into the United States 13 Plants recommended as stocks 13 Zizyphus spina-christi (Christ-thorn) 13 Zizyphus spina-christi biennis 13 CONTENTS. 7 Bulletin No. ISO. — -Agricultural and Botanical Explorations in Pal- estine — Continued. Economic plants worthy of introduction into the United States — Continued. Plants recommended as stocks — Continued. Page. Zizyphus lotus 13 Paliurus spina-christi 14 Pistacia terebinthus and Pistacia palaestina 14 Pistacia atlantica 14 Amygdalus communis 14 Amygdalus orientalis 15 Prunus microcarpa and Prunus ursina 15 Primus cerasia 15 Crataegus 15 Pyrus syriaca , 10 Fruits 17 Apricots 17 Quinces t 18 Pomegranates 18 Olives 18 Figs 21 Ficus carica 21 Ficus pseudo-sycomorus 22 Ficus sycomorus 22 Dates _ 22 Grapes 24 Jaffa oranges 25 Forage plants 27 Annual crops 28 The chick-pea and the sesame 29 Chick-pea 29 Sesame 31 Cereals 32 Barley 32 Wheat 32 Medicinal and miscellaneous plants 34 Wild prototypes of wheat and other cereals in Palestine 36 Historical interest of wild wheat 36 Discovery of wild emmer, and Kornicke's theory regarding it 37 Botanical classification of wheats 38 The brittle rachis of the primitive cereals 39 Cultivated wheats with a brittle rachis 40 Einkorn and its prototype distinct from other wheats 40 Emmer the only possible prototype of true wheat 41 Rediscovery of wild emmer in Palestine and Syria 42 Diversities of wild emmer 44 Habitual association of wild emmer with wild barley 45 Discovery of rye, both wild and cultivated, in Syria , 45 Wide range of wild emmer 46 Soils and locations preferred by wild emmer 48 Where did the cultivation of cereals originate? 49 Summary of studies of the wild cereals 50 Economic possibilities of wild emmer 51 Index 53 b BULLETINS OF THE BUREAU OF PLANT INDUSTRY. Bulletin No. 181. — The Curly-Top of Beets. Page. Introduction 9 Symptoms of curly-top 9 External symptoms 9 Internal symptoms 11 Symptoms in seed beets 12 Only one symptom really characteristic 13 Cause of the disease 13 Theories 13 Preliminary experiments 13 Isolation cages 14 Nymph of beet leafhopper more harmful than the adult 18 History of an outbreak of curly-top in the experimental field at Gar- land, Utah 18 Early sowing advantageous in preventing curly-top 19 Extraction of plant juices not sufficient to account for the disease — 20 Conditions favoring an outbreak of curly-top 21 Natural and artificial barriers to leafhopper invasion 22 Host plants of Eutettix tenella 22 Description of the beet leafhopper 22 Beet growers should be able to recognize the leafhopper 24 Serious nature of curly-top 24 A consideration of curly-top in seed beets 24 Several types of leaf-curl on seed and sugar beets 28 Affected seed beets almost nonproductive 29 Percentage of loss of seed beets 29 Severe outbreaks not frequent in a locality 31 Progeny of the diseased seed beets healthy 31 General character of curly-top__ 31 Summary 33 Conclusion 35 Recommendations 36 Bibliography 37 Description of plates 42 Index . 43 Bulletin No. 182. — Ten Tears' Experience with the Swedish Select Oat. Introduction 7 Characteristics 7 Results of trials in this country -_ 8 Trials by experiment stations 9 Wisconsin 9 North Dakota 13 Montana : 34 South Dakota 16 Washington 18 Colorado 18 Iowa IS Alaska 20 Miscellaneous 20 Trials by farmers 20 Washington -0 Idaho 21 Colorado 21 CONTENTS. 9 Bulletin No. 182. — Ten Years' Experience with the Swedish Select Oat — Continued. Results of trials in this country — Continued. Trials by farmers — Continued. Page. Montana 22 Michigan 23 South Dakota 24 New York 25 Wisconsin 25 Miscellaneous - — 28 Interesting individual trial 29 Recent reports 30 Quality of the kernel in the Swedish Select oat 31 Chemical analyses 35 Value of the introduction 35 Index 39 Bulletin No. 183. — Field Studies of the Crown-Gall of the Grape. Introduction 7 Historical notes 8 Distribution and importance of crown-gall 9 Geographical distribution of the disease 9 Distribution of the disease on species and varieties of grapes — 10 Distribution of the disease on young and old vines 10 Importance of the disease 10 Description of the forms of crown-gall 11 Root galls 11 Cane galls 11 Other manifestations of the disease 12 Development of the forms of crown-gall 12 Development of root galls 12 Development of cane galls 13 Development of the disease on seedlings 14 Development of the disease in vineyards 14 The effect of crown-gall 14 The susceptibility and resistance of species and varieties of grapes to crown-gall 15 The susceptibility of varieties of European grapes 16 The resistance of varieties of American grapes 18 The cause of crown-gall 20 The communicability of crown-gall 22 Observations by other investigators 22 Results of experiments 22 Experiments with seedlings 22 Experiments with older vines 24 The cure of crown-gall 25 Negative results from experiments with fungicides 25 The prevention of crown-gall 26 Resistant vines should be planted on their own roots 26 Resistant stocks should be used for grafting nonresistant va- rieties 27 Other means of prevention 27 Summary and recommendations 2S Index to literature 31 Description of plates 36 Index 37 ILLUSTRATIONS PLATES. Page. Bulletin No. 174. — The Control of Peach Brown-Rot and Scab. Plate I. Peaches affected with brown-rot, showing the destructive work of the disease and the l'otten, moldy appearance of the fruit Frontispiece II. Two crates of Elberta peaches picked from the experimental plats at Fort Valley, Ga., on July 9, 1909, shipped by re- frigerator car to New York, and then by express to Wash- ington, D. C, showing the difference in the amount of brown-rot developed 28 III. Teach scab. Fig. 1. — Two uusprayed Elberta peaches affected with scab, showing the black spots and cracks produced by the disease. Fig. 2. — Crop from an unsprayed Elberta peach tree, showing all the fruit affected with scab and 86 per cent of it unmerchantable. Sleepy Creek. W. Va.. August 27, 1909 28 IV. Peach scab. Fig. 1. — Crop of Elberta peaches from a tree sprayed once with self-boiled lime-sulphur. Good, mer- chantable fruit in the pile and unmerchantable, scabby fruit on the notebook at the top. Sleepy Creek, W. Va., August 27, 1909. Fig. 2. — The same unsprayed crop shown in Plate III. figure 2, sorted for the market. The large pile on the right is unmerchantable, scabby fruit, that on the left representing all that was suitable for pack- ing 2S Bulletin No. 177. — A Protected Stock Range in Arizona. Plate I. Pastures showing improvement due to two years' protection by fencing. Fig. 1. — Range land inside and outside of the fenced area in June, 1903. Fig. 2. — Range land inside and outside of the fence line in April. 1905 x IT. Comparative growth of grass on range lands in a good and a poor season. Fig. 1. — Field of Bouteloua rothrockii in a good season, 190S. Fig. 2. — Field of Bouteloua roth- rockii in a poor season, 1907 14 III. Views in the inclosed area. Fig. 1.— A close view of the southeastern portion of the inclosed area. Fig. 2. — Gen- eral view of the southeastern portion of the inclosed area_ 16 IV. Two grasses growing in the inclosed area. Fig. 1. — Muhlen- bergia porteri growing under the protection of a cat-claw. Fig. 2. — Isocoma coronopifolia growing on range land IS V. Heavily grazed pastures in the smaller inclosure. Fig. 1. — A badly overgrazed area in the " MacB." pasture. Fig. 2. — Upper portion of the 590-acre pasture, showing spring vegetation under heavy grazing 20 11 12 BULLETINS OF THE BUREAU OF PLANT INDUSTRY. Page. Bulletin No. 177.— A Protected Stock Range in Arizona— Continued. Plate VI. An arroyo and a perennial-grass field in the inclosed area. Pig i. — An arroyo producing brush and cacti but very little grass. Fig. 2. — Field containing Baileya niulti- radiata, a conspicuous plant about the lower border of the perennial-grass region 22 Bulletin No. 171).— The Florida Velvet Bean and Related Plants. Plate I. Seedliugs of Mucuria keyensis and Stizolobiurn hassjoo 8 II. Mature pods and seeds of Stizolobiurn capitaturn and Stizolobiurn deeringianum 12 III. Mature pods and seeds of Stizolobiurn cinereum and Stizo- lobiurn utile 14 IV. Mature pods and seeds of Stizolobiurn niveuru and Stizo- lobiurn aterrimum 16 V. Mature pods and seeds of Stizolobiurn pachylobium and Stizolobiurn hassjoo 18 VI. Cluster of ripe pods of fleshy-pod bean (Stizolobiurn pachylobium) 20 VII. Clusters of green pods of Mauritius bean (Stizolobiurn aterrimum) 20 Bulletin No. 180. — Agricultural and Botanical Explorations in Pal- estine. Plate I. Fig. 1. — Kasr-Ezzuweira, showing the effects of erosion on the " Lissan " strata, laying bare the underlying rocks. Fig. 2.— View of Safed 12 II. Triticum dicoccum dicoccoides, entire plant 40 III. Lower face of single spikelet of Triticum dicoccum dicoc- coides 42 IV. Upper face of single spikelet of Triticum dicoccum dicoc- coides 42 V. Fig. 1. — View of Mejdel esh Schems, on the slopes of Mount Hermon, where wild wheat was found. Fig. 2.— Scene in Wady Waleh, showing the writer's caravan 44 VI. Fig. 1. — Spike of Triticum dicoccum dicoccoides, showing long glumes; a transitional form to T. polonicum. Fig. 2. — Spike of Triticum dicoccum dicoccoides, showing glumes resembling those of durum wheat 44 VII. Fig 1. — Spike of Triticum dicoccum dicoccoides, showing long glumes; very hirsute. Fig. 2. — Spike of Triticum monococcum 46 VIII. Fig. 1. — Spikelet of Triticum monococcum, showing the characteristic secondary tooth of the glume. Fig. 2. — Spikelet of Triticum dicoccum dicoccoides. showing the secondary tooth, as in T. monococcum. Fig. 3. — Spikelet of Triticum dicoccum dicoccoides, showing the absence of the secondary tooth of the glume 46 IN. Fig. 1. — Grains of Triticum monococcum; side, dorsal, and ventral views. Fig. 2. — Grains of Triticum dicoccum dicoccoides; side, dorsal, and ventral views 48 Bulletin No. 1S1. — The Curly-Top of Beets. Plate I. Fig. 1. — Beet leaves affected by curly-top: also a beet leaf- hopper. Fig 2. — Dock leaf spotted by punctures of beet leaf hopper 42 ILLUSTRATIONS. 13 Page. Bulletin No. 181. — The Curly-Top of Beets — Continued. Plate II. Fig. 1. — Sugar-beet seedlings and leaves in a healthy condi- tion and others affected by curly-top. Fig. 2.— Healthy and curly-top sugar beets of medium size 42 III. Fig. 1. — Large sugar beet affected late in the season by curly-top. Fig. 2. — Sections of healthy and curly-top sugar beets, showing the discoloration of fibro-vascular bundles 42 IV. Fig. 1. — Seed beet exhibiting inward type of curl. Fig. 2. — Seed beet with long, sinuous type of leaves caused by curly-top i 42 V. Fig. 1. — Seed beet showing retracted type of curl. Fig. 2. — Seed beet showing both inward and retracted type of leaf-curl and seed beet with rosette of severely retracted leaves and no seed stem 42 VI. Fig. 1.— Curly-top seed beet maturing seed. Fig. 2. — Seed beet slightly affected by curly-top 42 VII. Healthy seed beet of same age as that shown in Plate VI. figure 2 42 VIII. Fig. 1. — Seed beet badly affected by curly-top and root almost destroyed by rot. Fig. 2. — Seed beet with sound root, though badly affected by curly-top 42 IX. Fig. 1. — Two young sugar beets showing curly-top symptoms under test conditions with leafhoppers. Fig. 2. — Portion of a cabbage leaf showing curly-top symptoms after leaf- hopper attacks 42 Bulletin No. 182. — Ten Years' Experience with the Swedish Select Oat. Plate I. Heads of the Swedish Select oat grown at Sitka. Alaska, in 1903 Frontispiece. II. Three varieties of oats introduced by the United States De- partment of Agriculture: A, Sixty-Day; B, Swedish Se- lect; C, North Finnish Black 8 III. Field of Swedish Select oats on the experiment station farm at Madison, Wis., in 1906 14 IV. Kernels of Swedish Select and Lincoln oats 32 Bulletin No. 1S3. — Field Studies of the Crown-Gall of the Grape. Plate I. A Mission grapevine badly diseased with crown-gall, show- ing an old dead cane aud a young live one from the root Frontispiece. II. Fig. 1. — A Muscat of Alexandria grapevine diseased with confluent root galls. Fig. 2. — A Muscat of Alexandria grapevine diseased with confluent galls on both the cane and root 36 III. Fig. 1. — A Flame Tokay grapevine diseased with globose root galls. Fig. 2. — A globose root gall on a Muscat of Alexandria grape seedling 36 IV. Fig. 1. — A portion of the experimental vineyard at Berna- lillo, N. Mex., showing diseased Mission grapevines. Fig. 2. — A portion of the experimental vineyard at Bernalillo, N. Mex., after it had been planted with resistant grape- vines 36 14 BULLETINS OF THE BUREAU OF PLANT INDUSTRY. TEXT FIGURES. Page. Bulletin No. 173. — Seasonal Nitrification as Influenced by Crops and Tillage. Fig. 1. Diagram showing the parts per million of water-soluble ni- trates in dry soil in the fallow plat in each 6-inch soil layer to a depth of 2 feet ; also precipitation curve 12 2. Diagram showing the parts per million of water-soluble ni- trates in dry soil in the spring-wheat plat in each 6-inch soil layer to a depth of 2 feet ; also weekly increase of wheat plants 14 3. Diagram showing the average parts per million of water- soluble nitrates in dry soil to a depth of 2 feet in the summer-fallow, spring-wheat, and corn plats; also weekly , increase of wheat plants and precipitation curve 16 4. Diagram showing the parts per million of water-soluble ni- trates in dry soil in each 6-inch soil layer in the corn plat to a depth of 2 feet IT 5. Diagram showing the average parts per million of water- soluble nitrates in dry soil in the fallow plat to a depth of 2 feet : also soil-moisture curve and precipitation curve 19 6. Diagram showing the average parts per million of water- soluble nitrates in dry soil to a depth of 2 feet in the spring-wheat plat; also soil-moisture, precipitation, and weekly crop-increase curves 20 7. Diagram showing the time and location of the maximum amount of nitrates in the wheat and fallow plats 21 Bulletin No. 174. — The Control of Peach Brown-Rot and Scab. Fig. 1. An old brown-rot mummy with the cup-shaped bodies (apo- thecia) of the fungus, in which myriads of ascospores are produced 12 Bulletin No. 175. — The History and Distribution of Sorghum. Fig. 1. Map of the world on Merca tor's projection 9 2. Map of Africa 12 3. Heads of four kafir varieties 14 4. Plants of shallu, representing the variety roxburghii, Hackel 35 5. Plants of an Abyssinian sorghum not yet headed l v 6. Plants of white durra from different countries, showing varying characters 20 7. Plants of different varieties of sorghum from India 22 8. Plants of two varieties of kowliang from China 24 9. Plant of Chinese sorgo 25 10. Plant of sorghum, after Fuchs, 1542 26 11. Plant of sorghum, after Dodoens, 1583 27 12. Heads of Holcus sorghum, L., and Holcus saccharatus. L.. after Arduino. 17S6 28 13. Head of Holcus cafer, after Arduino, 1786 29 14. Head of Holcus niger, after Arduino, 17S8 ■"■' 15. Plant and head of FIolcus cernuus, after Arduino. 17S6 31 16. Plant of sorghum, after Mattioli. 1598 38 17. Heads of three sorghum varieties figured in 1869 45 ILLUSTRATIONS. 15 Page. Bulletin No. 177. — A Protected Stock Range in Arizona. Fig. 1. Map of fenced pastures in the Coronado National Forest, compiled from maps by the United States Geological Sur- vey, the Forest Service, and the Bureau of Plant Industry- S Bulletin No. 17S. — Improvement of the Wheat Crop in California. Fig. 1. Wheat plants from six plats treated differently, showing comparative development 12 2. Wheat growing on plat which has been continuously seeded to the same crop 13 3. Wheat growing on plat on which Canadian field peas were grown and plowed under in 1908 14 4. Wheat growing on plat on which rye and vetch were grown and plowed under in 1908 15 5. Wheat growing on plat on which rye was grown and plowed under in 1908 16 6. Representative plants of six varieties of wheat from uni- form plats planted November 21, 1908, at Modesto, CaL, showing their comparative development on May 1, 1909 21 7. Representative plants of six additional varieties of wheat from uniform plats planted November 21, 1908, at Mo- desto, Cal., showing their comparative development on May 1, 1909 22 S. Chnl wheat (G. I. No. 2227) growing at Modesto, Cal.. in 1909 24 9. Fretes wheat (G. I. No. 1596) growing at Modesto, Cal., in 1909 1 27 10. White Australian wheat (G. I. No. 3019) growing at Mo- desto, Cal., in 1909 28 Bulletin No. ISO. — Agricultural and Botanical Explorations in Pal- estine. Fig. 1. Relief map of Palestine, showing the coast region, the Jor- dan Valley, and the unexplored regions of the east 9 2. Map of Palestine, showing the location of the principal towns and villages 10 3. Seyal acacia tree near Engedi, on the western shore of the Dead Sea 12 4. Olive groves on rocky soil in the environs of Jerusalem, showing artificial terracing 20 5. Fig tree (Ficus sycomorus) near Jaffa, showing its unusual resistance to drought 22 6. Fruit of fig tree (Ficus sycomorus) 23 7. Commercial grape nursery at Hedera 24 S. Seedling orange trees at Hedera, grown with a view to origi- nating new varieties 25 9. Branch of plant of chick-pea (Cicer arictinum), showing pods and white flowers 29 10. An up-to-date Jewish farmer in the dry-farming region of the Jordan Valley using an American-made binder 34 11. The watermelon market at Jaffa 35 12. Monolith in Wadv Wale'h 47 16 BULLETINS OF THE BUBJBAU OF PLANT INDUSTRY. Bulletin No. 181.— The Cvbly-Top of Beets. Page. Fig. 1. Healthy sugar beets, Vilmorin type 10 2. Curly-top sugar beet, face of leaves, showing retracted type of curl 13 3. Curly-Top sugar beet, dorsal surface of leaves; the same plant shown in figure 2 12 4. Isolation cage and Mason jars for isolating sugar-beet plants. 15 5. Another type of isolation cage 15 6. A simple met hud of preparing iron hoops for cages, etc 16 7. Mature healthy seed beet 26 S. Sugar-beet seed steins showing curly-top symptoms 27 9. Average seed yield of healthy and curly-top sugar beets 30 Bulletin No. 182. — Ten Years' Experience with the Swedish Select Oat. Fig. 1. Filed or' Swedish Select oats in shock, at Edgeley, N. Dak., in 1904 15 2. Map of the United States, the shaded portion showing the re- gion to which the Swedish Select oat is adapted 19 3. Diagram showing in millions of bushels the rapid increase in the production of Swedish Select oats in Wisconsin from 1903 to 190S 36 4. Diagram showing in millions of dollars the average farm value of the entire oat crop in Wisconsin, that of the Swed- ish Select oat. and the annual increase in the farm value of the entire crop due to the use of the Swedish Select variety 37 o U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE, BUREAU OF PLANT INDUSTRY— BULLETIN NO. 173. B. T. GALLOWAY, Chief of Bureau. SEASONAL NITRIFICATION AS INFLUENCED BY CROPS AND TILLAGE. BY C. A. JENSEN, Agriculturist. Issued April 18, 1910. WASHINGTON: GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE. 1910. BULLETINS OF THE BUREAU OF PLANT INDUSTRY. The scientific and technical publications of the. Bureau of Plant Industry, which was organized July 1, 1901, are issued in a single series of bulletins, a list of which follows. Attention is directed to the fact that the publications in this series are not for general distribution. The Superintendent of Documents, Government Printing Olfice, Washington, D. C, is authorized by law to sell them at cost, and to him all applications for these bulletins should be made, accompanied by a postal money order for the required amount or by cash. Numbers omitted from this list can not be furnished. 2. Spermatogenesis and Fecundation of Zamia. 1901. Price, 20 cents. 3. Macaroni Vv'heats. 1901. Price, 20 cents. 4. Range Improvement in Arizona. 1901. Price, 10 cents. 8. A Collection of Fungi Prepared for Distribution. 1902. Price, 10 cents. 9. The North American Species of Spartina. 1902. Price, 10 cents. 10. Records of Seed Distribution, etc. 1902. Price, 10 cents. 11. Johnson Grass. 1902. Price, 10 cents. 13. Range Improvement in Central Texas. 1902. Price, 10 cents. 14. The Decay of Timber and Methods of Preventing It. 1902. Price, 55 cents. 15. Forage Conditions on Northern Border of Great Basin. 1902. Price, 15 cents. 17. Some Diseases of the Cowpea. 1902. Price, 10 cents. 20. Manufacture of Semolina and Macaroni. 1902. Price, 15 ceuts. 22. Injurious Effects of Premature Pollination. 1902. Price, 10 cents. 23. Berseem: The Great Forage and Soiling Crop of Nile Valley. 1902. Price, 15 cents. 24. Unfermented Grape Must. 1902. Price, 10 cents. 25. Miscellaneous Papers. 1903. Price, 15 cents. 27. Letters on Agriculture in the West Indies, Spain, etc. 1902. Price, 15 cents. 29. The Effect of Black-Rot on Turnips. 1903. Price, 15 cents. 31. Cultivated Forage Crops of the Northwestern States. 1902. Price, 10 cents. 32. A Disease of the White Ash. 1903. Price, 10 cents. 33. North American Species of Leptochloa. 1903. Price, 15 cents. 35. Recent Foreign Explorations. 1903. Price, 15 cents. 36. The "Bluing" of the Western Yellow Pine, etc. 1903. Price, 30 cents. 37. Formation of Spores in Sporangia of Rhizopus Nigricans, etc. 1903. Price, 15 cents. 38. Forage Conditions in Eastern Washington, etc. 1903. Price, 15 cents. 39. The Propagation of the Easter Lily from Seed. 1903. Price, 10 cents. 41. The Commercial Grading of Corn. 1903. Price, 10 cents. 42. Three New Plant Introductions from Japan. 1903. Price, 10 cents. 47. The Description of Wheat Varieties. 1903. Price, 10 cents. 48. The Apple in Cold Storage. 1903. Price, 15 cents. 49. The Culture of the Central American Rubber Tree. 1903. Price, 25 cents. 50. Wild Rice: Its Uses and Propagation. 1903. Price, 10 cents. 51. Miscellaneous Papers. 1905. Price, 5 cents. 54. Persian Gulf Dates. 1903. Price, 10 cents. 59. Pasture, Meadow, and Forage Crops in Nebraska. 1904. Price, 10 cents. 60. A Soft Rot of the Calla Lily. 1901. Price, 10 cents. 61. The Avocado in Florida. 1904. Price, 5 cents. 62. Notes on Egyptian Agriculture. 1904. Price, 10 cents. 67. Range Investigations in Arizona. 1904. Price, 15 cents. 68. North American Species of Agrostis. 1905. Price, 10 cents. 69. American Varieties of Lettuce. 1904. Price, 15 cents. 70. The Commercial Status of Durum Wheat. 1904. Price, 10 cents. 71. Soil Inoculation for Legumes. 1905. Price, 15 cents. 72. Miscellaneous Papers. 1905. Price, 5 cents. 73. The Development of Single-Germ Beet Seed. 1905. Price, 10 cents. 74. The Prickly Pear and Other Cacti as Food for Stock. 1905. Price, 5 cents. 75. Range Management in the State of Washington. 1905. Price, 5 cents. 76. Copper as an Algicide and Disinfectantin Water Supplies. 1905. Price, 5 cents. 77. The Avocado: A Salad Fruit from the Tropics. 1905. Price, 5 cents. 79. Variability of Wheat Varieties in Resistance to Toxic Salts. 1905. Price, 5 cents. 80. Agricultural Explorations in Algeria. 1905. Price, 10 cents. 81. Evolution of Cellular Structures. 1905. Price, 5 cents. 82. Grass Lands of the South Alaska Coast. 1905. Price, 10 cents. 83. The Vitality of Buried Seeds. 1905. Price, 5 cents. 84. The Seeds of the Bluegrasses. 1905. Price, 5 cents. 85. Principles of Mushroom Growing and Mushroom Spawn Making. 1905. Price, 10 cents. 86. Agriculture without Irrigation in the Sahara Desert. 1905. Price, 5 cents. 88. Weevil- Resisting Adaptations of the Cotton Plant. 1906. Price, 10 cents. 89. Wild Medicinal Plants of the United States. 1906. Price, 5 cents. 90. Miscellaneous Papers. 1906. Price, 5 cents. 91. Varieties of Tobacco Seed Distributed, etc. 1900. Price, 5 cents. 94. Farm Practice with Forage Crops in Western Oregon, etc. 1906. Price, 10 cents. 95. A New Type of Red Clover. 1906. Price, 10 cents. 96. Tobacco Breeding. 1907. Price, 15 cents. 97. Seeds and Plants Imported. Inventory No. 11. 1907. Price, 15 cents. 98. Soy Bean Varieties. 1907. Price, 15 cents. 99. Quick Method for Determination of Moisture in Grain. 1907. Price, 5 cents. [Continued -on page 3 of cover.] 173 U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE, BUREAU OF PLANT INDUSTRY— BULLETIN NO. 173. B. T. GALLOWAY, Chief of Bureau. SEASONAL NITRIFICATION AS INFLUENCED BY CROPS AND TILLAGE. BY C. A. JENSEN, Agriculturist. Issued April 18, 1910. " WASHINGTON: GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE, 1910. CONTENTS Introduction " 7 Description of the soil in which the experiments were conducted 8 Field history of the plats 9 Methods of making determinations 9 Discussion of results of determinations 12 Nitrates in the fallow plat 12 Nitrates in the spring-wheat plat 14 Comparison of nitrates in fallow, spring- wheat, and corn plats 16 Withdrawal of nitrates by corn roots 17 Relation of nitrification to field factors 18 The disappearance of nitrates 21 Denitrification 22 Seasonal variations in nitrification 23 Change of water-soluble nitrates to albuminoid nitrogen 25 Relation of nitrification to summer fallow 26 Summary -* 27 Index 29 173 5 ILLUSTRATIONS. Page. Fig. 1. Diagram showing the parts per million of water-soluble nitrates in dry soil in the fallow plat in each 6-inch soil layer to a depth of 2 feet; also precipitation curve 12 2. Diagram showing the parts per million of water-soluble nitrates in dry soil in the spring-wheat plat in each 6-inch soil layer to a depth of 2 feet; also weekly increase of wheat plants 14 3. Diagram showing the average parts per million of water-soluble nitrates in dry soil to a depth of 2 feet in the summer-fallow, spring-wheat, and corn plats; also weekly increase of wheat plants and precipita- tion curve 16 4. Diagram showing the parts per million of water-soluble nitrates in dry soil in each 6-inch soil layer in the corn plat to a depth of 2 feet 17 5. Diagram showing the average parts per million of water-soluble nitrates in dry soil in the fallow plat to a depth of 2 feet; also soil-moisture curve and precipitation curve 19 6. Diagram showing the average parts per million of water-soluble nitrates in dry soil to a depth of 2 feet in the spring- wheat plat; also soil- moisture, precipitation, and weekly crop-increase curves 20 7. Diagram showing the time and location of the maximum amount of nitrates in the wheat and fallow plats 21 173 • 6 B. P. I— 536. SEASONAL NITRIFICATION AS INFLUENCED BY CROPS AND TILLAGE. INTRODUCTION. The attempt to bring the vast areas of prairie lands of the Great Plains under a profitable system of agriculture has been undertaken with renewed vigor during the last few years, both by the older settlers and by many new ones entering the Plains. These new settlers come mainly from the Middle West, where the climatic and soil conditions are very different from those in the newer areas where they settle. On the Great Plains the rainfall is likely to be too little rather than too much for good crop returns and, moreover, it does not always come at the time most convenient for the farmer; besides, the wind movement, especially in the spring, when the crops are being planted and when the surface of the soil is usually exposed in a rough con- dition, saps the soil of its moisture very rapidly. Under such conditions it becomes necessary to control the quantity and the movement of the soil moisture, and as this moisture consti- tutes the plant nutritive solution it is -obvious that not alone the absolute amounts of soil moisture present but the nutritive character of this solution become of importance, so that any cultural system inaugurated for the purposes of moisture conservation should be such that the quality as well as the quantity of the nutritive solution can be controlled. It has often been observed that of two contiguous plats on the same type of soil one may yield considerably higher than the other, although the amount of soil moisture may be the same in both. In such cases it is often found that the properties of the nutritive solu- tions from the two plats are markedly different in their behavior toward plant growth, and often the history of the plats will show that the cultural methods have been different and that these may explain the differences found in the character of the soil moisture constituting the plant nutritive solution. The mere storing up, then, of soil mois- ture is not always sufficient for the purposes of good crop returns. During the last few years a number of substations have been estab- lished by the Bureau of Plant Industry throughout the Great Plains 173 7 8 SEASONAL NITRIFICATION AS INFLUENCED BY CROPS, ETC. area for the purpose of finding out, if possible, the best methods of handling the prairie lands there so that profitable crop returns might be realized. At all of these stations a large number of rotations have been established, and other plats have been set aside for experiments with various methods of cultivation without regard to crop rotations. In the spring of 1907 the writer was put in charge of the substation at Belief ourche, S. Dak., where experiments in dry-land agriculture were inaugurated. The station site was on virgin prairie lands, so nothing was done that year beyond breaking up and preparing land for use in 1908. In the spring of that year an elaborate series of rotation systems was established, and a large number of other plats were set aside for use in the studies of soil-moisture conservation by different methods of cultivation, the success of the methods being measured finally by the crop yields, though moisture determinations were made during the entire season. The work to be described was done on some of the plats used for the purpose of trying out different cultural methods, it being thought that different crops and different tillage methods would influence the nutritive properties of the soil solution. Owing to the press of field duties and to the inconvenient location of the station as regards supplies, it was found necessary to limit the laboratory work to a study of the natural activity of nitrification in the soil as measured by determinations of nitrates, nitrites, and ammonia in three plats receiv- ing different treatments and bearing different crops. The literature on nitrifying organisms and on nitrification is very voluminous, and while the author does not by any means claim to have read it all, it is believed that most references which have any direct bearing on the present subject matter have been cited. In no case was there found reported work on nitrification in the field as influenced by crops and tillage that had been carried on continu- ously throughout the crop season. The few references found which might have a bearing were generally reports on work carried on in humid regions or in the laboratory, the conclusions of which could hardly be extended to the semiarid regions. Much of the literature, however, was helpful in formulating suggestions explaining the phenomena found. DESCRIPTION OF THE SOIL IN WHICH THE EXPERIMENTS WERE CONDUCTED. The soil of the station and of the surrounding country is known as "gumbo" and is a heavy, black or gray, clay loam to a depth of 2 to 3 feet, and below this depth heavy clay usually occurs, extending to 6 feet or deeper, overlying the partially disintegrated cretaceous shale which is the geological formation of the whole surrounding country. 173 METHODS OF MAKING DETERMINATIONS. 9 FIELD HISTORY OF THE PLATS. The prairie sod, covered originally with western wheat-grass (Agropyron occidentale) , buffalo grass (Bulbilis dactyloides), and gramma {Bouteloua oligostachya) , with minor quantities of sedges (Carex flifolia and C. stenopTiylla) and other grasses, together with a few vetches, was broken in the spring of 1907 to a depth of abfmt 3 to 4 niches, backset (replowed) in the fall of 1907 to a depth of about 5 inches, and left open until the spring of 1908, when it was disked and harrowed until a good seed bed was secured. Such was the treat- ment of the spring- wheat plat and the corn plat used in the work. A plat reserved for summer-fallow used in this work was spring-plowed to a depth of about 8 inches, smoothed witli a disk, and harrowed. This plat was cultivated during the summer to keep weeds down and to conserve the moisture. The determinations on the corn plat were not begun as early as on the wheat and fallow plats. As this plat was not planted as early as the wheat plat, it was taken for granted that the soil conditions would be the same as those of the fallow plat until the time of planting the corn. METHODS OF MAKING DETERMINATIONS. The chemical methods used were those described in Bulletin No. 31 of the Bureau of Soils. The soil samples were collected in duplicate from 6-inch layers to a depth of 2 feet — that is, in to 6, 6 to 12, 12 to 18, and 18 to 24 inch depths — and the two cores from each soil layer made into a composite sample. The samples as bored up with the auger were transferred to air-tight tin cans, taken immediately to the laboratory, weighed, dried in an oven at a temperature of about 100° C, and again weighed. In preparing the solution it was found necessary to adopt this drying method in order to insure thorough mixing of the soil and the water, as it was practically impossible to break down the moist gumbo pieces directly. The ratio of soil to water was 1 to 5 (100 grams of soil to 500 c. c. of water). After drying, the soil particles readily broke down and after thorough stirring in the water would settle out quite clear in about 20 to 30 minutes. The supernatant liquid was then poured into Chamberland filters and filtered. Such a procedure of drying the soil could, of course, not be employed were determinations to be made of such soil elements as are derived directly from the soil minerals, as potassium, phosphoric acid, etc., but owing to the origin and nature of the nitrates and nitrites in the soil the solubility is not increased ; neither is it likely that decomposition of a disturbing nature would take place. Experiments were made to compare the two methods of obtaining the 24493— Bui. 173—10 — -2 10 SEASONAL NITRIFICATION AS INFLUENCED BY CROPS, ETC. soil solutions from soil that was first dried and from undried samples direct from the field. The results agreed within the limits of experi- mental error, and as better mixing was possible by using the dried samples this procedure was an advantage. The determination of nitrates under ideal conditions does not present any serious difficulty if the procedure is carefully followed out aiitl precaution against errors observed. As is well known, however, difficulties are likely to be encountered when nitrates are to be determined in soil extracts, especially if the extract is highly colored with soluble organic matter or if it contains con- siderable soluble inorganic salts, especially chlorids. There are thus three main sources of error in nitrate determination in a soil extract : Foreign organic color, which is superimposed on the yellow color developed on nitration of the phenoldisulphonic acid, which renders the colorimetric reading more difficult; the soluble organic matter may be acted upon by the nitrates, or possibly by the acid, thus introducing a chemical error ; the presence of considerable amounts of alkali salts, of which chlorids seem to be the most serious ones. The soil extract obtained in the work here reported did not contain enough chlorids to cause error, as the amounts were too small to measure accurately by means of titration; only traces were ever observed, and frequently none at all. The errors which might be introduced because of the presence of soluble organic matter are believed to be too small to seriously con- sider, as the only soil samples which gave appreciable organic colors were those from the fallow plat, and no serious difficulty was en- countered in making the colorimetric readings of these extracts, the organic color being of quite a different shade from the yellow color due to nitration. The error which may have been introduced through the chemical disturbance of the organic matter was neglected, it being considered too small to be of serious consequence; as stated above, the organic color was not strong. All points considered, it was decided that under the circumstances and conditions less error would be involved in using the solutions directly as obtained than by trying to free them of organic matter by oxidation or reduction. It should be kept in mind that the chief value of the results obtained lies in their relativity more than in the absolute amounts found. This weekly relation of the amounts of nitrates in the various soil layers in the various plats could not be seriously disturbed by any slight error which might possibly have been intro- duced because of the presence of soluble organic matter in the soil extracts. It has been quite well made out that no appreciable error was introduced in quickly drying the soil samples in the oven at 100° C. 173 METHODS OF MAKING DETERMINATIONS. 11 This was established at the time and has been also found in the bacteriological laboratory of this Bureau to be a safe procedure for purposes of comparison. A comparison of results obtained by the various methods of extrac- tion is given in Table I. Table I. — Nitrites, nitrates, and ammonia found in dry soil treated in various ways. Soil treatment. Fresh untreated soil, using undistilled water Fresh untreated soil, using distilled water Fresh untreated soil plus chloroform, using undistilled water Fresh untreated soil plus chloroform, using distilled water. . . Soil dried in oven at 100° C Parts per million in dry soil. Nitrites (NO a ). 0. 5.5 .55 .55 .55 .55 Ammonia (NH 3 ). 1.5 .8 2.5 2.0 3.33 Nitrates (N0 3 ). 26.7 22.2 22.2 25.0 36.4 The oven-dried sample in this case gave a higher proportion of ammonia and nitrates than the other samples. It is possible, though, that nitrification went on to some extent before the sample was prop- erly dried, as the gasoline drying oven was troublesome, this being its first use. The soil sample was in the oven most of the day before the trouble with the burner was located, and it was warmed most of the day without quickly drying. The following set was run through the next day, a soil being used that had been carefully prepared for a winter-wheat seed bed the previous year but which had not been planted: Table II.- -Nitrites, nitrates, and ammonia found in dry soil from a seed bed treated in various ways. Parts per million in dry soil. Soil treatment. Nitrites (N0 2 ). Ammonia (NH 3 ). Nitrates (N0 3 ). 0.28 .28 .20 .33 133.3 133. 3 Fresh soil after three hours' treatment with chloroform and dried quickly at 103° C 133.3 Fresh soil dried immediately in oven without being treated with chloro- 133.3 The ammonia was not read, as the solution contained foreign color- ing matter. These and the previous results give an idea of the limits of experimental error. The standard solutions used for comparison in the colorimeter were made up fresh on the day they were used, and all readings were made within a few hours. The nitrite reagents were kept separate and small portions mixed as needed for use. The systematic determinations were begun April 27, and from then until July 31, about ten days after harvest, the determinations were made once a week. 173 12 SEASONAL NITRIFICATION AS INFLUENCED BY CROPS, ETC. DISCUSSION OF RESULTS OF DETERMINATIONS. NITRATES IN THE FALLOW PLAT. Figure 1 shows the parts per million of nitrates calculated for the oven-dried soil in each 6-inch layer in the fallow plat from April 27 to July 31 and the precipitation for the same period. About 1 inch of rain had fallen from April 1 to April 27. The weekly periods are laid off on the abscissa, and the parts per million of nitrates on the ordinate. The precipitation scale is on the right-hand side of the figure. The first two sets of determinations show decreasing amounts of nitrates from the surface 6-inch layer downward, the second foot con- /oo i 1? I | 60 a 7 1 1 / ?•• '8' 1 \ j N y / / \\ I 6" j \r / / \\ \\ / PffEC/ f/rAT/c N 6" .. .. j 1 1 \ \ \ \ 1 \ // y*" / 18, \ / \ / 1 1 \ \ \ 1 J2" /. ' \ ' V \ *<30 X <*20 K \ X /O i - J < \ 1 i f k / i X / < \ • \ / \ / \ / \ -., lL ' *4 1 \ §:,-- ,,--' -,tr" ' A''' — / — t /. X '—r-f I \ 1 \ -'"' r *S X ^^ft 2, ?-2*- 27 APP/L ? 9 /6 22 29 MAY 5 12 19 24 JUNE 3 /O J7 24- 3/ JULY Fig. 1.— Diagram showing the parts per million of water-soluble nitrates in dry soil in the fallow plat in each &-inch soil layer to a depth of 2 feet; also precipitation curve. taining very small amounts. There were no marked changes until May 9, when the surface 6 inches of soil showed a considerable increase in nitrates, and it is also seen that at this time this soil layer contained a maximum amount of water-soluble nitrates. The nitrates in the second layer, 6 to 12 inches, had more than doubled since the week before, but there were no considerable changes in the lowest two layers. By the next week, May 16, the surface 6 inches of soil had decreased about forty parts per million, and there was also a decrease in the 6 to 12 inch layer. By the next week, on May 22, a marked increase in the amount of nitrates is evident in the 12-inch layer, it having increased about seventy parts per million during six days, and the surface 6-inch layer had decreased about ten parts per million. At this date the 12-inch layer contained the maximum quantity of 173 DISCUSSION OF RESULTS OF DETERMINATIONS. 13 nitrates. Up to this time there were no great changes in the nitrates in the 18 and 24 inch layers, but from May 22 to June 5 these layers accumulated considerable amounts, and on the latter date the 18-inch layer contained the maximum, which remained constant until the next week, June 12. In the mean time, the 24-inch layer accumulated considerable quantities of nitrates, reaching its maximum on June 12. It will be noticed in general that from April 27 to June 5 the maximum amount of water-soluble nitrates shifted every two weeks to the next lower layer and that once any layer had accumulated a maximum it decreased and in general never again contained as large amounts as the maximum of the next lower layer, which was reached at a later date. From June 12 to June 19 there was an interesting change, in that every soil layer which had recently been actively accumulating nitrates suddenly showed a marked decrease in amounts of water- soluble nitrates, and all of the layers on June 19 contained nearly the same amount of nitrates. The upper 6-inch layer did not show any such decrease, the reason for which will be discussed later on. From June 19 till July 31 there were no regular changes, all of the curves zigzagging irregularly. In view of the marked increases in the amount of nitrates in the 18 to 24 inch layer, it is to be regretted that determinations were not made in the third foot also, but time did not permit the increased work. The 18 to 24 inch layer never contained a maximum amount of nitrates in comparison with the other layers, but the results cer- tainly indicate that nitrification is quite active at a depth below 2 feet in these prairie soils when they are brought under cultivation. Bazarewski a found very few nitrifying bacteria, however, at a depth of 50 centimeters and reports that they were "plentiful at a depth of 10 centimeters." It will be noticed from figure 1 that the 18 to 24 inch soil layer accumulated as much water-soluble nitrate as did the to 6 inch layer, so nitrifying organisms are presumably active in this prairie soil to a depth considerably greater than 2 feet. Hunt b likewise reports that nitrification took place to but a small extent below a depth of 2 feet, and the figures given by him show that under the conditions discussed nitrification was not very active in even the second foot. In this connection it may be of interest to mention, that the un- broken prairie "gumbo" never becomes moistened deeper than about 8 to 10 inches even after the heaviest rains. Cultivation, a Bazarewski, L. von. Nitrification and Denitrification in Soils. Reviewed in Ex- periment Station Record, vol. 21, no. 1, July, 1909, pp. 20-21. b Hunt, T. F. The Importance of Nitrogen in the Growth of Plants. Bulletin 247, New York (Cornell) Agricultural Experiment Station. 173 14 SEASONAL NITRIFICATION AS INFLUENCED BY CROPS, ETC. however, soon results in the soil becoming moistened deeper than 6 feet within one year after breaking the sod and cultivating the soil. It is fair to assume, therefore, that nitrification in the un- broken land can not take place to any great extent much below a depth of 1 foot. NITRATES IN THE SPRING-WHEAT PLAT. Figure 2 shows the results obtained from determinations made on the spring-wheat plat. These determinations were not begun until May 9, but a vertical section made in figure 1 on May 9 will show that the order is about the same at this point on both figures. Figure 2 does not contain the precipitation curve, but in addition to the curves showing the amounts of nitrates in the 6-inch soil layers, so ^ 70 , eo I % so i \ \ ¥" V t \ \ 1 V x\ IT* ■ w > V 1 \ 1 i / / \\ 1 - •**£• \ \ i i 1 5 *° t \ 30 \ 5; 20 c^ /o \ / \ t 1 \ 2£. ^\ & & t r \ \ II I / \ _s- \ Q//8-2 II /l \\ ** s^^^- / . ../' s r > r ■""" ». 