.QFVTD FAIRC/TIED
IN CHARGE OF" mr ,
FOREIGN SEED fff //
and plant mmo- V /
DUCTION, DSMRT- /
MEfU5C4QRiaiLTURE
- - ' : : \
. , * ■ : . - \
.
. r v ,:o
a .:>• n o' many
•r ibe w>’rld.
:..i [ often
i "< if *. at us •
-t-?E.-? plant*
, t: i- land'
•■<■■■ pc' res'
1* a:.!r Mo
an : .; -r.ple.
..lid pleats, ba
it *re y-,u.
. t ad r... Imre in
at . . t..re rf a
i ■ '.tag :bt a j red with a
: : * • * d *n < • usrant
»I_ *!' i ,n .. -t»e
* - - - . •« *
r* * < - distribution
of t; • r be world is what
* » - •> - i,. ■ .-*i n-» ) ttttd i 'ant intmditr
* -i .• l* t i '.g 'Hore is try
df 'li*- *: *4* - •’<!♦1"» .■ this work
i:*'i-d !"<* an : >':• 1 • make ’ll*
ip- » « ia‘ V I I*re t« Ir.iiif*® J to
i- ■*-*: rt . - h regar*- :.* » food supply
< a:-it: i. . s im'v to t ilk to any on*
i- ** in .» tit. 1' ftontti- of \sri
. - :■* a . • ,r if ui** . di ning vista
.i* ir •; , t III*ill- - '• ■ a would make
* . r* te t* • t »■ Imd ; r. bit of t!s<* race
so* : i.f :• ■*> . :k-*» ii* o *r 5r* a* pining
. rd -hat tfaf food-; roduc'itg pom r of
1 • j !d !• s':f. fir. '.raly unknown, because
» . n to study in a modern way
etforu i>- t of d’ffi-rent plants
- tt -.*>-*■ a.»- >s grow the plants w* do
- : a**' expensive food pro
* -it:,:.- j i. t . - that are difficult
me* !e.v*e behind ns
» - learn to like o'1 t»rs better.
■% 1 a* t- crow .• as net so serious a ques
* to * • *-»r'r !*}oen'iiiitt (etifsti'. who
* *• • * •: s;.» s <■* --ti -rop> .- t ■- becoming
•.i» *tn ■ n grric’.'t-..ri*t who i an 'ink
:** tie crop* of >11 :>** wc*-lj the one best
» to b * !-.iw .fi*i dim: t* « han^i •••••re
. * <iit nowadays t: at 'f .. *B»n tod. 'iiiks*
- m- ri* may mean what are < rdinarijv
t*,. ,ebt o' -ears or 1 • n iv refei 'o aili
r-' ir s» rs e * .< ’• he is growing in Florid?
* ■ 1!» ear. hit h he - cnltivg'ing In
T -• 'b the a **gr »< r r* tr *nd the prickly
1 urge ceme it. as or ; t to !** re. k< eel
w t r :* in the f a flf'eet; year* and already
• •■tY -w(*» rs gf the South are wondering
i! they shou'd ylan* sp ay or spineless for:r.s
of : - pcii-klr pear e*rtus. and the fruit
gr* * -it* <■** Florida are »n«jciting as to which
* • - i*-*al wsrie ! - of alligator ■ car tree
• . e most product;;e and proflt
* •- e
To • • find -be piapt wrbicb will t rod ic*
the bru r«HiU of my that cart be grown, on
* cti re of land n the ’ n;:*>d States, is. in
I - i-r: • • * r- ad ; y otfre cf sped
and t f-id'ii "*i of the b*-**a-i ot plant
laolour)
:i- - a :- a hi a ip'inc.r way and as
a itiftri M -
i* . a- barely touched the fringe of i's possi
r. 'tea The 3t pa* dtff* 'ent plant irani grants
w rb rate ccn*e :n and hare e'ther died or
■pt ?'»:-• - •• 1 * r* .i.* ry
»-j i»ef a small beg nn.ng otiiy and have
■* *} e5 eg tii show the greatness of the
j* •*) . • *» whk-h j r-gress .n agiii aliural re
wcarr.b is crea'-tg
Ton wtf! soon hare all the crops in.” is
* e ca.arV at those who have given the mut
ter ' i.ac tioagbt. Our own i'Ves chat:go with
* < - uourf of time, and s** do the lives of
pdMrs The stnhi of pc.--. h our
grm-T'-.'t''» grew are. with few exceptions.