27 ' i > / s z Z 2 9 2 /9 2 U/VE 4 J lO 17 24 31 JULV KIG. 2. — Diagram showing the parts per million of water-soluble nitrates in dry soil in the spring-wheat plat in each C-inch soil layer to a depth of 2 feet; also weekly increase of wheat plants. it shows the curve representing the weekly increase in the dry weight of the wheat plants. The increase was determined each week by cutting four 3-foot squares, two near each end of the 2 by 8 rod plat, both green and air-dry weights being obtained. Only the dry weights are platted in the figure. "A comparison of figure 1 and figure 2 shows the same general fact, namely, that the maximum amount of water-soluble nitrates in any soil layer is shifted every two weeks to the next lower layer. The detailed variations are about the same in the two plats, but there is one general difference — the date of the maximum accumulation of nitrates in the respective soil layers in the two plats is shifted one week forward in the case of the spring- wheat plat — that is, each of the 6, 12, and 18 inch layers, respectively, attained its maximum 173 DISCUSSION OF RESULTS OF DETERMINATIONS. 15 accumulation of water-soluble nitrates just one week later in the wheat plat than in the fallow plat. It will be remembered that it was stated that the fallow plat was plowed to a depth of about 8 inches in the spring of 1908 and that the wheat plat had not been plowed since being backset in the previous fall to about 5 inches deep. There was thus a difference in the mechanical condition of the two plats ; the summer-fallow plat being more open and stirred to a greater depth, there was presumably a more rapid access of air, and in consequence a more rapid rise in temperature. Hunt a also found that early plow- ing promoted nitrification more rapidly than late plowing, and pre- sumably early plowing would promote nitrification more rapidly than no plowing at all. It was expected that some information would be obtained in regard to the rate at which the growing wheat plants removed the nitrates from the different soil layers, that being one of the main points sought for in the work. As a matter of fact, it will be noticed that the curves of the two figures are so much alike in the general trend that were they not scaled or labeled in any way it would be difficult to say which figure represented the fallow plat and which the wheat plat. The shifting of the dates of the maximum accumulation of nitrates in the individual soil layers one week back in the case of the fallow plat might be explained by the difference in the tillage. By using the fallow plat as a check on the wheat plat, which is really what it is, it will be noticed that aside from this shifting already mentioned the only general differences are the smaller amounts of nitrates found in the wheat plat and that after June 19, when the general decrease in nitrates took place — as in the fallow plat- — the nitrates in each soil layer in the wheat plat were more constant in both total amounts and amplitude of variation. Had the results on the fallow plat not been obtained as a check on the results ob- tained on the wheat plat, it might have been supposed that during the time immediately following June 12, when the wheat plants were making rapid increase in growth, the crop was removing nitrates much more rapidly than they were being formed. Even thus one would hardly expect the nitrates to be removed so spontaneously and almost completely from each 6-inch soil layer. One can not, then, from the amounts of water-soluble nitrates found, determine the soil layers in which the wheat roots were feeding most rapidly or demon- strate any progressive downward ranging of the roots as the season advanced. The apparent "removal" of the nitrates from the soil is due, then, to some other factor than the presence of the crop. Even after June 19, when the marked decrease in the amounts of water-soluble nitrates occurred, there is no consistent correlation a Hunt, T. F., loc. cit. 173 16 SEASONAL NITRIFICATION AS INFLUENCED BY CROPS, ETC. between the weekly increase in the dry weight of the wheat crop and the amounts of nitrates present. On the contrary, from June 24 to July 3 there was a general increase in the amounts of nitrates corre- sponding to the greatest weekly increase in the growing crop. COMPARISON OF NITRATES IN FALLOW, SPRING-WHEAT, AND CORN PLATS. Figure 3 shows the amounts of nitrates — averages of the four 6- inch soil layers — found during the season in the wheat plat, the fal- low plat, and the corn plat; also the precipitation curve and the weekly crop-increase curve. It is to be regretted that the same amount of data could not have been obtained from the corn plat as from the wheat plat, but time did not permit. Nothing much can 3 J 60 ! (^ JO ^ /0 a 7 / — " / — „<& 4 (.££&■ p/r»r/Oi v__ S rjz . ^2 \ l I I 9 'fPfflM _JtHL*L \ i • / 1 ' / s / ^ / \^ \ \ \ / A \ ^ ""-•N w *£&~ z°y 27 APff/l i 9 /6 Z MAY ? i9 J 12 /S 24 JUKE 3 tO /7 2 JULY ■r 31 Fig. 3. — Diagram showing the average parts per million of water-soluble nitrates in dry soil to a depth of 2 feet in the summer-fallow, spring-wheat, and corn plats; also weekly increase of wheat plants and precipitation curve. be said about this curve beyond the statement that the rapid decrease in nitrates corresponds quite closely to the period of most rapid growth of the corn as recorded in the notes at the time. The corn plat had evidently accumulated quite large amounts of nitrates before the plants were large enough to materially draw upon these salts, for the corn curve shows that on June 19 the accumula- tion of nitrates in the corn plat had reached about the same point as that in the fallow plat. The direction of the corn-plat curve from June 19 to June 24 also suggests the general drop found in the fallow and wheat plat curves. As the corn was not planted until May 7, the plat was evidently in a state of summer fallow until determinations were begun. During the most active growing period of the corn these plants evidently reduced the amounts of nitrates to as low a 173 DISCUSSION OF RESULTS OF DETERMINATIONS. 17 content as did the wheat plants in the wheat plat. Apparently the corn plants were as fond of the nitrates as were the wheat plants. The general field observation that a corn crop renders the ground more productive for grain than a previous grain crop is apparently not due to the leaving of greater amounts of nitrates in the soil. WITHDRAWAL OF NITRATES BY CORN ROOTS. As already mentioned, the general decrease in the amounts of water-soluble nitrates in both the fallow and the wheat plats masked the effect of any progressive withdrawal of the nitrates by the wheat- plant roots in the successive soil layers. In the case of the corn plat, however, there was the advantage of the fact that the nitrates had already been accumulated, and so the corn offered an opportunity for observing the removal of nitrates from the various soil layers as the 70 I v 60 % I? ^50 C40 1 ^ 10 70 N % 60% 1 40^ % M 3*| J 6-12" \ * is-i a" \ \ \ \ \ V 0-6" S \ ''/ Vl • \ \ /'/ V s \\ \ \ \ \ \ / \ ^ \ s\ \ ^ ^? v \^ » \ / \ \ 27 APR. 2 9 16 22 29 MAY S 12 19 24 JUNE 3 10 17 24 3 JULV i Fig. 4.— Diagram showing the parts per million of water-soluble nitrates in dry soil in each G-inch soil « layer in the corn plat to a depth of 2 feet. season progressed. Figure 4 shows the probable effect of the feed- ing of the corn roots and indicates that the surface 6-inch layer early lost considerable amounts of nitrates and that very shortly there- after the 12-inch layer was drawn upon most heavily. From July 3 to July 17 the corn plants made their most rapid growth, and the curves also show that at this period the nitrates were most heavily drawn upon. The 18-inch layer contained most nitrates and lost most. All of the layers to a depth of 2 feet were probably reduced to the limit of the powers of the corn roots to withdraw nitrates from this heavy soil. The curves in figure 4 also show variations in the activity of nitrification, especially an increase from June 24 to July 3, but the 1T3 18 SEASONAL NITRIFICATION AS INFLUENCED BY CROPS, ETC. progressive downward feeding of the corn roots seems clearly shown. The characteristic manner of surface feeding of corn roots would early draw upon the plant food in the surface soil, as indicated in figure 4 by the curves of the 6 and 12 inch layers. The soil samples, however, were taken not between the corn rows, where the lateral roots only were abundant, but as near the corn plant as they could be taken, not more than 3 or 4 inches away. Such sampling would encounter the primary roots of the corn, as well as penetrate the soil area in which the lateral roots were feeding most actively, and it seems probable that the reduction of the amounts of nitrates in the 18 and 24 inch layers was due to the penetration of these primary roots to that depth. This would account for the tardy removal at the lower depth, as the primary roots would be longer in reaching these lower layers. The moisture determinations showed that the moisture was being removed quite rapidly from the 18 and 24 inch soil layers at the same time. The most striking feature about figure 3 is the general parallelism of the nitrate curve of the wheat plat with the nitrate curve of the fallow plat. The seven-day lagging of the maxima in the wheat plat is not, however, as clearly shown here as in figures 1 and 2, but is evident in the early part of the season. The only other point of difference in the two curves is in the period from May 29 to June 12, during which time the summer-fallow plat steadily accumulated nitrates, while there was a bare increase in these salts in the wheat plat. This is the period during which the fallow plat laid in its increased stock of water-soluble nitrates, and from June 12 on there is a constant difference of about twenty to thirty-five parts per million in favor of fallowing. It is probable that this difference represents in general the continuous amount of soluble nitrates used up by the plants. It is, however, also likely that had more nitrates been formed the plants would have used them and that the curves represent in a general way the minimum amount to which the corn and wheat roots can reduce the nitrates in this heavy soil. Traps ° found that the nitrogen content of crops was increased with an increased nitrifying activity in the soil. In figure 3 no close relation is evident between the weekly crop- increase curve and the decrease in the nitrates, using the fallow curve as a check. RELATION OF NITRIFICATION TO FIELD FACTORS. The nitrification in the soil depending, as it does, on so many factors — temperature, moisture, aeration, organic matter, kind of crop, cultivation, etc. — it is difficult in the field to run down the « Traps, G. S. Bulletin 106, Texaa Agricultural Experiment Station, p. 4. 173 DISCUSSION OF RESULTS OF DETERMINATIONS. 19 specific physical or chemical factors most influential in the promoting of the formation of nitrates in a given soil type. An attempt was made to correlate the variations in and the amounts of the nitrates found during the season with some of the factors known to influence their formation. As some of the most important ones from a chemical or bacteriological standpoint could not be taken up at the time the attempt at correlation had to be confined to a consideration of some of the physical factors. As, however, the soil of the different plats was similar and probably as nearly uniform as it is possible to obtain soil in different plats, and, furthermore, as the past history of the plats was exactly the same up to the time of beginning the work, it is not likely that there were any fundamental chemical or bacteri- ological differences in the plats at the time of planting. The wheat and corn plats were adjacent and were separated from the fallow plat by only 6 rods, and certainly no differences were apparent. Continu- ous air-temperature records were kept by means of a thermograph, X . -dP/TATTl V *// 1«**| OJSTJJRZ ~&fs / / ~~"~--~ \ ^-^~ */--■ - — -.„ ji 30 / / S 27 APML 2 9/6 2 MAY 2 2 9 ! / /ON£ 9 2 f / 1 J 7 2 l/LV ■* j ' Fig. 5.— Diagram showing the average parts per million of water-soluble nitrates in dry soil in the fallow plat to a depth of 2 feet; also soil-moisture curve and precipitation curve. but no evident relation could be obtained between the variations in amounts of nitrates and in temperature, whether the mean maximum, mean minimum, or general mean temperature was considered. Figure 5 shows the curve of average amounts of nitrates to a depth of 2 feet in the fallow plat, the average soil-moisture curve to the same depth, and the precipitation curve. It is evident that neither the soil-moisture curve nor the precipitation curve shows any close agreement with the nitrate curve. The moisture curve is nearly straight, varying only from 24 to 29 per cent during the whole season. The other two curves parallel from June 19 to the end of the season, but as the formation of nitrates had already taken place and as the amounts thereafter remained constant, it is likely that this agreement is only incidental. It might be mentioned, incidentally, that the 173 20 SEASONAL NITRIFICATION AS INFLUENCED BY CROPS, ETC. mean temperature of the air did not reach nearly its maximum until some time later than June 19; in fact, the maximum temperature occurred in September. In figure 6, which gives the corresponding data, obtained on the wheat plat, there is a closer relation between the moisture and the nitrate curves, but as the growing crop has removed much of the moisture and the nitrates from the soil it is apparent that no close causal relationship could be insisted on in this case either. There is, on the other hand, a close agreement between the moisture curve and the weekly crop-increase curve. The hygroscopic coefficient for this soil is very high (about 12 per cent), and judging from the gen- eral appearance of the crop and of the soil at the time it is likely that the moisture curve from the first part of July represents about the minimum to which the wheat plants could reduce the moisture content of the soil, and the same holds true in regard to the nitrate 5* 1 1 20 «l s /S kj to X 4 ^ — "F~^ / " '•/ _- — — ' " ? 2 9 J /2 / JUKE 9 24- j / O /7 24- J/ CD m < z ZD ^1 -n 1 DO rn !7> > m ^T DO o C z H O "n CO DO O z i 30 O H H m < DO o ■n m r 00 m DO H > m > o I m < * m r > O ■o m D H I m m x T) m P2 s m z d > l~ > H co > H T| O DO H < > r r m -< a D > OO z z CO I o CO o co o CO Bui. 174, Bureau of Plant Industry, U. S. Dept. of Agriculture. Plate III. Fig. 1.— Two Unsprayed Elberta Peaches Affected with Scab, Showing the Black Spots and Cracks Produced by the Disease. Fig. 2.— Crop from an Unsprayed Elberta Peach Tree, Showing All the Fruit Affected with Scab and 86 Per Cent of It Unmerchantable. Sleepy Creek, W. Va., August 27, 1909. PEACH SCAB. Bui. 1 74, Bureau of Plant Industry, U. S. Dept. of Agriculture. Plate IV. Fig. 1.— Crop of Elberta Peaches from a Tree Sprayed Once with Self-Boiled Lime-Sulphur. Good, Merchantable Fruit in the Pile and Unmerchantable, Scabby Fruit on the Notebook at the Top. Sleepy Creek, W. Va., August 27, 1909. Fig. 2.— The Same Unsprayed Crop Shown in Plate III, Figure 2, Sorted for the Market. The Large Pile on the Right is Unmerchantable, Scabby Fruit, that on the Left Representing All that was Suitable for Packing. PEACH SCAB. 30 CONTROL OF PEACH BROWN-ROT AND SCAB. Page. Foliage, peach, susceptibility to injury by fungicides 7 Freckles. See Scab, peach. Fruit, sprayed, market value, comparison with unsprayed fruit 16-17 Fungicide, development, experiments by Bureau of Plant Industry 7-8 Fungicides, copper, injury to peach foliage 7 Fungus causing brown-rot, life history 11-12 Georgia, peach-tree disease, control, spraying experiments 14-24 enemies, treatment with self-boiled lime-sulphur and arse- nate of lead 18-20 Hiley peach, disease control, treatment recommended 25 Insects, influence in spreading spores of brown-rot 13 Introduction to bulletin 7-8 Lead, arsenate, use with self-boiled lime-sulphur for control of curculio 18-20 peach brown - rot and scab 18-20 Lime-sulphur, self-boiled, directions for preparation 15-16 spraying peach trees, control of brown-rot and scab, experiments 14-24 cost 21 danger in use 22-23 effect of single application 17 on yield 18 experiments 16-18 method of application 26 value as fungicide 7-8 use with arsenate of lead for control of curculio 18-20 peach brown- mt and scab 18-20 Mixture, Bordeaux. See Bordeaux mixture. Monilia fructigena, imperfect form of brown-rot fungus 8 Peach, Belle, disease control, treatment recommended 25 sprayed compared with unsprayed fruit, marketing tests 20-21 spraying, experiments 20-21 black-spot. See Scab, peach, brown-rot. See Brown-rot. Carman, disease control, treatment recommended 25 curculio, control, experiments 18-20 Elberta, brown-rot and scab, control in West Virginia, experiments 23-24 disease control, treatment recommended 25 sprayed compared with unsprayed fruit, marketing tests 20-21 spraying for brown-rot and scab, experiments with self-boiled lime-sulphur 18-21 foliage, injury by use of fungicides 7 fruit and foliage, danger of injury from use of self-boiled lime-sulphur. 22 danger of staining by spraying with self-boiled lime-sulphur 22-23 Hiley, disease control, treatment recommended 25 orchards, spraying, description of outfit 15 Reeves, disease control, treatment recommended 25 Salway, disease control, treatment recommended - 25 scab. See Scab, peach. Smock, disease control, treatment recommended 25 spraying, comparison of crop with that from unsprayed trees 16-17 with self-boiled lime-sulphur, benefits 7-8 cost 21 INDEX. 31 Page. Peach, Waddell, disease control, treatment recommended 25 spraying experiments 16-18 Peaches, yield, effect of spraying with self-boiled lime-sulphur 18 Reeves peach, disease control, treatment recommended 25 Rot, brown. See Brown-rot. Salway peach, disease control, treatment recommended 25 Scab, peach, caused by fungus Cladosporium carpophilum 13-14 character, importance, and methods of control 13-14 control, spraying, description of outfit 15 with self-boiled lime-sulphur, effeqt of single application. . . 17 experiments 14-24 treatment recommended 24-26 use of arsenate of lead with self-boiled lime-sulphur, ex- periments 1 18-20 distribution and damaging effects 14 prevention by use of self-boiled lime-sulphur 7-8 Sclerotinia fructigena, fungus causing peach brown-rot 8 occurrence in foreign countries and United States 8-9 Smock peach, disease control, treatment recommended 25 Spores, brown-rot, influence of insects in spreading 13 Spray, self-boiled lime-sulphur, value for peach trees 7-8 Spraying, peach, comparison of crop with that from unsprayed trees 16-17 control of brown-rot and scab, experiments 14-24 description of outfit 15 single application of self-boiled lime-sulphur, tests 17 with self-boiled lime-sulphur, cost 21 Torula fructigena, origin of name and classification by botanists 8 Waddell peach, disease control, treatment recommended 25 spraying experiments 16-18 174 o [Continued from page 2 of cover.] No. 89. 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THE HISTORY AND DISTRIBUTION OF SORGHUM. BY CARLETON R. BALL, Agronomist in Charge of Grain-Sorghum Investigations. Issued April 8, 1910. LIBRARY NEW YORK BOTANICAL GARDEN. WASHINGTON: GOVERNMENT printing office. 1910. BUREAU OF PLANT INDUSTRY. CMej of Bureau, Beverly T. Galloway. Assistant Chief of Bureau, G. Harold Powell. Editor, J. E. Rockwell. Chief Clerk, James E. Jones. Grain Investigations. scientific staff. Mark Alfred Carleton, Cerealist in Charge. W. M. Jardine, C. R. Ball, H. B. Derr, and C. W. Warburton, Agronomists. E. C. Johnson, Pathologist. C. E. Chambliss, Expert. John F. Ross, Farm Superintendent. H. F. Blanchard and II. J. C. Umberger, Assistant Agronomists. V. L. Cory, F. D. Farrell, W. G. Shelley, and F. R. Babcock, Assistants. E. L. Adams, L. C. Burnett, Manley Champlin, J. M. Jenkins, A. A. Potter, and Cecil Salmon, Special Agents. 175 LETTER OF TRANSMITTAL U. S. Department of Agriculture, Bureau of Plant Industry, Office of the Chief, Washington, D. C, December 18, 1909. Sir : I have the honor to transmit herewith a paper entitled " The History and Distribution of Sorghum," by Mr. Carleton R. Ball, Agronomist in Charge of Grain-Sorghum Investigations, and rec- ommend its publication as Bulletin No. 175 of the series of this Bureau. The facts stated in the paper have been developed in connection with a study of the agronomic adaptations of over 1,000 varieties of domestic and foreign sorghums. Data concerning the geographical distribution of the sorghum plant and the leading types which are found in different regions of the earth are here presented for the first time. Sorghums have been very extensively used as human food in Africa and the Orient for more than twenty-five centuries. Some of them are now important grain and forage crops in large areas of the western United States, and have been found adapted to a much wider range of climatic and soil conditions than was formerly thought possible. A knowledge of their distribution and adapta- tions in their native lands will be of value to all agronomic workers and others concerned in the improvement of these crops. The author wishes to acknowledge his obligation to Miss R. M. Kolck for assistance in the translation of the Latin works; to Miss A. R. Knapp for the translation of the Italian article by Arduino; and to Miss M. F. Warner for aid in securing and citing many old and rare botanical works. Respectfully, B. T. Galloway, Chief of Bureau. Hon. James Wilson, Secretary of AgHculture. 175 CONTENTS Page. Introduction 7 Key to the principal groups of sorghum 8 Agricultural history and distribution of sorghum 8 Origin 8 Antiquity 10 Geographical distribution 11 South Africa 13 Natal 13 Orange River Colony 14 Transvaal and Rhodesia 15 Madagascar 15 Equatorial Africa 16 German and British East Africa 16 Sudan 16 French Sudan 16 Upper Guinea 17 British-Egyptian Sudan 17 Abyssinia 17 North Africa 18 Egypt 19 Barbary States 19 Southwest Asia 20 India 21 China 23 Pacific islands 25 Europe 26 South America 31 West Indies and Central America 31 United States 32 Canada 35 Botanical history and nomenclature of sorghum 35 Pre-Linnean period, first century to the year 1753 35 Origin of popular names 35 Early authors and early names 36 Sixteenth century writers 37 Seventeenth century writers 39 Eighteenth century writers 41 Linnean period, 1753 to 1850 41 The species of Linne and Forskal 41 The species of Arduino 42 Numerous species of later authors 44 Recent period, 1850 to the present time 45 Beginnings of classification 45 Summary 48 Agricultural history and distribution 48 Botanical history and classification 49 Bibliography 51 Index 55 175 5 ILLUSTRATIONS. Page. Fig. 1. Map of the world on Mercator's projection 9 2. Map of Africa 12 3. Heads of four kafir varieties 14 4. Plants of shallu, representing the variety roxburghii, Hackel 15 5. Plants of an Abyssinian sorghum not yet headed 18 6. Plants of white durra from different countries, showing varying characters 20 7. Plants of different varieties of sorghum from India 22 8. Plants of two varieties of kowliang from China 24 9. Plant of Chinese sorgo 25 10. Plant of sorghum, after Fuchs, 1542 26 11. Plant of sorghum, after Dodoens, 1583 27 12. Heads of Holcus sorghum, L., and Holcus saccharatus, L., after Ardu- ino, 1786 28 13. Head of Holcus cafer, after Arduino, 1786 29 14. Head of Holcus niger, after Arduino, 1 786 „ 30 15. Plant and head of Holcus cernuus, after Arduino, 1786 31 16. Plant of sorghum, after Mattioli, 1598 38 17. Heads of three sorghum varieties figured in 1869 45 175 6 B. P. I. — 539. THE HISTORY AND DISTRIBUTION OF SORGHUM. INTRODUCTION. Certain sorghums now hold a large and increasingly important place as grain and forage crops in the semiarid regions of this coun- try. They were all introduced into the United States between twenty and thirty years ago. Few data were secured concerning their habits and adaptations in their native lands, and many valuable years of time and effort were lost in attempts to grow them successfully in regions to which they were not at all suited. During the past six years more than 1,200 different lots of domestic and foreign sorghums have been brought together and grown experi- mentally. By far the greater part of the^e were from foreign sources — principally from Africa and southern Asia. In most cases only meager information was obtained regarding the conditions under which they had been grown or to which they are most probably adapted in this country. For these economic reasons and because of the bewildering diversity of forms secured it became necessary to inquire at some length into the whole question of the origin and history of this group of cultivated plants. This paper embodies the results of the investigation. The origin and antiquity of sorghums are set forth, together with their present distribution and culture. The chief types or groups now found in each of the major geo- graphical areas are briefly described, the conditions under which they have developed are pointed out, and their probable adaptations in our own land are indicated. The term " sorghum " is used here in the broad and comprehensive sense. It thus includes all the groups popularly known in this coun- try as sorgo or sweet sorghum, kafir. broom corn, shallu, kowliang, durra, and milo. It covers also an enormous number of cultivated forms in other lands with the possible exception of a few, which, as pointed out in the discussion of botanical history, may perhaps be referred to Andropor/on halepensis rather than to A. sorghum. For the convenience of readers not familiar with the sorghums, a rather 175 7 8 HISTORY AND DISTRIBUTION OF SORGHUM. full key to the principal groups is inserted here. A complete classi- fication of the domestic varieties is in preparation. KEY TO THE PRINCIPAL GROUPS OF SORGHUM. The following is a key to the principal groups of sorghum : I. Pith juicy. A. Juice abundant and very sweet. 1. Intel-nodes elongated; sheaths scarcely overlapping: leaves 12-15 (except in Amber varieties) ; spikelets elliptic-oval to obovate, 2.5-3.5 mm. wide ; seeds reddish brown. I. Sorgo. B. Juice scanty, slightly sweet to subacid. 1. Internodes short; sheaths strongly overlapping; leaves 12-15; pedun- cles erect; panicles cylindrical; spikelets obovate, 3-4 mm. wide; lemmas awnless. II. Kafir. 2. Internodes medium; sheaths scarcely overlapping; leaves 8-11; peduncles mostly inclined, often recurved ; panicles ovate ; spikelets broadly obovate, 4.5-G mm. wide; lemmas awned. VII. Milo. II. Pith dry. A. Panicle lax, 2.5-7 dm. long; peduncles erect; spikelets elliptic-oval or obovate, 2.5-3.5 mm. wide; lemmas awned. 1. Panicle 4-7 dm. long; rhachis less than one-fifth as long as the panicle. a. Panicle umbelliform, the branches greatly elongated, the tips drooping; seeds reddish, included. III. Broom corn. 2. Panicle 2.5-4 dm. long; rhachis more than two-thirds as long as the panicle. a. Panicle conical, the branches strongly drooping; glumes at ma- turity spreading and involute; seeds white or somewhat buff. IV. SKallu. b. Panicle oval or obovate, the branches spreading: glumes at ma- turity appressed, not involute; seeds white, brown, or reddish. V. Eowliang. B. Panicle compact, 1-2.5 dm. long; peduncles erect or recurved; rhachis more than two-thirds as long as the panicle. 1. Spikelets elliptic-oval or obovate. 2.5-3.5 mm. wide; lemmas awned. V. Kowliang. 2. Spikelets broadly obovate, 4.5-G mm. wide. a. Glumes gray or greenish, not wrinkled: densely pubescent; lemmas awned or awnless; seeds strongly flattened. VI. Durra. b. Glumes deep brown or black, transversely wrinkled; thinly pu- bescent; lemmas awned; seeds slightly flattened. VII. Milo. AGRICULTURAL HISTORY AND DISTRIBUTION OF SORGHUM. ORIGIN. It is generally conceded that cultivated sorghums were originally derived from the well-known wild species, Andropogon halepensis (L.) Brot. Prof. E. Hackcl (1885) has presented this theory at length, and it is not necessary here to examine his able argu- 175 AGRICULTURAL HISTORY AND DISTRIBUTION OF SORGHUM. 9 ment. The wild species is found abundantly in all tropical and subtropical parts of the Old World (fig. 1). It has been quite carefully studied by agriculturists and botanists in India, and to a lesser extent in tropical Africa. Its forms are numerous and the main lines of variation are parallel with those represented by the major groups of cultivated varieties. This is especially noticeable in comparing the forms assumed by the wild and the cultivated spe- cies in Africa, and to a lesser extent in India also. The abundant 22578— Bui. 175—10 2 10 HISTORY AND DISTRIBUTION OF SORGHUM. variation of the wild species, the great number of different culti- vated forms, and, with few exceptions, their evident dissimilarity in the two regions argue for the independent origin of the cultivated species on the two continents. This view has gained wide accept- ance in later years. In the discussion of geographic distribution this theory is recognized as the probable one. ANTIQUITY. There can be no doubt of the great antiquity of the sorghum plant in cultivation. The story of its domestication is lost in the shadows of the past. From Egypt, the cradle of ancient agriculture, comes the earliest known record of its use. A harvest field frescoed on the walls of the tomb of Amenembes in Beni-Hassan, belonging to a dynasty existing at least 2,200 years before Christ, is said by Wonig (188G) to represent a form of sorghum. This crop is still important in the land of the Nile. In the book of the prophet Eze- kiel (600 B. C.) the word " millet " is translated " dochan " (" dochn " or "dokhn") in the original Hebrew text. This word is still used in Arabic for forms of sorghum and also for some of the larger mil- lets, such as pearl millet (Pennisetum spicatum). The root word also means " smoke " in Arabic, and the name may be more correctly applicable to pearl millet, with the seeds sometimes smoke colored, than to sorghum. If it here refers to a grain-bearing sorghum, this crop was well known in the fertile and irrigated valleys of the Tigris and Euphrates more than GOO years before the present era. It is known that a sorghum with white and flattened seeds was cultivated in Arabia as early as the tenth century. A very similar white durra is still abundantly grown in Syria and Mesopotamia, and forms a considerable part of the food of the rjoorer classes. Little light can be thrown on the early history of sorghum in India. The Roman historian Pliny records the introduction of sorghum into Italy by caravans from India during the first century. How much longer it had been cultivated in India is not certain, nor can we be entirely sure that the record of the Roman historian is correct. Cara- vans coming from India then, as now, passed through Upper Egypt, and the sorghum supposedly brought from India may possibly have been an Egyptian variety used as food in the last stages of their journey. The great antiquity of sorghum culture in India is. how- ever, assured from other sources. According to Benson and Subba Rao (1006), the plant is mentioned in one tale dating from more than 1,900 years ago. It is spoken of by many other writers of early times and bears a Sanskrit name — Yava-nala (reed barley or reed grain). Where only year and page are given, see chronological bibliography at end of bulletin for full citation. 175 AGRICULTURAL HISTORY AND DISTRIBUTION OF SORGHUM. 11 It is very extensively cultivated, with a multitude of varieties and names, throughout the major part of India, especially in the interior in native states, which have had only a limited intercommunication. There are some important religious ceremonies observed in connec- tion with its sowing and harvesting. These facts all point conclu- sively to its cultivation there from a remote period. In China there is evidence, according to Bretschneider (1893), that scrghums were first known there in the third century A. D. There are numerous doubtful references of earlier date which may apply either to sorghum or to the true sugar cane. As earlv as some of the ancient classics there is found mention of a black millet which bore two seeds in each spikelet. So far as the writer is aware, there are no two-seeded varieties known either in Panicum miliaceum or in Setaria (C'haetochloa) italica. Several varieties of what may be called " twin-seed " sorghums are known in India. Some of these have black and shining glumes, and it is quite possible that the writer of the ancient classics referred to such forms of sorghum. This is the more probable since it is most likely that China received her sorghum varieties from some part of the Indian Empire. These isolated records all indicate an early and extensive domesti- cation of this plant. The same conclusion may be deduced from a study of the present distribution of the cultivated varieties. (JE( (GRAPHICAL DISTRIBUTION. Originating in the Tropics of the Old World (fig. 1) , sorghums are now grown in the Temperate Zones of both hemispheres. The bulk of the crop is grown between the parallels of latitude 40° north and south. In the United States and in Manchuria the sorghums are found as far north as latitude 45° or more. The two great centers of the cultivation of sorghum for human food are Africa and India. In both regions it is the staple farinaceous food for a considerable part of the population. The distribution of sorghum in India is discussed in its proper order. A word on some of the general aspects of its occurrence in tropical Africa (fig. 2) may be in order before the discussion of individual regions is begun. The absence of permanent records among the African tribes from the Sahara southward nearly to the Cape makes futile any attempt to study the history of sorghum among them. For many tribes it is, however, the most important food plant and is also commonly used in the manufacture of a fermented drink. The widespread dis- persion and cultivation of sorghum among these tribes and their great dependence upon it for food point to its ancient origin and domestication. Still more striking testimony is the extreme rich ness of the varieties and forms which it presents. These are by no 175 12 HISTORY AND DISTRIBUTION OF SORGHUM. means adequately known, but it seems likely that they will easily out- number the combined total from all other parts of the world. Most of them belong apparently to groups which are found sparingly or not at all elsewhere. Such a profusion of forms of a cultivated plant among primitive peoples must have required many centuries for derivation and development. Not only the names, but the actual varieties also are often quite different in separate, though adjacent, Fig. 2. — Map of Africa. (Scale 1,200 miles to the inch.) tribes. The women of a tribe, who are commonly its laborers, often become quite expert in distinguishing closely related varieties — a knowledge to which the men seldom attain. Their methods of culti- vation are necessarily crude, but through the accumulated wisdom of many centuries of cultivators they have amassed a great deal of accurate information about the handling of the crop. How it re- sponds on different soils and in different seasons, the proper dis- 175 AGRICULTURAL HISTORY AND DISTRIBUTION OF SORGHUM. 13 tances for planting the hills of different varieties, how and when to harvest, and how best to cure the seed, as well as considerable skill in preparing- different articles of food from it, are matters of common knowledge among the older members of various tribes. Of the num- berless varieties grown by tribes throughout the length and breadth of tropical Africa, only the sweet sorghums and kafirs from the region of Natal and the Orange River Colony have ever been brought under cultivation in this country. South Africa. That portion of the great tropical continent known as South Africa includes the British areas of Cape Colony, Natal, Orange River Colony, Transvaal, and Rhodesia; also German Southwest Africa and parts of Portuguese East Africa and the Portuguese territory of Angola on the west coast. It is not known if sorghums are grown in the German and Portuguese territory on the west side and little is known of the varieties found in Portuguese East Africa. The forms of British South Africa have been quite fully studied. Much of this area is a more or less dry and elevated plateau, an ideal place for sorghums. Two of the principal groups, sorgos (sweet sorghums) and kafirs, are found here in the greatest abundance and diversity. They require but little selection to make them suitable for use in America because of the similar conditions obtaining in the two regions. ft NATAL. Natal, the smallest division of South Africa, lies in the southeastern part of this great region, its coast washed by the Indian Ocean. Only two sorghum groups, sorgos and kafirs, appear to be native to this little state or extensively grown therein. In Natal the sorgos are cultivated by the natives for forage and for the sweet juice, which they express by chewing the peeled stalks. It was from Natal that sorgos were introduced to Europe and America. From Natal, Arduino obtained, about 1775, his Holcus cafer, which was apparently very similar to our Planter sorgo. From Natal, Wray secured, in 1853, the sixteen saccharine varieties from which have descended most of the sorgos now cultivated in Europe and the United States. Several importations of sorgo varieties were made from Natal in later years, but no systematic comparison of the resulting plants was ever undertaken. It is therefore not known how many different varieties have been found there up to the present time. Some varieties recently obtained are proving distinct from any forms now grown in this country. The kafir group is probably native in Natal, though the varieties first domesticated in America were brought from the Orange River Colony. Within the past few years forms very similar to our black- hull and red kafirs have been secured in Natal. With these have come a number of other forms varying mostly in the size of the head and 175 14 HISTORY AND DISTRIBUTION OF SORGHUM. in the size and color of the seeds and glumes. Some forms of the Eoxburghii group are occasionally found in Natal, but are apparently introduced from Madagascar, from the regions north of the Zambezi River, or from India. a b c d Fig. 3. — Heads of four kafir varieties, a, White kaflr ; b, Guinea kafir; c, blackhull kafir; d, red kafir. ORANGE RIVER COLONY. Our widely grown and valuable kafir varieties came from the former Orange Free State about thirty years ago. From that first importation three varieties resulted, the white, the blackhull, and the red kafirs (fig. 3), of which only the last two are now cultivated in 175 AGRICULTURAL HISTORY AND DISTRIBUTION OF SORGHUM. 15 the United States. Eecent importations from British South Africa, principally from this colony and Natal, reveal the presence of a great number of similar forms throughout the eastern portion of South Africa. They are all undoubted kafirs, differing from our three varieties in minor details, such as size and height of the stalk, length of the head, and size and color of the seeds and glumes. Many of these forms have larger seeds than had the forms first imported. No new colors in seeds have been found, but only varying shades of red and pink. Their variation in much more narrow limits than the sorffos mav indicate a more recent origin. TRANSVAAL AND RHODESIA. A few kafir forms have recently been obtained from the colonies of Transvaal and Rhodesia. It is probable that when northern Rho- desia has been more fully explored that varieties sim- ilar to those of equatorial Africa will also be found. MADAGASCAR. The large island of Mada- gascar, more than a thousand miles long, lies off the east coast of South Africa at a distance of 300 to 500 miles. Its sorghums are naturally not well known, but the few that have been obtained, under the native name of Mpemby, are freely stool ing and very leafy sorts, with loose open heads bearing white or reddish-brown seeds. The panicles vary much in shape, some being oblong or narrowly oval, others short and fan shaped, while still others are much elongated and trumpet shaped. The branches of the head are always long, slender, repeatedly divided, and often droop- (Fig. 4.) The spikelets are slender, acute, and prominently Fig. 4.- -Plants of shallu, representing the variety roxburghii, Hackel. ing. 175 16 HISTORY AND DISTRIBUTION OF SORGHUM. awned. These forms belong, apparently, to the variety roxburghii Hackel, together with the shallu of India and some of the forms of the Guinea coast, under which heading this form is more fully described. Similar forms are found occasionally in Xatal, where they are appar- ently introduced rather than native. All these varieties are very late and are apparently adapted only to our Southern States, if at all. Equatorial Africa. But little is known of the sorghums of equatorial Africa, an immense region which includes roughly about ten degrees of latitude on either side of the equator. They seem to be but little grown in the French and German Kameruns on the west coast. Almost nothing is known of their occurrence in the great interior Kongo State. On the east side, however, it is known that the sorghums occur in extremely numerous and variable forms. GERMAN AND BRITISH EAST AFRICA. A considerable number of sorghums have been secured from Ger- man East Africa and British East Africa, lying immediately south and north of the equator, respectively. Naturally they have not ma- tured at any of our testing stations in this country, and hence there has been but little opportunity to study them fully at first hand. Many of them certainly represent entirely new groups of sorghum. One of the most promising of these groups stands in some respects in a position intermediate between the sorgos and durras. Some of the varieties represent a northward extension of the kafir group. All are grown for human food and for forage. Sudan. The Sudan has a breadth north and south of about 1,000 miles and an extension east and west of about 1,000 miles. It includes, in its western part, the French Sudan and the numerous small colonies of the Upper Guinea coast. The principal ones of these are, from west to east, Senegal and French Guinea, once known as the Kerry Coast; Sierra Leone and Liberia, the old Grain Coast; the Ivory Coast, now a French colony; the Gold Coast, now a British colony; and finally Togoland, Dahomey, and Nigeria — German, French, and British colonies, respectively, together comprising the Slave Coast. The eastern part of the Sudan is included in the British-Egyptian Sudan, to the east of which lies Abyssinia. The coastal region is tropical and humid, the interior in large part hot and with little rainfall. FRENCH SUDAN. Very few sorts have yet been obtained which are known to have come from the interior of the French Sudan. These few do not differ, so far as can be determined by the seeds and glumes, from 175 AGRICULTURAL HISTORY AND DISTRIBUTION OF SORGHUM. 