d:?cr r.t 'ne the s'rmlns in vogue today: and.
it .t.: ’fccir live* iato the various condition*
«»f m il and cl male, the original wild flouth
Ituer.can *pe. lew of po'a'o. Solanum tube
cunnt assumes b. the bands of men a then
la whatever parts of lb- world new 'orms
»a, spring into existence It matters not: cur
► gate-grower* * boa Id be able to try every
e«t <J :»poctagce and every mild tardy spe
Him, aeefber It cozes frt tn the manse of a
Aeott »*> tares is discovered as a mild spe
» ea along tie Paraguay rtre* by an American
railway bridge b.. ider. is found am ng the
amaatataa of Colombia by Jesuit priest, is
gat ns red by a forest ranger in the dry regions
•! an Indian reservation in New Mexico, or
;* secured by a trained collector from the
Cbilae (stands of tbe coast of chile It makes
:•!* d ?• -en-e they ®\sr all come in ils
IKse* immigrants to show what the* can do
<a tie garden- of American experts There
is always tbe chance that thev may be thrown
•a* as t-Bprcfl'-ble hut If they have desirable
ctsrirtcta they can be blinded with ethers,
or ex- «'e. « 'b other#. if ihey are sjf*»rior
lev any of tie pota'o regions of this country.
It may u<- at w to many that every day plant
-"ft s c ' 'ruta different part# of the world
nrr'vr « Washington end every day. through
the - stis hundred# of tieoe disinfected ar
g. ■ _t to ted a new home :n seme part
at tbe country
it ’» a di£.< alt matter t«» give ar. adequate
impree. m at the megui'iide and importance
to tb# . *«ue:rv at this stream of new plant im
ta .-■rag's sksi for 14 years las been pouring
&i&jpr&i&v?'s£'
Wisiisillll^iiilIP^
into the country, and has been directed by a
great and growing body of research men and
•omen into those regions where it was
thought they m'rht make their homes.
In tiie brief space of a short article, and to
avoid what would he almost a bare enumera
i ■ n of plant names, 1 prefer to treat only of
a few of the many important problems with
which the office is working, passing by. also,
•lie introduction of the Durum wheat, the
Japan* se rice, and giving the Siberian alfalfas,
which are earning for the fanners of the coun
try many millions of dollars a year, a bare
mention, for the reason that they have been
so often described in the newspapers of the
country.
The mango is one of the really great fruits
of the world. India, with Its hundreds of mil
lions of people, has for centuries held it
sacred, and celebrates annual ceremonies in
its honor The great Mogul Akbar, who
reigned In the 16th century, planted the fa
mous Ij»k Dag. an orchard of a hundred thou
-and mangoes, and some of these still remain
alive. It Is a fruit the importance of which
Vmericans are at last beginn’ng to recognize,
notwithstanding the unfortunate discredit
which the worthless seedling mangos of the
West Indies have given it in the minds of
Americans generally.
There are probably more varieties of man
goe than there are of peaches. I have heard
of one collection of 500 different sorts in In
dia. There are exquisitely flavored varieties
no larger than a p-!um. and there are delicious
sorts the fruits of which are six pounds In
weight. In India, where the wage of a coolie
is not over 10 cents a day, there are varieties
which sell for a hundred, and the com
monest sorts bring over a cent apiece.
The great mango trees of India are said to
reach a height of 70 feet, and are so loaded
down with fruit tha# over $130 worth has been
sold from a single tree.
These nne varieties, practically as free from
fiber as a freestone peach, can be eaten with
a 6poon as easily as a cantaloupe. Train
loads of these are shipped from the mango
growing centers of India and distributed in the
densely peopled cities of that great semi-trop
ical empire; and yet. notwithstanding the
great importance of this fruit, the agricultural
study of it from the new standpoint has
scarcely been begun. I believe that it has
never, for example, been tested on any but its
own roots.
We have gathered together in Florida and
Forto Rico and Hawaii more than a hundred
varieties, and some which we have fruited
have already attracted the attention of the
fancy fruit-dealers, who agree that the demand
for these will increase as fast as the supply
can be created, and maintain that extravagant
prices, such as 50 or even 75 cents apiece,
will be paid for the large, showy, delicious
fruits. Ijvst year 300 dozen Mulgoba mangos
were sold in Florida for $3 a dozen. The Gov
ernor of Porto Rico has committed himself to
a poll, y which, if carried out. will cover the
island with hundreds of thousands of mango
trees of the better varieties.
One of the oldest cultivated plants in the
world is the date palm. At least 4.000 years
ago it was growing on the banks of the Eu
phrates, and it is this plant and the camel that
together made it possible for the Arab' to
populate the great deserts of northern Africa
and Asia. The date palms would grow where
the water was alkaline, and the camels were
able to make long journeys across the desert
to take the dates to the coast to market and
sell them for wheat and olives.
In these deserts of the old world, millions of
Arabs live on dates, for the date palm can be
cultivated on land so salty as to prevent the
culture of any other paying crop, and It will
live In the hottest regions on the face of the
globe; not even a temperature of 125 degrees
F. will affect It. This obliging plant does not.
however. Insist on such temperatures, but will
stand some frost, and has been known to live
where the mercury falls to II degrees F.
It Is also the only wood obtainable in the
oases of the Sahara, and cn the shores of
Arabia boats are made of It.
The date palm has both male and female
flowers and they occur on separate plants, and
the Arabs have to plant one male for every
plantation of a hundred females, making a
harem as It were. The artificial pollination or
fertilisation of the female palms is one of the
most Interesting processes practiced with
plants, a spray of flowers from a male palm
being bound with a bit of palm-leaf fiber in
each inflorescence of the female tree. Propa
gation of the date palm can be accomplished
by means of seeds, or suckers, which are
thrown up at the base of the palm. Suckers
will start, however, on land so salty that the
seeds refuse to grow on it.
Four years from seed, trees of some varie
ties begin to bear and in six years will have
paying crops of dates. They live to a much
greater age than almost any other of the fruit
trees, and specimens a century old are said to
be still a good investment
The date is not a dry-land crop, but requires
irrigation to grow and produce fruit. A planta
tion once established requires to be kept free
of weeds, to be pollinated when the palms
come into bloom, and to have the fruit har
■0iVMT?y£‘cS&4fr'
s/tjzx x&ysyyra
S<Y~ ZZiZ&ZZ'L'
vested when ripe. Of insect pests
we know too little as yet, though
the prospective planter should
count this in his estimate of ex
pense: remembering, however,
that modern scientific methods
have overcome the greatest fruit
pests, and that these on the palm
are not different in general char
acter from those which are now
under complete control.
Very little pruning of the palms
is necessary, and the harvesting is ,
very simple, since the dates grow
in great bunches, which often
weigh from 20 to 40 pounds apiece
There are over a hundred varie
ties of dates now growing in the
government gardens in California
and Arizona, from which are being j
ClSirinuiea 10 pros]:eciive pumiurs
suckers as they grow. This accomplish ment
of the Department of Agriculture is not the re
sult of any one man's cfTort, but the product i
of at least a dozen minds working over a pe- j
riod of 20 years and in seven different conn- ’
tries.
There are among these hundred vaneties 1
those which candy cn the tree, others which
are used mainly for cooking, and some which !
are hard and not sticky. There are eariy j
varieties and late-ripening ones, varieties short
and long, and every sort can be told by tl:e
grooves on its seeds.
The date as a delicacy is known to every
American child, but. as a food, remains to be
discovered by the American public. When
the date plantations of Arizona and California j
come into full bearing, as they should in j
about ten years, the hard, dry dates, for ex
ample. now quite unknown on our markets,
are sure to come into prominence and find
their way to the tables of the prior as well as
of the rich. The heat of our American sum
mers is forcing us to study the hot-weather j
diets of other countries, and dates are sure to
become important items of food.
The persimmon of the South, on which the
opossum fattens, is a very different fruit from
its relative the kaki, or persimmon of the
Orient, the growing of which is so great a::
industry in Japan as to nearly equal the Jap
anese orange-growing industry in imi»ortance
Our persimmon is a wild fruit, which will
some day be domesricated. while the kaki has
been cultivated so long that it is represented
by different forms and colors. It is true that
the Oriental rersimmon has been grown in this
country; in fact, the census records a produc
tion of 68 tons; but this is scarcely a begin
ning as compared with the 194,000 tons which
is the output of Japan.