17 the groups found farther south in the various colonies of the Guinea coast. However, it seems not improbable that more extensive ex- ploration may discover, in the dry, hot territory forming the south- ern border of the Sahara, other varieties adapted to our western plains. UPPER GUINEA. Varieties have been obtained from Senegal, French Guinea, Ivory Coast. Gold Coast, Togoland. Dahomey, and Nigeria. The leading group is one with large, oval, flattened seeds, varying in color from white through pale red to deep reddish brown ; red, brown, or black glumes, and semicompact heads. A striking peculiarity is the lateral rotation of the seed in the glumes at maturity, the axis of the move- ment being a line from the hilum to the apex of the seed. This movement of the seed is apparently characteristic of the whole group, which includes HackeFs variety orulifer and probably some other botanical varieties. The different forms in this group all have the appearance of being good grain producers. An effort should be made to find -some suitable for cultivation in this country. Those heretofore secured are much too late for any but tropical regions. Another sorghum group found in this region is closely related to the shallu (fig. 4) of India, and probably represents Hackel's variety rooeburghii. It is characterized by rather slender stalks, loose, open, pyramidal heads with more or less drooping branches, small, oval seeds, and slender, acute glumes, which spread apart and become involute at maturity, completely exposing the seeds. One of these varieties from Senegal, called by the French " Mil Cigne," is appar- ently meeting with some favor at the Florida Agricultural Experi- ment Station. It seems adapted as a combined forage and grain crop. BRITISH-EGYPTIAN SUDAN. A recent importation of several varieties from the region of Khar- tum shows that the leading varieties are of the durra type found in Lower Egypt, some of the varieties being identical. The seeds average smaller, but this ma}^ be due to the less luxuriant growth of the Sudanese plants. Besides the usual forms with white, pale-yellow, and pale-brown seeds, there is one with gray seeds. This last variety has proved quite early and a fair yielder, and may ultimately become a profitable crop in the United States. The seeds tend to become white under our climatic conditions. The other varieties are now being grown for the first time, and their maturity will be watched with interest in the hope of finding some of value. Abyssinia. The sorghums of Abyssinia are yet but little known. In a consid- erable collection of the seeds sent from that country to France in 1840 L'lT.TS— Bui. 175—10 3 18 HISTORY AND DISTRIBUTION OF SORGHUM. it is reported that a large number of varieties was found. Some of them were full of very sweet juice, some but slightly sweet, and others not at all so. Their other varietal characteristics were not indicated. Very meager data have accompanied the few shipments of seed re- ceived in this country from Abyssinia. Most of the varieties are apparently very late, and only occasionally can one be brought to the flowering stage, and none to ma- turity, in the United States. Most of them are very tall and stout (fig. 5) and of apparent kinship with the larger varie- ties of India. Some are shorter and freely stooling, though with stems of enormous size. The mixed seed in one lot are apparently identical with those of the yellow and brown durras (safra and ahmar) of Egypt. Many of the sorts in- troduced have ap- parently been badly hybridized. None of them give promise of being of any value, unless for silage and fodder on the Gulf coast. Since the in- terior of Abyssinia is a high and dry plateau, it may be that varieties suitable for our high plains will yet be discovered there. North Africa. Northern Africa may be separated into two regions, in each of which sorghums are grown to a considerable extent for human food. 175 Fig. 5. — Plants of an Abyssinian sorghum not yet headed. AGRICULTURAL HISTORY AND DISTRIBUTION OF SORGHUM. 19 These regions are (1) Egypt and (2) the Barbary States. The varie- ties found in each are different, and also differ from those of equa- torial Africa. EGYPT. In Egypt, durra is used as a general term to designate all succulent forage. All sorghums are called durra beladi to distinguish them from corn, durra shanii. The fall-sown sorghum is called nili and the spring-sown, or common crop, sefi. The varieties with erect heads are called aym, those with pendent heads awagi. There are three sorghum varieties in common cultivation, all belonging to the spring- sown crop with erect heads, or the durra beladi sefi aym. The three are known as beda, or white seeded; safra, or yellow seeded; and ahmar, or brown seeded. Beda is grown more extensively than all the others combined. Where grown in this country all three are very tall and very stout forms of the durra group, 10 to 14 or more feet in height, with 20 to 30 leaves on each stalk. All possess larger seeds and more closely compact heads than are found in any other varieties of the durra group. They are of no apparent value for any part of the United States. It is possible that safra, the yellow-seeded variety, was the founda- tion stock for the milo of this country. They are very much alike in both glume and seed characters, including the awns. These Egyp- tian forms, while larger in the size of plant and seed, are rather similar to some forms from Abyssinia and from India. The prob- able relationships of these sorts are more fully discussed under the heading " Botanical history." The groups of sorghum so common in central and southeastern Africa are not found in Egypt, with the exception of an occasional kafir in Upper Egypt, an evident stranger from the South. BARBARY STATES. In Morocco, Algeria, Tunis, and Tripoli, comprising the Barbary States, the leading variety of sorghum is a white durra (fig. 6, b), called bechna. or beshna. by the Kabyles of Algeria. It is practically identical with that introduced into this country as Egyptian corn, known later as rice corn, and more recently as Jerusalem corn. It is probably not indigenous to North Africa. A very similar white durra is found throughout Turkestan, Mesopotamia, Syria, and Arabia, and the North African plant is probably a result of the Arab invasion of that region in the third century. There is also found sparingly among the mountain tribes, or Kabyles, of Algeria and in certain oases in the northern Sahara a red-seeded durra very similar to our brown durra and very likely the original form of it. This form has not yet been found in Arabia or elsewhere in southwestern 175 20 HISTORY AND DISTRIBUTION OF SORGHUM. Asia. The physical and climatic features of the two regions are quite similar, and the almost complete absence of any other forms has prevented much hybridization. For that reason there has appar- ently been but little change in the varieties in many centuries. The climate of much of this North African region is dry and hot. The white durra when grown in our Western States is very early and drought resistant and likewise a fair yielder. Its chief faults are the pendent heads of most strains and the freely shattering seeds. The shattering habit does not seem to yield to continued selection. If a strictly nonshattering strain could be found in North Africa, it would be of great value for our higher altitudes and latitudes. The brown durra is an inferior sort and gives little promise, though it is also early and able to grow with little moisture. Southwest Asia. White durra, the single variety found throughout the re- gion of Asia Minor, Russian Turkestan, Syria, and Arabia (see fig. 6), has al- ready been men- t i o n e d . In the southern part of this area it has certainly been grown for nine centuries, and prob- ably for three times that period. The form commonly grown in these lands differs from that of North Africa and the United States in having the heads shorter and more compact and the seeds smaller, less flattened, and with less tendencv to shatter. The heads of nearly all strains are persistently pendent or goose necked. In parts of this region the white durra grows under exceedingly high summer tem- peratures. It is possible that very drought-resistant strains may be secured here. However, those brought from this region heretofore have not seemed to be more especially drought resistant than our best developed strains of kafir and milo. A nonshattering form of white durra from a dry, hot region would be of great value on our dry and windy plains. 175 Fig. (i. — Plants of white durra from different countries, showing varying characters. The stalks in pairs, from left to right, are from (a) the United States, . 283; 1906, p. 111. 175 24 HISTORY AND DISTRIBUTION OF SORGHUM. I //f #' IN \2k IrVt I U^^' i /A_ & ['' -- be sufficiently increased. A brown-seeded form with the panicle branches elongated is used for brooms and brushes. This group is apparently confined to the northeastern part of China proper and to adjacent Manchuria, from latitude 38° to 41° north. In this region it is very important. The seed is used for human food, the stems and leaves for fodder, thatching, fences, and baskets, and the stems and roots for fuel. Since Andropogon htdepensis is not native in this portion of China, there is little probability of a Chinese origin for the kowliangs. They are not like any varieties so far found in India or in any other country. These facts seem to point to their introduction into China many centuries ago and their subsequent modification to the pres- ent forms. Since au- thentic references to a sorghum are found in Chinese literature at least as early as the third century A. D., this theory seems the most probable one. In 1851 the seed of a variety of sorgo or sac- charine sorghum was sent to France from the island of Tsungming (Chung- ming) in the mouth of the Yangtze River, lati- tude 32° north. From the brief and unsatisfac- tory descriptions and illustrations (fig. 9) of it published in France and in this country, we know that it had a tall and slender stalk, with about thirteen leaves, and a loose, conical panicle, with more or less drooping branches, and light-brown seeds completely enveloped in shining black glumes. These characters show that it was very similar 175 ... 8-* > '.v, * j. '* M& m Fig. 8. — Plants of two varieties of kowliang from China. AGRICULTURAL HISTORY AND DISTRIBUTION OF SORGHUM. 25 to some of our forms of Amber sorgo. Our Early Amber is said to have originated in 1859 as a sport in a field of Chinese sorgo growing in Indiana. No other saccharine variety has been found in China. This one is said by Collins to be almost entirely restricted to the island of Tsungming, where it is cultivated as a delicacy for the Shanghai market, the sweet stems being eaten raw. The an- nual area sown on the island is only about 20 acres. Since the original importation in 1851 no seed, except that sent by Collins, was ever brought to the United States until May, 1908, when a few seeds (S. P. I. No. 22913), secured on the island of Tsungming, were received by the Office of Seed and Plant Introduction of this Department. These seeds were of poor quality and the resulting plants did not fully mature, but are apparently identical with some forms of Amber now grown in this country. There is, however, little doubt of the independent African origin of some Amber forms. That form of kowliang which somewhat resembles broom corn is found also in Korea and Japan. It would be classed as very poor brush in the United States. Some improved broom corn is grown in Japan, but it is prob- ably from seed originally secured in Australia, Europe, or the United States. Pacific Islands. The tropical islands of the Pacific show very few sorghums or none at all. Some of the larger islands, like Java, lying near the Fig. 9. -Plant of Chinese sorgo. Office Report, 1854.) ( From Patent o Collins, 1865, p. 91. 26 HISTORY AND DISTRIBUTION OF SORGHUM. continent of Asia, have one or two varieties, apparently of Indian or American derivation. In Australia the standard varieties are all importations from the United States. Numerous native varieties from India and the British colonies in Africa have been tested in Australia recently and a few are likely to persist in cultivation, at least for some years. EuRorE. Pliny (TO A. D.) records that a variety of sorghum was intro- duced from India into Italy about ten years previously. Its cultiva- tion in Italy has ap- parently been con- t i mi o u s since the earliest introduction, and it was there that sorgo, was first ap- plied to the crop. In the extensive com- merce of Greece and Rome with Africa and Asia it is prob- able that other im- portations of sor- ghum reached the northern shore of the Mediterranean Sea from time to time. By the end of the fif- teenth century the cultivation of one or more forms of sor- ghum had become quite general in all of southern Europe from Greece to Por- tugal. It had also gradually extended northward to Ger- many (fig. 10), France, Belgium, Holland, and even to England. In these more northern countries it was probably grown as a curiosity in botanic gardens and did not always mature. It was generally known as Indian millet or reed millet to distinguish it from the smaller millets. 175 the name surgo, or Fig. 10. — Plant of sorghum, after Fuchs, 1542 AGRICULTURAL HISTORY AND DISTRIBUTION OF SORGHUM. 27 In southern Europe the seed at that time had come into common use for fattening pigeons and poultry and less commonly other stock. The forage, both green and cured, was used for various kinds of cattle, though it was early noted that animals sometimes died after grazing on the living plants. The seed was also commonly used in the making of bread by the poorer, or peasant, classes. This bread was brittle, dark colored, and more or less astringent. It was gen- erally regarded as inferior in nutritive qualities to that made from the other mil- lets, as Panicum m'rfiaceum and Chaetochloa (Setaria) italica, or that from the larger cereals. The flour was also commonly made into a porridge with milk. The semisweet pith and sometimes the flowers were used in medicine. The development of a broom corn from some loose - panicled sorghu m took place in Italy more than two hundred and fifty years ago. Caspar Bauhin in 1658 states that the slen- der and very rigid dried heads w T ere made into brooms by the Italians and used for brushing clothing in Italy, France, and also Germany. Ray in 1688 gives a full discussion of sorghum and records this use of the plant, stating that he himself had seen Fig. U.— Plant of sorghum, after Dodoens, 1583. such brooms on sale in Venice. From just what form of sorghum this selection took place can never be known, but in figure 11 a loose- panicled form is shown, first pictured by L/Obel in 1576 and copied by Dodoens. Arduino in 1786 figures one more spreading than our Amber sorghum (fig. 12) and another with the rhachis much short- ened (fig. 1.3), either of which would have been an excellent basis for broom-corn selection. 175 28 HISTORY AND DISTRIBUTION OF SORGHUM. The form introduced into Europe during Pliny's time seems to have been on the order of the sweet sorghums, even though it is not known to have had a sweet juice. It is noted as having stout culms, 7 feet high, and abundant black seeds, the color doubtless referring to the inclosing glumes. Most sixteenth to eighteenth century writ- ers who mention these details describe this sorghum as having red- dish seeds and black glumes, with culms from 7 to 10 feet or more in height and heads about 9 inches long. Many writers from the tenth to the eight- eenth century de- scribe also the white- seeded sorghum used by the inhabitants of Asia Minor, Arabia, and Mesopotamia, but none records its introduction into Eu- rope. All references to its growth in Ci- cilia, or Sicilia (Sic- ily), are misprints for Cilicia. This form has been dis- cussed under the heading " Southwest Asia." About 1775 Ardu- ino began at Padua, Italy, his experiments in sugar production from sorghums. He carried on this work for fully ten years, and in 1786 pub- lished a comprehen- sive paper in which he described six supposed botanical species of sorghum and gave full notes on their culture and uses. He seems to have been the first author who gathered together and grew for a number of years all the forms he could secure. Of the six varieties thus described as species, one was a new sweet sorghum from " Cafreria " (Natal), South Africa, one was the white durra of southwestern Asia, and the other four were forms long cultivated in Italy. The six species were all splendidly illustrated on folio plates, which are here repro- 175 Fig. 12.- -Heads of Holcus sorghum. L., and Holcus sacchar- atus, L., after Arduino, 1786. AGRICULTURAL HISTORY AND DISTRIBUTION OF SORGHUM. 29 duced as figures 12 to 15. They were all commonly used for human and animal food, and the older ones were also used in the making of brooms. After Arduino's work ceased, for causes not explained, no especial attention seems to have been given to sorghum for sirup or sugar production until the middle of the eighteenth century. In 1851 a saccharine sorghum from China arrived in France. It had been sent with many other seeds to the Royal Geographical Society by M. Mon- tigny, the consul at Shanghai. It was ob- tained from the is- land of Tsungming (Chungming), lying- in the mouth of the the Yangtze River, in latitude 32° north. A single seed is said to have terminated in the garden at Toulon, where the seed was sent. The resulting crop was secured at a high price by Louis Vilmorin, of Vilmo- rin-Andrieux & Co., well-known seedsmen of Paris. This seed, sold widely in Eu- rope and afterwards in the United States, was the foundation of the varietv lono- known as Chinese sorgo (fig. 9). In March, 1851, Mr. Leonard \Vray, an English sugar planter, arrived in Natal, South Africa. Soon after, his attention was attracted to numerous varieties of sorgo called " imphee," which the Zulus or Kafirs cultivated for the sweet stems. These people knew nothing of the art of expressing the juice by mechanical means, but simply chewed the peeled stems. After considerable search Mr. Wray succeeded in getting together sixteen varieties under their na- tive names. These he brought to Europe about 1854 and arranged to 175 W 4 d c o 6 T „3fc Fig. 13. — Head of Holcus cafer, aftor Arduino, 1786. 30 HISTORY AND DISTRIBUTION OF SORGHUM. have grown in various countries. From these varieties have descended most of the sorgos now grown in the United States. With these two importations was inaugurated a long series of thorough and expensive experiments in making sugar and alcohol from sorghum, which c ontinued without interruption for thirty years. During the progress of similar work in America, large quan- tities of the seed of our leading sac- c h a rine varieties were sent from here to Spain and other parts of southern Europe. Neither these nor Mr. Wray's original importations seem to have persisted there in cultivation as pure varieties. At the present time few varieties are to be found in Europe, and these are usually very badly raixe d. A rather large, some- what saccharine variety, with spike- lets m uch as i n Gooseneck sorgo, but w T ith a compact, ob- ovate, erect, black head, is found in Germany, France, and Austria. It is Fir.. 14. — Head of Holcus niger, after Arduino, 1786. quite different from any variety now grown in the United States and is probably a rem- nant of the importation from Natal. Some Amber and Orange sor- ghum can still be found in France and Spain. It is probable that the blood of a number of the different saccharine varieties is mingled in the variable and often worthless hybrids now found in southern Europe. 175 AGRICULTURAL HISTORY AND DISTRIBUTION OF SORGHUM. 31 Mm /\;., ,_/,- Tav III A white durra is found in occasional cultivation in Europe. It is the form prevalent in northern Africa rather than that of Arabia and Syria, and has come largely from Algeria by way of France (fig. C>, o). South America. No sorghum varieties are indigenous to the New World. Andro- fogon hdlcpensis itself is an introduction, though now found abun- dantly in tropical and subtropical America. In South America broom corn is quite widely but not extensively grown. Amber sor- g h u m from the United States is sparingly intro- duced. No other varieties are found, except occasionally u n de r trial at ex- periment stations. «<-- West Indies and Cen- tral America. Throughout the West Indies and sparingly on the east coast of Central America a variety is found quite similar to blackhull kafir in the characters of the head. In its vig- orous stooling and abundant leaves it still more closely re- sembles other Afri- can varieties. It was introduced long ago from the Guinea coast of Africa with the slaves, whose food it had been in their native home. Sloane records it as widely cultivated in Jamaica in 1T07. In the Eng- lish islands it was, and still is, known as " Guinea corn," in the French islands as " petit millet," and in Honduras as "maysillo ,, (probably "little corn "). It is quite generally cultivated for human food for 175 Kit- Fig. 15.- l'lant and head of IIolcus cernuus, after Arduino, 1786. 32 HISTOKY AND DISTRIBUTION OF SORGHUM. the laboring classes, and also as forage for stock. The small seeds are white or pearly white in color and the short glumes are usually black. It is probably the progenitor of the form occasionally found in the United States under the name " white millo maize," and for which the author has suggested the name Guinea kafir. It has no value in this country, unless perhaps for silage in the extreme South. United States. The early history of sorghum varieties in the United States is quite obscure. It is known that the growing of broom corn for do- mestic use became a considerable industry in colonial times. It is certain also that some grain varieties were introduced and sparingly grown in the early days of the colonies. From time to time a variety, though not always the same one, was exploited, under the name of " chocolate corn," as a substitute for tea and coffee. How- ever, aside from broom corn, no sorghum had become a permanent crop before the middle of the last century. Accounts vary somewhat as to the date and manner of the first introduction of the Chinese sorgo (fig. 9) from France. Apparently it was first grown by William R. Prince, a nurseryman, of Flushing, Long Island, New York, in 1853, and sold by him to a few other per- sons for testing in 1854. A hogshead of seed was sold by him in 1855. The United States Commissioner of Patents 6 secured a small quan- tity of the seed in France in 1854 and grew it in 1855, continuing the experiment through the succeeding year. In that year, 1856, a 75-foot row was grown by the editor of the American Agriculturist from seed secured from the firm of Vilmorin-Andrieux & Co., of France. In the spring of 1857 the American Agriculturist distributed over 1,600 pounds of the seed to 31,000 of its subscribers. Most of the seed was imported direct from France, though a small quantity was secured from growers in the vicinity of New York, N. Y. In the same year the United States Patent Office distributed 175 bushels of home-grown seed and 100 bushels of imported seed. In the spring of 1858 the American Agriculturist distributed, in 1-pound pack- ages, 34,500 pounds of seed grown in Georgia from its imported seed of the year before. It is not probable that extensive distribu- tions were made after this date. The supply already sent out was sufficient to scatter the variety very extensively over the entire country. The widespread and increasing interest in this crop was a Report, U. S. Dept. of Agriculture, 1877, p. 233. » Reports, U. S. Patent Office, 1S54, pp. xxii and 219-223; 1855, p. xii and 279-280; 1856, p. 5. Report, Iowa State Agricultural Society, 1861, p. 207. c American Agriculturist, vol. 20, 1861, p. 6 ; vol. 39, March, 1880, p. 116 ; vol. 40, March, 1S81, p. 94. 175 AGRICULTURAL HISTORY AND DISTRIBUTION OP SORGHUM. 33 not because of its forage, or even its sirup value, but as a probable source of sugar. It was then known as sorgho in Europe and America. In May, 1857,° the sixteen saccharine varieties obtained by Mr. Leonard Wray in Natal in 1851 were brought by him from Europe to the United States at the request of Hon. Horace Greeley. They were not distributed to the public, but were first sown in South Caro- lina and Georgia under Mr. Wray's immediate supervision. He had taken out United States patents on his method of making sirup and sugar, and is said to have purposed controlling the income from the use of his varieties. These African varieties were known collectively as " imphee," each variety having in addition a native Zulu name. The names of the varieties, as published by Olcott (1857), were as follows: Vimbischuapa, Eanamoodee, E-engha, Neeazana, Boom- vwana, Oomseeana, Shlagoova, Shlagoondee, and Zimmoomana, with brief descriptions, and Ebothla, Booeeana, Koombana, See-engla, Zimbazana, and Ethlosa, mentioned by name only. In the pronun- ciation of these names each vowel, except where doubled, is the basis of a syllable. Though only fifteen names appear, Mr. Wray states that sixteen varieties w T ere obtained by him in Xatal. Many years later Wray 6 identified plate 5 in Special Report No, 33 of the De- partment of Agriculture and in the report of this Department for 1880 as his " Enyama," which is not given in the list above, but was doubtless the sixteenth variety. A varietv was on sale in the city of New York under this name in the spring of 1859. Between the years 1860 and 1880 agents were sent to China c to discover and bring back other varieties, and considerable importa- tions were made also from South Africa and India. No other sac- charine varieties were found in China, though several ordinary kow- liangs were obtained. The importations from Africa, though coming under names very different from those of Mr. Wray's forms, appar- ently did not represent any new varieties. The Indian varieties were either nonsaccharine or so slightly saccharine as to be valueless for sirup or sugar production. They were mostly too late to be of much value for forage and grain. All these varieties were soon as widely distributed over the country as their particular climatic adaptations would permit. Hybridiza- tion, variation, and selection, combined with the desire of growers to a Hedges, I. A. Rural New Yorker, vol. 40, May 7, 1881, p. 1. American Agriculturist, vol. 16, 1857, pp. 142, 276-277. 6 See Collier, 1884, p. 68. c Sorgo Journal, vol. 7, October, 1869, p. 91; Collier, 1884, loc. cit., pp. 76-82; American Agriculturist, vol. 45, April, 1886, pp. 153-154; Bulletin 20, Bureau of Chemistry, U. S. Dept. of Agriculture, 1889, pp. 112, 119. 175 34 HISTORY AND DISTRIBUTION OF SORGHUM. find a market for their seed, resulted in the speedy multiplication of the so-called i- varieties " to an enormous 'extent. Two hundred or more names are recorded for saccharine varieties alone. It is doubt- ful if the number of actual varieties concerned was ever more than twenty. Xot more than a dozen are now in cultivation in this coun- try. Of these, Amber and its forms are said to be directly derived from the original Chinese sorgo, though it has not been proved that some of these forms were not secured in Africa. All others are pre- sumably descended from the Natal varieties. The definite varietal origin of some is known, as Orange and perhaps Planter from Neea- zana. and Sumac from Koombana ; others, as Collier, Planter, Sap- ling, Gooseneck, Honey, etc., can not be certainly connected with a particular one of the poorly described African varieties, but are most surely original sorts from that source. The sorgos, or saccharine sorghums, are now grown to a very lim- ited extent for sirup production and to quite a large extent for forage. The total area grown in the United States is probably about one and one-half millions of acres annually. A large part of this is in the southern half of the Great Plains area. During the recent unusually wet seasons there has been a perceptible decrease in the acreage in that region, owing to the opportunity for better crops of corn and cereals. The Amber, Orange, and Sumac varieties make up the bulk of the crop. Kafir and durra are of quite recent introduction and distribution in the United States. Varieties of the kafir group first reached this country in 18TG, but were not generally distributed until ten years or more later. The original variety, white kafir. has almost completely disappeared from cultivation. Its place has been taken by the more recent blackhull kafir, which makes up probably nine-tenths of the total kafir crop, red kafir furnishing the remaining tenth. White durra and probably other durras have been introduced many times since colonial days, but without permanent results until 1874, when our white durra and brown durra were brought into California. The total area of these two crops probably does not exceed 50,000 to 60,000 acres annually. Milo appeared about 1885 under circumstances not yet ascertained. The annual acreage is probably about 300,000 acres. The total area devoted to kafirs and durras combined is prob- ably not far from another one and one-half millions of acres. This would make a grand total of three million acres of sorghums annually grown in the United States." Their annual value may be conserva- tively estimated at $30,000,000. "These estimates were made in June. 190S. 175 BOTANICAL HISTORY AND NOMENCLATURE OF SORGHUM. 35 Canada. The earliest maturing varieties of sorgo from the United States, chiefly Amber and its forms, have been grown in Lower Canada for some years as hay and fodder crops. BOTANICAL HISTORY AND NOMENCLATURE OF SORGHUM. PRE-LINNEAN PERIOD, FIRST CENTURY TO THE YEAR 1753. During the early part of the pre-Linnean period sorghum was in- troduced into Europe and became widely cultivated under many popular names. With the revival of learning in the latter part of the period it received abundant attention in agricultural and medico- botanical literature and acquired a considerable polynomial nomen- clature. According to Pliny, as has been stated, sorghum was introduced into Italy from India during the first century. In his writings he includes it under the general term k " milium," or millet, used then, as now, to designate the cultivated forms of several different species of grain-producing grasses. The most important of these were the grasses now known as Panicum miliaceum (proso millet) and Chaetochloa (Setaria) italica (foxtail millet). Pearl millet (Penni- setvm spicatum) and even corn (Zea mays) were included under the name milium by various ancient authors. Even from the very brief description given by Pliny we may be sure that he was writing of some sorghum. " Milium intra hos decern annos ex India in Italiam invectum est, nigrum colore, amplum grano, harundineum culino, adolescit ad pedes altitudine septem praegrandi- bus culmis: lobas vocant : omnium frugum fertilissimum. Ex uno grano terni sextarii gignuntur. Seri debet in humidis. Frumenta quaedam in tertio geniculo spicam incipiunt concipere, qusedam in quarto, sed etiam num occultam.* 1 The very stout, reed-like culms, 7 feet tall, exclude all other millets except pearl millet. The abun- dant grain and black color separate it from that species, while all these characters agree readily with those of sorghum. Origin of Popular Names. The name milium is derived from miliarius, or milliarius, which means " containing a thousand," and has reference to the large num- ber of seeds in each head. From it our words millet, millo, and milo have been derived. For many centuries sorghum in general was known as milium, or milium indicum. literally Indian millet, and this latter name was still in use fiftv years ago. Just how early other names came into use for sorghum can, never be known, owing to the lack of literature on such subjects during mediaeval times. It is natural that such names should have originated soon after the intro- 115 36 HISTORY AND DISTRIBUTION OF SORGHUM. duction of this crop and should have increased in number as the plant became more widely distributed among tribes and nations. By the beginning of the sixteenth century sorghum was to be found throughout Italy, Spain, France, Belgium, and Germany under a great variety of names. A very large number of these names were used in different parts of Italy. Melica, melega, and milica were de- rived from either " mel " or " mellis " (honey), or more probably from " melligo " (a honey-like juice). Sagina, or saggina, was de- rived from the Latin vw sagino," to fatten. Sorghi, sorgi, sorgho, sorgo, sorghum, and surga are derivatives from the Latin " surgo," to rise or tower, in reference to its towering high above all other crops. In Germany there was applied to it the distinctive name " Welschen- hirse," i. e., foreign, or, more particularly, Italian millet, and also " Sorgsamen." In Belgium the name " sorgsaet " was given it. The derivation of these last names from the Italian b * sorgho " is obvious. It was known also as Milium indicum, M. i?isubrum, M. sabaeum, and M. saracenicum, as the seed was thought by the various writers to be of Indian, Xorth Italian, Arabian, or Saracenian origin, respectively. Throughout the past century all writers on sorghum in cyclopedias and agricultural and botanical works have reiterated that the name sorghum, or sorghi, is the common name of this plant in the Orient. There is not the slightest evidence in support of the theory; on the contrary, as early as 1592 Porta had pointed out its origin from the Latin " surgo." Early Authors and Early Names. It is impossible to take, up in detail the statements made by the many medical and agricultural writers of the sixteenth century and earlier. The latter repeated the facts and also the errors of the earlier authors, with additional notes of their own. The following is a chronological list of the more important pre-Linnean authors, show- ing the names under which they discuss sorghum. In most cases they also cite other names by which sorghum was known among the differ- ent nations of their time : Pliny, first century, " Milium ex India." Ruel, 1537, " Mellica." Creseenzi, 154.2, " Saggina," " Meliea." Fuchs, 1542, " Sorgho." Tragus (Bock), 1552, " Panicum." Scaliger, 1556, " Sorghum." L'Obel, 1576, " Sorgho," " Melica Italorum." Dodoens, 15S3, " Melica " or " sorghum." Csesalpini, 15S3," " Melica," " Sagina." Porta, 1592, " Sagina," " Melica," or " Surgo." Mattioli, 159S, " Milium Indicum." Belon, 1605, " Sorghum Insubrum." 175 BOTANICAL HISTORY AND NOMENCLATURE OF SORGHUM. 37 Besler, 1613, " Milium Plinii ; " " Sorghum fructo rubro ; " " Sorghum fructo albo." Bauhin, C. 1623, "Milium Sabaeum ; " "Milium arundinaceum subrotundo semiue, Sorgo uominatum ; " " Milium arundinaceum piano alboque semine." Parkinson, 1640, " Melica, sive sorghum." Bauhiu, C, 165S, "Milium arundinaceum sive Indieum semine subrotundo;" " Milium arundinaceum semine piano et albo." Hermann, 16S7. "Milium indieum, arundinaceo cauli. granis flaveseentibus; " "Milium indieum, arundinaceo cauli, granis nigris;" '•Milium arundina- ceum subrotundo semine; Sorgo nominatum ; " " Milium arundinaceum piano alboque semine." Ray, 16SS, " Sorghum " or " Milium Indieum ; " " Milium arundinaceum semine subrotundo;" "Milium arundinaceum semine piano et albo." Breyne, 16S9, " Milium Indieum sacchariferum altissimum semine rotundo atro;" "Milium Indieum sacchariferum altissimum semine ferrugiueo." Sloane, 1090, " Milium Indieum." Morison, 1699, "Milium majus Sabaeum;" "Milium niajus arundinaceum sub- rotundo semine; " "Milium majus arundinaceum piano alboque." Tournefort, 1700, " Milium aruudinaceum." Sloane, 1707, " Milium Indieum." Micheli, 1729, " Sorgum " (nomeu nudum). Linne, 1737, " Holcus glumis glabris ; " " Holcus glumis villosis." Just what variety of sorghum was introduced into Italy in Pliny's time we have no means of knowing. There is at least a strong prob- ability, however, that it was a sweet variety. Pliny describes the seed or head as of a black color, apparently not distinguishing be- tween the seeds and the black glumes which inclosed them. In recent times most black-glumed forms with seeds wholly inclosed have been saccharine varieties. At any rate, a sweet variety must have been introduced at an early date, because we find such names as melica and melega, referring to sweetness, in use as early as any names more distinctive than milium or panicum. Between the first and sixteenth centuries there is naturally not a very extensive litera- ture on the subject. Avicenna, who lived in the tenth century, writes of a form used by the Arabs and called " hareoman " (said to be a misprint for hartoman). Crescenzi (1542) is said to have written about 1300 A. D., and later editions of his work refer to the plant in Italy as sagina, or melica. The writer has been able to consult no edition earlier than the one cited. SIXTEENTH CENTURY WRITERS. During the sixteenth century many able writers describe the plant and its uses; some give good illustrations. None of them recognizes more than a single variety. Fuchs (154:2) and Tragus (1552) figure similar plants with heavy and compact but erect heads (fig. 10). This sorghum is much like the Orange sorgo in general appearance and is apparently the variety afterwards named Holcus sorghum by Linne. It is certainly the 175 38 HISTORY AND DISTRIBUTION OF SORGHUM. plant so recognized by Arduino (1786). L'Obel (1576) figures a variety with more open panicles, like the early illustrations of the Chinese sweet sorghum. Dodoens (1583) and Parkinson (1040) use the same figure (fig. 11). Mattioli (1598) shows a different form (fig. 10), somewhat intermediate in head characters between the other two. T r a g u s (1552) speaks of the sweet fodder produced by sorghum. Many other writers s p e a k of the sweet seed, but the word sweet, as used by them, seems to refer to the absence of an as- tringent or bitter qual- ity rather than to the presence of any s a c - charine character, which would of course not appear in the seeds. None of these writers makes direct reference to a sweet juice con- tained in the stems or to the use of the plant as a source of saccha- rine matter, unless in- deed the following much-quoted words of the poet Lucian, w h o wrote presumably in the second century A. D., " Quique bibunt tenera dulces ab arundine succos," may be con- strued as referring to sorghum. Except in describing the stalks as tender, this description applies equally well to sugar cane, and it may be only a bit of poetic license. Those who describe the plant speak of the seeds as red or reddish. Some authors mention forms with seeds of various colors, from white to black. Csesalpini (1583) states, however, that only the form with purple spikelets is the plant commonly called sagina, or melica, the others being the smaller millets. 175 Fig. 16. — Plant of sorghum, after Mattioli, 1598. BOTANICAL HISTORY AND NOMENCLATURE OF SORGHUM. 39 SEVENTEENTH CENTURY WRITERS. The writers of the seventeenth century began to separate the plant into varieties or races, based chiefly on the color of the seeds. Bauhin (1623), under the general heading " Milium Eiusque Species, 11 names, with copious synonymy and brief description, five different kinds, the first two of which, "Milium semine luteo vel albo " and "Milium semine nigro" are probably not sorghums. The last three, however, "Milium sabceum" "Milium arundinaceum subrotundo semine, Sorgo nominatum" and "Milium arundinaceum piano alboque semine, Sorgo simile granum, Hareomen Arabum, Bellonio," are almost cer- tainly different varieties of sorghum. The first of these three is not described, but as the name is derived from Saba, the capital city of Sabsea, in Arabia, the plant may have been the same as the third form. The second is the form which was then commonly grown in southern Europe and which had been described and figured by many earlier writers. The third, from the description and synonymy, is clearly the white-seeded durra of Arabia mentioned by Avicenna, RauAvolf, and others. Two distinct varieties are here discussed, the common European form w T ith reddish seeds and an Arabian variety with white seeds, the latter probably a form of white durra. Parkinson (1040) describes sorghum under the title " Melica sive sorghum, Indian Millet." He uses the same figure as several other authors, namely, that of L/Obel. Evidently only one variety is in his thought and that one the common and long-cultivated form. Of the white, flat-seeded variety lit 1 makes no mention. Caspar Bauhin (1058) gives full descriptions of the two sorghums he had merely listed under Milium arundinaceum in his k ' Pinax " (1623). These were the common sorghum of Europe and the white- seeded sorghum of Arabia. The common form he describes as pro- ducing from one seed 4 to 5, or more, stout and somewhat sweet culms, with leaves H feet long and 3 to 4 inches wide, and erect heads 9 inches long and 4 to 5 inches in width, containing abundant seeds, mostly reddish or deep red, occasionally pale or yellowish in color. This sorghum had been introduced from India into Spain, Italy, and elsewhere. Bauhin thus holds the sorghum of Europe to be but a single variety or species, the milium indicum of Pliny. His figure is that of Mattioli, sixty years before. The white-seeded form of Arabia, Mesopotamia, and Asia Minor he notes as having a culm similar to corn or sugar cane, to 12 feet high, filled with sweet pith, from which the natives extract, by chewing, a sweet juice, and bearing a beautiful white panicle 6 inches long, containing hard and brilliantly white, flattened seeds. From the white durra now grown extensively in the same region this form apparently differs in two important respects — the sweet juice and the erect heads. Bauhin 175 40 HISTORY AND DISTRIBUTION OF SORGHUM. does not state that the heads are erect, but so striking and unusual a character as pendent heads would certainly have received mention if known to him. It is, however, quite possible that this fact had not become known in Europe, since the plant was cultivated no nearer than Cilicia in Asia Minor. If it is, indeed, the progenitor of the white durra now occupying the same region, the saccharine quality of the juice has been entirely lost. Hermann (1687) presents the different forms of sorghum in the following manner: Milium indicum, arimdinaceo cauli, granis flavescentibus. Milium indicum, arimdinaceo cauli, granis nigris. Milium arundinaceum, subrotundo seinine, Sorgo nominatum. Milium arundinaceum, piano alboque semine. The first two he evidently thought to be new and so described them. The last two are simply quoted on the authority of Bauhin, without description. Hermann seems to think his second variety to be the Indian sorghum of Pliny. He describes it as having black seeds, but does not mention the glumes, while in the first form he speaks of the seeds as pale and the glumes as black and brilliant. Since there are no sorghums with black seeds (grana nigra lucida) it is probable that" his two varieties were the same thing, described from hearsay rather than observation. In the first variety the color of the actual seed is given ; in the other, the color of the spikelet. Ray (1G88) cites the two varieties of C. Bauhin, omitting Milium, sabaeum, and copies most of Bauhin's notes on them. Breyne (1689) discusses sorghum as "Milium Indicum saccha- riferum altissimum," and describes two forms having " semine ro- tundo atro " and " semine ferrugineo," respectively. He is the first author to recognize the saccharine content of the plant in forming a name for it. This work is not accessible, and it is not known what varieties Breyne had in hand. Sloane, in his " Catalogus " (1696), gives a copious bibliography and synonymy of this plant, including all previous authors. Morison (1699) places under the generic heading Milium two sub- groups: Minus, including wild and cultivated species of Panicum, and ma jus, including sorghums and probably pearl millet. Of sor- ghums there are three, the names being quoted from C. Bauhin and identical with those used by him in his " Pinax " (1623). Concerning the white-seeded variety he gives the new and important informa- tion that the head is pendent, but has no illustration of it. In his description of Milium sabaeum no mention is made of a pendent head, but his figure shows a group of two stalks, one bearing an erect head and the other a pendent head. Both varieties were Arabian, and it is quite possible that they were the same. He is the first author who definitely records a sorghum with a pendent head. 175 BOTANICAL HISTORY AND NOMENCLATURE OP SORGHUM. 