We have misunderstood the persimmon Our
own wild ones we can eat only after they have
been touched by the frost, and the imported
Japanese ones we have left until they become
soft and mushy and almost on the verge of
decay. We never thought until quite recently
of wondering whether in a land where the
persimmon had been cultivated for centuries
they would not have worked out some artifi
cial method for removing the objectionable
pucker. In Japan we find this is done by
packing the fruit in barrels saturated with
sake, and Mr. H. C. Gore, of the Department
of Agriculture, is now working out new meth
ods of processing the Oriental persimmon. s>
that it can be eaten when hard as an apple
and there will no longer be any reason why it
should not take its place among the grea'
fruits of the country.
ice wnoie question or tne improvement o
the persimmon has been opened tip. and we
are getting for this work the small-fruited spe
cies called •lotus,” from Algeria; a tropical
species with white, cheese-like pulp, from Man
ila, Mexico. Krithea. and Rhodesia: specie?
from Bangalore, from Sydney, from Madra?
from the Nankau Pass, in China, and from thf
Caucasus.
If the Oriental timber bamboo had produced
seeds oftener than once in 40 years it would
long ago have been introduced and be now
growing in the South. The fact that It had
to be brought over In the form of livine
plants, and that these plants required special
treatment, has stood In the way of the quick
distribution of this most important plan*
throughout those portions of America where it
will grow. After several unsuccessful at
tempts, a beginning has at last been made, and
the department has a grove of Oriental bam
boos in northern Florida, and a search is be
ing made In different parts of the world for
all those species which are adapted to our
climate.
In this country I predict It will be used
earliest for barrel hoops, for cheap irrigating
pipes, for vine-stakes and trellises, for light
ladders and stays for overloaded fruit trees
for baskets and light fruit shipping crates, and
for food. As wind-breaks and to hold canal
banks and prevent the erosion of steep hill
sides. there are species which excel all other
plants, while for light furniture and jalousies
'"t is sure to find a market whenever the green
timber is available.
Took the New Crackers
- -
Pe~ arfcat<e Bg«<n«M Man ls Uncle
Itaah. Who Keep* a Grocery in
a Massachusetts Town.
Op the depot road" In a little sea
•Mr tatrr la Massachusetts fade
laatah Sattaders keeps a >mat? grocery
shop It ased to stand near the dock
tat supply the small schooners along |
the aoaad. hat *• yean ago it was
mosad up a mile lato its village.
' How much are milk crackers a
pound, t’ncle Isaiah?" the young
daughter of one of his regular custom
ers asked him one morning.
"Wa-al." I'ncle Isaiah replied, after
fome deliberation, "that depends on
which lot you want them out of. If
you want them over there,” he pointed
to a box on one of the nearest shelves,
which showed through Its glass face
that It was somewhat less than a
quarter full of not very fresh looking
biscuits, "they’ll cost you 12 cents a
pound. I have to charge you 12 be
cause they cost me 10% cents a
month ago.”
He paused persuasively.
“But if you want them.” and he indi
cated with some reluctance a new tin,
“you can have them for 10 cents a
pound. Crackers went down last week,
and they only cost me eight.”
“I’ll take the fresh ones,” the girl
said; then, seeing a shadow fall on
the face of the old man. who had
been waiting her decision with some
anxiety, she cried: “You couldn't
think I would pay more for stale
crackers than you are offering fresh
ones for, now could you, tJncle Isaiah?
Hut I’ll take the broken ones if you’ll
let me have them for 10 cents. It
really doesn’t make much difference
to us, and I suppose you want to sell
the stale ones.”
The pennies count in little old gro
cery stores In New England, where
the profit of a year is often not more
than three or four hundred dollars.
"I can’t let’ you have them crackers
For 10 cents, Nellie. I'd like to do it,
but I can't,’’ Uncle Isaiah replied firm
ly. “They cost me 10% cents,” he
sighed.
"You’d better take the new ones.”
And Nellie did.—Youth’s Compan
ion.
The Species.
."Is that party to be a stag affair?”
‘T don’t know about the stag part,
but it's going to be a dear affair, all
right”
The Fifth Stenographer
* * *
3y EDMUND MOBERLY
(Copyright, Uli, oy Associated Literary press.)