41 EIGHTEENTH CENTURY WRITERS. Sloane (1707) gives a description of the Guinea corn of Jamaica. In this connection he supplements the synonymy given in his earlier " Catalogue " by citations from subsequent authors. He states that this form of sorghum was then in very general culture on that island, as it probably was in others of the West Indies. From the brief de- scription, the plant seems to be identical with the variety peculiar to and extensively grown in many of the West Indian islands at the present day under the same name, Guinea corn. It is almost certain that this plant was brought from the west or Guinea coast of Africa with some of the slaves, whose chief food-grain it had been in their African home. It is discussed in this bulletin under the name Guinea kafir (fig. 3, b) in the paragraph on the West Indies. Micheli (1729) proposed the generic name Sorgum for these plants as segregates from the genus Milium of Tournefort. He did not, however, describe any species in this connection, nor did he indicate what plants of Tournefort should be included in his genus. The name stands, therefore, as a nomen nudum. Tournefort in 1700 had simply lumped sorghum with Panicum mil nice urn as milium, and cited under it all the names given by the two Bauhins with some new ones of his own, which are, however, not worthy of further attention. Linne (1737) transferred these plants to his recently erected genus Holcus. The common form is treated as Holcus glumis glabris and the white-seeded, or durra, variety from Arabia as Holcus glumis villosis. For our purposes this work terminates what is called the pre-Linnean period, the next botanical contribution of any great im- portance being Linne's " Species Plantarum," wherein began in 1753 the general application of a binomial system of nomenclature for plants. LINNEAN PERIOD, 175:! TO 1850. Throughout the Linnean period botanists treated the diverse forms of this cultivated plant as botanical species. Nearly thirty species were named and about sixty binomial combinations made. The Species of Linne and Forskal. Linne (1753) published two species of sorghum under his exceed- ingly composite genus Holcus, namely, Holcus sorghum and H. sac- ckaratus, adding thereto the wild species as II. halepensis. The cul- tivated species were both from India. Under Holcus sorghum, de- scribed as " glumis villosis seminibus aristatis," he evidently placed the common European sorghum of earlier authors, since he makes his Holcus glumis glabris of 1737 a synonym. The Arabian form with fiat white seeds is not mentioned at all, either by name or in the syn- onymy, though by inference it is included in this species. Holcus 175 42 HISTORY AND DISTRIBUTION OF SORGHUM. saccharatus is described as " glumis glabris seminibus muticis," based on the Milium, indicum grants flavescentibus of Hermann and the Milium indicum sacchariferum altissimum seminibus ferrugineo of Breyne. In the second edition, 1763, it is described as having an erect, snbverticillate panicle with wide-spreading or somewhat droop- ing branches, in contrast with the small, erect, and ovate heads of Holcus sorghum. Both species are credited with villous glumes and awned lemmas (flowering glumes), and are distinguished by the size and character of the panicle. In his " Mantissa " (1771) he restricts the name Holcus sorghum to a strain of the ovate-panicled form with green villous glumes, and adds Bauhin's form with flat white seeds as a synonym. He then per- mits the open-panicled Holcus saccharatus to have hairy glumes and awned lemmas also, and describes a new species, Holcus bicolor, simi- lar to H. sorghum, with glabrous black glumes and globose white seeds, in awned lemmas, transferring his Holcus glumis glabris of 1737 to Holcus bicolor as a synonym. This new species was said to have come from Persia, which probably indicates that it was an In- dian variety perhaps secured through Persia. A similar form is found abundantlv in India to-dav- It could scarcelv have been the white dnrra of Arabia, etc., because that had pale glumes. Forskal (1775) added two species from Egypt: Holcus dochna and H. durra, the specific names being derived from the common names of the varieties in that country. Holcus dochna was probably a saccharine or semisaccharine sort, but is not now certainly identi- fiable. Both Koernicke (1885, p. 310) and Hackel (1889, p. 509) place it as a synonym under saccharatus. Forskal does not mention it as saccharine, but the description accords well with that of the sweet forms. His Holcus durra included at least two of the three durra varieties common in Egypt to-day, namely, the white seeded (beda) and the brown seeded (ahmar). Indeed, Forskal makes it cover two white-seeded forms, one with greenish glumes and one with brownish glumes. Koernicke (1885, p. 312) places the reddish -brown- seeded sort under the variety arduini Gmel. In 1887 he proposed the name egyptiacus for the white-seeded form. Hackel follows him in this, placing under his variety durra only a yellow-seeded (safra) form; he does not seem to have had the brown-seeded form at all. These three forms, beda, safra, and ahmar, with white, yellow, and brown seeds, respectively, are in common cultivation in Egypt to-day. They are practically identical except for the color of the seed, and really represent but a single botanical variety instead of three. The Species of Arduino. Arduino (1786) published descriptions of six species of sorghum, three of which he considered new, the other three being those de- 175 BOTANICAL HISTORY AND NOMENCLATURE OF SORGHUM. 43 scribed b} T Linne. All the species are excellently illustrated on folio plates, and the descriptions are more exact and complete than those of any previous author. Arduino's paper had been presented in 1780 and his experiments had been in progress since 1775, and perhaps for a longer period. He was probably the first author to grow and care- fully study in the field all the forms he could obtain. His three new species are Holcus cafer, H. cernuus, and II. niger. His Holcus cafer is the most interesting of all, because it was a recent arrival in Italy from " Cafreria " (Natal), in South Africa, which Arduino describes as " an exceedingly vast province of Africa." How it was obtained is not stated. The description and figure show a form with an umbellate panicle, the long, heavily seeded branches drooping in the form of an umbrella (fig. 13). In appearance it is identical with the drooping strain of Planter sorgo now grown in this country, and which is of known Natal origin. We thus have our Planter sorgo antedated by seventy-five years. Arduino's variety was described as 8 feet or more in height, with stalks as large as American corn, 12 or 13 leaves, and an umbrella-like panicle with drooping branches 6 inches long. The heavy stalks, filled with sweet juice, weighed three or four times as much as those of the ordinary forms, and the stems and foliage remained green until frost, even when the heads were harvested. The reddish seeds were considerably exserted from the small hairy glumes. It is the Sorghum arduini of Jacquin (Eclog. Gram., pi. 18, 1791) : the variety cafer of Koernicke (1885, vol. 1, p. 307) ; and is doubtfully admitted by Hackel (1889, p. 519). Arduino believed his Holcus niger to be the black sorghum of Pliny and Tournefort. He illustrates (fig. 14) a loose, ovate-pyramidal panicle not nearly so lax and spreading as that of Holcus sacchara- tus. It is much like some of our more compacted Amber forms and the Oomseeana of Wray. Arduino's Holcus cernuus (fig. 15) is our white durra, based on the white-seeded variety of Arabia, etc., discussed by so many of the older authors. Arduino is naturally puzzled by the action of Linne in uniting this form with his Holcus sorghum, as he did in his "Mantissa" (1771). In Arduino's interpretation of Linne's Holcus sorghum (fig. 12), it is described as from 6 to 8 feet in height and an inch in diameter, with 8 to 10 leaves and an erect, oval, compact panicle full of seeds of various shades of red and yellow, some included and some partly exserted, the lemmas being awned or awnless. Linne's Holcus sac- charatus (fig. 12) Arduino describes as a tall, slender cane with long, slender leaves and a sparse, lax panicle about a foot long, with droop- ing branches, awned or awnless spikelets, smooth or hairy glumes, and 175 44 HISTORY AND DISTRIBUTION OF SORGHUM. seed varying from pale yellow to deep red. He states that these three species. Holcus sorghum, II. niger, and //. saccharatus, had long- been cultivated in Italy and were very variable. He calls them light yielders of seed. From Holcus sorghum floor brooms were made, and from Holcus saccharatus all kinds, from whisk brooms to scrubbing brushes. He calls especial attention to the variability of the species Holcus sorghum and II. saccharatus. While it is likely that other importations than that recorded by Pliny were represented in the forms described by Arduino, it is certain that many of these forms must have arisen through variations and crossing which took place in Europe. For many years thereafter these varying forms were made the basis of new species by the botanists of that period. Numerous Species of Later Authors. Koeler (180-2) founded his genus Blumenbachia on the wild Hol- cus halepensis, but the name was never taken up for the cultivated plant. Brotero (1804) transferred Holcus sorghum and II. halepeu- sis to the genus Andropogon. Persoon (1805) took up the old ge- neric name Sorghum, first proposed by Micheli, and rechristened the cultivated plant Sorghum vulgare. During the first half of the nine- teenth century many more cultivated forms were described as new species, until the total number of species was thirty or more. The following is an alphabetical list of the names used for cultivated sor- ghums described as species: Albus, arduini, besseri, bicolor, cafer, caffrorum, campanum, cernuum, commune, compact us, dochna, dora, drumm&ndii, duna, durra, dulcis, ferrugineus, nervosum, nigricans, niger, nigerrimus, pyramidale, mtbens, saccharatus, sorghum, subgla- brescens, tnnlonenorum, usorum, versicolor, and vulgare. Some of these names have been used in all three genera, Holcus, Sorghum, and Andropogon; some have been used in two; others only in one. In this manner a total of fifty-five or sixty binomial combinations has been reached. Most of these so-called species are quite unimportant. A few of them probably include forms which have since become extensively cultivated in this country. It is almost impossible to identify these species from their meager descriptions, especially those described from regions where sorghums are abundant and variable. In con- sulting the writings of different authors who discuss a form under the same specific name, it becomes evident that they did not always have the same plant in hand. For example, the name bicolor of Linne has at one time or another been applied to almost every form with white seeds and dark glumes. In the same way the name cernuus of Arduino has been used for all forms with pendent panicles, with- out much regard to other characters involved. 175 BOTANICAL HISTORY AND NOMENCLATURE OF SORGHUM. 45 RECENT PERIOD, 1850 TO THE PRESENT TIME. By the middle of the last century the conception of cultivated forms of sorghum as species had been abandoned and the description of them as horticultural and botanical varieties was begun. Olcott (1857) published Leonard Wray's brief descriptions of his recently introduced Natal varieties (fig. IT). Stewart (1867) reprinted these descriptions, but neither attempted any classification. Beginnings of Classification. Pech (1865) published a provisional classification of the few sweet varieties then known to him. Collier (1884) amplified Pech's out- IJbrrinn. liff/iiltir Sor(/o. Jfeetizana* Fig. 17. — Heads of throe sorghum varieties figured in 1861). " Liberian " is Wray's Koom- bana, tbe present Sumac ; " Regular sorgo " is tbe Chinese variety ; and " Neeazana " is the original form of Orange. line by inserting a number of recently developed saccharine varieties, many of which were local strains that never became generally grown and are not now identifiable. These two classifications were made on a natural basis, and if fuller and more definite would be fairly usable, though wrought out from confessedly imperfect material and insuffi- cient field study and including only a limited number of forms, of which all except one were sorgos. Koernicke (1885) presented the first attempted classification of the cultivated forms of the whole world. He recognizes them as com- prising a single species Andropogon sorghum (L.) Brot, and dis- poses them in twelve varieties, grouped into two sections, Effusus and Contractus, referring to the habit of the panicle. 175 46 HISTORY AND DISTRIBUTION OF SORGHUM. The first section includes five varieties : Cafer Ard., technicus Kcke., saccharatus L., leucospermus Kcke., and niger Ard. The first two varieties are separated from the others by having a much shortened rhachis, or central axis, in the panicle. The variety cafer is our Planter sorgo, or a very similar variety, while the variety technicus is broom corn. The last three are apparently all sorgos or sweet sorghums. The variety saccharatus is much like our most spreading Eed Amber, the variety leucospermus is not determinable, and the variety niger is probably identical with some of our smaller and more compact Amber forms, as Black Dwarf. Koernicke's leucospermus had not white seeds, but red, the inappropriate name apparently re- ferring to the pale glumes, due perhaps to the acknowledged late and incomplete maturity of the specimens on which it was based. The second section contains seven varieties, of which the first four — usorum Nees., arduini Gmel., aethiops Kcke., and bicolor L. — had erect heads, and the last three — cernuus Ard., truchmenorum Koch., and neesii Kcke.— had the heads pendent. Of the first group, with erect panicles, the variety usorum, with short compact heads, is not certainly identifiable with any of the hundred or more Natal forms studied by the writer. Variety arduini is probably our Orange sorgo, variety aethiops is not known, though it is perhaps the sorgo form with ovate black heads still grown in central Europe. Variety bicolor is not identifiable among the many similar forms of India and equatorial Africa. Considering, now, the three varieties having pendent heads, it is known that the variety cernuus includes, among others, our white durra, and that the variety truchmenorum is that form of white durra with taller stalks and more compact heads found in Turkestan, where it is called, in Kussian, " Dzhugara." Variety neesii is a blackhulled white durra from the region of Natal. It has never been found in the recent importations from there. Hackel (1880) divides Andropogon sorghum into two subspecies, halepeusis and sativus, thus including both the wild and the culti- vated forms in a single species. His subspecies sativus is the Andro- pogon sorghum of Koernicke's classification and the Sorghum vulgare of Persoon. He divides this subspecies into nine sections, which contain a total of thirty-six varieties. These nine sections, or groups, are separated largely on such characters as the comparative shape and size of the spikelets, the comparative length and width of the glumes, and the relation of these to the seed. The density of the panicle, the position of its branches, the color of the seeds, and the presence and length of the awn are used as minor determining characters. No mention is made of the size and height of the culms, the character of the juice, the number or size of the leaves, the comparative length of the sheaths and internodes, or of the purpose for which the varieties are grown. 175 BOTANICAL HISTORY AND NOMENCLATURE OF SORGHUM. 47 In Africa there naturally has been but little done toward a study of the numberless forms of sorghum. In Egypt the British agri- cultural officials have studied quite carefully the native varieties, and the writer is much indebted to them for various shipments of seed and for provisional classifications, which are apparently very accurate. Colonial officers in French West Africa a (Niger Valley and Senegal) and in German East Africa" have published brief notes on the leading varieties of their regions. Schumann (1895), Busse and Pilger (1902). and Pilger (1901) have described botani- cally a very large number of forms from German East Africa and from Togo on the Guinea coast. Their descriptions are appar- ently based on dried material, mostly heads. Without the cultiva- tion and field study of varieties for at least two or three seasons, such descriptions are of little value to the agronomist. In India a comprehensive effort to assort, classify, and describe the manifold forms of that extensive region is now being made. Hooker (1897) gives a synopsis of the varieties of India as outlined by Hackel and also by Stapf. The Reporter on Economic Products for India, Mr. I. H. Burkill, has been engaged for several years in this work. A synopsis of a portion of his outline of classification was published by Benson and Subba Rao (1906) with valuable addi- tions of their own. For the varieties of the Madras Presidency, occupying the southern portion of the peninsula, these last-named gentlemen have made a provisional classification, which has the decided merit of taking into account the agronomic characters of the plants. In recent years the number of trinomials and other polynomials applied to sorghum varieties has been increased to literally hun- dreds. It is an open question whether any useful purpose is sub- served by the wholesale application of Latin trinomials to the exotic cultivated forms of a variable plant like sorghum, especially where the study is limited to immature or fragmentary dried material. Where a field study of the growing plants is also made, the final number of varieties is always greatly reduced and the practice be- comes less objectionable. A satisfactory classification of the varieties of sorghum or of any other cultivated plant must take account of the habit and characters of the entire plant, not merely of the panicles. The height, size, and color of the stalks, the comparative length of the internodes and sheaths, the number, size, and color of the leaves, the length, stout- ness, and exsertion of the peduncle, and the number of branches and suckers are all of vital importance in the study of varieties. Com- parative earliness, disease resistance, drought resistance, and pro- a Dumas, 1905, and Lambrecht, 1903. 175 48 HISTORY AND DISTEIBUTION OF SORGHUM. ductiveness, with other available ecologic characters, ought to be included. Furthermore, the use of purely artificial keys must be given up and natural groupings substituted before much permanent good can come from any classification of cultivated varieties. The lumping of all the forms which happen to have white seeds or spreading branches or pendent panicles only adds to present confusion. It is necessary first to define the major natural groups which agronomic and botanic studies have shown to exist, even if such groups can not always be sharply separated by a single character. When this has been done the varieties in each group should be distinguished by the most ob- vious natural characters. In this way only can we hope to prepare the usable and instructive systems of classification so much needed for the varieties of all our widely disseminated and variable cultivated crops. SUMMARY. AGRICULTURAL HISTORY AND DISTRIBUTION. All cultivated sorghums are held to have been derived from the wild species Andropogon halepensis. Many facts point to an independent origin in tropical Africa and in India, which are the two great centers of sorghum production, each occupied by an enormous number of varieties. Sorghums, as crops cultivated for human food, date from the most remote historic times. In varying forms sorghum is found abundantly throughout Africa and across the southern half of Asia. It is less abundantly distributed in southern Europe and in the United States and the West Indies. Sorghum varieties furnish the chief cereal food of the native mil- lions in Africa. In British South Africa kafirs and sorgos are the predominating groups, represented by numerous varieties. Most of the kafirs and sorgos cultivated in the United States were obtained in this region, which is similar in many respects to much of our Great Plains area. Throughout equatorial Africa some new and little-known groups, related to the durras, are the leading types. Forms of the Roxburghii group also occur commonly, while kafirs and sorgos are rare. All these tropical forms are late in maturing. In Abyssinia and throughout the Sudan these new durra-like groups predominate. The Roxburghii group diminishes in impor- tance, while kafirs and sorgos disappear as native types. Few of the local varieties are immediately adapted to our conditions. In North or Mediterranean Africa only clurra groups are found. Those forms found in Egypt are Sudanese; the white durra in the 175 SUMMARY. 49 Barbary States is nearly identical with that of southwestern Asia, and doubtless has resulted from the Arab invasion of Africa. In all of southwestern Asia, including Asia Minor, Syria, Arabia, Turkestan, and perhaps a part of Persia, the single variety is a white durra, equivalent to our American form. India contains a bewildering confusion of little-known forms. Many of them approximate the durra group; many are forms of shallu, the type of the Roxburghii group; while some represent en- tirely new groups of sorghum. A large number tested in this country have proved very poor yielders of grain. East China and Manchuria are the home of a new group, the kowliangs, with several well-marked varieties. One sorgo variety has long been cultivated at the mouth of the Yangtze River. All these are well adapted to growth under the conditions obtaining in our sorghum belt. The larger islands near the coast of Asia show a few forms, appar- ently derived from the mainland. Europe received a sorghum variety from India during the first century, A. D. Only two or three forms of the sorgo type had been obtained, either through importation or evolution, up to about one hundred and thirty years ago. Only broom corn and a few sorgos are now found there. No cultivated sorghums are native to the New World. Probably the earliest introduction was the Guinea kafir in the West Indies. Scattering introductions have appeared in the United States since early colonial days. With the exception of broom corn, none was permanent until the arrival of the sorgo group about fifty-five years ago, followed by the durras and kafirs about twenty years later, shallu about twenty years ago, and the kowliangs recently. BOTANICAL HISTORY AND CLASSIFICATION. Sorghum was first known in Europe as Milium indicum, or Indian millet, in reference to its origin. Many similar names were applied later. The common name sorghum, or sorgo, was derived more than three hundred and sixty years ago from the Latin word " surgo," meaning to rise or tower, in reference to the height of sorghums in comparison with that of other crops. During the sixteenth, seventeenth, and eighteenth centuries the European forms were named and described, with occasional figures, by many pre-Linnean botanists. The earliest accepted binomial is Holcus son/hum L., 1T53. 175 50 HISTORY AND DISTRIBUTION OF SORGHUM. By the middle of the nineteenth century fully thirty botanical spe- cies had been described from cultivated forms and about sixty bi- nomial combinations had been made. Only a part of these so-called species can be identified with exist- ing available forms to-day. Since about 1850 the differing forms of cultivated sorghums have been regarded as botanical or horticultural varieties. Descriptions have commonly been drawn from the heads and seeds only, ignoring the characters of the plant. During the past half century numerous classifications of varying scope and completeness have been constructed. Any satisfactory classification must take account of the habit and characters of the entire plant and have regard for natural groups. 175 BIBLIOGRAPHY. 600 B. C. (about). Bible. Book of Ezekiel, chapter 4, verse 9. GO or 70 A. I). (about). Plinius, Gaius (Secundus). Naturalis historise, book IS, chapter 7 (vol. 2, p. 424, edition of 156S). 1537. Ruel, Jean. De natura stirpium, p. 320. 1542. 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Johnson grass: Report of investigations made dur- ing the season of 1901. Bulletin 11, Bureau of Plant Industry, U. S. Department of Agriculture, pp. 7-11. 1902. Busse, W., and Pilgek, R. " Ueber Culturformen der Sorghum-hirse aus Deutsch Ostafrika und Togo,"' in Engler, Botanische Jahrbiieher, vol. 32, pp. 182-189. 1903. Lambrecht. Ueber die Landwirtschaft der Eingeboreuen im Bezirk Kilossa. Berichte iiber Land- und Forstwirtschaft in Deutsch-Osta- frika, vol. 1, pp. 391-402. 1905. Dumas, P. Culture du sorgho dans les vallees du Niger et du Haut Senegal. L' Agriculture Pratique des Pays Chauds, vol. 5 ( Jan.-June), pp. 458-466; (July-Dec), pp. 8-21. 1905. (Reprinted, 27 pp., Paris, 1906. ) 1906. Ball, Carleton R. Saccharine sorghums for forage. Farmers' Bulletin 246, U. S. Department of Agriculture, pp. 7-18. 1906. Benson, C, and Subba Rao, C. K. The great millet or sorghum in Madras. Bulletin, Department of Agriculture, Madras, India, vol 3 (no. 55), pp. 64-91. 1906. Burkill, I. H. (A portion of a provisional classification is published by Benson and Subba Rao, loc. cit.) 1906. Watt, George. Sorghum vulgare, Pers. The great millet or juar in India. Agricultural Ledger, 1905, pp. 83-90 (agric. series, no. 37, pp. 91-97). 1907. Warburton, C. W. The nonsaccharine sorghums. Farmers' Bulletin 2SS, U. S. Department of Agriculture, pp. 8-10. 1907. Ball, Carleton R. Sorghum. Cyclopedia of Agriculture, edited by L. H. Bailey, vol. 2, pp. 574-580 (figures 808-814). 1908. Ball, Carleton R. Milo as a dry-land grain crop. Farmers' Bulletin 322, U. S. Department of Agriculture, pp. 5-10. 175 INDEX Page. Abyssinia, distribution of sorghum, description of varieties, etc 17-18 Aethiops, use as a varietal name 46 Africa, British East, distribution of sorghum, description of varieties, etc 16 equatorial, distribution of sorghum, description of varieties, etc 16 German East, distribution of sorghum, description of varieties, etc 16 North, distribution of sorghum, description of varieties, etc 18-19 sorghum for human food, center of cultivation 11 South, distribution of sorghum, description of varieties, etc 13-16 sorghums introduced into Europe 13, 28-29, 43 United States 13-15, 30, 33 tribes, cultivation of sorghums 12 Ahmar, the brown-seeded durra of Egypt, description 19 Albus, use as a specific name 44 Alcohol, manufacture from sorghum, experiments 30 Algeria. See Barbary States. Amber sorgo. See Sorgo, Amber. America, Central, and West Indies, distribution of sorghum, description of va- rieties, etc 31-32 South, distribution of sorghum 31 American Agriculturalist, distribution of Chinese sorgo seed 32 Andropogon halepensis, distribution, description, etc 8-10 not native to the New World 31 occurrence in India 23 wild sorghum, origin of cultivated sorghums 7, 8-9 sorghum, classification of varieties 44-46 var. ovulifer, abundance in Upper Guinea 17 roxburghii, occurrence in Madagascar 16 Upper Guinea 17 shallu varieties of India included 22 Arabia, white durra, early history 10 the only sorghum found 20 See also Asia, southwest. Arduini, use as a specific or varietal name 44, 46 Arduino, Pietro, references 13, 27, 28-29, 38, 42, 43, 44 sorghum species 42-AA Asia Minor. See Asia, southwest. southwest, Amber sorgo, introduction 21 white durra, description 20-21, 28 Australia, no native sorghums 26 Authors, early, dates and names used for sorghums 36-41 later, sorghum species 44 Avicenna, reference 37, 39 Barbary States, distribution of sorghum, description of varieties, etc 19-20 Bauhin, Caspar, early author, date and names for sorghum 37 references 27, 39^0, 42 175 55 56 HISTOKY AND DISTEIBUTION OF SORGHUM. Page. Beda, the white-seeded durra of Egypt, description 19 Belon, Pierre, early author, date and name for sorghum 36 Benson, C, references 10, 47 Besler, Basil, early author, date and names for sorghum 37 Besseri, use as a specific name 44 Bibliography of bulletin 51-53 Bicolor, use as a specific or varietal name 44, 46 See also Holcus bicolor. Blumenbachia, use as a generic name for sorghum 44 Bretschneider, Emil, reference H Breyne, Jacob, references 37, 40, 42 Broom corn. See Corn, broom. Brotero, Felix de Avellar, reference 44 Burkill, I. H., reference 47 Busse and Pilger, reference 47 Csesalpini, Andrea, references 36, 38 Cafer, use as a specific or varietal name 44, 46 See also Holcus cafer. Caffrorum, use as a specific name 44 Oampanum, use as a specific name 44 Canada, sorgos, cultivation and varieties 35 Cernuum, use as a specific or varietal name 44, 46 See also Holcus cernuus. China, antiquity of sorghum . H black millet, early reference H distribution of sorghum, description of varieties, etc .23-25 "Chocolate corn. " See Corn, chocolate. Classification and botanical history of sorghum, summary 49-50 sorghum, beginnings 48 Collier, Peter, sorghum classification 45 sorgo. See Sorgo, Collier. Collins, Varnum D . , reference 25 Commissioner of Patents, United States, experiments with and distribution of sorghum seed 32 Commune, use as a specific name 44 Compactus, use as a specific name 4 4 Corn, broom, a group of sorghums 7 cultivation in Japan and Korea 25 South America 31 development and use 27 early origin in Italy 27 introduction and early use in United States 32 called durra shami in Egypt 19 chocolate, early use in United States as a beverage 32 Guinea, name used for a grain sorghum in the British West Indies 31, 41 sometimes included in term "milium" 35 Crescenzi, Piero de, references 36, 37 Dahomey. See Guinea, Upper. Distribution and agricultural history of sorghum 8-35, 48-49 "Dochan" ("dochn" or "dokhn"), Hebrew word for millet 10 Dochna, use as a specific name 44 See also Holcus dochna. 175 INDEX. 57 Page. Dodoens, Rembert, references 27, 36, 38 Dora, use as a specific name 44 Drummondii, use as a specific name 44 Dulcis, use as a specific name 44 Dumas, P., reference 47 Duna, use as a specific name 44 Durra, a group of sorghums 7 beladi, general term for sorghums in Egypt 19 brown, from North Africa, grown in United States 20 in the Barbary States 19 introduction and importance in United States 34 most common group of sorghums in British-Egyptian Sudan 17 India 21-22 shami, name for corn in Egypt 19 use as a specific name 44 varieties in Abyssinia 18 Egypt 19 white, early history in Arabia 10 from North Africa grown in United States 20 in Barbary States 19 southwest Asia 20-21, 28, 39-40 occurrence in Europe 31 seed, use in paying taxes in Asiatic Turkey 21 See also Holcus durra. Early Amber sorgo. See Sorgo, Amber. Egypt, antiquity of sorghum 10 distribution of sorghum, description of varieties, etc 19 Euphrates Valley, antiquity of sorghums 10 Europe, broom corn, origin 27 introduction of sorgos from Natal 29 manufacture of alcohol and sugar from sorgos 30 sorgos cultivated, origin 13, 28, 29, 30, 43 sorghum, introduction, distribution, etc 26-31 southern, sorghum, uses as animal food, dangers 27 Ezekiel, book of prophet, reference 10 Ferrugineus, use as a specific name 44 Forskal, Pehr, sorghum species 41-42 French Guinea. See Guinea, Upper. Fuchs, Leonhard, reference 36, 37 Gold Coast, Africa. See Guinea, Upper. Gooseneck sorgo. See Sorgo, Gooseneck. Greeley, Horace, reference 33 "Guinea corn." See Corn, Guinea, kafir. See Kafir, Guinea. Upper, distribution of sorghum, description of varieties, etc 17 Hackel, E . , classification of sorghum 46 references 8, 16, 17, 22, 42, 43, 46, 47 Halepensis, use as a subspecific name 46 See also Andropogon halepensis. Hareoman, Arabian name for sorghum 37, 39 Hermann, Paul, references 37, 40, 42 History, agricultural, and distribution of sorghum 8-35, 48^9 botanical, and nomenclature of sorghum 35^48, 49-50 175 58 HISTOEY AND DISTRIBUTION OF SORGHUM. Page. Holcus bicolor, description 42 cafer, references 13, 43 cernuus, description 43 dochna, description 42 durra, description 42 halepensis, references 41, 44 niger, description 43, 44 saccharatus, description, etc 42, 43, 44 sorghum, references 37, 41, 42, 43, 44 Honey sorgo. See Sorgo, Honey. Hooker, J. D., reference 47 Imphee, native name for sorgos in Natal 29, 33 . India, antiquity of sorghums 10 distribution of sorghum, description of varieties, etc 21-23 independent origin of sorghums 9-10, 23 introduction of sorghum into other countries, varieties 10-11, 26, 35 sorghum for human food, center of cultivation 11 ' ' twin-seed " 11,21 use as human food and fodder 21 varieties, description, acreage, yield, etc 21-23 Indian millet. See Millet, Indian. Introduction to bulletin 7-8 Italian millet, early German name for sorghum , 36 Italy, experiments in making sorghum sugar 28 origin of broom corn 27 Ivory Coast, Africa. See Guinea, Upper. Jacquin, N. J., reference 43 Japan, cultivation of broom corn and kowliang 25 Kafir, a group of sorghums 7 Guinea, name suggested for Guinea corn 32 introduction and importance in United States, varieties, etc 34 origin and varieties in Natal 13-14 Orange Free State 14-15 Transvaal and Rhodesia, varieties 15 Koeler, G. L., reference 44 Koernicke, Friedrich, classification of sorghum 45^16 references 42, 43 Korea, cultivation of kowliang 25 Kowliang, a group of sorghums 7 blackhull, Chinese variety of sorghum 23 brown, Chinese variety of sorghum 23 cultivation in Japan and Korea 25 name of a group of sorghums in China 23 varieties, descriptions and uses 23-24 white, Chinese variety 23 Lambrecht, reference 47 Leueospermus, use as a varietal name 46 Linne, Carl, early author, date and names for sorghum 37 references 37-38,41^2,43,44 sorghum species 41-42 L'Obel, Mathias de, early author, date and names for sorghum 36 references 27, 38, 39 175 INDEX. 59 Page. Lucian, reference 38 Madagascar, distribution of sorghum, discription of varieties, etc 15-16 Manchuria, northern extension of sorghum culture 11 Mattioli, Pietro Andrea, references 36, 38, 39 ' 'Maysillo," name used in Honduras for Guinea corn 31 Melega, early name for sorghum, derivation 36 Melica, early name for sorghum, derivation 36 Mesopotamia, use of white durra as a food 10 Micheli, Pier' Antonio, references 37,41,44 ' 'Mil Cigne," sorghum of the roxburghii group from Senegal 17 Milica, early name for sorghum, derivation 36 Milium, derivation and meaning 35 indicum, description by Pliny 35 early European name for sorghum 35-36 insubrum, early name for sorghum, derivation 36 sabaeum, early name for sorghum, derivation 36, 40 saracenicum, early name for sorghum, derivation 36 Millet, ancient Hebrew names 10 derivation of name 35 Indian, name used in Europe and America for sorghums 26 pearl, Arabic name 10 included in term "milium" 35, 40 See also Pennisetum spicatum. petit, name applied to Guinea kafir in the French West Indies 31 proso. See Panicum miliaceum. reed, early European name for sorghum 26 Millets in China 23 Europe, use 27 varieties, early, description 35 Millo, derivation of name 35 maize, white, name used in United States for Guinea kafir 32 Milo, a group of sorghums 7 derivation of name 35 introduction and importance in United States 34 possible origin from durra safra in Egypt 19 Morison, Robert, references 37, 40 Morocco. See Barbary States. Mpemby sorghum, native of Madagascar, South Africa, description 15-16 Natal, distribution of sorghum 13-14 introduction of kafirs into United States 13, 15 sorgos into Europe 13, 28, 29 United States 13, 33 kafir varieties 13, 14, 15 roxburghii group of sorghums not native 14 Neesii, use as a varietal name 46 Nervosum, use as a specific name 44 Niger, use as a specific or varietal name 44, 46 See also Holcus niger. Nigeria. See Guinea, Upper. Nigerrimus, use as a specific name - 44 Nigricans, use as a specific name 44 Nili, name for fall-sown sorghum crop in Egypt 19 175 60 HISTORY AND DISTRIBUTION OF SORGHUM. Page. Nomenclature and botanical history of sorghum 35-48 Olcott, Henry J., references 33, 45 Orange Free State. See Orange River Colony. River Colony, distribution of sorghum, description of varieties, etc 14-15 introduction of Kafirs into United States 14-15 Pacific islands, distribution of sorghum, description of varieties, etc 25-26 Panicum miliaceum, included under term "milium" 35,41 references 11, 27, 35, 41 Parkinson, John, references 38, 39 Patents, United States Commissioner, experiments with and distribution of sorghum seed 32 Pearl millet. See Millet, pearl. Pech, F., sorghum classification 45 Pennisetum spicatum. See Millet, pearl. Persoon, C. H., reference 44 "Petit millet." See Millet, petit. Pilger, R. , reference 47 Planter sorgo. See Sorgo, Planter. Pliny, references , 10,28,35,30,37,39,40,43,44 Porta, Giambattista, early author, date and names for sorghums 36 Prince, William R., first American grower of Chinese sorgo 32 Proso millet. See Panicum miliaceum. Pyramidale, use as a specific name 44 Rabi, the fall-sown sorghum crop in India 22 Rauwolf , reference 39 Ray, John, references 27, 37, 40 Reed millet. See Millet, reed. Rhodesia, distribution of sorghum : 15 Roxburghii group of sorghums, adaptability to Southern States 16 in Natal 14 1 Upper Guinea 17 use as a varietal name 15,17 Rubens, use as a specific name 44 Ruel, Jean, early author, date and name for sorghum 36 Saccharatus, use as a specific or varietal name 41, 42, 43, 44, 45, 46 See also Holcus saccharatus. Safra, the yellow-seeded durra of Egypt, description 19 Sagina, early name for sorghum, derivation 36 Sapling sorgo. See Sorgo, Sapling. Sativus, use as a subspecific name 46 Scaliger, J. G, early author, date and name for sorghum 36 Schumann, K., reference 47 Sefi, name for spring-sown sorghum crop in Egypt 19 Senegal. See Guinea, Upper. Setaria italica, reference H Shallu, a group of sorghums 7, 20 variety of roxburghii 22 Sloane, Hans, references 31, 37, 40, 41 Sorghi, early name for sorghum, derivation 36 not an oriental name 36 Sorgho, early name for sorghum, derivation 36 in United States for Chinese sorgo 33 175 INDEX. 61 I'a.iie. Sorghum, agricultural history and distribution 8-35, 48-49 ancient Hebrew names 10 antiquity 10-11 arduini, description 43 botanical history and classification, summary 49-50 nomenclature 35-48 Chinese, kowliang group, varieties and characteristics 23-24, 25 See also Kowliang; Millet, tall; and Sorgo, Chinese. classification, beginnings 45-48 cultivated, origin , 8-10 species, alphabetical list 44 definition of term 7-8 distribution and agricultural history 8-35 geographical 1 1-35 in Abyssinia, description of varieties, etc 17-18 Barbary States, description of varieties, etc 19-20 British East Africa, description of varieties, etc 16 Egyptian Sudan, description of varieties, etc . 17 Central America and West Indies, description of varieties, etc 31-32 China, description of varieties, etc 23-25 Egypt, description of varieties, etc 19 equatorial Africa, description of varieties, etc 16 Europe, description of varieties, etc 26-31 French Sudan, description of varieties, etc 16-17 German East Africa, description of varieties, etc. ... 16 India, description of varieties, etc 21-23 Madagascar, description of varieties, etc 15-16 Natal, description of varieties, etc 13-14 North Africa, description of varieties, etc 18-19 Orange River Colony, description of varieties, etc.. 14-15 Pacific Islands, description of varieties, etc 25-26 Rhodesia, description of varieties, etc 15 South Africa, description of varieties, etc 13-16 America, description of varieties, etc 31 Sudan, description of varieties, etc 16 Transvaal, description of varieties, etc 15 United States, description of varieties, etc 32-35 Upper Guinea, description of varieties, etc 17 early distribution to other countries from India 10-11, 35 Egyptian, valueless in United States 19 European, uses and value 27 groups, principal, key 8 importance as food plant in Africa 11 India, varieties, description, acreage, yield, etc 21-23 names, early, and early writers, dates 36-41 popular, early origin in Europe 35 nomenclature, binomial 41 not native to New World 49 roxburghii group, adaptability to Southern States 16 species, botanical 41 of Arduino 42-44 175 62 HISTORY AND DISTRIBUTION OF SORGHUM. Page. Sorghum, species of Forskal 42 later authors 44 Linne 41^2 sugar making, early experiments and results 28-29 sweet. See Sorgo. twin-seed, in India 11, 20 use as a specific or varietal name 41, 42, 43, 44, 45, 46 . in manufacture of fermented drink in Africa 11 varieties, increasing number 47 variety ovulifer, grain production, value 17 vulgare, references 44, 46 Sorghum. See also Andropogon; Com, broom; Corn, chocolate; Corn, Guinea; Durra;Holcus; Kafir; Kowliang; Millet; Millets; Millo; Milo; Shallu; Sorghi; Sorgho; Sorgi; Sorgo; Sorgum; Surga. Sorgi, early name for sorghum, derivation 36 Sorgo, a group of sorghums 7 Amber, cultivation in Canada 35 importance in United States 34 introduction from United States into South America 31 into Arabia 21 origin from Chinese sorgo 25, 34 similarity to Chinese sorgo 24 Collier, probable origin 34 Chinese, cultivation and use in China 25 introduction into France 24, 29 United States 25, 32-33 origin and description 24-25 early name for sorghum, derivation 36 from Natal, native names and descriptions 33 Gooseneck, probable origin 34 Honey, probable origin 34 introduction from Natal into Europe and United Slates 29-34 native and introduced varieties of India 20 Orange, origin and importance in United States 34 origin and importance in United States 34 Planter, a similar form found in Natal 13, 43 probable origin 34 Sapling, probable origin 34 Sumac, origin and importance in United States 34 Sorgsaet, early Belgian name for sorghum, derivation : 36 Sorgsamen, early German name for sorghum, derivation 36 Sorgum, generic name proposed by Micheli 41 South Africa. See Africa, South. Spain, introduction of sorgos from United States 30 Stapf , Otto, reference 47 Stewart, F. L., reference 45 Subba Rao, references 10, 47 Subglabrescens, use as a specific name 44 Sudan, British-Egyptian, distribution of sorghum, description of varieties, etc. 17 distribution of sorghum, description of varieties, etc 16 French, distribution of sorghum, description of varieties, etc 16-17 Sugar, sorghum, production, early experiments and results 28-29, 30 175 INDEX. 63 Sumac sorgo. See Sorgo, Sumac. Page. Summary of bulletin 48-50 Surga, early name for sorghum, derivation 36 Syria, sorghum, grain-bearing, use as food 10 See also Asia, southwest. Technicus, use as a varietal name 46 Tigris Valley, antiquity of sorghums 10 Togoland. See Guinea, Upper. Tournefort, Joseph Pitton, early author, date and name for sorghum 37, 41, 43 Tragus, Hieronymus, early author, date and name for sorghum 36, 37, 38 Transvaal, distribution of sorghum, description of varieties, etc 15 Tripoli. See Barbary States. Truchmenorum, use as a specific or varietal name 44, 46 Tunis. See Barbary States. Turkestan, Russian. See Asia, southwest. "Twin-seed" sorghum. See Sorghum, twin-seed. United States, distribution of Chinese sorgo by Commissioner of Patents 32 sorghum, description of varieties, etc 32-35 early use of broom corn 32 introduction of Chinese sorgo 32 northern extension of sorghum culture 11 origin of sorghums in cultivation 13-15, 25, 28-33 Usorum, use as a specific or varietal name 44, 46 Varieties, sorghum. See Sorghum, varieties. 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Price, 10 cents. 20. Manufacture of Semolina and Macaroni. 1902. Price, 15 cents. 22. Injurious Effects of Premature Pollination. 1902. Price, 10 cents. 23. Berseem: The Great Forage and SoLing Crop of Nile Valley. 1902. Price, 15 cents. 24. Unfermented Grape Must. 1902. Price, 10 cents. 25. Miscellaneous Papers. 1903. Price, 15 cents. 27. Letters on Agriculture in the West Indies, Spain, etc. 1902. Price, 15 cents. 29. The Effect of Black-Rot on Turnips. 1903. Price, 15 cents. 31. Cultivated Forage Crops of the Northwestern States. 1902. Price, 10 cents. 32. A Disease of the White Ash. 1903. Price, 10 cents. 33. North American Species of Leptochloa. 1903. Price, 15 cents. 35. Recent Foreign Explorations. 1903. Price, 15 cents. 36. The -'Bluing" of Western Yellow Pine, etc. 1903. Price, 30 cents. 37. Formation of Spores in Sporangia of Rhizopus Nigricans, etc. 1903. Price, 15 cents. 38. Forage Conditions in Eastern Washington, etc. 1903. Price, 15 cents. 39. The Propagation of the Easter Lily from Seed. 1903. Price, 10 cents. 41. The Commercial Grading of Corn. 1903. Price, 10 cents. 42. Three New Plant Introductions from Japan. 1903. Price, 10 cents. 47. The Description of Wheat Varieties. 1903. Price, 10 cents. 48. The Apple in Cold Storage. 1903. Price, 15 cents. 49. Culture of the Central American Rubber Tree. 1903. Price, 25 cents. 50. Wild Rice: Its Uses and Propagation. 1903. Price, 10 cents. 51. Miscellaneous Papers. 1905. Price, 5 cents. 54. Persian Gulf Dates. 1903. Price, 10 cents. 59. Pasture, Meadow, and Forage Crops in Nebraska. 1904. Price, 10 cents. . 60. A Soft Rot orthe Calla Lily. 1904. Price, 10 cents. 61. The Avocado in Florida. 1904. Price, 5 cents. 62. Notes on Egyptian Agriculture. 1904. Price, 10 cents. 67. Range Investigations in Arizona. ' 1904. Price, "15 cents. 68. North American Species of Agrostis. 1905. Price, 10 cents. 69. American Varieties of Lettuce. 1904. Price, 15 cents. 70. The Commercial Status of Durum Wheat. 1904. Price, 10 cents. 71. Soil Inoculation for Legumes. 1905. Price, 15 cents. 72. Miscellaneous Papers. 1905. Price, 5 cents. 73. The Development of Single-Germ Beet Seed. 1905. Price, 10 cents. 74. Prickly Pear and Other Cacti as Food for Stock. 1905. Price, 5 cents. 75. Range Management in the State of Washington. 1905. Price, 5 cents. 76. Copper as an Algicide and Disinfectant in Water Supplies. 1905. Price:, 5 cents. 77. The Avocado, a Salad Fruit, from the Tropics. 1905. Price, 5 cents. 79. Variability of Wheat Varieties in Resistance to Toxic Salts. 1905. Price, 5 cents. 80. Agricultural Explorations in Algeria. 1905. Price, 10 cents. 81. Evolution of Cellular Structures. 1905. Price, 5 cents. 82. Grass Lands of the South Alaska Coast. 1905. Price, 10 cents. 83. The Vitality of Buried Seeds. 1905. Price, 5 cents. 84. The Seeds of the Bluegrasses. 1905. Price, 5 cents. 85. Principles of Mushroom Growing and Mushroom Spawn Making. 1905. Price, 10 cents. 86. Agriculture without Irrigation in the Sahara Desert. 1905. Price, 5 cents. 88. Weevil-Resisting Adaptations of the Cotton Plant. 1906. Price,- 10 cents. 89. Wild Medicinal Plants of the United States. 1906. Price, 5 cents. 90. Miscellaneous Papers. 1906. Price, 5 cents. 91. Varieties of Tobacco Seed Distributed, etc. 1906. Price, 5 cents. 94. Farm Practice with Forage Crops in Western Oregon, etc. 1906. Price, 10 cents. 95. A New Type of Red Clover. 1906. Price, 10 cents. 96. Tobacco Breeding. 1907. Price, 15 cents. 97. Seeds and Plants Imported. InventorvNo.il. 1907. Price, 15 cents. 98. Soy Bean Varieties. 1907. Price, 15 cents. [Continued on page 3 of cover.] 176 U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. BUREAU OF PLANT INDUSTRY— BULLETIN NO. 176. B. T. GALLOWAY, Chief of Bureau. SEEDS AND PLANTS IMPORTED DURING THE PERIOD FROM JULY 1 TO SEPTEMBER 30, 1909: INVENTORY No. 20; Nos. 25718 to 26047. Issued April 23, 1910. LIBRARY NEW YORK BOTANICAL GARDEN. WASHINGTON: GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE, 1910, CONTENTS Page. Introductory statement 7 Inventory 9 Publication of new names 31 Index of common and scientific names 33 176 5 B. P. I.— 541. SEEDS AND PLANTS IMPORTED DURING THE PERIOD FROM JULY 1 TO SEPTEMBER 30, 1909: INVENTORY NO. 20; NOS. 25718 TO 26047. INTRODUCTORY STATEMENT. This inventory, covering the first quarter of the fiscal year from July 1 to September 30, 1 909, contains 329 introductions. The first quar- ter has always been light, so far as the number of introductions is concerned. This quarter's introductions have been unusually so, owing to the fact that no explorers were in the field and changes in the office force interfered with regular correspondence; further, to the fact that only those introductions deemed of special interest are being included, those considered of minor importance being recorded in the office files only. Of unusual interest in this inventory might be mentioned the following introductions : Numbers 25858 and 25859 cover the seeds of the rattan palms which supply the valuable material for the , manufacture of cane- seated chairs, street-car seats, baskets, etc., and whose cultivation as a tropical crop seems to have been given very little attention. The ability of these climbing palms to thrive in dense jungles is be- lieved to be worthy the attention of tropical planters in the Western Hemisphere. An importation of seeds of the "Queensland nut," Macadamia ternifolia (No. 25845), calls attention to the possibilities of cultivating this plant in parts of California and southern Florida. Trees are now srrowino; i n southern California which have borne nuts for the past two seasons. The Macadamia is being cultivated in Queens- land and New South Wales, and, according to our information, the nuts are very well liked in Sydney, where they retail for as much as a shilling a pound. In order to aid in the experiments with the horse bean, Viciafaba, which are being carried on by the Office of Forage-Crop Investiga- tions, a collection of this important winter legume, adapted to the mild winters of the Southwestern States, has been gathered together from India, Egypt, Holland, Hungary, China, Kashmir, and Spain, and it is hoped that more definite information can be secured regard- ing the adaptability of this crop to our southwestern country. The "Monketaan" stock melon (No. 25934) comes to us recom- mended by Mr. Lounsbury and Mr. Thornton, of the Department of 176 7 8 SEEDS AND PLANTS IMPORTED. Agriculture of Cape Colony, as a plant worthy of being given unusual attention. According to their statements, this melon, which is of the nature of a watermelon, is quite distinct from the well-known Tsama melon, which grows on the west side of the Kalihari desert. This is found on the east side of the desert and is remarkable for the high yield of melons to the acre. As many as 150 tons have been pro- duced to the acre, 75 tons being not at all unusual. The interest in new varieties of mangos has become general enough in Florida to warrant our calling particular attention to the "Palm- tan" mango (No. 25940), introduced by Mr. William S. Lyon from the Philippines. Although not as large a fruit or as small seeded as some of the East Indian mangos, it fruits early and is enormously prolific (which some of the East Indian varieties are not). Accord- ing to Mr. Lyon its sweetness and juiciness are unapproached by any other of the many Filipino mangos he has eaten. Its thick skin will probably make it a good shipper. The oriental Myrica nagi has been introduced under No. 25908. This extremely interesting fruit plant, whose dark wine-colored fruits are exceedingly ornamental, has not been given the attention which it deserves. There seem to be a number of varieties of this fruit, and, although it is a slow-growing tree and late coming into bearing, it is deserving of a trial in California and northern Florida. The great value of a variety of cherry which is hardier in fruit bud than other cherries is conceded by the horticulturists of the North western States. Those who are breeding or experimenting with cherries will therefore be interested in the introduction of Prunus tomentosa (No. 25880), which has been especially recommended by Professor Macoun, of the Experimental Farm at Ottawa, Canada. Trees of this species have been placed in the Upper Mississippi Valley Plant Introduction Garden at Ames, Iowa, for further trial and propagation. Of especial interest and problematic value is a collection of peach, apricot, and cherry seeds from the Himalayas (Nos. 25894 to 25896). The Indian bael fruit (Nos. 25879, 25889, 25890, and 25912) is one which may prove valuable for making sherbets and for the flavoring of soft drinks. A collection of varieties of tropical corn, representing some of the best work done by the Harvard Experiment Station in Cuba; a collection of oats from Algeria, Palestine, Sweden, and Tur- key for the oat breeders; and a wild olive, Olea foveolata (No. 25846), from the East London district of Cape Colony, are also worthy of special mention. David Fairchild, Agricultural Explorer in Charge. Office of Foreign Seed and Plant Introduction, Washington, D. C, December 24, 1909. 176 INVENTORY. 25718 to 25722. From Cartago, Costa Rica. Presented by Mr. C. Werckle. Received July 2, 1909. Seeds of the following; descriptive notes by Mr. Werckle. 25718. Anacardium occidentale L. Cashew. ''These seeds are from the best and largest varieties I could find; red, yellow, and tawn color, the latter are the best. They are from the large grove of Don Rafael Yglesias, in the Cazalar." 25719. CUCURBITA MOSCHATA Ducll. "Pipian. Most prolific pumpkin of the Pacific coast. Full; white fleshed." 25720. Carica papaya L. Papaw. "Good, very large variety." 25721. Carica peltata Hook. & Arn. "Suara. Fruit very small, globular, full (no cavity), sweet, and fragrant. For crossing. Eaten with the seeds as Granadilla. Ovary full, on account of formation of cellular tissue on the funiculus the funiculi of the center of the placenta are very long. Pulp soft, skin very thin." Distribution. — A native of Central America, found on the coast of Nicaragua and Costa Rica. 25722. Carica papaya £ X peltata $ "Small, sweet, fragrant fruits, not full or solid as the Suara." 25723 and 25724. From Baroda, India. Presented by Mr. B. F. Cavanagh, superintendent, State Gardens. Received July 3, 1909. Seeds of the following: 25723. Terminalia bellerica (Gaertn.) Roxb. See S. P. I. No. 25541 for description. 25724. Phyllanthus emblica L. "A small deciduous tree of the family Euphorbiacese, found in China, Japan, India, and elsewhere. The unripe fruit, formerly official in medicine, is known commercially as emblic myrobalans and with the leaves and bark is used in tanning. The leaves have been found to contain 18 per cent tannin and the bark 12.6 per cent. Introduced for trial in the Southern States." (W. W. Stockberger.) Distribution. — A large tree, native of tropical India, China, and the Malay Archipelago. 25725 to 25728. From Baroda, India. Presented by Mr. B. F. Cavanagh, superintendent, State Gardens. Received July 6, 1909. 21522— Bui. 176—10 2 9 10 SEEDS AND PLANTS IMPOETED. 25725 to 25728— Continued. Seeds of the following: 25725. Stizolobium sp. 25726 to 25728. Dolichos lablab L. Bonavist bean. 25726. Black. 25728. Small red. 25727. Large red. 25729. Phaseolus lunatus L. From Antigua, Leeward Islands, West Indies. Presented by Mr. S. Jackson, curator, Government Botanic Station. Received July 3, 1909. "Barbuda bean.'" 25730 and 25731. Avena spp. Oat. From Jerusalem, Palestine. Presented by Mr. E. F. Beaumont. Received July 6, 1909. Seeds of the following: 25730. Avena sterilis L. 25731. Avena sativa L. Grown from Jaffa seed. 25732. Stizolobium sp. From Lawang, Java. Presented by Mr. M. Buysman. Received July 10, 1909. Black seeded. 25733. Medicago sativa L. Alfalfa. From Bridgeport, Kans. Grown on the farm of Mr. Carl Wheeler. Numbered for convenience in recording distribution, July 12, 1909. '•'A plant selected for leanness and seed production from same field which produced S. P. I. No. 19508. Grown at the Department greenhouse under Agros. No. 20." (J. M. Westgate.) 25736. Zea mays L. Corn. From Pretoria, Transvaal, South Africa. Presented by Prof. J. Burtt Davy, gov- ernment agrostologist and botanist, Transvaal Department of Agriculture. Received July 16, 1909. "Hickory King. A strain now being developed in South Africa." (Davy.) 25738. Saccharum officinarum L. Sugar cane. From Buitenzorg, Java. Presented by Dr. M. Treub, director, Department of Agriculture. Received July 2, 1909. "Arrows of one of our best varieties of sugar cane (G. Z. No. 247). Rather a large percentage of these seeds do not germinate." ( Treub.) 25740. Panicum palmaefolium Koen. From Pretoria, Transvaal, South Africa. Presented by Prof. J. Burtt Davy, government agrostologist and botanist, Transvaal Department of Agriculture. Received July 19, 1909. " I do not consider this one of our best grasses, but it is a useful sort in shady places, in comparatively warm districts, and in forest glades." (Davy.) Distribution. — A native of tropical Africa, and extending to the Cape. 176 JULY 1 TO SEPTEMBEE 30, 1909. 11 25742 to 25752. From Bavaria, Germany. Presented by G. & S. Heil, Tiickelhausen, near Wurzburg, Bavaria, through Mr. Charles J. Brand. Received June, 1909. Seeds of the following: 25742 and 25743. Hordeum distichon nutans Schubl. Barley. 25742. HeiVs Hanna No. 4. 25743. HeiVs Hanna No. 2. 25744 and 25745. Hordeum distichon L. Barley. 25744. Original Franconian No. 1. 25745. HeiVs Improved Franconian. 25746 and 25747. Hordeum distichon nutans Schubl. Barley 25746. HeiVs Hanna No. 1. 25747. HeiVs Hanna No. 3. 25748. Triticum aestivum L. Wheat. Rimpau's Red Schlanstetter Summer. 25749 and 25750. Avena sativa L. Oat. 25749. Svalofs Ligowo. 25750. Bcseler No. 2. 25751. Trifolium pratense L. Red clover. German. 25752. Beta vulgaris L. Sugar beet. Remlingen. 25753. Stizolobium sp. From Calcutta, India. Procured by Mr. William H. Michael, American consul- general, who purchased the seed from Mr. S. P. Chatterjee, seedsman. Received July 23, 1909. Mottled brown and black. 25754. Citrullus vulgaris Schrad. Watermelon. From Tamsui (Daitotei), Formosa, Japan. Presented by Mr. Carl F. Deichman, American consul. Received July 26, 1909. "Seeds of a watermelon growing in the island of Formosa, which has a fairly good flavor and I believe with proper cultivation could be much improved in quality. The meat of the melon is a very pretty shade of yellow, from lemon to light-orange color, and the size averages about 12 inches in diameter. It would, no doubt, be quite acceptable in the larger restaurants of New York, where there is always a demand for something out of the ordinary. It is not rare here." (Deichman.) 25755 to 25757. Stizolobium spp. From Reduit, Mauritius. Presented by Dr. P. Boname, director, Agricultural Station. Received July 26, 1909. Seeds of the following: 25755. Black. "This is the most extensively cultivated and seems to be the most vigorous." (Boname.) 25756. Greenish yellow. 25757. Yellowish, mottled with brown. 176 12 SEEDS AND PLANTS IMPORTED. 25758 to 25774. Zea mays L. Corn. From Ecuador. Presented by Mr. H. R. Dietrich, American consul-general, Guayaquil, Ecuador. Received July 10, 1909. Seeds of the following; descriptive notes by Mr. Dietrich. 25758. "Maiz amarillo grueso de Chillo (thick, yellow Chillo maize). Grown near Quito, Ecuador, at an elevation of about 8,500 feet, in rich, black, loamy soil. Does well with moderate moisture and is considered to produce better than any other variety grown in Ecuador." 25759. "Maiz bianco (white maize). Grown near Quito, Ecuador. Not quite as productive as some other varieties. It is claimed a good grade of meal may be made from it." 25760. ' ' Maiz morocho bianco (white ' twin ' maize) . Grown on the hacienda 'Montezerin,' parish of Guayllabamba, near Quito, Ecuador. Elevation, 7,500 feet; moderately warm climate; sandy loam soil, very moist on account of heavy rains. Produces fairly well." 25761. "Maiz morocho grueso de Chillo, bianco (thick 'twin' Chillo maize, white). Grown near Quito, Ecuador. Large, white, and hard; grown at an elevation of 8,500 feet. Rich, black soil; moderate rainfall; produces well." 25762. "Maiz morocho bianco is a type of the hard maize and is distinctive by the better quality of its chemical composition. It acquires greater pro- portions than other kinds and is as productive as the best varieties grown in Ecuador, but is somewhat slow in its growth and more dependent upon the conditions of the soil than other varieties. From this, it is claimed, comes the variety belonging to the hotter climates. This variety is grown in a different locality in Ecuador than numbers 25760, 25761, and 25763." 25763 . " Maiz morocho amarillo is a type of the hard maize and is distinctive by the better quality of its chemical composition. It acquires greater pro- portions than other kinds and is as productive as the best varieties grown in Ecuador, but is somewhat slow in its growth and more dependent upon the conditions of the soil than other varieties. From this, it is claimed, comes the variety belonging to the hotter climates. This variety is grown in a different locality in Ecuador than numbers 25760 to 25762." 25764. "Maiz amarillo (yellow maize). Grown at Tumbaco, east of Quito, Ecuador, at an elevation of 8,000 feet. Soil, sandy loam; average rainfall; produces well. " 25765. "Maiz amarillo (yellow maize). Grown on the hacienda Tina, parish of Conocoto, near Quito, Ecuador, at an elevation of 9,000 feet, in black soil. Does well with moderate rainfall. " 25766. "Maiz delgado amarillo (thin, yellow maize). From parish of Quinche, near Quito, Ecuador. Grows in mixed or black sandy soil at an elevation of about 8,000 feet when abundant rain falls. " 25767. "Maiz delgado pintado (thin, painted maize). From parish Pomasqui, near Quito, Ecuador. Elevation 8,000 feet; sandy soil; average rainfall; produces well. " 25768. "Maiz del indio (the Indian's maize). Grown on the table-lands in the interior of Ecuador. " 25769. "Maiz Cangil. Grown on the table-lands in the interior of Ecuador. " 25770. "Maiz amarillo de Chillo (yellow Chillo maize). Grown on the table- lands in the interior of Ecuador. " 176 JULY 1 TO SEPTEMBER 30, 1909. 13 25758 to 25774— Continued. 25771. "Maiz negro (black maize). Grown on the table-lands in the interior of Ecuador. " 25772. "Maiz amarillo comun (common yellow maize). Grown on the table- lands in the interior of Ecuador. " 25773. "Maiz Chulpi. Grown on the table-lands in the interior of Ecuador. " 25774. "Mixed corn grown on the low land near Guayaquil. Used for all purposes for which corn may be used. " 25775. Jatropha sp. From Vera Cruz, Mexico. Presented by Mr. William W. Canada, American con- sul. Received July 23, 1909. "This seed came from a tree that grows wild in the lowlands of this district, is very abundant, and apparently also very rich in oil. The local name is Duraznillo, and its commercial value, if any, is unknown here. " {Canada.) 25776. Lawsonia inermis L. From Ancon, Canal Zone, Panama. Presented by Mr. H. F. Schultz, horticul- turist. Received July 23, 1909. "This plant has proved very valuable here as an ornamental and flowering shrub. The individually small and rather insignificant yellow flowers form a compact, and yet graceful, panicle and are produced in great masses between the small fine foliage. The plant often produces flowers the first year and abundantly after that. The fra- grance is very strong, somewhat resembling that of Cestrum nocturnum, and, like the latter, is exhaled even more strongly in the evenings, from which characteristic it has obtained its local name Dama del noche. "Although I do not know whether this plant has ever been used for the manufacture of perfume I should think that it would be suitable for that purpose in frost-free regions of the United States." (Schultz.) "Known as henna, is a shrub long cultivated in the Orient, especially in Egypt and Arabia, where it is used for a variety of purposes. The flowers serve as a perfumery material by virtue of a volatile oil which they contain, having an odor said to closely resemble that of the tea rose. Besides their use in applications to wounds, sores, etc., the leaves are used in some regions to color the finger nails red. The root is astrin- gent." (R. H. True.) Distribution. — Probably a native of the northern part of Africa and western Asia; generally cultivated throughout the warmer parts of Asia and Africa. 25777. Zizyphus jujuba (L.) Lam. From Paris, France. Purchased from Vilmorin-Andrieux & Co. Received July 27, 1909. Procured as a stock for Zizyphus sativa, Chinese date. See S. P. I. Nos. 23439 to 23446 for description. 25778 to 25781. Glycine hispida (Moench) Maxim. Soy bean. From Buitenzorg, Java. Presented by Dr. M. Treub, director, Department of Agriculture. Received July 19, 1909. Seeds of the following: 25778. Black. 25780. Yellow. 25779. Yellow. 25781. Brown. 176 14 SEEDS AND PLANTS IMPORTED. 25782 and 25783. Albizzia spp. From Buitenzorg, Java. Presented by Dr. M. Treub, director, Department of Agriculture. Received July 24, 1909. Seeds of the following: 25782. Albizzia stipulata Boiv. A large, deciduous, fast-growing tree, whose wood is used for manufacturing cart wheels, wooden bells, cabinetwork, and furniture, as well as for fuel; the branches are used for fodder, and the trunk yields a gum, which is used for sizing paper. It is a native of India and the Malay Archipelago, and widely distrib- uted in tropical and subtropical Asia. 25783. Albizzia moluccana Miq. A tree with large compound leaves, and bearing flowers in small globular heads. The stamens are long and form an ornamental ball around the head of the flowers. The pods are long and strap shaped. It is a native of the Molucca Islands. 25784. Avena sterilis L. Oat. From Mustapha-Alger, Algeria. Presented by Dr. L. Trabut, Government Botanic Gardens. Received July 26, 1909. "Variety sub-sativa. A cultivated oat developed by utilizing the spontaneous mutations of Avena sterilis." ( Trabut.) 25785 to 25788. From Amani, Hafen Tanga, German East Africa. Presented by Dr. A. Zimmer- mann, Royal Agricultural Institute. Received July 24, 1909. Seeds of the following: 25785 to 25787. Vigna unguiculata (L.) Walp. Cowpea. 25785. Reddish brown. 25786. Brown, speckled with black. 25787. Mottled brown. 25788. Pennisetum americanum (L.) Schum. Pearl millet. 25797 and 25798. From Buenos Aires, Argentina. Presented by Dr. Carlos Thays, director, Botan- ical Garden. Received July 19, 1909. Seeds of the following: 25797. Aspidosperma quebracho-blanco Schlecht. Quebracho-bianco. "An evergreen tree of the family Apocynacese, native of Argentina. The leaves are said to contain 27 per cent tannin. The bark, variously estimated as containing from 2 to 11 per cent tannin, has been used in leather making. The bark contains also 6 alkaloids, one of which, aspidiospermine, is regarded as of most importance as a drug." ( W. W. Stockberger.) Distribution.— A large tree, native of the valley of La Plata River in Argentina. 25798. Schinus huigan Molina. "This tree, of the family Anacardiacese, is a native of South America, and is closely related to the 'pepper tree ' cultivated in California. It has been said to yield 19 to 20 per cent tannin, and according to Siewert the leaves are used in South America as a tanning material." ( W. W. Stockberger.) Distribution.— A native of South America, being found in Brazil, Argentina, Uruguay, Chile, and Peru. 170 JULY 1 TO SEPTEMBER 30, 1909. 15 25799 to 25802. From Saigon, Cochin Cnina. Presented by Mr. Jacob E. Conner, American con- sul. Received July 30, 1909. Seeds of the following: 25799. Cananga odorata (Lam.) Hook. f. & Thorn. Hang ilang. See S. P. I. No. 22744 for description. Distribution. — A native of Java and the Philippine Islands, and cultivated in India and other tropical countries. 25800. Crinum asiaticum L. "I consider this one of the most ornamental plants I know for a lawn or a large jardiniere." (Conner.) Distribution. — Native and cultivated throughout tropical India and Ceylon. 25801. Dipterocarpus dyeri Pierre. "Dau song nang." Distribution.— A large tree of the valley of the Donnai River, in the region around Saigon, Cochin China. 25802. Dipterocarpus punctulatus Pierre. "Daw do." Distribution. — Same as No. 25801. 25803. Caesalpinia nuga (L.) Ait. From Luzon, Philippine Islands. Presented by Mr. William S. Lyon, Manila, P. I. Received July 30, 1909. "A very attractive and sweet-scented, flowered, scandent shrub." (Lyon.) See S. P. I. No. 20944 for previous introduction and description. Distribution.— A native of the southern part of Asia, and extending through the Malay Archipelago and Polynesian Islands to Australia. 25804 to 25807. Medicago sativa L. Alfalfa. FromMitchell, S. Dak. Presented by Prof. W. A. Wheeler, through Mr. Charles J. Brand. Received July 31, 1909. Seeds of the following: 25804. "(South Dakota No. 162.) Grimm alfalfa, crop of 1908. Originally grown at Kulsheim, near Tauberbischofsheim, Baden, Germany. (See S. P. I. No. 24767.) Brought to Carver County, Minn., in 1857, and grown there since 1858. Present sample grown at Mitchell, S. Dak., in 1908, from seed secured in Carver County, Minn.', in 1904, and grown at Highmore, S. Dak., 1905 to 1906. Highmore seed taken to Mitchell, S. Dak., in 1907, where it has since been grown. The 1907 crop of this same strain, grown at Mitchell, S. Dak., is under experiment under P. L. H. Nos. 3329 and 3331." (Brand.) 25805. "(South Dakota No. 164.) Acclimatized Turkestan alfalfa, crop of 1908. Originally imported from Tashkent, Turkestan, in 1898, under S. P. I. No. 991. Grown at Brookings, S. Dak., from 1898 to 1904. Brookings seed taken to Highmore, S. Dak., and grown there from 1905 to 1906. Highmore seed taken to Mitchell, S. Dak., and grown there since 1907. The 1907 crop of this number is under experiment under P. L. H. No. 3330." (Brand.) 176 16 SEEDS AND PLANTS IMPORTED. 25804 to 25807— Continued. 25806. "(South Dakota No. 167.) Of unknown origin. Purchased from a seed dealer at Hartford, S. Dak., in 1894, and grown near Baltic, S. Dak., from 1894 to 1904. Baltic seed grown at Highmore, S. Dak., from 1904 to 1906. Highmore seed grown at Mitchell, S. Dak., from 1907 to the present time. Seed of the 1906 crop is under experiment under S. P. I. No. 19969 and P. L. H. No. 3251. The 1907 seed is under experiment under S. P. I. No. 22946 and P. L. H. No. 3332. The present sample and S. P. I. No. 25537 are of the 1908 crop. (The so-called Baltic, alfalfa.)" (Brand.) 25807. "(South Dakota No. 240.) Acclimatized Turkestan alfalfa, crop of 1908. This sample was grown from the same parent seed as No. 25805, South Dakota No. 164. This strain of Turkestan presents one of the most striking examples of acclimatization yet encountered. Seed of the original importa- tion, S. P. I. No. 991, was grown at Highmore, S. Dak., from 1899 until 1906. Highmore seed was taken to Mitchell, S. Dak., in 1901, where it has since been grown. The present sample and S. P. I. No. 25607 are of the 1908 seed crop, grown at Mitchell. The 1906 seed crop, grown at Highmore, is under experiment under P. L. H. No. 3252." {Brand.) 25816. Tacca pinnatifida Forst. From Quilimane, Zambesia, Portuguese East Africa. Presented by Mr. O. W. Barrett, Director of Agriculture, Lourenco Marquez, Mozambique, Portuguese East Africa. Received July 31, 1909. " Semicultivated plant having 3 to 5 Amorphophallus-like leaves from a cluster of smooth, thin-skinned, roundish corms and a corymbose cluster of greenish flowers on the summit of a naked, yellowish, erect stipe (some 3 to 4 feet high, about twice height of leaves). Corms edible. The natives use it in a variety of ways— like potatoes and dry it in the form of a coarse flour. Habitat, gardens (and vicinity) of natives in Zambesia district. Native name, Tl ide." (Barrett.) Distribution.— -Widely distributed in Africa, India, Australia, and the Pacific islands. 25817. Barosma crenxilata (L.) Hook. Buchu. From Cape Town, South Africa. Presented by Mr. Charles P. Lounsbury, govern- ment entomologist, Department of Agriculture. Received August 2, 1909. "Buchu succeeds best if sown in time and treated in the same way as nursery trans- plants. It naturally grows in amongst large rocks, so that the roots go into the ground at the side of the rocks or large stones; this keeps the roots cool, and the ground holds moisture longer. Buchu stands here at 1,500 to 4,000 feet elevation." (Lounsbury.) "This is a shrub about 3 feet high bearing short-petioled, opposite leaves, which vary in form from narrowly oval to lanceolate, with crenate margins and with the surface marked by pellucid oil glands. The leaves form a drug, official in many lands, in America under the name of buchu leaves, valued for their diaphoretic, diuretic, and tonic properties. They contain from 1 to 2 per cent of a volatile oil. The plant occurs uncultivated in the vicinity of Cape Town, South Africa." (R. II. True.) 25822 to 25831. Gourd. From Nice, France. Presented by Hon. Dulany Hunter, consul-general. Re- ceived August 3, 1909. Seeds of the following: 25822 to 25824. Lagenaria vulgaris Ser. 25822. Ornamental, spiral shaped, climbing. 25823. Ornamental, bottle shaped, climbing. 25824. Bottle shaped. 176 JULY 1 TO SEPTEMBER 30, 1909. 17 25822 to 25831— Continued. 25825. Luffa cylindrica (L.) Roemer. Ornamental, sponge, climbing. 25826 to 25830. Lagenaria vulgaris Ser. 25826. Ornamental, stick shaped, grim. 25827. Ornamental, pointed end, climbing. 25828. Ornamental, siphon shaped, climbing. 25829. Ornamental, climbing. From Corsica, Bachouela. 25830. Ornamental. 25831. Cucurbita pepo L. ' ' The ' Festival des Gougourdons ' is held here in the spring, and these seeds are from gourds which are exhibited there. The nurseryman states that the seeds should be planted in a flowerpot and not transferred until the plant is about to throw out a few leaves; that the soil should be well manured, but not too abundantly, as in that case the gourd does not become sufficiently dry to be used for holding liquids. When the plants are large enough they are tied to trellis work so they can be exposed to the sun. They need comparatively little water, and the fruit should be protected from heavy dews by being kept covered at night. The seeds are planted in the spring, and the fruit, which dries on the plant, is ready to bo gathered by the end of September or early in October. The peasants at Cimiez produce pipes and other articles of odd shapes by wrapping parts of the gourd before it has ripened with soft pieces of cloth, and are thus enabled to bend them into the form they wish to produce. In this way the covered parts do not develop freely, and, remaining soft, can be bent into the desired shape." (Hunter.) 25841 to 25844. Allium cepa L. Onion. From Teneriffe, Canary Islands. Presented by Mr. Solomon Berliner, American consul. Received August 5, 1909. Seeds of the following: 25841. Bermuda Red. 25843. Bermuda White. 25842. Wildpret' 's Golden. 25844. Crystal-War. 25845. Macadamia ternifolia F. Muell. From Wellington Point, Queensland, Australia. Presented by Mr. J. Pink. Received August 2, 1909. For description, see S. P. I. No. 18382. Distribution. — A small tree, native of the eastern part of Australia, being found in the valleys of the rivers in the southeastern part of Queensland, and in New South Wales. 25846. Olea foveolata E. Meyer. From East London district, Cape Colony, South Africa. Presented by Mr. Charles P. Lounsbury, government entomologist, Department of Agriculture, who procured the seeds from Mr. Henry G. Flanagan, F. L. S., of "Prospect," Komgha district, for whom they were collected by a Mr. Oliver. Received August 9, 1909. "The district where these seeds were collected has a warm, temperate climate with about 30 inches of rainfall, chiefly in the summer months." (Lounsbury.) Distribution.— A tall shrub, native of the woods of the southern part of Africa. 21522— Bui. 176—10^—3 18 SEEDS AND PLANTS IMPORTED. 25847. Protea grandiflora Thunb. From Grahamstown, Cape Colony, South Africa. Presented by Mr. J. Medley Wood, director, Botanic Gardens. Received July 31, 1909. A shrub or small tree, 3 to 10 feet high, with oblong, sessile, shining leaves, and large, white (Lower heads, which resemble a globe artichoke in appearance. 25848. Schleichera TRUUGA Willd. Kussum. From Dhamtari, Raipur, India. Presented by A. E. Lowrie, esq., Deputy Con- servator of Forests. Received August 12, 1909. "This seed ought to be sown in fairly rich sandy loam, in boxes, to begin with. When the young plants are about 9 inches high they should be planted out in a well- drained sandy soil." (Laurie. | "This Indian tree, known as the lac tree or Ceylon oak, is one of the sources of shel- lac. The wingless female of the lac insect (Tachardia lacea Kerr) with its piercing mouth parts punctures the bark of the young, tender twigs, from which the shellac flows down the stems and hardens. The seeds yield a fatty oil, the so-called 'Macassar ' oil, which contains free hydrocyanic acid, as well as the glycerides of oleic, palmitic, and arachidic acids. The wood, which is much used, is hard and durable and takes a polish. The sapwood is white, the heartwood is reddish brown. *' (R. H. True.) Distribution. — A large tree, native throughout central and southern India, and extending through the Malay Archipelago to the Philippines. 25849 to 25856. Avena sativa L. Oat. From Madrid, Spain. Presented by Mr. A. Ramirez, El Hogar Espanol. Re- ceived August 13, 190!l. Seeds of the following: 25849. Open, white, panicle. 25850. Large, white. 25851. Common. 25852. Large, white, panicle. 25853. Black, open, panicle. 25854. Black. 25855. Black oat with pendent panicle. 25856. Yellow. 25857. Vigna unguiculata (L.) Walp. Cowpea. From Venice, Italy. Presented by Dr. Angelo Sullam, of Portotolle, Taglia di Po, Italy, through Mr. Haven Metcalf. Received August 14, 1909. Black-Eye. 25858 to 25860. From the Philippine Islands. Presented by Mr. William S. Lyon, Manila. Re- ceived August 16, 1909. Plants of- the following: 25858 and 25859. Calamus sp. 25858. From Batanes Islands. 25859. From Palawan Island. . "Palasan". "All the good rattans I know are strictly equatorial and not to be thought of in any of our occidental possessions other than the Canal Zone. I have crossed 170 JULY 1 TO SEPTEMBER 30, 1909. 19 25858 to 25860— Continued. 25858 and 25859— Continued, the Isthmus twice. The yellow clay still impresses my memory with its sticki- ness and with its similarity to the yellow clays of Mount Canlaon (Negros) , where I think perhaps I have seen the most riotous growth of Palasan — our best rat- tan. As I remember it, the rainfall on the Isthmus is probably about 2,400 to 2,500 mm. (94 to 98 inches). If it is less than 2,000 mm. (about 79 inches), I think rattans would not do much, although at Perak the precipitation is less and they raise some good, long-jointed canes. "For environment the rattans want jungle and plenty of it. My remem- brance of the zone is that the hills were unbroken jungle. Calamus must have a thick mass of medium-sized vegetation to scramble over. "There is a single feature of Calamus culture which differentiates it posi- tively from every other sylvan product with which I am acquainted. It is (if there be any such thing) an exception to the law of selection. All are fit to survive under conditions where all other species except those fortuitously well placed would succumb. No amount of crowding or shading seems to choke off a young rattan. Its progress is tedious under adverse conditions, but it struggles up till it gets light and then nothing but the bolo or cutlass can hold it back. In planting practice, this gives it a supreme advantage over most plants. Further, it eliminates the bugbear and expense of jungle clear- ing, a matter which is to be heavily reckoned. I am not prepared to give a thesis on rattan culture, but close observation of its behavior in our smooth bamboo (cana boho), which makes a thicket impervious to any animal except a wild pig and which is voracious enough to choke out every other kind of vegetable life except Calamus, inspires me with exceptional credulity to believe it can be grown more nearly as a purely spontaneous crop than any economic product known, not excepting common timber trees. "I am not advocating complete neglect; removal of a fallen limb or a rank herbaceous weed, or an occasional slash with a bolo, would probably accelerate growth, but it is not an essential factor to success. The best commercial rat- tans, both Calamus and Damonorpas, are spiny as hedgehogs and immune from the raids of even deer. Best of all, they are renascent from the butt, and the same land and same planting may be cut over in six or seven years for a second time. There are two very serious drawbacks to a very general adop- tion of rattan planting for profit. One, their shy fruiting habits and conse- quent scarcity of seed; the other, slow development. "The fruits are eaten by birds, and seeds can only be obtained where they are concealed from the birds. All the species, I fancy, are, as seeds, of fugitive vitality. This is not only my own limited experience, but is evidently that of European seedsmen — those who are specialists in palm seeds, and who rarely offer them for sale. As most of the species until they reach the sprawling age are remarkably ornamental, far more so than most palms, I can only explain their absence from catalogues of tropical ornamentals upon these grounds. "I can give you no idea of the time required to yield a crop. I only know that the crop is slow, very slow. The renewal crop is rapid. I have seen canes on cut-over lands which had been stripped four years before. I think in five or six years at most, and on poor lands, a second crop can be depended upon. A seedling crop, perhaps, in 10 years." (Lyon.) 25860. Livistona whitfordii Beccari. "This is far more compact, bushy, and ornamental than Livistona rotundi- folia.'" (Lyon.) Distribution. — A native of the province of Tayabas in the island of Luzon. 17G 20 SEEDS AND PLANTS IMPORTED. 25861. Mangifera indica L. Mango. From Trinidad, British West Indies. Presented by Mr. F. Evans, acting superin- tendent, Botanic Gardens. Received August 18, 1909. Seeds. Julie. See S. P. I. No. 21515 for previous introduction and description. 25862. Citrus nobilis Lour. From Saigon, Cochin China. Presented by Mr. Jacob E. Conner, American consul. Received August 14, 1909. Seeds. "A very fine, flat, green-skinned mandarin orange, a little larger than the ordinary ones of this type. The flesh is quite reddish in color, and the flavor is a combination of that of the ordinary flat and the round loose-skin oranges." (Conner.) 25863 to 25866. . From Nairobi, British East Africa. Presented by Mr. and Mrs. C. E. Akeley, Chicago, 111., through Mr. Charles J. Brand. Received August 17, 1909. Seeds of the following economic plants, grown by the Wakamba tribe of natives: 25863. Pennisetum americanum (L.) Schum. Pearl millet. ( !at-tail millet, called by the Wakamba tribe Micee. 25864. Eleusine coracana (L.) Gaertn. Bagi millet. Wimbi. 25865. Cajan indicum Spreng. A species of bean. Mr. Akeley states that this is a bean of rapid growth which the natives use for wood . 25866. Zea mays L. Corn. A variety of Indian corn grown by the Wakamba tribe. 25867. Citrullus vulgaris Schrad. Watermelon. From Merw, Russian Turkestan. Presented by Capt. M. L. Cummins, Sixteenth Infantry, U. S. Army, Fort Crook, Nebr. Received August 13, 1909. "The melon is orange colored and not reddish inside, and in my opinion was the best I have ever eaten. The seeds came from a melon I had in Merw in the south- central part of Turkestan." (Cummins.) 25868 to 25869. From Lourenco Marquez, Portuguese East Africa. Presented by Mr. O. W. Barrett, Director of Agriculture. Received August 14, 1909. 25868. (Undetermined.) "(No. 29, June 28, 1909.) From Nhamacurra, Quilimane, Portuguese East Africa. Native name (Chizena) 'Mucuipile.' A forest plant growing in sandy soil. Rhizome (attaining a weight of several pounds), irregular in shape; starch content moderate. Height 2 to 4 feet." (Barrett.) 25869. Gladiolus sp. "(No. 28, June 28, 1909.) From Nhamacurra, Quilimane, Portuguese East Africa. Native name (Chizena) 'Tumbanimasa.' A plant of the low moist lands of the Zambezi Valley. Flower pale yellow, medium size, opening nearly downward. Bulb, pale-brown coat, yellow inside. Height 2 to 3 feet." (Barrett.) 176 JULY 1 TO SEPTEMBER 30, 1909. 21 25870. Stizolobium sp. From Barbados, British West Indies. Presented by Mr. Francis Watts, Commis- sioner of Agriculture, through Mr. John R. Bovell, superintendent. Received August 4, 1909. "Bengal bean." 25871. Trifolium pratense L. Red clover. From Huntsville, Ala. Purchased from Mr. Clarendon Davis. Received August 6, 1909. "Seed of red clover, which has proved disease resistant at Huntsville, where red clover usually suffers severely. This strain was developed from surviving plants." (J. M. West gate.) 25874. Passiflora edulis Sims. Passion fruit. From Sydney, Australia. Presented by Van Dyk & Lindsay, importers, 209 Washington street, New York, N. Y. Received August 20, 1909. See S. P. I. No. 12899 for description. Distribution. — A native of Brazil, and cultivated in other tropical countries. 25876. Phaseolus ltjnatus L. Presented by Mr. O. W. Barrett, Director of Agriculture, Lourenco Marquez, Portuguese East Africa. Received August 21, 1909. "(No. 30, July 24, 1909.) A slender-stem, climbing, bean-like plant received from Mr. Henry Brown, of Mlanje, Nyasaland, and stated by him to have been brought from the Kongo basin. Grown at Lourenco Marquez. Flowers in short racemes, whitish." (Barrett.) 25879. Belou marmelos (L.) W. F. Wight. Bael. From Lahore, Punjab, India. Presented by Mr. W. R. Mustoe, superintendent, Government Archaeological Gardens. Received July 31, 1909. See S. P. I. No. 24450 for description. 25880. Prunus tomentosa Thunb. From Ottawa, Canada. Presented by Mr. W. T. Macoun, horticulturist, Central Experimental Farm. Received at the Upper Mississippi Plant Introduction Garden, Ames, Iowa, July 29, 1909. "(Ames Ac. No. 458, 1909.) 'This cherry appears to be hardier in fruit bud than any other cherry we have at the Experimental Farm, and as it makes good preserves and is fair eating I think it quite an acquisition.' (Macoun.) For more complete description, see Annual Report, W. T. Macoun, horticulturist, Central Experimental Farm, Ottawa, Canada. 1908 : 106." (S. A. Beach.) Distribution.— A shrub or small tree, occurring in the northwestern part of India, northern China, Manchuria, and Japan. 25884 to 25887. From Cochin China. Secured by Mr. Xavier Salomon, chief, Botanical Garden, Saigon, and presented by Mr. Jacob E. Conner, American consul. Received August 24, 1909. 17G 22 SEEDS AND PLANTS IMPORTED. 25884 to 25887 Continued. Plants of the following: 25884 to 25886. From Cape St. Jacques. 25884. Cinnamomum loureirii Nees. "This species is supposed to be one of the most valuable sources of some of the best cinnamon that comes to our market." (R. II. True.) Distribution. — A native of the mountains of Cochin China and of Japan. 25885. Atalantia sp. 25886. Tetracronia cymosa Pierre. Distribution. — A shrub or small tree, native of the mountains in the vicinity of Binh Dinh, French Indo-China. 25887. Garcinia mangostana L. Mangosteen. From Saigon. "This delicious fruit is about the size of a mandarin orange, round and slightly flattened at each end, with a smooth, thick rind, rich red- purple in color, with here and there a bright, hardened drop of the yellow juice which marks some injury to the rind when it was young. As these mangosteens are sold in the Dutch East Indies — heaped up on fruit baskets or made up into long, regular bunches, with thin strips of braided bamboo — they are as strik- ingly handsome as anything of the kind could well be, but it is only when the fruit is opened that its real beauty is seen. The rind is thick and tough, and in order to get at the pulp inside it requires a circular cut with a sharp knife to lift the top half off like a cap, exposing the white segments, five, six, or seven in number, lying loose in the cup. The cut surface of the rind is of a most delicate pink color and is studded with small yellow points formed by the drops of exuding juice. As you lift out of this cup, one by one, the delicate segments, which are the size and shape of those of a mandarin orange, the light-pink sides of the cup and the veins. of white and yellow embedded in it are visible. The separate segments are between snow-white and ivory in color and are covered with a delicate network of fibers, and the side of each segment where it presses against its neighbor is translucent and slightly tinged with pale green. As one poises the dainty bit of snowy fruit on his fork and looks at the empty pink cup from which it has been taken, he hardly knows whether the delicate flavor or the beautiful coloring of the fruit pleases him the more, and he invariably stops to admire the rapidly deepening color of the cut rind as it changes on exposure to the air from light pink to deep brown. The texture of the man- gosteen pulp much resembles that of a well-ripened plum, only it is so delicate that it melts in your mouth like a bit of ice cream. The flavor is quite inde- scribably delicious and resembles nothing you know of, and yet reminds you, with a long after-taste, of all sorts of creams and ices. There is nothing to mar the perfection of this fruit, unless it be that the juice from the rind forms an indelible stain on a white napkin. Even the seeds are often partly or wholly lacking, and, when present, are generally so thin and small that they are really no trouble to get rid of. Where cheap and abundant, as in Java, one eats these fruits by the half peck, and is never tired of them. They produce no feeling of satiety, such as the banana and the mango do, for there is little substance to the delicate pulp." (David Fairchild.) 25888 to 25890. From India. Presented by Mrs. Erne Pyle Fisher, Igatpuri, through Miss Audrey Goss. Received August 25, 1909. 176 JULY 1 TO SEPTEMBEK 30, 1909. 23 25888 to 25890— Continued. Seeds of the following: 25888. Feronia elephantum Correa. "This is the wood-apple of India and Ceylon, a deciduous tree with pinnate leaves, bearing a fruit about the size of an orange, but with a very thick, woody rind. "The pulp of the fruit is acid and aromatic and is sometimes eaten by the natives of India; it is also used to prepare a jelly much resembling that made from black currants, but this jelly is said to have a very astringent taste. "This plant is allied to the bael fruit of India, Belou marmelos, and is being grown to hybridize with that species, and also for trial as a stock upon which to graft it." (W. T. Swingle.) Distribution. — A medium-sized tree, found in the sub-Himalayan forests, from the Ravi eastward, and throughout the greater part of the plains of India, being more frequent in the moist tracts of Bombay, Madras, Bengal, and Burma than in northern India. 25889. Belou marmelos (L.) W. F. Wight, Bael. Both of the above are from the state gardens, Baroda. 25890. Belou marmelos (L.) W. F. Wight, Bael. From Mr. George Hodson, florist and seedsman, Bangalore. See S. P. I. No. 24450 for description of Belou marmelos. 25891 to 25893. From Ootacamund, India. Presented by Rev. G. N. Thomssen, American Bap- tist Telugu Mission, Bapatia, South India. Received August 20, 1909. Seeds of the following: 25891. Rhodomyrtus tomentosa (Ait.) Wight. The Downy myrtle, or Hill gooseberry, is a handsome evergreen shrub, with broad glossy leaves, pink flowers larger than those of a peach and lasting for several weeks, and dark-purple berries about the size of a cherry and tasting like a raspberry. The fruits are eaten raw, and used for making jam and jelly. (Adapted from Bailey.) Distribution. — An evergreen shrub, native of the southeastern part of Asia, extending from India through China, the Malay Archipelago, and the Philip- pines to Japan. 25892. Physalis peruviana L. From plants of ten years' select cultivation of the South African Cape goose- berry in India. Distribution. — A native of Peru and cultivated throughout the Tropics. 