Mr. Benjamin Holbrook, of the firm
of B. Holbrook K- Company, jobbers,
had been absent from his business for
three weeks, and therefore entered
his office resolved to get back into :
harness as speedily as possible. After j
wading through a mass of accurnu- ,
latcd correspondence, he rapg for his 1
confidential stenographer. She failed !
to appear. A second and a third ring j
were equally barren of results. Mr.
Holbrook grew indignant. With a sav- ,
age jab. he touched another button
on his desk, and in a moment Wat
son. his chief clerk, stood at his el- j
bow. •
"Watson.” he demanded, “why
doesn't Miss Gaylev respond to her
call?”
“Miss Gayley was married while
you were away.”
“An office romance?"
"Yes," responded Watson with a
smile. "Smithers, one of the bock-1
keepers, is the other guilty party."
“Well, he got a sensible wife, con- !
found him. Give him a ten per cent, i
raise. At the same time he robbed '
me of a good stenographer just when
she had become efficient and valuable.
It strikes me these cases are becom- i
ing pretty frequent in this office, !
aren’t they, Watson.”
"This is the fourth in three years.” |
“Exactly,” agreed Mr. Holbrook. !
“Four in three years, of which your
own case was the first. Matrimony is I
a noble institution. Watson, but it can- J
not be allowed to play hob with this I
business the way it has been doing, j
I propose now- to get a stenographer
who will regard this office as some- |
thing more than a stepping-stone to \
marriage. Miss Gayiey's successor
must be at least thirty-five years old.
You will advertise at once for a lady
■■ ' 7 I 11! U I
He Allowed His Mind to Wander.
confessing to that many summers. If
you cannot find her. I'll have to get a
man—but I prefer the woman, if she
exists."
Benjamin Holbrook had never been
married. At the age when other men
take unto themselves wives, he had
been too busy smoothing the path of
the newly established firm of B. Hol
brook & Co. over the thorny ways
which infant industries must travel.
Matrimony, he had reasoned, must
wait upon success. Success he had
finally achieved, and now it waited
upon matrimony. If questioned, he
would not have been able to say
whether he had eluded matrimony or
matrimony had eluded him. but now,
at the age of forty, he was forced to
confess to his friends that while it
was still possible in bis case, it did
not seem very probable.
Being a bachelor, he had never
been able to fathom the mental
processes which led a girl to abandon
a comfortable salary in his office for
the purpose of sharing the salary of
a male worker In the same office, and
in much less degree had he been able
to understand the line of reasoning
which led the aforesaid male worker
to persuade her to do so.
In employing office help, the head
of the firm was abler to discern merit
at a glance. All bis male subordi
nates had good qualities. The four
women who had reigned in brief suc
cession in the office were all well en
dowed In this respect—so well en
dowed, indeed, that four of the male
subordinates had discerned their merit
even better than the boss, with the
result that for the fifth time in three
years that gentleman, with all a
bachelor's dislike for change in the
existing order of things, faced the dis
agreeable prospect of becoming ac
customed to .a new stenographer. It
was this fact, coupled with the knowl
edge that there were yet several un
married men in the office, all with
good qualities, that led him to issue
his edict concerning the age of the
next woman who should grace his es
tablishment.
Watson's advertisement brought
but one applicant to Mr. Holbrook—
a handsome, somewhat sad-faced worn
an, whose gown of black well became
the slender plumpness of her figure.
“1 am Miss Holmes," she stated
simply. “I have come in answer to
your advertisement for a stenogra
pher."
"Thirty-five years of age, or old
er?" added Mr. Holbrook.
"I am able to meet that condition,"
was the calm reply.
The head of the firm was forced to
confess to himself that she did not
look it.
"Have you had any experience in
this capacity?" he asked.
“None, whatever,” she answered.
“But 1 have a good education and
have fitted myself carefully for such
a position, and I feel 1 can meet all
the requirements set forth in your
somewhat unusual advertisement.”
“It was a little out ot the ordinary,
wasn't it?”
"Yes.”
“But there was a reason for ft.
During the last three years 1 have
lost no less than four stenographers
through matrimony. It was a desire
to secure some one who would view
business as other than a stepping
stone to marriage that prompted that
ad.”
“I can safely say that there is no
prospect of my making such use of
it,” replied Miss Holmes.