25893. (Unidentified.) White straw flowers growing wild on the Nilgiris. 25894 to 25897. From Simla, India. Presented by Mr. E. Cotes, Indian News Agency, through Mr. Frank N. Meyer. Received August 27, 1909. Seeds of the following: 25894. Amygdalus persica L. Peach. 25895. Prunus armeniaca L. Apricot. 176 24 SEEDS AND PLANTS IMPORTED. 25894 to 25897— Continued. 25896. Prunus puddum Roxb. Cherry. Distribution.— A tree, native of the northern part of India, extending from the Indus to Sikkim, usually at an elevation of between 2,500 and 7,000 feet. 25897. Pyrus sp. Pear. "These seeds were collected from wild Himalayan fruit trees, growing at an eleva- tion of 7,000 feet about Simla." (Cotes.) 25898 to 25901. Vicia faba L. Horse bean. From United Provinces, India. Presented by Mr. T. F. Main, Deputy Director of Agriculture, Poona, Bombay Presidency. Received August 27, 1909. "The three last numbers seem to be of one variety collected from different villages, while the first is quite different." (Main.) 25902 and 25903. Vicia faba L. Horse bean. From Egypt. Presented by Mr. George P. Foaden, secretary, Khedivial Agri- cultural Society, Cairo. Received August 28, 1909. Seeds of the following; notes by Mr. Foaden. 25902. Saidi. Planted in Upper Egypt under basin irrigation. 25903. Beheri. Planted in Lower Egypt under canal irrigation. These are the same variety, but recognized by the cultivators as being cultivated under two different systems of irrigation. 25904 to 25907. Vicia faba L. Horse bean. From Friesland Province, Holland. Presented by Dr. M. Greshoff, Koloniaal Museum, Haarlem, Holland. Received August 6, 1909. 25908. Myrica nagi Thunb. From Tangsi, China. Procured by Rev. Alexander Kennedy, at the request of Mr. Frank N. Meyer. Received August 21, 1909. See S. P. I. Nos. 22977 and 22904 to 22906 for descriptions. "These seeds are for stocks; better varieties are to be grafted on to them later. The plants are exceedingly hard to transplant. The trees thrive wherever the loquat does." (Meyer.) 25909. Mimusops kauki L. "Adam's-apple." From Lawang, Java. Presented by Mr. M. Buysman, Hortus tenggerensis. Received August 26, 1909. A large tree, native of India, the Malay Archipelago, and Australia. The fruit resembles Zizyphus jujuba in flavor, and is edible. The wood is red, fine grained, and easy to work. 25910. Vigna unguiculata (L.) Walp. Cowpea. From Entebbe, Uganda, British East Africa. Presented by the Botanical, For- estry, and Scientific Department. Received August 26, 1909. Brown. There seem to be several varieties in this lot. 25911 and 25912. From Lai Bagh, Bangalore, India. Presented by Mr. G. A. Gammie, Imperial Cotton Specialist, Kirkee, India, at the request of Mr. J. Mollison, Inspector- General of Agriculture in India. Received August 30, 1909. 176 JULY 1 TO SEPTEMBER 30, 1909. 25 25911 and 25912— Continued. Seeds of the following: 25911. Feronia elephantum Correa. Wood-apple. See No. 25888 for description. 25912. Belou marmelos (L.) W. F. Wight. Bael. "The bael fruit is highly prized by natives of this country and is an article of food with them, especially in Upper India. A very nice cooling drink is made from its pulp in the hot season, also a nice jam is prepared out of it. The unripe and the ripe fruit and its rind, root, leaves, and flowers are used medicinally. Sherbet made from the ripe fruit is very valuable in cholera and bowel com- plaints. " (Gammie.) 25913 to 25920. From Hangchow, China. Presented by Rev. W. S. Sweet, Wayland Academy, Baptist Missionary Union, Eastern China Mission. Received August 2, 1909. Seeds of the following; notes by Mr. Sweet. 25913 and 25914. Vicia faba L. Broad bean. 25913. Green. 25914. Brown. Vine 2 feet long. Used as human and animal food and also for firewood. Ripe from April to May. 25915. Dolichos lablab L. Bonavist bean. White. Known as the crested bean ; vine 4 to 6 feet; used as human food and for firewood; ripe in September. 25916. Phaseolus anguxaris (Willd.) W. F. Wight. Adzuki bean. Red. Used for food; vine small and fine, 6 inches high; ripe in September. 25917. Pisum sativum L. Tall vine; ripe from May to June; used for forage. 25918. Vigna sesquipedalis (L.) W. F. Wight. Black. Tall vine. 25919 and 25920. Glycine hispida (Moench) Maxim. Soybean. 25919. Yellow. Vine 1 foot high; ripe from November to December. The cheese made from this bean forms a large element of food here; if adapted to American taste a profitable business could be established in the States. 25920. Black. Ripe from June to August; used the same as No. 25919. 25921 to 25925. From Leh, Ladakh, Kashmir, British India. Presented by Mr. Rassul Galwan. Received August 27, 1909. Seeds of the following; notes by Mr. Galwan. 25921. Triticum aestivum L. Wheat. Before this seed is sown the field is put under water till the ground is wet a half foot deep. Then wait ten to twenty days, till the ground is fairly dry and the seed can be sown. The ground must be neither too wet nor too dry. Before the seed is sown manure is spread about one-half inch thick over the ground. The first water is given when the wheat is about 2 inches high, the ground being soaked about one-half foot deep. After it becomes dry again a second watering is given. It is better to wait a little too long than to water too quickly. 176 26 SEEDS AND PLANTS IMPORTED. 25921 to 25925— Continued. Up to the third watering care must be used, after that the wheat is strong and water can be given at any time it is dry. The more water given the better the crop. 25922. Hordeum sp. Hull-less barley. The method of sowing this is the same as for wheat, the only difference being that this can be sown late, as it ripens in two to three months. Flour is made from it, but the bread is not as good as the bread made from wheat flour. Most people use it, therefore, as Suttoo, which is made as follows: First, wash the barley in cold water, after waiting one day put in the sunshine and let dry. Then fry in an iron pot until brown, then take to a mill and have it ground into flour, which is eaten with Ladaki tea; some eat it with water, some mix it with butter, sugar, and tea, for there is no need to cook it again. If hot things can not be had, it can be eaten with cold water. 25923. Yicia faba L. Horse bean. Brownish black. 25924. Lathyrus sativus L. This is sown with wheat. It can be sown in places a little cold, and there is no need to use any manure. The sowing methods are the same as those used in sowing wheat. The seed is sown about the 10th of May and ripens in about three months. At the sowing time the seed needs more moisture than wheat or it will not grow well. 25925. Pisum arvense L. Field pea. This is sown in hot places, and does best in sandy soil. It is sown here about the 20th or the 25th of April, and ripens in about three months. The method of sowing is the same as that of wheat, except that no manure is put on the field. If manured the plants grow very large but without beans. The stalks are good to feed to animals. Before sowing, the ground should be wetter than when wheat is sown or the beans will not do well. 25926 and 25927. From Igatpuri, India. Presented by Mrs. Effie Pyle Fisher, through Miss Audrey Goss. Received August 31, 1909. Seeds of the following: 25926. Feronia Elephantum Correa. See No. 25888 for description. 25927. Anona reticulata L. Custard-apple. See S. P. I. No. 5210 for description. 25928. Colchicum sp. From Alpine heights of Geovje Dagh, above Hassanbeyli, Amanus Mountains. Presented by Mrs. F. A. Shepard, Aintab, Turkey. Received August 19, 1909. "A wild colchicum having large, pink, very showy blossoms in September. Fruit ripens in May." (Shepard.) 25929 to 25931. Cucumis melo L. Muskmelon. From Columbia, Mo. Presented by Mr. G. C. Broadhead. Received August 21, 1909. 176 JULY 1 TO SEPTEMBER 30, 1909. 27 25929 to 25931— Continued. Seeds of the following: 25929. 1903 crop. 25931. 1909 crop. 25930. 1908 crop. "Between 1825 and 1835 the Rev. Albert Holladay, of Virginia, was Presbyterian missionary to Persia. He brought to Ameiica seeds of a cantaloupe. My father raised this melon in Virginia, and in 1836 brought seed to St. Charles County, Mo., where he raised it until his death in 1853. Relatives and friends have since raised it. I have for thirty years, also my brother William, living at Clayton, St. Louis County. The melon raised in Virginia and in Missouri for ten or twenty years was smaller and sweeter than that raised since. It seems the first was not much over 4 inches in diameter and good to the outer rind. The melon now is as much as 6 inches in diam- eter and has at least a one-half of an inch of rind. When ripe it pulls off easily and generally has a red gum at stem where it breaks. A good melon of this kind is still better than most others and we call it the 'Persian cantaloupe. ' ; (Broadhead.) 25932. Medicago sativa L. Alfalfa. From Aintab, Turkey. Presented by Mrs. F. A. Shepard. Received Septem- ber 3, 1909. "This seed was collected in the arid regions about Aintab, about 3,500 feet above the sea and 100 miles inland. There is scarcely any rain for five months in the year. The plant is not planted for pasturage, but grows upon wild lands, where sheep and goats browse." (Shepard.) 25934. Citrullus vulgaris Schrad. Watermelon. From Robertson, Cape Colony, South Africa. Presented by Mr. Charles P. Lounsbury, government entomologist, Cape of Good Hope, Department of Agriculture, Cape Town, who procured the seeds from Mr. E. A. Visser, manager of the Experiment Station at Robertson. Received September 4, 1909. Monketaan. "Mr. Visser says this plant yielded melons at the rate of 75 tons an acre on the station grounds without any special care, and that the melons keep well and are excellent stock food. They weigh about 30 pounds each and have a firm, sweetish, somewhat tough pulp. The rind is mottled pale and dark green like common watermelons, as a rule, but is sometimes whitish in this strain. The seeds do not separate readily and no one seems to be trying to save more than he needs for himself, so there is little chance of buying a supply unless it is ordered a year ahead. Mr. Jack, who was director in the department here and is now farming, is trying in vain to get seed for 100 acres, which at least indicates that the merits of the crop appeal to him. Mr. Thornton, our agriculturist, tells me the plant has long grown to the west of Kuruman on the east side of the Kalihari desert. (The small Tsama melon sent to the United States grows on the west side.) He thinks it was probably cultivated there by natives in bygone days, but now it grows wild. Some years ago he got down seeds and had them planted near Graaff Reinet. Farmers of the district soon appreciated the value of the melon and took to its cultivation as a stock food. It is said on good authority to have yielded as high as 150 tons an acre around there, the ground becoming almost obscured by the fruits. The strain introduced to the Robertson station is from Graaff Reinet way, not direct from the desert, and Thornton thinks there is a possibility that it is not quite true to type; but if it is not, it is an improvement on the original he thinks. 176 28 SEEDS AND PLANTS IMPORTED. 25934— Continued. "It seems to me that this or other of the South African melons should be more worth cultivating in arid parts of the West than the thornless prickly pear. Of course the melons want water, but much of what they get they store away for months." (Lounsbury.) "One of our experimenters of the Monketaan melon has just reported that the return per acre of melons amounted to 103 tons, and it was found that on an average there were two melons to every square yard of land. This melon, according to the analysis we have already had made, is high in feeding value and promises to take a leading part in some of our stock districts." (Extract from letter of Mr. R. W. Thornton, government agriculturist, Cape Town Department of Agriculture, August 24, 1909.) 25935. Vicia villosa Roth. Hairy vetch. From Moscow, Russia. Purchased from Immer & Son, through Prof. N. E. Hansen, Agricultural Experiment Station, Brookings, S. Dak., while traveling as an agricultural explorer for this Department. Received September 7, 1909. 25936. Rosa sp. Rose. From Ogden, Utah. Presented by Miss Pearle Cramer, United States Depart- ment of Agriculture, Forest Service. Received September 7, 1909. Yellow. "This rose, so far as I have been able to ascertain, is native only to Utah where it grows in great profusion." (Cramer.) 25937. Oryza sativa L. Rice. From Tsangsheng, Kwangtung Province, near Canton, China. Presented by Mr. Stuart J. Fuller, American vice consul-general-in-charge, Hongkong, for whom it was procured by Mr. Leo Bergholz, American consul-general at Canton. Received September 9, 1909. "Szemiu, the translation of which means 'Best quality refined.' The Chinese rice merchant states that the exportation of this rice in any quantity or in samples is for- bidden by the Chinese Government." (Amos P. Wilder, American consul-general, Hongkong, China.) 25938 to 25940. Mangifera indica L. Mango. From Philippine Islands. Procured by Mr. William S. Lyon, Gardens of Nagta- jan, Manila, P. I. Received Septembers, 1909. Seeds of the following standard varieties: 25938. Carabao. See S. P. I. Nos. 24927 and 25659 for previous introductions. 25939. Pico. See S. P. I. No. 24170 for previous introduction. 25940. Pahutan. "From my viewpoint this is the best, not hortieulturally, other than being a vigorous grower, early fruiter, and enormously prolific. Its very serious defects — small size, scanty flesh, and excessively large seed — ■ are from my point of view fully offset by a smoothness, sweetness, juiciness, and flavor unapproached by any other. I have eaten the famous Alphonso mango in Calcutta and do not consider it ace high with pahutan. Pahutan further has a very thick rind. This, while still further diminishing its scanty flesh, probably adds to its shipping qualities." (Lyon.) 176 JULY 1 TO SEPTEMBER 30, 1909. 29 25941. Elephantorrhiza elephantina (Burch.) Skeels. Acacia elephantina Burch., Trav., vol. 2, p. 236. 1824. Acacia elephantorrhiza (Burch.) D. C, Prod., vol. 2, p. 457. 1825. Elephantorrhiza burchellii Benth., Hook Journ. Bot., vol. 4, p. 344. 1842. Although Burchell is given as the authority in De Candolle's Prodromus for the spe- cific name elephantorrhiza, the name he really used and under which he gave an excel- lent botanical diagnosis is that here recognized. From Pretoria, Transvaal, South Africa. Presented by Prof. J. Burtt Davy, director, Transvaal Department of Agriculture. Received September 10, 1909. Seeds. "All grazing animals, wild and domestic, are exceeding fond of this plant. It has long, succulent roots and an underground stem. It does not shoot until rather late in the summer, seldom before December, and its stems are killed again by the first frosts of May. The seed-pods are still green when the frost comes, and the seeds not ripe, but they are so well protected by the strong, leatherlike pod, that the frost can not hurt them, and they ripen in the pod long after the stem that bore them has been killed by the frost. The roots are used for tanning leather." (Mrs. Barber, in Harvey, Flora Capensis, vol. 2, p. 277.) Distribution. — South Africa. Common in grassy places between the Klipplaat and Zwartkey rivers in Cape Colony. It occurs also in the Cradock and Queenstown dis- tricts in Cape Colony, and is reported from the "Zooloo Country." Originally described from near "Klaawater" in the southern part of Orange River Colony. 25942. Berberis sanguixea Franch. From Nancy, France. Purchased from V. Lemoine & Sons. Received Sep- tember 14, 1909. "This is a little-known species from China and appears to be closely allied to Berberis nepalensis. The blooms are said to be deeper orange-red than any other species. These plants are imported for hybridizing purposes." (W. Van Fleet.) Distribution. — A native of dry stream beds in the province of Szechw'an, China. 25950 to 25953. Vicia faba L. From Valencia, Spain. Presented by Mr. Charles S. Winans, American consul. Received September 8, 1909. Seeds of each of the following: Broad bean. Light brown. Purplish brown. Dark purple. Horse bean. 25950 to 25952. 25950. Caliente. 25951. Panesca. 25952. Murciana. 25953. Favon. Purplish black. 25956 and 25957. From Amanus Mountains, Turkey in Asia. Presented by Mrs. F. D. Shepard, Adana. Received September 9, 1909. Seeds of each of the following: 25956. Avena sativa L. Oat. 25957. Vicia ervilia (L.) Willd. Bitter vetch. 176 30 SEEDS AND PLANTS IMPORTED. 25959 to 25962. Zea mays L. Corn. From Central Soledad, Cienfuegos, Cuba. Presented by Mr. Robert M. Grey, Harvard Botanical Experiment Station. Received September 21, 1909. Seeds of the following; notes by Mr. Grey. 25959. Harvard selected flint . This is our surest cropper, best keeper, and, being free from surface starch, less subject to attack from weevils and ants. 25960. Selected white flint Cuban. This is used as a sweet or table corn, is early, and a small-cob variety. 25961. Hybrid purple cob (Cuban dent X Cuban flint). 25962. Cuban dent. These two last are the varieties commonly cultivated here and are very productive. The above have been under selection for six years. The husk of all closes tight at the apex, a great prevention and safeguard against insects. 25963. Vicia faba L. Horse bean. From Magyarovar, Hungary. Presented by The Plant Culture Experiment Station, requested from Prof. A. Cserhati. Received September 22, 1909. "These seeds are planted in the spring and mature in about one hundred days. The plants grow from 35 to 40 centimeters high. The beans are ground up and make a very nutritive food for stock. The fodder is of hardly any value." (Gydrfds.) 25964. Gossypium hirsutum L. Cotton. From Nyasaland Protectorate, British Central Africa. Presented by Mr. J. Stewart J. McCall, Director of Agriculture, Zomba. Received September 27, 1909. "Seed of Upland cotton which received the first prize at the recent show at Blantyre. I think you will consider it a very high-class hirsutum cotton, and it is very gratifying as we received 6d. to 7d. per pound for it at the Manchester market." (McCall.) 25965. Vigna unguiculata (L.) Walp. Cowpea. From Pretoria, Transvaal, South Africa. Presented by Prof. J. Burtt Davy, government agrostologist and botanist, Transvaal Department of Agriculture. Received September 10, 1909. "Kafir bean." This lot apparently contains several different varieties. 26047. Garcinia mangostana L. Mangosteen. From Port of Spain, Trinidad, British West Indies. Presented by Mr. F. Evans, botanical department, Department of Agriculture. Received fall of 1909. Seeds. See No. 25887 for description. "The mangosteen will be an unusually good shipper, as tropical fruits go. The small crate of fruits from which these seeds were taken, shipped by Mr. Evans on the 28th of September, was delayed for more than a week in New York and reached Washington on the 19th of October. Even after holding these fruits for five days after arrival in Washington — i. e., twenty-six days from the time they were picked — they were still in an edible condition, although naturally they had lost a good deal of their delicacy and the pulp had begun .to adhere to the thick rind. One remarkable feature about these fruits lies in the fact that as they decay the rind hardens until it becomes almost as hard as a rock. I believe it may not be necessary to crate these in shipment on this account. A single rotten fruit may not infect others, ,as in the case of mangos or other soft-skinned fruits; in fact, as tropical fruits go, it seems tb be an ideal shipper." (David Fairchild.) PUBLICATION OF NEW NAMES. It has been thought desirable to call attention to the new names which it is occasionally found necessary to publish in the inventory by giving a list of such names as they occur. This list will therefore appear in future issues on the page of the inventory preceding the index. The following name is published in this issue: 25941. Elephantorrhiza elephantina (Burch.) Skeels. The names given below have been published in preceding issues of the inventory: 21750. Albizzia adianthifolia (Schum.) W. F. Wight. Bulletin 137 (Inventory No. 14), Bureau of Plant Industry, U. S. Dept. of Agri- culture, 1909, p. 12. 21797. Sesban bispinosa (Jacq.) Steud. Bulletin 137 (Inventory No. 14), Bureau of Plant Industry, U. S. Dept. of Agri- culture, 1909, p. 15. 21820. Xiphagrostis condensatus (Hack.) W. F. Wight. Bulletin 137 (Inventory No. 14), Bureau of Plant Industry, U. S. Dept. of Agri- culture, 1909, p. 17. The correct name for the above is Miscanthus condensatus Hack.; the genus Xipha- grostis [Contributions from the U. S. National Herbarium, vol. 9, 1905, pp. 399-400] having been based on a misconception of the type of Miscanthus as established by Andersson in 1856. That author indicated in a note that he did not consider the first species, M. capensis, as typical of the genus, and the second species, M. japonicus, should accordingly be recognized as the type. The usual application of the generic name Miscanthus therefore remains unchanged. 21824. Phaseolus angularis (Willd.) W. F. Wight, Bulletin 137 (Inventory No. 14), Bureau of Plant Industry, IT. S. Dept. of Agri- culture, 1909, p. 17. 21893. Chrysanthemum stipulaceum (Moench) W. F. Wight. Bulletin 137 (Inventory No. 14), Bureau of Plant Industry, U. S. Dept. of Agri- culture, 1909, p. 21. 22349. Phragmites vulgaris longivalvis (Steud.) W. F. Wight. Bulletin 137 (Inventory No. 14), Bureau of Plant Industry, U. S. Dept. of Agri- culture, 1909, p. 46. 22390. Garcinia tinctoria (DC.) W. F. Wight. Bulletin 137 (Inventory No. 14), Bureau of Plant Industry, U. S. Dept. of Agri- culture, 1909, p. 50. 176 31 32 SEEDS AND PLANTS IMPORTED. 22813. Pinellia cochinchinense (Blume) W. F. Wight. Bulletin 142 (Inventory No. 15), Bureau of Plant Industry, U. S. Dept. of Agri- culture, 1909, p. 35. 22957. Belou marmelos (L.) W. F. Wight. Bulletin 142 (Inventory No. 15), Bureau of Plant Industry, U. S. Dept, of Agri- culture, 1909, p. 48. 23219. Firmiana simplex (L.) W. F. Wight. Bulletin 142 (Inventory No. 15), Bureau of Plant Industry, U. S. Dept, of Agricul- ture, 1909, p. 67. 23428. Myrciaria edulis (Veil.) Skeels. Bulletin 148 (Inventory No. 16), Bureau of Plant Industry, U. S. Dept, of Agricul- ture, 1909, p. 14. 23472. Phyllanthus acida (L.) Skeels. Bulletin 148 (Inventory No. 16), Bureau of Plant Industry, U. S. Dept, of Agricul- ture, 1909, p. 17. 23897. Cryptocarya rubra (Mol.) Skeels. Bulletin 153 (Inventory No. 17), Bureau of Plant Industry, U. S. Dept, of Agricul- ture, 1909, p. 15. 23963. Brassica pekinensis (Lour.) Skeels. Bulletin 153 (Inventory No. 17), Bureau of Plant, Industry, U. S. Dept, of Agricul- ture, 1909, p. 21. 24087. Callistemma chinensis (L.) Skeels. Bulletin 153 (Inventory No. 17), Bureau of Plant Industry, U. S. Dept. of Agricul- ture, 1909, p. 27. 24591. Belou glutinosa (Blanco) Skeels. Bulletin 162 (Inventory No. 18), Bureau of Plant Industry, U. S. Dept. of Agricul- ture, 1909, p. 26. 24631. Gourliea spinosa (Mol.) Skeels. Bulletin 162 (Inventory No. 18), Bureau of Plant Industry, U. S. Dept, of Agricul- ture, 1909, p. 31. 25546. Claucena lansium (Lour.) Skeels. Bulletin 168 (Inventory No. 19), Bureau of Plant Industry. V. S. Dept, of Agricul- ture, 1909, p. 31. 176 INDEX OF COMMON AND SCIENTIFIC NAMES. Adam's-apple. See Mimusopslcauki. Albizzia moluccana, 25783. stipulata, 25782. Alfalfa, Baltic, 25806. Grimm, 25804. (Kansas), 25733. Turkestan, 25805, 25807. (Turkey), 25932. Allium cepa, 25841 to 25844. Amygdalus persica, 25894. Anacardium occidentale, 25718. Anona reticulata, 25927. Apricot (India), 25895. Aspidosperma quebracho-bianco, 25797. Atalantia sp., 25885. Avena sativa, 25731, 25749, 25750, 25849 to 25856, 25956. sterilis, 25730, 25784. Bael. See Belou marmelos. Barley, Franconian, 25744. Improved, 25745. Hanna, 25742, 25743, 25746, 25747. hull-less (Kashmir), 25922. Barosma crenulata, 25817. Bean, Adzuki. See Phaseolus angularis. "Barbuda," 25729. bonavist. See Dolichos lablab. broad, 25913, 25914, 25950 to 25952. horse, 25898 to 25907, 25923, 25953, 25963. Beet, sugar, Remlingen, 25752. Belou marmelos, 25879, 25889, 25890, 25912. Beta vulgaris, 25752. Buchu. See Barosma crenulata. Caesalpinia nuga, 25803. Cajan indicum, 25865. Calamus sp., 25858, 25859. Cananga odorata, 25799. Cape gooseberry. See Phy salts peruviana . Carica papaya, 25720. peltata, 25721. Cashew. See Anacardium occidentale. Cherry (Canada), 25880. (India), 25896. 170 Cinnamomum loureirii, 25884. Cinnamon (Cochin China), 25884. Citrullus vulgaris, 25754, 25867, 25934. Citrus nobilis, 25862. Clover, red (disease resistant), 25871. German, 25751. See also Trifolium pratense. Colchicum sp., 25928. Corn (Africa), 25736, 25866. (Costa Rica), 25660. (Cuba), 25959 to 25962. (Ecuador), 25758 to 25774. Hickory King, 25736. Cotton (Nyasaland), 25964. Cowpea (Africa), 25785 to 25788, 25965. Black-Eye, 25857. brown, 25910. See also Vigna unguiculata. Crinum asiaticum, 25800. Cucumis melo, 25929 to 25931. Cucurbita moschata, 25719. pepo, 25831. Custard-apple. See Anona reticulata. Dipterocarpus dyeri, 25801. punctulatus, 25802. Dolichos lablab, 25726 to 25728, 25915. Downy myrtle. See Rhodomyrtus tomen- tosa. "Duraznillo." See Jatropha sp . Elephantorrhiza elephantina, 25941. Eleusine coracana, 25864. Feronia elephantum, 25888, 25911, 25926. Field pea. See Pisum spp. Garcinia mangostana, 25887, 26047. Gladiolus sp., 25869. Glycine hispida, 25778 to 25781, 25919, 25920. Gourd (France), 25822 to 25831. Hill gooseberry. See Rhodomyrtus tomen- tosa. Hordeum sp., 25922. distichon, 25744, 25745. nutans, 25742, 25743, 25746, 25747. 33 34 SEEDS AND PLANTS IMPORTED. Hang ilang. See Cananga odorata. Jatropha sp., 25775. Kussum. See Schleichera trijuga. Lagenaria vulgaris, 25822 to 25824, 25826 to 25830. Lathyrus sativus, 25924. Lawsonia inermis, 25776. Livistona whitfordii, 25860. Luffa cylindrica, 25825. Macadamia ternifolia, 25845. Mandarin (Cochin China), 25862. Mangifera indica, 25861, 25938 to 25940. Mango, Carabao, 25938. Julie, 25861. Pahutan, 25940. Pico, 25939. Mangosteen (Cochin China), 25887. (Trinidad), 26047. Medicago sativa, 25733, 25804 to 25807, 25932. Millet, pearl. See Pennisetum ameri- canum. ragi. See Eleusine coracana. Mimusops kauki, 25909. Muskmelon, Persian, 25929 to 25931. Myrica nagi, 25908. Oat (Algeria), 25784. Beseler No. 2, 25750. (Palestine), 25730, 25731. (Spain), 25849 to 25856. Svalofs Ligowo, 25749. (Turkey), 25956. Olea foveolata, 25846. Onion, Bermuda Red, 25841. White, 25843. (Canary Islands), 25841 to 25844. Crystal- Wax, 25844. Wildpret's Golden, 25842. Oryza sativa, 25937. Panicum palmae folium, 25740. Papaw (Costa Rica), 25720 to 25722. Passiflora edulis, 25874. Passion fruit. See Passiflora edulis. Pea, field. See Pisum spp. Peach (India), 25894. Pear (India), 25897. Pennisetum americanum, 25788, 25863. Phaseolus annularis, 25916. lunatus, 25729, 25876. 176 Phyllanthus emblica, 25724. Physalis peruviana, 25892. Pisum arvense, 25925. sativum, 25917. Protea grandiflora, 25847. Prunus armeniaca, 25895. puddum, 25896. tomentosa, 25880. Pyrussp., 25897. Quebracho-bianco. quebracho-bianco. See Aspidosperma Rattan (Batanes Islands), 25858. Palasan, 25859. Rhodomyrtus tomentosa, 25891. Rice, Szemiu, 25937. Rosa sp., 25936. Rose, yellow, 25936. Saccharum officinarum, 25738. Schinus huigan, 25798. Schleichera trijuga, 25848. Soy bean, black, 25778, 25920. brown, 25781. (Java), 25778 to 25781. yellow, 25779, 25780, 25919. Stizolobium sp., 25725, 25732, 25753, 25755 to 25757, 25870. Sugar cane (Java), 25738. Tacca pinnatifida, 25816. Terminalia bellerica, 25723. Tetracronia cymosa, 25886. Trifolium pratense, 25751, 25871. Triticum aestivum, 25748, 25921. Undetermined, 25868, 25893. Vetch, bitter. See Vicia ervilia. hairy. See Vicia villosa. Vicia ervilia, 25957. faba, 25898 to 25907, 25913, 25914, 25923, 25950 to 25953, 25963. villosa, 25872, 25875, 25935. Vigna sesquipedalis , 25918. unguiculata, 25785 to 25787, 25857, 25910, 25965. Watermelon (Formosa), 25754. Monketaan, 25934. (Turkestan), 25867. Wheat (Kashmir), 25921. Rimpau's Red Schlanstetter Sum- mer, 25748. Zea mays, 25736, 25758 to 25774, 25866, 25959 to 25962. Zizyphus jujuba, 25777. o [Continued from page 2 of cover.] No. 99. Quick Method for Determination of Moisture in Grain. 1907. Price, 5 cents. 101. Contents of and Index to Bulletins Nos. 1 to 100. 1907. Price, 15 cents. 102. Miscellaneous Papers. 1907. Price, 15 cents. 103. Dry Farming in the Great Basin. 1907. Price, 10 cents. 104. The Use of Feldspathic Rocks as Fertilizers. 1907. Price, 5 cents. 105. Relation of Composition of Leaf to Burning of Tobacco. 1907. Price, Id cents. 106. Seeds and Plants Imported. Inventory No. 12. 1907. Price. 15 cents. 107. American Root Drugs. 1907. Price, 15 cents. 108. The Cold Storage of Small Fruits. 1907. Price, 15 cents. 109. American Varieties of Garden Beans. 1907. Price, -25 cents. 110. Cranberry Diseases. 1907. Price, 20 cents. 112. Use of Suprarenal Glands in Testing of Drug Plants. 1907. Price, 10 cents. 113. Tolerance of Plants for Salts Common in Alkali Soils. 1907. Price, 5 cents. 114. Sap-Rot and Other Diseases of the Red Gum. 1907. Price, 25 cents. 115. Disinfection of Sewage for Protection of Water Supplies. 1907. Price r 10 cents. 116. The Tuna as Food for Man. 1907. Price, 25 cents. 117. The Reseeding of Depleted Range and Native Pastures. 1907. Price, 10 cents. 118. Peruvian Alfalfa. 1907. Price, 10 cents. 119. The Mulberry and Other Silkworm Food Plants. 1907. Price. 10 cents. 120. Production of Easter Lily Bulbs in the United States. 1908. Price. 10 cents. 121. Miscellaneous Papers. 1908. Price, 15 cents. 122. Curly-Top, a Disease of Sugar Beets. 1908. Price, 15 cents. 123. The Decay of Oranges in Transit from California. 1908. Price, 20 cents. 124. The Prickly Pear as a Farm Crop. 1908. Price, 10 cents. 125. Dry-Land Olive Culture in Northern Africa. 1908. Price, 10 cents. 126. Nomenclature of the Pear. 1908. Price, 30 cents. 127. The Improvement of Mountain Meadows. 1908. Price, 10 cents. 128. Egyptian Cotton in the Southwestern United States. 1908. Price, 15 cents. 129. Barium, a Cause of the Loco- Weed Disease. 1908. Price, 10 cents. 130. Dry-Land Agriculture. 1908. Price, 10 cents. 131. Miscellaneous Papers. 1908. Price, 10 cents. 133. Peach, Apricot, and Prune Kernels as By-Products. 1908. Price, 5 cents. 134. Influence of Soluble Salts, Principally Sodium Chlorid, upon Leaf Structure and Transpiration of Wheat, Oats, and Barley. 1908. Price, 5 cents. 135. Orchard Fruits in Piedmont and Blue Ridge Regions, etc. 1908. Price, 20 cents. 136. Methods and Causes of Evolution. 1908. Price, 10 cents. 137. Seeds and Plants Imported. Inventory No. 14. 1909. Price, 10 cents. 138. The Production of Cigar-Wrapper Tobacco under Shade. 1908. Price, 15 cents. 139. American Medicinal Barks. 1909. Price, 15 cents. 140. "Spineless" Prickly Pears. 1909. Price, 10 cents. 141. Miscellaneous Papers. 1909. Price, 10 cents. 142. Seeds and Plants Imported. Inventory No. 15. 1909. Price, 10 cents. 143. Principles and Practical Methods of Curing Tobacco. 1909. Price, 10 cents. 144. Apple Blotch, a Serious Disease of Southern Orchards. 1909. Price, 15 cents. 145. Vegetation Affected by Agriculture in Central America. 1909. Price, 15 cents. 146. The Superiority of Line Breeding over Narrow Breeding. 1909. Price, 10 cents. 147. Suppressed and Intensified Characters in Cotton Hybrids. 1909. Price, 5 cents. 148. Seeds and Plants Imported. Inventory No. 16. 1909. Price, 10 cents. 149. Diseases of Deciduous Forest Trees. 1909. Price, 15 cents. 150. The Wild Alfalfas and Clovers of Siberia. 1909. Price, 10 cents. 151. Fruits Recommended for Cultivation. 1909. Price, 15 cents. 152. The Loose Smuts of Barley and Wheat. 1909. Price, 15 cents. 153. Seeds and Plants Imported. Inventory No. 17. 1909. Price, 10 cents. 154. Farm Water Supplies of Minnesota. 1909. Price, 15 cents. 155. The Control of Black-Rot of the Grape. 1909. Price, 15 cents. 156. A Studv of Diversity in Egyptian Cotton. 1909. Price, 15 cents. 157. The Truckee-Carson Experiment Farm. 1909. Price, 10 cents. 158. The Root-Rot of Tobacco Caused bv Thielavia Basicola. 1909. Price, 15 cents. 159. Local Adjustment of Cotton Varieties. . 1909. Price, 10 cents. 160. Italian Lemons and Their By-Products. 1909. Price, 15 cents. 161. A New Type of Indian Corn from China. 1909. Price, 10 cents. 162. Seeds and Plants Imported. Inventory No. 18. 1909. Price, 10 cents. - 163. Varieties of American Upland Cotton. 1910. Price, 25 cents. 164. Promising Root Crops for the South. 1910. Price, 10 cents. 165. Application of Principles of Heredity to Plant Breeding. 1909. Price, 10 cents. 166. The Mistletoe Pest in the Southwest. 1910. Price, 10 cents. 167. New Methods of Plant Breeding. 1910. Price, 20 cents. 108. Seeds and Plants Imported. Inventory No. 19. 1909. Price, .". cents. 169. Variegated Alfalfa. 1910. Price, 10 cents. 170. Traction Plowing. 1910. Price, 10 cents. 171. Some Fungous Diseases of Economic Importance. [In press.] 172. Grape Investigations in Vinifera Regions. [In press.] 173. Seasonal Nitrification as Influenced by Crops and Tillage. [In press.] 174. The Control of Peach Brown-Rot and Scab. 1910-. Price, 10 cents. 175. The History and Distribution of Sorghum. 1910. Price, — cents. , 176 U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. BUREAU OF PLANT INDUSTRY— BULLETIN NO. 177. B. T. GALLOWAY, chief of Burmu. A PROTECTED STOCK RANGE IN ARIZONA. BY DAVID GRIFFITHS, Agriculturist, Office of Farm Management. Issued April 19, 1910. WASHINGTON: government printing office. 1910. BULLETINS OF THE BUREAU OF PLANT INDUSTRY. The scientific and technical publications of the Bureau of Plant Industry, which was organized July 1, 1901, are issued in a single series of bulletins, a list of which follows. - ' r ' Attention is directed to the fact that the publications in this series are not for general distribution. The Superintendent of Documents, Government Printing Office, Washington, D. C, is authorized by law to sell them at cost, and to him all applications for these bulletins should be made, accompanied by a postal money order for the required amount or by cash. Numbers omitted from this list can not be furnished. No. 2. Spermatogenesis and Fecundation of Zamia. 1901. Price, 20 cents. 3. Macaroni Wheats. 1901. Price, 20 cents. 4. Range Improvement in Arizona. 1901. Price, 10 cents. 8 A Collection of Fungi Prepared for Distribution. 1902. Price, 10 cents. 9. The North American Species of Spartina. 1902. Price, 10 cents. 10. Records of Seed Distribution, etc. 1902. Price, 10 cents. 11. Johnson Grass. 1902. Price, 10 cents. 13. Range Improvement in Central Texas. 1902. Price, 10 cents. 14 The Decay of Timber and Methods of Preventing It. 1902. Price, 55 cents. 15. Forage Conditions on Northern Border of Great Basin. 1902. Price, 15 cents. 17. Some Diseases of the Cowpea. 1902. Price, 10 cents. 20 Manufacture of Semolina and Macaroni. 1902. Price, 15 cents. 22 Injurious Effects of Premature Pollination. 1902. Price, 10 cents. 23 Berseem: The Great Forage and Soiling Crop of Nile Valley. 1902. Price, 15 cents. 24. Unfermented Grape Must. 1902. Price, 10 cents. 25. Miscellaneous Papers. 1903. Price, 15 cents. 27 Letters on Agriculture in the West Indies, Spain, and the Orient. 1902. Price, 18 cents. 29. The Effect of Black-Rot on Turnips. 1903. Price, 15 cents. 31. Cultivated Forage Crops of the Northwestern States. 1902. Price, 10 cents. 32. A Disease of the White Ash. 1903. Price, 10 cents. 33. North American Species of Leptochloa. 1903. Price, 15 cents. 35. Recent Foreign Explorations. 1903. Price, 15 cents. 36. The "Bluing" of the Western Yellow Pine, etc. 1903. Price, 30cents. 37. Formation of Spores in Sporangia of Rhizopus Nigricans, etc. 1903. Price, lo cents. 38. Forage Conditions in Eastern Washington, etc. 1903. Price, 15 cents. 39. The Propagation of the Easter Lily from Seed. 1903. Price, 10 cents. 41. The Commercial Grading of Corn. 1903. Price, 10 cents. 42. Three New Plant Introductions from Japan. 1903. Price, 10 cents. 47. The Description of Wheat Varieties. 1903. Price, 10 cents. 48. The Apple in Cold Storage. 1903. Price, 1.5 cents. 49 The Culture of the Central American Rubber Tree. 1903. Price, 25 cents. 50. Wild Rice: Its Uses and Propagation. 1903. Price, 10 cents. 51. Miscellaneous Papers. 1905. Price. 5 cents. 54. Persian Gulf Dates. 1903. Price, 10 cents. 59. Pasture, Meadow, and Forage Crops in Nebraska. 1904. Price, 10 cents. 60. A Soft Rot of the Calla Lily. 1904. Price, 10 cents. 61. The Avocado in Florida. 1904. Price, 5 cents. 62. Notes on Egyptian Agriculture. 1904. Price, 10 cents. 67. Range Investigations in Arizona. 1904. Price. 15 cents. 68. North American Species of Agrostis. 1905. Price, 10 cents. 69. American Varieties of Lettuce. 1904. Price, 15 cents. 70. The Commercial Status of Durum Wheat. 1904. Price; 10 cents. 71. Soil Inoculation for Legumes. 1905. Price, 15 cents. 72. Miscellaneous Papers. 1905. Price, 5 cents. 73. The Development of Single-Germ Beet Seed. 1905. Price, 10 cents. 74 Prickly Pear and Other Cacti as Food for Stock. 1905. Price, 5 cents. 75 Range Management in the State of Washington. 1905. Price, 5 cents. 76 Copper as an Algicide and Disinfectant in Water Supplies. 1905. Price, 5 cents. 77. The Avocado: A Salad Fruit from the Tropics. 1905. Price, 5 cents. 79 Variability of Wheat Varieties in Resistance to Toxic Salts. 1905. Price, 5 cents. 80. Agricultural Explorations in Algeria. 1905. Price, 10 cents. 81. Evolution of Cellular Structures. 1905. Price, 5 cents. 82. Grass Lands of the South Alaska Coast. 1905. Price, 10 cents. 83. The Vitality of Buried Seeds. 1905. Price, 5 cents. 84. The Seeds of the Bluegrasses. 1905. Price, 5 cents. 85. Principles of Mushroom Growing and Mushroom Spawn Making. 1905. Price, 10 cents. 86 Agriculture without Irrigation in the Sahara Desert. 1905. Price, 5 cents. 88. Weevil- Resisting Adaptations of the Cotton Plant. 1906. Price, 10 cents. 89. Wild Medicinal Plants of the United States. 1906. Price, 5 cents. 90. Miscellaneous Papers. 1906. Price. 5 cents^ 91. Varieties of Tobacco Seed Distributed, etc. 1906. Price, 5 cents. 94. Farm Practice with Forage Crops in Western Oregon, etc. 1906. Price, 10 cents. 95. A New Tvpe of Red Clover. 1906. Price, 10 cents. 96. Tobacco Breeding. 1907. Price, 15 cents. 97. Seeds and Plants Imported. InventoryNo.il. 1907. Price, 15 cents. 98. Soy Bean Varieties. 1907. Price, 15 cents. 99 Quick Method for Determination of Moisture, in Grain. 1907. Price, o cents. 101. Contents of and Index to Bulletins Nos. 1 to 100. 1907. Price, 15 cents. 102. Miscellaneous Papers. 1907. Price, 15 cents. 103. Dry Fanning in the Great Basin. 1907. Price, 10 cents. 104. The Use of Feldspathic Rocks as Fertilizers. 1907. Price, 5 cents. 105. Relation of Leaf to Burning Qualities of Tobacco. 1907. Price. 10 cents. 106. Seeds and Plants Imported. Inventory No. 12. 1907. Price. 15 cents. 107. American Root Drugs. 1907. Price, 15 cents. 108. The Cold Storage of Small Fruits. 1907. Price, 15 fenis. 109. American Varieties of Garden Beans. 1907. Price, 25 cents. 110. Cranberry Diseases. 1907. Price, 20 cents. 112. Suprarenal Glands in Physiological Testing of Drug Plants. 1907. Price, 10 cents. [Continued on page 3 of cover.] 177 U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. BUREAU OF PLANT INDUSTRY— BULLETIN NO. 177. B. T. GALLOWAY, Chief of Bureau. A PROTECTED STOCK RANGE IN ARIZONA. BY DAVID GRIFFITHS, Agriculturist, Office of Farm Management. Issued April 19, 1910. WASHINGTON: government printing office, 1910. BUREAU OF PLANT INDUSTRY. Chief of Bureau, Beverly T. Galloway. Assistant Chief of Bureau, G. Harold Powell. Editor, J. E. Rockwell. Chief Clerk, James E. Jones. Office of Farm Management. scientific staff. William J. Spillman, Agriculturist in Charge. D. A. Brodie, David Griffiths, and C. B. Smith, Agriculturists. J. H. Arnold, Levi Chubbuck, Charles E. Hoke, M. E. McCulloch, A. D. McNair, G. E. Monroe, Harry Thompson, and E. H. Thomson, Experts. J. C. Beavers, G. A. Billings, M. C. Burritt, J. S. Gates, J. S. Cotton, H. It. Cox, M. A. Crosby, D. H. Doane, L. G. Dodge, J. A. Drake, L. W. Ellis, J. W. Froiey, C. L. Goodrich, Byron Hunter, H. B. McClure, J. C. McDowell, H. A. Miller, \V. A. Peck, A. G. Smith, J. A. Warren, and B. Youngblood, Assistant Agriculturists. C. M. Bennett, M. O. Bugby, E. L. Hayes, M. M. Offutt, E. A. Stanford, and G. J. Street, Special Agents. 177 LETTER OF TRANSMITTAL U. S. Department of Agriculture, Bureau of Plant Industry, Office of the Chief, Washington, D. C, January 11, 1910. Sir: I have the honor to transmit herewith and to recommend for publication as Bulletin No. 177 of the series of this Bureau a manuscript entitled "A Protected Stock Kange in Arizona," by Dr. David Griffiths. This paper has been submitted for publication by Prof. W. J. Spillman, Agriculturist in Charge of the Office of Farm Management. This is the second report upon range investigations in the Santa Rita National Forest in cooperation with the University of Arizona. It portrays the effects of proper protection of the native pastures of the resion and shows that results are much more certain of accom- plishment by proper management than by attempting reseeding operations. Respectfully, A. F. Woods, Acting < 'Ji ief of Bureau. Hon. James Wilson, Secretary of Agriculture. 177 3 CONTENTS. rage. Introduction ? Early history of the inclosed area 7 History of the area since 1903 8 Surface covering 9 Conditions inside and outside of the fenced area 10 Natural reseeding H Artificial reseeding 12 Temporary changes in vegetation 14 Permanent changes in vegetation 15 Peculiarities of the feed 17 Weeds i7 Yield of vegetation 19 Carrying capacity 21 Increase of shrubs 21 Summary 24 Index 25 177 5 ILLUSTRATIONS PLATES. Page. Plate I. Pastures showing improvement due to two years' protection by fencing. Fig. 1. — Range land inside and outside of the fenced area in June, 1903. Fig. 2. — Range land inside and outside of the fence line in April, 1905 8 II. Comparative growth of grass on range lands in a good and a poor season. Fig. 1. — Field of Bouteloua rothrockii in a good season, 1908. Fig. 2.— Field of Bouteloua rothrockii in a poor season, 1907 14 III. Views in the inclosed area. Fig. 1.— A close view of the southeastern portion of the inclosed area. Fig. 2. — General view of the south- eastern portion of the inclosed area 16 IV. Two grasses growing in the inclosed area. Fig. 1. — Muhlenbergia porteri growing under the protection of a cat-claw. Fig. 2. — Isocoma coronopifolia growing on range land 18 V. Heavily grazed pastures in the smaller inclosure. Fig. 1. — A badly overgrazed area in the "MacB." pasture. Fig. 2.— Upper portion of the 590-acre pasture, showing spring vegetation under heavy grazing 20 VI. An arroyo and a perennial-grass field in the inclosed area. Fig. 1. — . An arroyo producing brush and cacti but very little grass. Fig. 2. — Field containing Baileya multiradiata, a conspicuous plant about the lower border of the perennial-grass region 22 TEXT FIGURE. Fig. 1. — Map of fenced pastures in the Coronado National Forest, compiled from maps by the United States Geological Survey, the Forest Serv- ice, and the Bureau of Plant Industry 8 177 6 B. P. I.— 547. A PROTECTED STOCK RANGE IN ARIZONA. INTRODUCTION. This report is one of progress simply and is necessarily incomplete, the details being purposely omitted. Many essential facts are also left out, because they have been included in a previous bulletin a of the series of the Bureau of Plant Industry. The investigations really date from 1903, when a tract of land 49.2 square miles in area upon the Coronado National Forest was closed to grazing by arrangement with the Forest Service and in cooperation with the agricultural experiment station of the University of Arizona. Since that time another small tract of nearly a section has been inclosed and cooperative arrangements entered into with four ranchers contiguous to the south and east line of the large tract whereby. the investigations will be considerably benefited in extent of territory, diversity of conditions, and interpretation of results by practical range operators. The map, figure 1, shows the area covered and the locations of the different pastures. A record of the operation of these areas under different systems of manage- ment during the next few years ought to throw important light upon the value of the proper handling of these semidesert lands. EARLY HISTORY OF THE INCLOSED AREA. Before the inclosure of this area it was open range, and large herds have fed here for years. The cattle usually come over in the fall from the other side of the mountains and remain until the April round-ups. In the upper portion of the field there was once a ranch of one of the largest cattle companies of southern Arizona, which has always been heavily grazed, but much heavier in times past than during the last few years before the inclosure was made. All in all, it may be said that heavy pasturing was the rule here for many years previous to that time. (Compare the two illustrations shown in Plate I.) A portion of the area farthest from water, mostly on the edge of the perennial-grass a Bulletin 67, Bureau of Plant Industry, U. S. Dept. of Agriculture, entitled "Range Investigations in Arizona." 1904. 27139— Bui. 177—10 2 7 8 A PROTECTED STOCK RANGE IN ARIZONA. area, was grazed only during the wet season when it could be reached by stock. It was therefore in much better condition than that lying closer to the mountains, where water was more convenient. B 2963 tr.vs E 3 M. '33/36 (49.2 /SQM B M = Bench marks of U.S. Geo/og/'ca/ Survej ~ ffoads. ^3721 Confoc/rs McC, A>facB., /?/f Pig. 1.— Map of fenced pastures in the Coronado National Forest, compiled from maps by the United States Geological Survey, the Forest Service, and the Bureau of Plant Industry. HISTORY OF THE AREA SINCE 1903. The large field was inclosed in June, 1903. By the first of the yea i 1908 the pastures marked upon the map (fig. 1) P., R., and MacB. were sufficiently inclosed to permit the control of stock in them, and the inclosures were completed later. These areas were inclosed by ranchers in cooperation with the Department of Agriculture. The 204-acre pasture was inclosed years ago and has been moderately 177 Bui. 1 77, Bureau of Plant Industry, U. S. Dept. of Agriculture. Plate Fig. 1.— Range Land Inside and Outside of the Fenced Area in June, 1903. Fig. 2.— Range Land Inside and Outside of the Fence Line in April, 1905. PASTURES SHOWING IMPROVEMENT DUE TO TWO YEARS' PROTECTION BY FENCING. SURFACE COVEEING. 9 stocked ever since. A large part is in heavy brush, and consequently not as productive as it would otherwise be. A few head of stock have been allowed in the 590-acre pasture since it was fenced, but the large area has had no stock upon it since it was inclosed except an occa- sional stray. The pastures P., R., and MacB. have been handled by their owners very much as their judgments dictated, a record being kept in all cases of just what treatment each pasture received. SURFACE COVERING. The accumulation of dead herbage upon the surface of the soil of the area takes place very slowly. When the growth first dries up in the fall after a good rainy season there is an accumulation of, perhaps, a thousand pounds of dry matter to the acre. This is enough to make a big fire if ignited shortly after the dry season sets in. If left upon the ground for one year in this climate, however, it largely disappears, from the action of wind and weather, so that the accumulation, while surely taking place from year to year, is very slow. In this inclosure after six } T ears of protection there is in no portion of it a complete ground cover during the entire year. There is, it is true, at the close of the rainy season grass two feet or more high in some places, but, as is characteristic of desert vegetation, it is thin and largely disappears before the next season. In the lower portion of the field, where the annual grasses predominate, the accumulation is next to nothing, but it gradually increases toward the higher level and is most abun- dant in the extreme southern portion of the inclosure. (See PL IV, fig. 2.) The occurrence of a dry year largely obliterates any cover that may have accumulated during the previous season. In short, even after six years of protection there is now in the lower portion of the field practically no ground cover, and in all probability there never has been any. In the upper portion, while the growth increases under protection, there is yet only about half a cover on the ground during the entire year. In the upper country, at an altitude of 3,500 feet and upward, a large accumulation of dead herbage can be kept upon the ground under a good system of management, as is being done in some private and cooperative pastures in the region now, but below this altitude the ground cover is not a factor of much consequence, for the grasses are mostly annual. Of course, upon the swales which receive flood waters the galleta and other grasses make a large growth and protect the surface, but such areas do not occur in the inclosures here described. It will be seen that the matter of growth is one of distribution of moisture, which is influenced by altitude. As stated elsewhere, the rainfall quoted in this paper is taken in the 204-acre pasture. This point probably receives more rainfall than any portion of the large inclosure, the precipitation decreasing gradually northward until one 177 10 A PROTECTED STOCK RANGE IN ARIZONA. reaches a point where it is too light to support the perennial grasses. However, a few miles to the northeast of the field there is an area of lower ground where hay has frequently been cut, but this is due to the spread and accumulation of flood waters over the surface. It is more than probable that the rainfall where the gauge is located is from H times to twice that in the lower (northern) portion of the field, which represents more closely the conditions obtaining around Tucson. Besides, the distribution of rainfall is much better in the upper portion of the inclosure, more frequent rains occurring than in the low altitudes. CONDITIONS INSIDE AND OUTSIDE OF THE FENCED AREA. Upon the north and the west sides of the field there is practically no difference between the inside and the outside of the inclosure. There are two reasons for this. The north and northwest portions are the least productive of the field, and in this neighborhood water is a long way off, so that the stock graze here very little. Indeed, there have been but few cattle in the vicinity of the fence from the private pastures to the northwest corner for two years. (See map, fig. 1.) As a consequence, upon the southwest side a small crop of hay was cut on the outside of the fence last year. On the east side, outside of the inclosure, the pasture is very short, having been grazed for years by horses and sheep. The conditions here are most instructive. The year 1908 was a favorable one and, consequently, in spite of the heavy grazing, some of the valuable perennial grama grasses matured seed to a much greater extent than in former years. This illustrates the extreme persistency of these grasses. They may be greatly abused even in this easily eroded and parched region, but when a favorable season occurs they again make their appearance and will, if husbanded for a few years, regain their supremacy. There is no doubt that there was at least ten times as much growth of these valuable perennials in 1908 as there had been for the previous three or four years. On the whole, there was in 1908 a fairly good crop of vegetation on this badly denuded region tributary to Helvetia, but it consisted in largest meas- ure of the six-weeks' grasses, which are the poorest in the region. From McCleary's south gate to Helvetia the area next to the gov- ernment fence is now entirely protected by private holdings. (See map, fig. 1.) Although some of these have been only partially pro- tected from the very excessive grazing of the previous years for somewhat less than twelve months, there is a phenomenal difference between them and the outside range. In one instance an inclosure of nine months' duration can be recognized for a distance of six or more miles even though the area has been grazed moderately all the time. 177 NATURAL RESEEDING. 11 NATURAL RESEEDING. Nature is normally profligate in her seed supply. It seems at times, especially with desert plants, that germination will insure seed production; in other words, many plants which have sufficient moisture for germination seldom fail to produce some seed. Indeed, in an average season the annual plants of the desert produce enough seed to restock the same land and insure as large a subsequent crop as the sterile soils can maintain. A small percentage of the more common plants grow each year and in turn produce seed. As an example we might cite Bouteloua aristidoides. A season is seldom so dry that some of this grass will not grow and produce seed. The plants may be a foot high and yield very little seed, or the spikes in a favorable year may equal the entire length of the plant in an unfavor- able one. It is different, however, with the perennial grasses. A season which produces an abundance of seed may be followed by one unsuited to the growth of seedlings, and consequently the crop of seed, although it falls to the ground, may be largely lost. Since the Department's operations in the Santa Rita Mountains were begun there have been but two years favorable for reproduction. The season of 1907, although not so prolific as the subsequent one, produced an abundance of seed of Bouteloua rothrockii and Bouteloua bromoides, two of the most important grasses in this region. This was followed by a very favorable season in 1908. There was con- sequently an exceptionally good growth of seedlings that season. It is quite possible that the seedlings of these two grasses over the entire areas in which they are peculiarly characteristic would average from four to six to the square foot. These seedling plants were all well established and in thrifty, vigorous growing condition on October 1, 1908. The condition of these seedlings the next season was not only of scientific interest but of exceeding economic importance. If they all grew to maturity and produced plants the next year as vigorous and large as those that grew on the same area the yield ought to be increased 50 per cent, other conditions being equal. This condition, of course, was. beyond the range of probability, because such a yield would be beyond the capacity of these desert lands to produce. As a matter of fact it is doubtful whether the yield of perennials in the upper portion of the field was much greater in 1909 than in 1908, in spite of the large number of seedlings of 1908. Natural selective influences work to thin this stand to the typical thin, scattering, bunchy condition best adapted to maximum production upon arid lands, a principle becoming better and better recognized in the growing of farm crops with small amounts of rainfall. Thin seeding is now recognized to be best under such conditions. The difference 177 12 A PROTECTED STOCK RANGE IN ARIZONA. between a good crop and a small one in the perennial-grass region of these deserts is not so much due to a larger number of plants as to larger plants or clumps of plants. Our experience upon this inclosed tract seems to indicate that the natural restocking of the perennial range by new plants takes place at irregular intervals. The ratio of increase may bear no relation to the quantity of seed produced the previous year. In other words, a favorable season for seed germination following a poor season of seed production may develop vastly more seedlings than one of poor distribution of moisture following an abundant seed production. Since this area was fenced, there has been but one season when the production of perennial-grass seedlings failed almost entirely. On the other hand, there have been but two years in five when a decided increase was noticed, the increase in 1907-8 being enormously greater than any of the others. ARTIFICIAL RE SEEDING. Many attempts have been made to introduce forage plants in this section, both in the large inclosure and upon the holdings of private individuals in the vicinity. There is but one species that has given any beneficial results. Alfilerilla (Eurodium cicutarium) has been tried several times and in various situations. In brushy pastures in the upper foothills it has produced a thick mat of herbage some years, while in others the growth has been poor. All in all it has done well in patches, but only in the most favorable situations, in rather loose soil, where the grazing has been quite heavy and there is open mesquite brush. This plant grows in the winter; consequently, the shade furnished by the mesquite is at a minimum when the plant grows. It has taken four or five years for it to become well established. In the open foothills, where the best pasture is found, the growth of this plant has been of no consequence. It has been started in several places, and indeed there were patches of it to be found in several situations when the field was inclosed, but even these have not spread. In short, the plant does not appear to be able in this situation to compete with native vegetation when the latter is not grazed. In one locality, along the fence line, there has been for years a patch of a few acres established no one knows how, but prob- ably by sheep. This has been watched with interest, but the growth of alfilerilla has been less under protection than in the open where the land was heavily grazed. In all, some two hundred species of forage plants have been planted in this inclosure. Many native species were tried, but the vast majority used were of foreign importation. At one time the Office of Forage-Plant Investigations of the Bureau of Plant Industry fur- 177 ARTIFICIAL RESEEDING. 13 nished more than one hundred varieties for testing. In some cases the seed was covered and in others scattered without any further attention. The plan has been, whenever the quantity of seed per- mitted, to sow one-half in the fall and one-half in the early summer. In some cases the ground was worked up sufficiently to kill about half of the original vegetation. The net economic result of all this foreign introduction has been practically nil. It is not necessary to go into details regarding these plantings, even to the extent of publishing a list of the seeds planted. Most of the species, in our experience, have never come up, and the few things that did make any growth usually died before seed was produced. In 1906 large quantities of wild oats (Avena fatua and A. barbata) were planted in June. Germination was very good, and by the 1st of January, 1907, the plats were promising, but the plants soon dried up, never getting over about 2 inches high. The seed did not germinate until the winter rains set in. The previous } r ear seed of bur clover (Medicago denticulata) from California was sown in large quantity and well covered. It started beautifully, but? dried up and died in April when about 2 inches high, with no seed production. Tucolote (Bromus maximus) matured a few plants from one of the several seedings made, but seems to have disappeared entirely. This is one of the most aggressive species upon the California ranges. It might not be a detriment here, for it is a winter annual, and therefore would come in competition with only weedy spring plants and would probably have no effect on the crop of forage which comes in summer. Results in reseeding, so far as these experiments have progressed, can be secured much more satisfactorily by the use of seed of native forage plants than by the use of the seed of plants from foreign countries. But even with these the results are not commensurate with the expense of getting the seed and growing it. Much more satisfactory results have thus far been obtained by husbanding the native vegetation and grazing well within the capacity of the land to maintain stock. In short, so far as information gained from experiments thus far conducted is concerned, these lands, although very badly overgrazed, will return approximately to their original productivity under complete protection in about three* average }^ears. Complete protection, however, is not necessary, though of course it will take longer to restore lands to their full productivity when grazing is practiced. These remarks apply only to the plants already tried, the majority of which had some claim to succeeding in dry situations. It is not impossible that some foreign plants may yet be found which will succeed here, and all which have any chance of success should be tried. But meantime proper handling of the native vegetation is 177 14 A PROTECTED STOCK RANGE IN ARIZONA. urged — a system of grazing which it is well within the capacity of the land to maintain. A number of native grasses have been caused to spread success- fully by gathering the seed in advantageous localities and simply scattering it where the ground was badly denuded. Better results have been obtained when seeding was done the last of June or the first of July. When sown in autumn the ants pick up too many of the seeds. Beneficial results have been secured in this way by the use of the seed of Andropogon saccharoides, Bouteloua vesiita, and B. rothrockii. Less positive results have been secured by the use of native seed of Bouteloua curtipendula and Leptochloa dubia. Indif- ferent results have been secured with Bouteloua oligostacJiya. It should be noted that the last is a very important grass on the east side of the Santa Rita Mountains, but, so far as the writer knows, it does not occur on the northwest side of the divide except in one small, well-established patch. The origin of this is not certain, but it is believed that it was established by seeding done in 1901. It is a beautiful, vigorous growth in a place which was badly denuded at that time. The above illustrations of the successful use of native species are important and interesting, but they have no applicability to open- range conditions. However, where the land is under fence and seed can be secured in the vicinity without too much expense, improve- ments can be made in very badly trampled areas. When the roots of the native growth are not completely destroyed, it is questionable whether in such situations as this recuperation would not occur fully as rapidly by proper protection from overgrazing without the use of seed as with it. It must be remembered that the chances of failure of seed in such a region are very great. It is not necessary to discuss at length the contributing causes. They are many. The most important are the irregularity and the uncertainty of the rainfall. TEMPORARY CHANGES IN VEGETATION. The most striking changes in vegetation are those which take place from year to year in annual plants, and this is always noticeable in any region where the annual vegetation predominates. As a con- crete example, the growth upon one of the inclosures in 1907 may be compared with that of 1908. In a badly denuded portion of one of the fields a blue-flowered, aster-like composite (MacTialranthera sp.) was decidedly conspicuous. It was estimated that in 1907 one could have cut with a mower at least 500 pounds of dry matter to the acre from a large area. In 1908 one would have been obliged to cut not less than 30 acres to secure 500 pounds. The only place that the plant grew the second year was along washes and rivulets, which, 177 Bui. 177, Bureau of P'ant Industry, U. S. Dept. of Agriculture. Plate II. Fig. 1.— Field of Bouteloua rothrockii in a Good Season, 1908. Fig. 2.— Field of Bouteloua rothrockii in a Poor Season, 1907. COMPARATIVE GROWTH OF GRASS ON RANGE LANDS IN A GOOD AND A POOR SEASON. PERMANENT CHANGES IN VEGETATION. 15 however, never had water except during a rain. In 1908 this aster- like plant was supplanted by Bouleloua aristidoides, Aristida bro- moides, and other weedy annual grasses. Besides these, there was a thin and very irregular growth of such valuable perennials as Bou- teloua rotlirockii, Bouteloua bromoides, Leptoehloa dubia, and Bou- teloua vestita. This area was in the 590-acre inclosure "(marked U. S. R. on the/ map, fig. 1). The changes were more noticeable than in the large field because the small field was more completely denuded of its vegetation. It is quite probable that the productive capacity of the small field is much below the average of similar portions of the other field. But such differences in vegetation, comparing one year with another, are very striking. There has not been one year in ten when there was such a crop of Plantago fastigiata throughout the region (see PI. V, fig. 2) as in the spring of 1901. In the large field, even with similar rainfall, there occurs an ascendency of one plant one year and of another plant another year, and this is more especially true of the growth of the spring season, which is more truly annual. One year the Arizona lupine (Lupinus arizonicus) gives its charac- teristic color to the landscape. Another year may witness the same with reference to Orthocarpus purpurascens palmeri. Lotus liumis- tratus may be the abundant species another year, and Pectocarya linearis another. In the upper portion of the large inclosure at the present time there is a good stand of perennial grasses. These grow in the relatively humid summer season. During the summer there is a very sparse growth of annuals. In the spring, however, this region which grows grass in summer has its complement of annuals, and the relative abundance of the species varies about the same as it does on the lower portion of the field, where the perennials do not occur. So far as known, no one has ever offered an explanation for these yearly variations of annual vegetation. The change in the aspect and balance of the species occurs in the annuals only. There has been no change, so far as anyone can see, in the areas of Bouteloua rothrockii, Bouteloua bromoides, Aristida divaricata, or Aristida cali- fornica in the large inclosure since the beginning, excepting a gradual thickening up of the respective species and a consequent shutting out of the annuals. (See Pis. II and III.) PERMANENT CHANGES IN VEGETATION. The rancher in this region is only half wrong when he asserts, as he commonly does, that the six-weeks' weedy and low-quality grasses have recently taken the range and driven out what he calls "root grasses," or the more valuable perennials. It is only the last portion of the statement that is false. The perennials, or more valuable 177 16 A PROTECTED STOCK RANGE IN ARIZONA. species, have, it is true, disappeared, but they were not driven out by annuals, but, on the contrary, by the rancher's cattle. The annual grasses of this region, such as Bouteloua aristidoides and Aristida bromoides, are not much relished by stock. They have harsh, hard glumes which penetrate the flesh. They dry up early, leaving but little substance, and, more than all this, they pull up by the roots when grazed and carry with them sand and dirt. They are therefore not eaten while the perennials are available. When the latter become impoverished by excessive grazing the former flourish. The ranges have therefore at present a larger proportion of weedy annuals, not because the latter are more aggressive, but because the former have been impoverished and to a large extent in many sec- tions killed out by overgrazing. One thing at least has been conclusively proved in this experiment, i. e., that the perennials which once flourished here and which have been decidedly injured by stock will again regain their ascendency over the weedy annuals when given a measure of protection. The Bouteloua roihrockii and Bouteloua bromoides areas were not only less productive of these perennial grasses when the inclosure was made but were actually more productive of the annuals Bouteloua aristi- doides and Aristida bromoides. (See Pis. II and III.) The gradual encroachment of the perennials upon the region of annual grasses has been one of the most notable features since the area was inclosed, and is yet in all probability only partially accomplished. The regaining of ascendency by the perennials is slow here, much slower than in regions favored by a more equitable rainfall. As stated elsewhere, it is only in an occasional season that seed of the perennials appears to find conditions congenial for growth. This, coupled with the fact that the annuals invariably encroach at this altitude whenever the perennials are injured, renders the process of recuperation slow here compared with that in northern regions of more favorable rainfall and a less easily eroded soil. On the other hand, the increased growth of an even partially pro- tected area is phenomenal. One of the inclosures completed very late in 1907 can be distinguished at the present time for miles by the differ- ence between the character of its vegetation and that of the vegeta- tion outside, and it has been grazed continuously at that, but only moderately. Last season one of the fields inclosed was as badly grazed as the Macaranthera area already referred to, but grew a fine crop of a yellow annual composite. Although it was in one of the best peren- nial-grass regions on the west side of these mountains, there was practically no grass there except a poor growth of the six-weeks' varieties. This season there is, of course, after such excessive graz- 177 Bui. 177, Bureau of Plant Industry, U, S, Dept. of Agriculture. Plate III. Fig. 1.— A Close View of the Southeastern Fortion of the Inclosed Area. Fig. 2.— General View of the Southeastern Portion of the Inclosed Area. VIEWS IN THE INCLOSED AREA. WEEDS. 17 ing, only a moderate growth of the perennials, but at least tenfold as much as there was last year, and a very heavy growth of the annuals. Judging from what has taken place upon the first large inclosure, the annuals will gradually give way to the perennials during the next four or five years and at the same time withstand a considerable amount of grazing. Below an altitude of about 3,500 feet we come to the desert proper, where the summer grasses are mainly of the annual type, always have been, and probably always will be. Below this altitude the only perennial grasses are those which are favored by occasional irrigation, in long arroyos and swales, where the drainage from higher levels spreads out over them. There is no hope of establishing perennials upon the lower, unirrigated mesa lands. When rains are favorable the low-lying regions will produce some indifferent feed in the shape of annuals, and that is all that can be hoped for them. PECULIARITIES OF THE FEED. The appearance of the feed upon the ground is deceptive in any desert country, but more especially in the area described in this bul- letin. The growth is invariably thin, but it may be quite tall, espe- cially in favorable years, making difficult an estimate of the quantity of feed produced. This is true of the growth in general upon a desert region. The most deceptive grass of all is the one locally known as black gama ( Mulilenbergia porteri) . (See PI. TV, fig. 1 . ) In early days this grass was exceedingly conspicuous, growing in tangled masses 2 to 3 feet high, both in clumps of shrubbery and in the open. The pioneer stockman calculated the productivity upon what he saw of this species, supposing that he was dealing with a grass of ordinary character. But the pioneer saw three or four years' growth, for the culms of this grass are perennial, only the terminal joints dying back each season. When, therefore, an area is unpastured for a time there is actually an accumulation of feed from year to year of this grass and some others, while the ordinary grasses die and grow up again from the roots each year. The deception is really serious, as is readily seen if one mistakes three or four years' growth for one and stocks the land accordingly. This is precisely what has happened in many cases. It is no wonder that some managers of stock companies insisted that the country could not be overstocked, nor, indeed, would it probably be if the production which the pioneer saw could be repeated with certainty each year. WEEDS. There are really but two weeds in the inclosure, but they are both somewhat serious. One is one of the rayless golden-rods (Isocoma coroTWpifolia) (PI. IV, fig. 1), not distantly related to the sheep weeds 177 18 A PROTECTED STOCK RANGE IN ARIZONA. and snake weeds of New Mexico, Texas, and northern Arizona. Here this plant has spread upward from the river bottom and now occupies the rocky ridges and mesas between the grassy section and the more level desert lands below. It has thickened and increased perceptibly during the last five years. The rainfall in the region where it is most abundant was very, light in 1908, and it consequently made but little growth. No one can tell what the future of this plant may be; it is quite probable that the grasses unmolested would hold their own against its encroachments, but with the grassy vegetation weakened by grazing it may increase to such an extent as to crowd out nearly all of the valuable plants, as is done over thousands of acres in other regions by species of Gutierrezia. Remedies which are effective and at the same time economically applied in the control of the variety of rayless golden-rod mentioned have not been perfected as yet. Burning in the dry season in sum- mer will kill some species of the group. In other words, if there is sufficient herbage upon the ground to burn during the vegetative condition of these plants they will be killed by burning the land over, but burning during the winter season, when they are dormant, will not kill them. In the region under consideration the golden-rod referred to has increased mainly below the grassy area, such increase having taken place but partially during the time that the area has been under protection. The encroachment evidently had begun years before. It is not yet thick enough to burn, even during the dormant dry season. Should all the young plants in evidence in 1908 come to maturity, which is rather improbable, it would be thick enough to burn in two or three years. The grasses do not become abundant enough here to allow of burning. The weed is increasing in the lower grassy areas, but principally in that region which now, as probably always, is producing mainly annual grasses. How far it will increase in the perennial-grass areas and how its encroachments within and without the fence will compare can not yet be satisfactorily judged. It must be remembered that it takes very much longer to secure positive results in matters of this kind in this region of scanty rain- fall than in more favored localities. There are indications that the plant has about reached the limit of its growth here, as the sheep weeds have elsewhere, and like them has begun to die. In 1909 a large proportion of the plants were dead and none were as vigorous as in previous years, although the season was exceptionally favorable. The only other real weed is the loco weed (Lupinus arizoniciis). This is supposed to have done much damage to the horse industry, but does not appear to be as injurious to cattle. So serious is the matter considered that at least one rancher in the vicinity has gone out of the horse business entirely. 177 Bui. 177, Bureau of Plant Industry, U. S. Dept. of Agriculture. Plate IV. FlG. 1 . — MUHLENBERGIA PORTERI GROWING UNDER THE PROTECTION OF A CAT-CLAW. Fig. 2.— Isocoma coronopifolia Growing on Range Land. TWO GRASSES GROWING IN THE INCLOSED AREA. YIELD OF VEGETATION. 19 This lupine is an annual plant which grows in the winter rainy season. It is conspicuous in the southern portion of the inclosed area in February and March. In favorable seasons it gives its char- acteristic blue color to the landscape upon hillsides and bluffs along arroyos. Even this plant is closely grazed by cattle, with, as already stated, apparently no injury. Upon the outside of the area it is grazed as closely as any other forage plant and seems to be as readily destroyed by such grazing as any of the valuable feeds. In the spring of 1908 it was difficult to find any of this plant outside of the fence in localities where it has been very abundant. The rayless golden-rod is the only conspicuous weed not touched by stock. YIELD OF VEGETATION. During the time that the area has been under fence an effort has been made to get a quantitative estimate of the amount of herbage produced from year to year. The estimate is based upon measure- ments of definite plats scattered over the entire field in such a way as judgment dictated would give an average yield. Only the briefest outline of the data secured is given here. The method of measure- ment is given in Bulletin 67 of this series and need not be repeated here in detail. In general it may be said that the vegetation of plats containing 21 square feet was measured, these plats, eighteen to twenty in number, being scattered over the entire field, as indicated in Bulletin 67. In that publication a more or less detailed discussion is given of methods employed in making these computations, which need not be repeated here. Inasmuch as these are more or less esti- mates anyway, it is not important that in this paper a slightly differ- ent method of computation is used from that in Bulletin 67. The comparisons are not altered. The results of these measurements are given in the following table : Table I. — Average yield of forage on plats of 21 square feet each in the fenced area on the Coronado National Forest. Year. vm /Spring... iytw (Summer. 1004 (Spring... 1 J " 4 \Summer. in 5 '/Spring... 1905 \Summer. iqofi If Spring... lyub liSummer. ion? [Spring... iyu/ iSummer. 1908 Spring... lJU8 \Summer. Season. Rainfall. Seasonal yield. Inches. 3. 29 7.48 2. Fig. 1.— A Badly Overgrazed Area in the "MacB." Pasture. The greater part of the vegetation consists of worthless composites and eriogonums. The latter are fairly good feed. Photographed in September. •ft '•:■ r* *■ - % . . ■ - <&<#& ...^i^bWmc. ;.* ISi 1» ^r* 3^*r ll*lR?.i.^d!i3?S Fig. 2.— Upper Portion of the 590-Acre Pasture, Showing Spring Vegetation under Heavy Grazing. HEAVILY GRAZED PASTURES IN THE SMALLER INCLOSURE. INCREASE OF SHRUBS. 21 proportion to the production of only 14 pounds on 2.64 inches in 1904. As a matter of fact nearly 2 inches of the rainfall which pro- duced the spring crop of 1904 fell in the months of October to De- cember. This served to germinate the seed very well, but there was not moisture enough in the spring to make any considerable growth. This is a good illustration of the influence of proper dis- tribution of moisture as well as proper quantity. CARRYING CAPACITY. As stated elsewhere, the large field has not yet been pastured, the object thus far being to study recuperation under absolute protection. The only data secured on carrying capacity are from the pastures under private cooperative control contiguous to the upper side of this field. The most satisfactory record, all things considered, is from the "MacB." pasture. (See PL V, fig. 1.) The record is short, but even the first year after being inclosed the land improved very perceptibly and still maintained stock at the rate of one head to 20 acres. It should be stated that this pasture is about one-fourth in the oak belt and the remainder in the open grass land immediately below. It is probably the best pasture land in this region. The 204-acre pasture is smaller and less productive by far, mainly on account of thick brush. A long record, reaching over five years, is available for this pasture. Four burros and three horses run short of feed in this pasture occasionally. Of course, the brush interferes with the growth of grass somewhat. On the other hand, the mesquite (Prosopis velutina) furnishes some beans, which are a valuable for- age. Pasture experiments in the large inclosure were begun in the summer of 1909, and the results will be reported later. INCREASE OF SHRUBS. Much has been written about the rapid spread of the mesquite (Prosopis (jlandulosa) and other shrubby vegetation in Texas since the advent of flocks and herds, but the development of this class of plants is so much slower on the inclosed area referred to in this paper that it appears to have been in a large measure overlooked. It is, however, taking place just as surely as in Texas; the only difference is that the growth is much less than half as rapid. The year previous to the inclosure of the large field a small crop of hay was cut over the best portion of its present area. This, however, was far from any water. Acres were harvested where there was no impediment to the mower. At the present time, six years later, there is not an acre in the whole field where there are no shrubs to interfere with the machine. They are still small, half an inch to an inch in diameter at the base, but large enough to stop a mower. 177 22 A PROTECTED STOCK RANGE IN ARIZONA. They have made a very perceptible increase within the writer's acquaintance with the area. The prediction is ventured that the time is coming when these foothill grassy areas, which now have only an occasional small shrub, will be as shrubby as the deserts and lower foothills below them, if not more so. Some of these shrubs do, of course, furnish some feed, but here, as elsewhere, their growth will be largely at the expense of grasses. For a long time the lower foothills, arroyos, and general desert mesas have been shrubby, and the gently sloping tables between the arroyos and the upper foothills are slowly becoming so. It will doubtless be impossible to depict all the agencies that are bringing about these changes. It is quite certain that the operations here of the Bureau of Plant Industry have had no influence, for the shrubbery has thickened up on the outside of the inclosure, where the grazing has been very heavy, apparently as much as on the inside. The probability is that neither protection nor heavy grazing has much to do with the increase of shrubs here, but that it is primarily the direct result of the prevention of fires. There never was a time when the shrubby lower foothills and desert mesas produced vegetation enough, except in limited localities, to allow fires to spread, but the grassy foothills, which constitute the upper half of our inclosure, produce sufficient vegetation to burn readily, at least every other year, at the present time. Previously, before the country was stocked, it probably produced more grass than it does now, and was frequently burned over, the fire extending as far down as vegetation would per- mit. Such burning did comparatively little injury to the grasses, but was very destructive to all small shrubs; consequently, these were able to exist only along the sandy washes, where the grasses were least productive, and upon the lower areas, where fires did not molest them. Upc'i the brushy deserts below, the rainfall is so scanty that the grass produced is not sufficient to allow fires to spread. Upon the mountains above, the moist season is more prolonged, the grass remains green longer, and the surface is more broken, often with sheer declivities, which are bare of vegetation, all of which render burning less probable. It must be remembered that frequent burn- ings are not necessary here to keep down brush. Possibly with com- parative freedom from grazing a fire once in ten years would suffice in such an area, because growth is very slow. The memory of early stockmen is not sufficiently retentive to give us much reliable information regarding the location and density of brush upon these areas when their operations began, so it is necessary to make inferences from changes which are occurring now under the changed conditions. Trained observers have not been sufficiently 177 Bui. 1 77, Bureau of Plant Industry, U. S. Dept. of Agriculture. Plate VI. *--'" m - v.'..«^»A— ' Fig. 1 — An Arroyo Producing Brush and Cacti but Very Little Grass. ,-%... ■ <- Wl'<*^ ' . . '1 -^. * •'».*•» '^S^Jip-V •**<;■-.- ^^^«te- ► - *■ H | «T S Fig. 2.— Field Containing Baileya multiradiata, a Conspicuous Plant about the Lower Border of the Perennial-Grass Region. AN ARROYO AND A PERENNIAL-GRASS FIELD IN THE INCLOSED AREA. INCREASE OF SHRUBS. 23 Jong associated with the conditions or interested in this phase of desert vegetation to form from memory accurate judgments. It is true that the grassy belt is noticeably not continuous in these mountains or elsewhere, but on the other hand, the desert mesquite forest often extends quite to the beginning of the real mountain forest. Such a condition is easily accounted for by local influences. In the canyons the growth of timber is continuous from the moun- tains to the desert, and in places on the ridges and gently sloping mesas as well (PI. VI, fig. 1). In both cases the writer believes this condi- tion to be due mainly to the comparatively low fertility of the soil in these situations, assisted in the canyons by the excess of water. The bottoms of the canyons are less productive of grass here to-day than the mesas between, owing to the constant shifting of the sands and the washing off of the finer particles of soil by the frequently changing courses of the flood waters. Action of fires was therefore less pro- nounced in the canyons, allowing trees and shrubbery to get started, as well as when they did get started, furnishing greater moisture in the subsoil. The main factor, though, in the opinion of the writer, has been that of fire. It is firmly believed that were it not for the influence of this factor the grassy mesas would to-day be covered with brush and trees, the same as the canyons, except that the growth would be smaller, owing to a more limited supply of moisture. In short, the same laws apply here that govern in our great prairie States (see PI. VI, fig. 2), where the treeless plains were kept so by frequent fires. It is a very conspicuous fact that the continuance of the desert forest, up to the mountains upon the mesas, occurs where the soil is poorest; in other words, upon the lands which produced least grass, and, con- sequently, the smallest amount of food for fires. This fact is illus- trated in one of the pastures, where there is an area of mesquite upon the gently sloping mesa. But this area is naturally poor soil, and its poverty, on account of location close to the terminus of a temporary stream, has been aggregated for many years by excessive grazing. The same remarks apply to the region just north of Helvetia. The spread of the seed of the mesquite by cattle and horses eating the beans, thus furnishing a good culture for their development, may have some influence, but it is so seldom that seedlings are met with that it is questionable whether cattle or horses have as much influence as has been suggested. They probably do cause a more thorough and widespread distribution, but probably assist the spread of shrubbery more by eating off the grass, so that there is nothing to burn, than they do by distributing the seeds. 177 24 A PROTECTED STOCK RANGE IN ARIZONA. SUMMARY. The lands under consideration in this paper appear to regain their original productivity in approximately three years of complete pro- tection. Evidence thus far secured seems to indicate that the best lands in the vicinity will improve under stocking at the rate of one bovine animal to 20 acres. The poorer lands take a correspondingly larger acreage for each animal. The areas that will carry now one head to 20 acres are very limited. Brush and timber are encroaching upon the grass lands, due, it is believed, to protection from fires. A ground cover is not a factor below an altitude of about 3,500 feet. Although the maximum yield of forage may be reached in about three years of protection, improvements in quality of forage will probably go on longer through the continued supplanting of annual plants by perennials of greater value. Thus far alfilerilla is the only introduced plant which has succeeded, and this only in the most favored situations. It does not appear to thrive in competition with the native perennial grasses at these altitudes when the latter are not grazed. None of the other two hundred lots of seed sown have given any promise of success except those of three or four native species. These give beneficial results, but the cost is high. Results seem to be secured much more rapidly by proper protection from overgrazing than by any other method. 177 INDEX. ^ Tage. Alfilerilla, introduction, experiments 12 Altitude, relation to ground cover 9, 10 Andropogon saccharoides, seeding, experiments 14 Arid regions. See Regions, arid. Aristida bromoides, weedy annual, description, etc 15, 16 californica, vegetation, annual variations 15 divaricata, vegetation, annual variations 15 Arizona, stock range, protected, history, early 7-8 since 1903 8-9 Arroyos, growth of perennial grasses 17 Avena barbata, introduction, experiments 13 fatua, introduction, experiments 13 Bouteloua aristidoides, description 16 drought-resistant, seed-producing plant of arid regions, experiments 11, 15 bromoides, reproduction, experiments in Santa Rita Mountains 11-12 seeding, experiments 15, 16 curtipendula, seeding, experiments 14 oligostachya, importance, origin and description 14 seeding, experiments 14 rolhrockii, reproduction, experiments 11-12 seeding, experiments 14, 15, 16 vestita, seeding, experiments 14, 15 Bromus maximus, introduction, experiments 13 Brush, cause of unproductiveness 9 California, forage plants, experiments in introduction 13 Cattle, influence in spreading seed of mesquite 23 Clover, bur, introduction, experiments 13 Coronado National Forest, fencing of pastures 7-9 Crops, farm, arid regions, importance of thin seeding 11-12 Desert plants. See Plants, desert. Eurodium cicutarium, introduction, experiments 12 Farm crops. See Crops, farm. Feed, grasses, accumulation upon ground and appearance 17 production, influence of rainfall 20-21 uniformity and increase 19, 20 yield, conditions, etc 20-21 Fires, forest, arid regions, value in controlling shrubs 22 Flood waters. See Waters, flood. Forage, growth in desert regions, appearance, habits, etc 17 Plant Investigations, Office, plants furnished for testing 12-13 plants. See Plants, forage. 