A trial showed that she was well
equipped for the position. Mr. Hol
brook reflected, alr.o, that he had
never recognized so many good quali
ties in an applicant before. He there
fore engaged her. and in a few weeks
found reason to congratulate bimself;
for she developed an efficiency even
above that of her very efficient pre
decessors. In a few months he began
to regard her as indispensable, and
found himself regretting that she was
near him in office hours only.
And then it came, die was dictat
ing to her one day, he on the one side
of the big. fiat office table, and she
on the other, facing him. While
grasping for some solution to a
knotty business problem, he allowed
his mind to wander. The plainly
furnished office faded from his vision.
The table became a dining table, cov
ered with snowy linen upon which
silver gleamed and crystal sparkled—
such a dining table as one sees in a
home; but Miss Holmes faded from
the picture not at all. In his reverie
he saw her sitting opposite him at the
dream table—and then Benjamin Hol
brook. bachelor, aged forty, came
back to earth with a rush. He was in
love. He was certain of it, despite the
novelty of the sensation.
Mr. Holbrook was accustomed to di
rect methods. *
“Miss Holmes, can you still safely
say that there is no prospect of your
making business a stepping stone to
marriage?" he asked suddenly.
Miss Holmes was also in a reverie.
She came out of it in confusion.
“I—I think so,” she managed to
gasp.
“Then there is a doubt?”
"Yes; there is a doubt,” she ad
mitted.
"1 ask you to give me the benefit of
it.”
"Oh, I am not thinking of resign
ing,” she protested.
"I am not asking you to give the
business the benefit of the doubt.
Miss Holmes; I am asking you to give
it to me. I desire You to resign. Can't
you see what 1 am getting at? I love
you. 1 want you to be my wife.”
"Wouldn't that be playing hob with
the business?" she asked after a
pause, smiling through her blushes.
Mr. Holbrook rose from his chair
and started toward her. She fled to
the door in a panic and paused with
her hand on the knob.
“The business is inured to such ex
periences by this time,” he laughed,
still going toward her. “You must re
member that my own romance has a
quartet of precedents right here in the
office. However, it'shall be the last;
for my next confidential stenographer
shall be a man.”
Miss Holmes covered her face with
her bands as he reached for her.
"If that is the case, B—Benjamin."
she murmured, “you might begin to
look around for the man."
The English as Klaw Sees Them.
Mr. Marc Klaw, the American theat
rical manager, who was quoted as
saying that the English “are just
about as emotional as a Limburger
cheese," writes that what he really
said was; “The English are a warm
hearted people, but are usually about
as demonstrative as fromage de Brie"
(a large flat cheese).
FIRST CLEAN THE SYSTEM
Thing to Do In the Instant That the
Presence of Tuberculosis Is
Suspected.
The fever of consumption Is not pri
marily due to the presence of the tu
bercle bacilli in the system, indeed,
unless there are other conditions
which cause the bodily temperature
to rise it is inclined to be sub-normal.
One of the interesting revelations
of modern medicine is the fact that
these germs may exist a long time in
the human body without there being
any rise of temperature whatever.
This is plainest seen in a tubercular
abscess, but it Is also seen in the
many cases in which for long periods
there is no fever. What does cause
the fever in the earlier stages is a dis
ordered state of the alimentary canal.
The stomach and bowels become de
ranged and full of toxins which, be
coming absorbed, poison the systep
and cause the temperature to rise. Fdr
>ears it has b»en the practice of the
writer to reduce any temperature to
normal, especially during the first
stages of the disease, simply by wash
ing out the stomach and effecting a
complete cleansing of the intestinal
tract Later on the fever is due to
the absorption of broken-down lung
tissue and to ptomaines, and 'so is
quite another story.
When, therefore, tuberculosis is sus
pected the temperature should be
taken and If fever is present the per
son should invariably go to his phy
sician and have his digestive tract
thoroughly cleansed, when by proper
diet and outdoor life he will be able
almost certainly to overcome the pres
ence of the tuberculous germs.
Reassuring.
Marks—I know your wife didn’t like
It because you took me home unex
pectedly to dinner last night
Parks—Nonsense! Why, you hadn’t
been gone two minutes before she re
marked that she was glad 't was no
one else but you.—Tit-Bits.