177 25 26 A PROTECTED STOCK RANGE IN ARIZONA. Page. Forage, yield, influence of distribution and quantity of moisture 20-21 of inclosed area, 1903-1908 19-21 Forest, Coronado National, fenced pastures 7-9 fires. See Fires, forest. Golden-rod, rayless, danger of encroachment, remedies, etc 17-18 weed enemy of grasses in arid regions 17-18 Grama grasses. See Grasses, grama. Grass, galleta, large growth upon swales due to flood waters 9 perennial, seedlings, production in fenced area ' 12 Grasses, annual and perennial, growth, comparison 15 inclosed area, increased growth 16-17 small value as ground covering 9 arid regions, most important 11-12 seedling plants, economic importance, etc 11-12 weed enemies 17-18 desert, power of seed production 11 grama, persistency, value, etc 10 seed, production in private pastures in 1908 10 growth, cause of increase 16-17 influence of altitude 9-10 large, caused by flood waters. 9 native, seeding, experiments 14 perennial, ascendancy over weedy annuals 16 desert lands, influences controlling yield, etc 11-12 disappearance, cause 15-16 growth, conditions, etc 16 in arroyos 17 swales 17 increase 16-17 reproduction, experiments and results in Santa Rita Moun- tains 11-12 private pastures, comparison of growth for 1908 with previous years. . . 10 reseeding, artificial, experiments ^ 12-14 natural 11-12 See also Grasses, seeding. root, disappearance, cause 15-16 seeding, thin, arid regions, importance 11-12 See also Grasses, reseeding. seedlings, production, yield, etc 11-12 six weeks', increase of crop, 1908 10 summer, irrigation studies 17 Grazing, care in restocking arid land 13 system, land capacity 13-14 Ground, cover, accumulation, description, distribution, etc 9-10 effect of moisture 9-10 protection 9 See also Herbage, dead. Gutierrezia, enemy of economic plants 18 Hay, area, description 10 Helvetia, Ariz., tributary region, production of grasses in 1908 10 Herbage, dead, surface covering, accumulation, disposition, etc 9-10 See also Ground, cover. 177 INDEX. 27 Page. Herbage, yield of inclosed area 19-21 Horses, grazing, use of private pastures 10 influence in spreading seed of mesquite 23 Introduction to bulletin 7 Isocoma coronopifolia, enemy of arid-region grasses 17-18 Lands, desert, perennial grasses, influences controlling yield, etc 11-12 mesa, lower unirrigated, absence of perennials 17 overgrazed, protection to induce original productivity, time required, etc 13 treatment 13 range, reseeding, artificial, experiments 12-14 natural 11-12 restocking, natural 12 Leptochloa dubia, seeding, experiments 14, 15 Loco weeds. See Weed, loco. Lupinus arizonicus, description, danger, etc 18-19 Machalranthera sp. , growth, 1907 and 1908, comparison 14-15 Medicago denticulata, introduction, experiments 13 maximus, introduction, experiments 13 Mesa lands. See Lands, mesa. Mesquite, spread, causes, damage, etc 21-23 influence of cattle and horses 23 value as forage plant 21' Moisture, distribution and quantity, influence on yield of forage 20-21 effect on ground cover 9-10 Oats, wild, introduction, experiments 13 Pasturage, carrying capacity, study 21 Pastures, fencing, in Coronado National Forest 7-9 increased carrying capacity 21 private, grasses, persistency and results in 1908 10 management 8-9 use for grazing by horses 10 sheep 10 Plantago fastigiata, production in 1901 15 Plants, desert, seed production and reseeding of land 10-11 forage, artificial reseeding, experiments 12-14 California, introduction, experiments 13 native and foreign, comparison 13 efforts to establish, etc 12-14 species, native and foreign, experiments and studies 12-14 Precipitation, distribution 9-10 Prosopis glandulosa, shrubby vegetation, spread, causes, etc 21-23 velutina, bean production 21 Protection, effect on ground cover 9 Rainfall, inclosed area, distribution 9-10 heaviest in 240-acre pasture 9-10 influence on feed production 20-21 record taken in 204-acre pasture 9 Range lands. See Lands, range. open, seeding possibilities, discussion 14 stock, inclosed area in Arizona, history, early 7-8 since 1903 8-9 177 28 A PROTECTED STOCK BANGE IN AEIZONA. Pago. Regions, arid, grasses most important 11-12 seedling plants, economic importance, etc 11-12 weed enemies 17-18 shrubs, control, benefits of forest fires 22 thin seeding, importance 11-12 desert, forage, growth, appearance, habits, etc 17 vegetation, causes of various forms 22-23 Reseeding, grasses. See Grasses, reseeding. Santa Rita Mountains, grasses, perennial, reproduction experiments 11-12 growth of Bouteloua oligostachya 14 Seasons, rainy, summer and winter, dates, rainfall, etc 19-21- Seed, failure, causes 14 foreign, results of planting 13 grama grasses, production in private pastures in 1908 10 planting, methods 13 production, desert plants 10-11 Seeding denuded areas, methods 14 grasses. See Grasses, seeding. Seedlings, perennial grasses, production in fenced area 12 Sheep, grazing, use of private pastures 10 Shrubs, arid regions, control, benefits of forest fires 22 danger to mowing machines 21-22 increase, causes, dangers, etc 21-23 Six-weeks' grasses. See Grasses, six-weeks'. Soil, surface covering. See Ground, cover. Stock range. See Range, stock. Summary of bulletin 24 Swales, ground cover, description 9 growth of perennial grasses , 17 Tucolote, introduction, experiments 13 Vegetation, changes, permanent 15-17 temporary, studies and comparisons 14-15 desert regions, causes of various forms 22-23 grass varieties, comparison by years 15 native, husbanding, benefits and results 13-14 value, management , etc 13 private pastures, increase of growth in 1908 10 yield of inclosed area 19-21 Waters, flood, cause of large growth of grasses 9 effect on ground cover 9, 10 Weed, loco, damage to horse industry 17 occurrence, habits of growth, danger, etc 17-18 Weeds, varieties and importance in Arizona pasture 17-19 177 o [Continued from page 2 of cover.] No. 113. Tolerance of Various Plants for Salts in Alkali Soils. 1907. Trice. 5 cents. 114. Sap-Rot and Other Diseases of the Red Gum. 1907. Price, 15 cents. 115. Disinfection of Sewage for Protection of Public Water Supplies. 1907. Price, 10 cents. 116. The Tuna as Food for Man. 1907. Price, 25 cents. 117. The Reseeding of Depleted Range and Native Pastures. 1907. Price, 10 cents. 118. Peruvian Alfalfa. 1907. Price, 10 cents. 119. The Mulherrv and Other Silkworm Food Plants. 1907. Price, 10 cents. 120. Production of Easter Lily Bulbs in the United States. 1908. Price, 10 cents. 121. Miscellaneous Papers. 1908. Price, 15 cents. 122. Curly-Top, a Disease of Sugar Beets. 1908. Price, 15 cents. 123. The "Decay of Oranges in Transit from California. 1908. Price, 20 cents. 124. The Prickly Pear as a Farm Crop. 1908. Price, 10 cents. 125. Dry-Land Olive Culture in Northern Africa. 1908*. Price, 10 cents. 120. Nomenclature of the Pear. 1908. Price, 30 cents. 127. The Improvement of Mountain Meadows. 1908. Price. 10 cents. 128. Egyptian Cotton in the Southwestern United States. 1908. Price, 15 cents. 129. Barium, a Cause of the Loco-Weed Disease. 1908. Price, 10 cents. 130. Dry-Land Agriculture. 1908. Price, 10 cents. : 131. Miscellaneous Papers. 1908. Price, 10 cents. 133. Peach Kernels, etc., as By-Products of the Fruit Industry. 1908. Pike. ."> cents. 134. Influence of Soluble Salts upon Leaf Structure and Transpiration of \\ heat, Oats ; and Barley. 1908. Price, 5 cents. 135. Orchard Fruits in Virginia and the South Atlantic States. 1908. Price, 20 cents. 136. Methods and Causes of Evolution. 1908. Price, 10 cents. 137. Seeds and Plants Imported. Inventory No. 14. 1909. Price, hi cents. 138. Production of Cigar-Wrapper Tobacco in Connecticut Valley. 190X. Price, 15 cents. 139. American Medicinal Barks. 1909. Price, 15 cenls. 140. "Spineless" Prickly Pears. 1909. Price, 10 cents. 141. Miscellaneous Papers. 1909. Price, 10 cents. 142. Seeds and Plants Imported. Inventory No. 15. 1909. Price, 10 cents. 143. Principles and Practical Methods of Curing Tobacco. 1909. Price, 10 cents. 144. Apple Blotch, a Serious Disease of Southern Orchards. 1909. Price, 15 cents. 145. Vegetation Affected by Agriculture in Central America. 1909. Price, 15 cents. 146. The Superiority of Line Breeding over Narrow Breeding. 1909. Price, 10 cents. 147. Suppressed and Intensified Characters in Cotton Hybrids. 1909. Price, 5 cents. 148. Seeds and Plants Imported. Inventory No. 16. 1909. Price, 10 cents. 149. Diseases of Deciduous Forest Trees. 1909. Price, 15 cents. 150. Wild Alfalfas and Clovers of Siberia. 1909. Price, 10 cents. 151. Fruits Recommended for Cultivation. 1909. Price, 15 cents. 152. Loose Smuts of Barley and Wheat. 1909. Price, 15 cents. 153. Seeds and Plants Imported. Inventory No. 17. 1909. Price, 10 cents. 154. Farm Water Supplies of Minnesota. 1909. Price, 15 cents. 155. Control of Black-Rot of the Grape. 1909. Price, 15 cents. 156. A Study of Diversity in Egyptian Cotton. 1909. Price, 15 cents. 157. The Truckee-C arson Experiment Farm. 1909. Price, 10 cents. 158. The Root-Rot of Tobacco Caused by Thielavia Basicola. 1909. Price, 15 cents. 159. Local Adjustment of Cotton Varieties. 1909. Price, 10 cents. 160. Italian Lemons and Their By-Products. 1909. Price, 15 cents. 161. A New Type of Indian Corn from China. 1909. Price, 10 cents. 162. Seeds and Plants Imported. Inventory No. 18. 1909. Price, 10 cents. 163. Varieties of American Upland Cotton. 1910. Price, 25 cents. 164. Promising Root Crops for the South. 1910. Price, 10 cents. 165. Application of Principles of Heredity to Plant Breeding. 1910. Price, 10 cents. 166. The Mistletoe Pest in the Southwest. 1910. Price, 10 cents. 167. New Methods of Plant Breeding. 1910. Price, 20 cents. 168. Seeds and Plants Imported. Inventory No. 19. 1909. Price, 5 cents. 169. Variegated Alfalfa. 1910. Price, 10 cents. 170. Traction Plowing. 1910. Price, — cents. 171. Some Fungous Diseases of Economic Importance. [In press.] 172. Grape Investigations in Vinifera Regions. [In press.] 173. Seasonal Nitrification as Influenced by Crops and Tillage. [In press.] 174. The Control of Peach Brown-Rot and Scab. 1910. Price, — cents. 175. The History and Distribution of Sorghum. 1910. Price, — cents. 176. Seeds and Plants Imported. Inventory No. 20. [In press.] . 177 U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE, BUREAU OF PLANT INDUSTRY— BULLETIN NO. 178. B. T. GALLOWAY, Chkfvf Bureau. IMPROVEMENT OF THE WHEAT CROP IN CALIFORNIA. BY HENRY F. BLANCHARD, Assistant Agronomist, Office of Grain Investigations. Issued June 1, 1910. WASHINGTON: government printing office. 1910. BULLETINS OF THE BUREAU OF PLANT INDUSTRY. The scientific and technical publications of the Bureau of Plant Industry, which was organized July 1, 1901, are issued in a single series of bulletins, a list of which follows. Attention is directed to the fact that the publications in this series are not for general distribution. The Superintendent of Documents, Government Printing Office, Washington, D. C, is authorized by law to sell them at cost, and to him all applications for these bulletins should be made, accompanied by a postal money order for the required amount or by cash. Numbers omitted from this list can not be furnished. No. 2. Spermatogenesis and Fecundation of Zamia. 1901. Price, 20 cents. 3. Macaroni Wheats. 1901. Price, 20 cents. 4. Range Improvement in Arizona. 1901. Price, 10 cents. 8 A Collection of Fungi Prepared for Distribution. 1902. Price, 10 cents. 9. The North American Species of Spartina. 1902. Price, 10 cents. 10. Records of Seed Distribution, etc. 1902. Price, 10 cents. 11. Johnson Grass. 1902. Price, 10 cents. 13. Range Improvement in Central Texas. 1902. Price, 10 cents. 14. The Decay of Timber and Methods of Preventing It. 1902. Price, 55 cents. 15. Forage Conditions on Northern Border of Great Basin. 1902. Price, 15 cents. 17. Some Diseases of the Cowpea. 1902. Price, 10 cents. 20. Manufacture of Semolina and Macaroni. 1902. Price, 15 cents. 22. Injurious Effects of Premature Pollination. 1902. Price, 10 cents. 23 Berseem: The Great Forage and Soiling Crop of Nile Valley. 1902. Price, 15 cents. 24. Unfermented Grape Must. 1902. Price, 10 cents. 25. Miscellaneous Papers. 1903. Price, 15 cents. 27 Letters on Agriculture in the West Indies, Spain, and the Orient. 1902. Price, 15 cents. 29. The Effect of Black-Rot on Turnips. 1903. Price, 15 cents. 31. Cultivated Forage Crops of the Northwestern States. 1902. Price, 10 cents. 32. A Disease of the White Ash. 1903. Price, 10 cents. 33. North American Species of Leptochloa. 1903. Price, 15 cents. 35. Recent Foreign Explorations. 1903. Price, 15 cents. 36. The " Bluing" of the Western Yellow Pine, etc. 1903. Price, 30 cents. 37. Formation of Spores in Sporangia of Rhizopus Nigricans, etc. 1903. Price, 15 cents. 38. Forage Conditions in Eastern Washington, etc. 1903. Price, 15 cents. 39. The Propagation of the Easter Lily from Seed. 1903. Price, 10 cents. 41. The Commercial Grading of Corn. 1903. Price, 10 cents. 42. Three New Plant Introductions from Japan. 1903. Price, 10 cents. ' 43. Japanese Bamboos. 1903. Price, 10 cents. 47. The Description of Wheat Varieties. 1903. Price, 10 cents. 48. The Apple in Cold Storage. 1903. Price, 15 cents. 49. The Culture of the Central American Rubber Tree. 1903. Price, 25 cents. 50. Wild Rice: Its Uses and Propagation. 1903. Price, 10 cents. 51. Miscellaneous Papers. 1905. Price, 5 cents. 54. Persian Gulf Dates. 1903. Price, 10 cents. 59. Pasture, Meadow, and Forage Crops in Nebraska. 1904. Price, 10 cents. 60. A Soft Rot of the Calla Lily. 1904. Price, 10 cents. 61. The Avocado in Florida. 1904. Price, 5 cents. 62. Notes on Egyptian Agriculture. 1904. Price, 10 cents. 67. Range Investigations in Arizona. 1904. Price, 15 cents. 68. North American Species of Agrostis. 1905. Price, 10 cents. 69. American Varieties of Lettuce. 1904. Price, 15 cents., 70. The Commercial Status of Durum Wheat. 1904. Price, 10 cents. 71. Soil Inoculation for Legumes. 1905. Price, 15 cents. 72. Miscellaneous Papers. 1905. Price, 5 cents. 73. The Development of Single-Germ Beet Seed. 1905. Price, 10 cents. 74. The Prickly Pear and Other Cacti as Food for Stock. 1905. Price, 5 cents. 75. Range Management in the State of Washington. 1905. Price, 5 cents. 76. Copper as an Algicide and Disinfectant in Water Supplies. 1905. Price, 5 cents. 77. The Avocado: A Salad Fruit from the Tropics. 1905. Price, 5 cents. 79. Variability of Wheat Varieties in Resistance to Toxic Salts. 1905. Price, 5 cents. 80. Agricultural Explorations in Algeria. 1905. Price, 10 cents. 81. Evolution of Cellular Structures. 1905. Price, 5 cents. 82. Grass Lands of the South Alaska Coast. 1905. Price, 10 cents. .83. The Vitality of Buried Seeds. 1905. Price, 5 cents. 84. The Seeds of the Bluegrasses. 1905. Price, 5 cents. 85. Principles of Mushroom Growing and Mushroom Spawn Making. 1905. Price, 10 cents. 86. Agriculture without Irrigation in the Sahara Desert. 1905. Price, 5 cents. 88. Weevil-Resisting Adaptations of the Cotton Plant. 1906. Price, 10 cents. 89. Wild Medicinal Plants of the United States. 1906. Price, 5 cents. 90. Miscellaneous Papers. 1906. Price, 5 cents. 91. Varieties of Tobacco Seed Distributed, etc. 1906. Price, 5 cents. 94. Farm Practice with Forage Crops in Western Oregon, etc. 1906. Price, 10 cents. 95. A New Type of Red Clover. 1906. Price, 10 cents. [Continued on page 3 of cover.] 178 U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE, BUREAU OF PLANT INDUSTRY- BULLETIN NO. 178. B. T. GALLOWAY, Chief of Bureau. IMPROVEMENT OF THE WHEAT CROP IN CALIFORNIA. BY LIBRARY NEW YORK BOTANICAL GARDEN. HENRY F. BLANCHARD, Assistant Agronomist, Office of Grain Investigations. Issued June 1, 1910. WASHINGTON: government printing office. 1910. BUREAU OF PLANT INDUSTRY. chief of Bureau, Beverly t. Galloway. Assistant Chief of Bureau, G. Harold Powell. Editor, J. E. Rockwell. Chief Clerk, James E. Jones. (iRAiN Investigations. SCIENTIFIC STAFF. Murk Alfred Carleton, Cerealist in Charge. W. M. Jardine, C. R. Ball. 11. B. Dorr, and C. W. Warburton, Agronomists. E. C. Johnson, Pathologist. C. E. Chambliss, Expert. John F. Ross, Farm Superintendent. II. F. Blanchard and II. J. C. Umberger, Assistant Agronomists. F. R. Babcock, V. L. Cory, F. D. Farrell, and W. O. Shelley, Assistants. E. L. Adams, L. C. Burnett, Manley Champlin, J. M. Jenkins, A. A. Potter, and Cecil Salmon, Special Agents. 178 LETTER OF TRANSMITTAL. U. S. Department of Agriculture, Bureau of Plant Industry, Office of the Chief, Washington, B.C., February 28, 1910. Sir: I have the honor to transmit herewith a paper entitled "Improvement of the Wheat Crop in California," by Mr. Henry F. Blanchard, Assistant Agronomist in the Office of Grain Investiga- tions, and recommend its publication as Bulletin No. 178 of the series of this Bureau. For many years there has been a steady deterioration in the wheat crop of California, due to two general causes, (1) bad methods in farm practice and (2) a lack of varieties adapted to that region. The Office of Grain Investigations, of this Bureau, has investigated these conditions for about five years, during a part of which time the work has been in cooperation with the state experiment station at Berk- eley, Cal. Besides observations on many farms and other investiga- tions, experiments in methods of cultivation and adaptation of varieties have been conducted in detail at two points, Davis and Modesto. The accompanying paper gives briefly some of the results of investigations, to date, along these lines. Respectfully, G. H. Powell, Acting Chief of Bureau. Hon. James Wilson, Secretary of Agriculture. 178 3 C N T E N T S . Tage. Introduction 7 Common methods of cultivation unsatisfactory 8 Original methods of cultivation 8 Changes from original methods 8 Bad results of past and present methods 9 Soil low in humus and nitrates 9 Soil foul with weeds 10 Requirements for the production of profitable crops 10 Smaller farms and personal supervision by owners 10 Improved methods 11 Deep plowing. 11 Addition of humus and nitrogen to the soil 12 ( 'rops to be used as green manure 13 Time and method of handling 13 Effect of deep plowing and green manuring 15 Increased yields 15 I ncreased profits 17 ( leaning the land of weeds 18 Development of better varieties of wheat 19 Variety tests in California 19 Selecting varieties for California 20 Climate and soil .' 20 Habit of growth 21 Nonshattering habit 21 Milling quality 22 Other requisites 22 Seed improvement by the grower. 23 Small compared with large seed 23 The seed plat 23 Two new varieties of wheat adapted to California conditions 24 The Chul variety 24 Origin and history 24 Introduction into California 25 Description 25 Yields obtained 25 Milling quality - 26 The Fretes variety 2G Origin and history 2G Description 27 Yields obtained. 27 Milling quality 28 Pure seed of the Chnl and Fretes varieties 29 Protein content as affected by time of seeding 29 Summary 30 Index 33 178 5 ILLUSTRATIONS Page. Fig. 1. Wheat plants from six plats treated differently, showing comparative development 1 - 2. Wheat growing on plat which has been continuously seeded to the same crop ' ; » 3. Wheat growing on plat on which Canadian field peas were grown and plowed under in 1908 14 4. Wheat growing on plat on which rye and vetch were grown and plowed under in 1908 l- r > 5. Wheat growing on plat on which rye was grown and plowed under in 1908 l (i G. Representative plants of six varieties of wheat from uniform plats planted November 21, 1908, at Modesto, Cal., showing their com- parative development on May 1, 1909 21 7. Representative plants of six additional varieties of wheat from uniform plats planted November 21, 1908, at Modesto, Cal., showing their comparative development on May 1, 1909 22 8. Chul wheat (G. I. No. 2227) growing at Modesto, Cal., in 1909 24 9. Fretes wheat (G. I. No. 1596) growing at Modesto, Cal., in 1909 27 10. White Australian wheat (G. 1. No. 3019) growing at Modesto, Cal., in 1909 - :s 178 6 B. P. I.— 556. IMPROVEMENT OF THE WHEAT CROP IN CALIFORNIA. INTRODUCTION. An impression exists among many California farmers that the soil will no longer produce profitable yields of good milling wheats. This impression is strengthened by two well-recognized facts: (1) That under past and present methods of wheat culture the soil is failing in many localities to produce as large crops as heretofore, and (2) that the Australian and Club varieties, the most widely grown California wheats, are extremely starchy. As only these very starchy varieties have been extensively grown, it has become necessary for the millers to import large quantities of Turkey wheat from the Middle West to blend with the California wheats. In order to discover varieties better adapted to California needs than those commonly grown, the Office of Grain Investigations of the Bureau of Plant Industry has for a number of years conducted ex- tensive tests of wheat varieties, including many of foreign origin. In this way it was hoped to improve the California wheat crop in both yield and milling quality. As improved methods of cultivation are necessary also to obtain profitable yields of nitrogenous wheats, an effort has been made to determine the effect of deep plowing and the addition of humus to the soil in the form of winter green-manure crops. The time of plowing, the conservation of moisture, and the eradication of weeds have also been considered. If the State is to continue the profitable use of its grain lands and derive from them the largest possible return, it is quite necessary that there be an im- provement in the general practices of cultivation and in the varieties grown. The investigations covered by this report are in general based upon results obtained and observations made during a number of years, a part of the time in cooperation with the California Agricul- tural Experiment Station. An effort has been made to so correlate the results and observations that they will be of benefit to the Cali- fornia grain grower in effecting improvement in soil fertility, in the 32912— Bui. 178—10 2 7 8 IMPROVEMENT OF THE WHEAT CROP IN CALIFORNIA. yield of wheat to the acre, and in the milling quality of the grain produced. The investigations carried on thus far are simply the foundation for a more extensive work in the future. It is necessary in order to find a few desirable varieties that a large number be first grown in small areas and compared with the commonly grown varieties. The results obtained in this way indicate which varieties may be submitted to practical tests directly with the farmers. COMMON METHODS OF CULTIVATION UNSATISFACTORY. The cultivation methods still commonly practiced by many of the farmers of California have been brought about by the conditions existing about 1860, when it was first discovered that wheat could be grown as a profitable crop. These conditions were as follows: Fertile virgin soil, large level valleys facilitating extensive cultiva- tion, a growing season extending from November to June, and a period of rainfall extending over the growing season, with com- paratively high temperatures during the winter months and low temperatures during the spring months. The methods are generally very simple and very crude. They consist in the continuous cropping of wheat and barley upon soil which receives only a very shallow cultivation. The farmer is removing the plant food from the soil without the addition of anything to take its place. This is resulting in many localities in a depleted condition of the soil, and profitable crops of wheat are no longer grown. ORIGINAL METHODS OF CULTIVATION. The first grain producers of California attempted to crop as large an acreage as possible at a minimum cost. In order to do this, at that time all that was necessary was very shallow plowing (3 or 4 inches in depth), broadcasting the seed, and harrowing it into the soil. This was continued from year to year and fairly good crops were produced for a while. The header and stationary thrasher were used in harvesting the grain. Very little attempt was made on the part of the producer to secure pure seed of the varieties grown or to practice the careful grading of wheat, using only the largest and best kernels for seed. In fact, very little attention was given to the seed used. In many instances the farmer used the poorest grade of grain that he had grown the previous year. CHANGES FROM ORIGINAL METHODS. Since the earlier period of wheat production in California some changes have taken place or are now in progress. The most important of these are the replacing of the header and stationary thrasher by 178 COMMON METHODS OF CULTIVATION UNSATISFACTORY. 9 the combined harvester and the beginning of the practice of summer- fallowing the land. The change to the combined harvester, about 1880, was due largely to labor conditions existing at that time. It was difficult to secure enough men to properly handle the grain, and the methods of har- vesting were unsatisfactory. The climatic conditions, as well as the general contour of the land, were found to be favorable to the use of the combined harvester. This machine reduces to the mini- mum the number of men employed and at the same time utilizes the power of mules and traction engines. Proper methods of summer-fallowing the land are not yet generally practiced. Summer-fallowing became necessary on account of the foul condition of the soil which had been produced by continuous cropping to wheat. The use of the combined harvester, however, has partly offset the cleaning effect of the fallow. This method of tillage is beneficial, especially when it precedes a particularly dry season, as in this way a large amount of the rainfall for two years is retained in the soil. At first it was found necessary to summer-fallow the land every third year only, but later, every second year. Other changes which have been taking place during recent years are the reduction in size of a few grain farms and an increase in the depth of plowing on the part of some farmers. These changes, how- ever, occur in individual instances only and are not general in their nature. BAD RESULTS OF PAST AND PRESENT METHODS. We now have in many sections of California, as a result of the com- mon methods of wheat culture, a soil which refuses to produce profit- able crops of the commonly grown varieties of wheat. The general practice of single cropping has depleted the soil in humus and nitrates and made it very foul with weeds. Soil Low in Humus and Nitrates. There are large sections of California which have been sown in wheat and barley under the commonly practiced methods for the past thirty or forty years. These crops rapidly deplete the soil in humus and nitrates. Humus is the decaying organic material which gives body to the soil and is essential in retaining the soil moisture. It also affects the temperature of the soil, producing somewhat higher temperatures in winter and lower temperatures in summer, according to Wollny, as cited by Hilgard. a The nitrates of the soil are very essential in the production of wheat, as they form an important part of the necessary plant food. A soil low in nitrates usually tends to "Hilgard, E. W. Soils, 1906, p. 306. 178 10 IMPROVEMENT OF THE WHEAT CROP IN CALIFORNIA. decrease the nitrogen content of wheat grown upon it. On soils low in humus and nitrates there is also a correspondingly low yield of wheat. Soil Foul with Weeds. The weed problem is not of minor importance. In fact, when pass- ing through California grain fields and finding that large areas are badly infested with weeds one is impressed with the effect that they must have upon the yields of wheat. This weedy condition is due largely to the common methods of harvesting and cultivating. In many localities the soil has become so weedy that even with the best methods of summer fallowing commonly practiced by the farmer it is impossible to prevent large damage to the crops. The weeds in many instances crowd out the wheat plants by outgrowing them during the winter months. REQUIREMENTS FOR THE PRODUCTION OF PROFITABLE CROPS. In order to produce profitable crops of wheat on the worn-out grain lands of California the past and even the present methods of produc- tion must in a large measure give way to methods which will produce better results in the future. This to a small degree has already taken place in some sections. There are also large areas of the State upon which wheat has not been grown for as long a period of time as on those sections first farmed. However, these are being rapidly reduced to the same depleted condition on account of the unscientific practices in use. In some localities where the soil now fails to produce profitable grain crops it has been possible to grow other crops on the same land. In general, such instances are confined to the areas upon which water can be applied. Alfalfa and fruit usually do well in such sections. There are, however, large areas to which water can not be readily applied, and these will no doubt be used for the production of grain for many years to come. In order to produce crops of grain on such lands it not only becomes necessary to introduce new varieties or improved forms of those now grown, but a change in the actual farming methods for grain as they now exist is absolutely essential. The present methods sufficed for a time, and temporary profits from the soil resulted. It has been comparatively easy to produce crops from a fertile soil without taking into account the effect of such methods upon the soil. It will require much more skill and effort to return the soil to a condition in which good crops of wheat may again be produced. SMALLER FARMS AND PERSONAL SUPERVISION BY OWNERS. In the pioneer days of California the interior valleys were not considered of much value for the production of crops on account of 178 REQUIREMENTS FOR PRODUCING PROFITARLE CROPS. 11 the small amount of rainfall. At that time certain companies were enabled to secure large tracts of this land at a nominal price. These companies discovered that this land would produce good yields of grain and it was cropped on a very large scale. Since that time there has been a gradual breaking up of these large farms into smaller ones. However, there are still too many large ones to make probable the general use of improved methods of grain production. Until the farms are so reduced in size that they may be properly handled we may look for continued low production and further depletion in the soil fertility of the wheat lands. Another feature of much of the grain production in California is the practice of renting the lands from year to year to men who are not interested in the building up of the soil. The desire of the tenant is to get all that is possible out of the land at the least expense to himself during the time which he holds it. As long as this condi- tion exists there will be a continued decrease in the value of the wheat lands. The remedy for this is the direct supervision by the owner of the methods of cultivation and cropping. He has a real interest in the future condition of his soil and will undoubtedly give it better attention than the tenant who is interested only in the crop he pro- duces each year. IMPROVED METHODS. Improvement in the methods of wheat culture is essential to the production of more profitable crops. These improvements include the practice of deeper plowing, the increase of soil humus and nitrates by turning under green-manure crops, and the cleaning of the land of weeds by better methods of cultivation. Deep Plowing. At the present time we can not place too much stress upon the importance of deep plowing. The few inches of soil at the surface have been skimmed for so long that they are practically devoid of plant food in available form. For this reason alone it becomes nec- essary to turn up fresh soil. This will necessitate cutting below that stratum of soil commonly known as the "plow pan," which has been formed by the practice of plowing year after year at the same depth. In many localities plowing at a depth of from 8 to 12 inches is advisable. Unless green-manure crops are to be turned under, this depth should be reached by a gradual increase in depth for two or three years. By this gradual increase in depth the subsoil will become properly mixed with the surface soil. Deep plowing requires more power than is needed for the ordinary method, and the first deep plowing is more difficult than subsequent 178 12 IMPROVEMENT OF THE WHEAT CROP IN CALIFORNIA. plowings. This is due largely to a more or less packed condition of the subsoil. Deep plowing should be done in the early spring while there is still sufficient moisture in the soil. It should not be done while the soil is either too wet or too dry. While the benefits derived from deep plowing may not be so evident the first season, the results obtained are of permanent character. The subsoil is benefited by direct contact with the air and other climatic influences, and the effects of deep plow- ing will be more noticeable the sec- ond and succeeding years. Addition of Humus and Nitrogen to the Soil. As already stated the soil of California grain lands is low in humus. In order to add humus to the soil green - manure crops must be grown and plowed under. This is nec- essary not only in order that land very low in humus be again placed in good condition, but also that lands in which humus is now fairly plentiful be retained in good shape (fig. 1). Owing to a tendency Fig. 1— Wheat plants from six plats treated differently, showing com- Q f very light sandy parative development: A , From plat continuously seeded to wheat; *? B, from plat barefallowed in 1908; C, from plat upon which horse SOU to Sllltt ( Hiring beans were grown and plowed under in 1908; D, from plat upon heavy winds, deep which Canadian field peas were grown and plowed under in 1908; E, . i i , from plat upon which rye and vetch were grown and plowed under plowing may De Uet- in 1908; F, from plat upon which rye was grown and plowed under fUneiltal at first Oil in 1908 - such soils. This soil shifting may, however, be reduced to a minimum by the addition of humus, which will give it body and make possible the practice of deep plowing without injury. 178 REQUIREMENTS FOR PRODUCING PROFITABLE CROPS. 13 CROPS TO BE USED AS (IREEN MANURE. Canadian field peas and Abruzzes rye do very well as green-manure crops in the valley sections of the State. Under favorahle conditions in the Sacramento Valley peas alone have given very good results when seeded at the rate of 80 pounds to the acre. On the lighter soils of the San Joaquin Valley peas do not make as rank a growth as in the Sacramento Valley. For this reason it is suggested that peas and rye be grown together, the rye to be sown at the rate of 40 pounds and the peas 50 pounds to the acre. The rye and pea vines will add humus to the soil, while the nodules on the roots of . ■ > i 4 '"^ -* r Fig. 2.— Wheat growing on plat which has been continuously seeded to the same crop. (See figure 1, A.) the pea vines will transfer the nitrogen of the air to the soil in the form of nitrates. If rye and peas are to be grown separately, the rye should be sown at the rate of 70 pounds and the peas at the rate of 80 pounds to the acre. TIME AND METHOD OF HANDLING. Rye and peas for green manure must be grown as a winter crop. They should be planted as soon as it is possible to plow the land in the fall and should be turned under before the land is too dry for plowing in the spring. Usually there is sufficient moisture in the 178 14 IMPROVEMENT OF THE WHEAT CROP IN CALIFORNIA. soil to allow the planting of green-manure crops by December 1 , though in some sections and in exceptional seasons the planting may be necessarily later. It is not advisable, however, to sow later than December 15, for unless the early spring rains are so delayed as to facilitate late plowing the green-manure crop will not be of much value. This crop should be turned under during early March before the soil is too dry for deep plowing. In other words, in order to give green-manure crops the maximum period of growth it is nec- essary to sow as early as the ground can be worked in the fall and to turn under as late as possible in the spring. The length of the growing period is regulated very largely by the Fig. 3. — Wheat growing on plat cm which Canadian field peas were grown and plowed under in 1908. (See figure 1, D.) length of the rainy season. The dry condition of the wheat fields in the fall permits a plowing of only 4 to 5 inches in depth when getting the stubble land in shape for the early planting of green- manure crops. The stubble should be double-disked, where possi- ble, immediately after the wheat crop is harvested. The disking prepares the land to retain the moisture already present and to receive the light precipitation coming during the fall months, thus putting it in shape for an early shallow plowing and a good seed bed. In the spring the land should be plowed deep in order to get 178 REQUIREMENTS FOR PRODUCING PROFITABLE CROPS. 15 the growing peas or rye well under, where they will readily decay, after which the soil should be well harrowed immediately. Effect of Deep Plowing and Green Manuring. The effect of deep plowing and green-manure crops upon the yield of wheat, as determined by observation and actual experiment (see figs. 2, 3, 4, and 5), is shown in Table I, these yields being ob- tained at Modesto, Cal., in 1909. INCREASED YIELDS. While the results indicated are not entirely conclusive, for the reason that they are not based upon trials extending over a long Fig. 4.— Wheat growing on plat on which rye and vetch were grown and plowed under in 1908. (See figure 1, E.) series of years, they give an idea of what may be accomplished by the deep plowing under of green-manure crops. As indicated, horse beans used as green manure appear to give better results than peas. However, they have a very thick and heavy stalk, and an enormous quantity of seed is required on account of their habit of growing a single stalk from each seed. They are not recommended in the place of peas, which will give better results in combination with rye as a green-manure crop. 32912— Bui. 178—10 3 16 IMPROVEMENT OF THE WHEAT CROP IN CALIFORNIA. Table I. — Effect of deep plowing and green-manure crops on the yield of wheat at Modesto, Cal., 1909. No. of plat. Preceding treatment or crop. Fallow Horse beans (turned under) Canadian field peas (turned under) Wheat (26 bushels) Rye and vetch (turned under) Rye (turned under) Yield Weight per per acre. bushel. Bushels. Pounds. 28.00 61 35.33 61 33.66 60 15.66 60 .50. 66 60 51.33 61 The cultivation of the plats indicated in the table was as follows: In the fall of 1907 all of the plats were laid out on summer-fallow Fig. 5.— Wheat growing on plat on which rye was grown and plowed under in 1908. (See figure 1, F.) land and all were plowed to a depth of 6 inches and harrowed. Plat 1 was allowed to remain fallow. Plat 4 was sown to wheat. Plats 2, 3, 5, and 6 were sown, as indicated, to horse beans, Canadian field peas, rye and vetch, and rye alone. The vetch in plat 5 made a very poor stand, while the horse beans and peas made a fairly good stand. The stand of rye was excellent. In March, 1908, plats 1, 2, 3, 5, and 6 were plowed 8 inches deep, harrowed, and kept clean throughout the summer and fall. Plat 4, 178 REQUIREMENTS FOR PRODUCING PROFITABLE CROPS. 17 which yielded at the rate of 26 bushels of wheat to the acre, was double-disked immediately after the wheat was taken off. The first of December, 1908, all plats were plowed to a depth of 5 inches and sown to wheat. The resulting yields are given in Table I. In two years' time the plat continuously seeded to wheat has pro- duced 41 bushels of wheat. However, the first year's yield, 26 bushels, was produced after summer fallow and the second year's yield, 15.66 bushels, shows a decrease of nearly half. It is quite probable that the third year will give a very low yield and that in a series of five years the quantity of wheat produced from continuously seeded plats would be much smaller than from the other methods of cultivation. It follows, then, from this experiment, that deeply plowed summer fallow will give much better yields than shallow-plowed, continuously cropped land. Plats 1, 2, 3, 5, and 6 were all plowed at the same depth, and the last four were fallowed also after turning under the green crops. The yields indicate that the addition of organic matter (humus) to the soil is beneficial in increasing the production of crops and that this increase is proportional to the quantity rather than the quality or kind of organic matter added. INCREASED PROFITS. The yields shown in Table I were obtained in plat work, where the varieties received the best possible attention, thus giving higher yields than would have been probable under field practice. In our estimate of the increase in profits brought about by thorough methods of cultivation, the yields are estimated at two-thirds the value given in the table. The estimate made of increase in net profits is based largely upon observation of the general cost of farm work in the State. It may not be absolutely accurate in every particular, but it serves well in bringing out a comparison of the common methods of cultivation employed with the more intensive methods suggested in this paper. Approximate cost of cultivation per acre by the common method. First plowing (5 inches deep) $1. 25 Second plowing (5 inches deep) 1-25 Two harrowings 20 2.70 Approximate cost of cultivation per acre by the improved method. Double-disking stubble $0. 50 First plowing (5 inches deep) 1-25 Second plowing (8 inches deep) 2. 00 Third plowing (4 inches deep) 1-25 Three harrowings 30 Rye seed for green manure 2. 00 7.30 178 18 IMPROVEMENT OF THE WHEAT CROP IN CALIFORNIA. The approximate cost of cultivation by the common method is $2.70 per acre, as compared with $7.30 per acre by the improved method suggested, which gives an increased cost of $4.60 per acre for better tillage. As shown in Table I, we have almost doubled the yield per acre by the improved methods. Suppose the yields given in the table were reduced to two-thirds their value, as previously suggested. We still have wheat, following ordinary methods of bare fallow, yielding at the rate of 19 bushels per acre, while wheat following deep plowing and rye as a green-manure crop yields at the rate of 34 bushels per acre. With wheat at $1 a bushel we have at a cost of $2.70 per acre produced $19 (not deducting cost of harvest, etc.). By better methods at a cost of $7.30 per acre we have produced $34 (not deducting cost of harvest, etc.). This gives an approximate increase of net profit of $10.40 per acre in favor of the better method of tillage. Cleaning the Land of Weeds. The problem of cleaning the land of weeds reduces itself to sys- tematic cultivation and the production of rapidly growing varieties, especially as concerns their early development. Where cultivated crops are grown it is readily understood that the problem of getting rid of weeds is not so difficult as with wheat crops. Results obtained lead us to suggest that the following method of cultivation, if rigidly enforced, will help in a large measure to reduce the weeds in wheat fields : (1) Thoroughly double-disk the land as soon as possible after har- vest, thus stirring the surface, breaking up the stubble, and covering the weed seeds. Then allow the land to stand until the weed seeds at the surface have had a chance to germinate after the first rains. (2) As soon as the weed seeds are well germinated, plow the land to a depth of 4 or 5 inches and harrow well. This should be done, if possible, not later than December 15. (3) Between March 1 and 15, plow to a depth of from 8 to 12 inches. This exposes the weed seeds not turned up by the first plowing. Harrow the surface thoroughly immediately after plowing. Whether a summer crop is grown or the land is allowed to lie fallow it should be kept well cultivated and free from weeds. (4) In November, plow to a depth of from 4 to 5 inches and sow the wheat about 2 inches deep. (5) Just before the grain appears through the surface the land should be thoroughly double-harrowed in order to kill all weeds which have germinated following the seeding of the wheat. (6) The variety of wheat grown should make a rapid, erect, early growth in order that it may keep ahead of and choke out all the young weeds which are not killed by the final harrowing. (Our 178 REQUIREMENTS EOR PRODUCING PROFITARLE CROPS. 19 investigations tend to prove that the flat-