America's Crop Heritage


 Franklin is definitely known to have sent to this country two
vegetables which are of economic value today, rhubarb and
Scotch kale. John Ellis considered rhubarb among other crops
as "worthy of being encouraged in our American colonies," and
in 1773 remarked that it had been sent to America within the
last three years. This probably refers to the seed Franklin
obtained in 1772 in Scotland and sent to Bartram in Philadelphia.
Franklin wrote concerning this, the first rhubarb on record in
America:

 I hope the Rhubarb you have sown and distributed will be taken care of.
There seems to be no doubt of its doing well with us as in Scotland. Remember
that for Use the Root does not come to Perfection of Power and Virtue in less
than Seven Years. The Physicians here who have try'd the Scotch, approve it
very much, and say it is fully equal to the best imported. (2)
 Franklin's name is linked with the history of three field crops
which achieved economic importance: upland rice, broom corn,
and soybeans. In England he expressed a desire to have upland
rice from China tried out in America. Dry rice was sought so
that rice cultivation might be extended into upland areas. (3)
Franklin is credited with being the first to introduce broom corn
culture into America when his "shrewd eye found a single seed
on an imported broom." He became enthusiastic over the soy-
bean as a result of his membership in the French Academy of
Sciences. Soybeans sent from China to France as early as 1740
were grown after 1779 in the famous Botanic Garden of Paris.
From France, Franklin sent some of the seeds to the United States,
but the soybean did not find a favorable reception until the
technology of the twentieth century demanded it.
 The culture of grapes, hemp, flax, and silk interested Franklin,
but it is not known whether he procured any new stocks for
propagation in America. He took an active interest in the
growing of Rhenish grapes and worked to promote wine produc-
tion through the culture of satisfactory varieties. For friends in
France, he procured from Pennsylvania, scions of the Newton
Pippin apple as well as hickory nuts, walnuts, and chestnuts.
 Franklin believed there were great possibilities in America
for silk and often encouraged its cultivation. Silk producers
faced the problem of importing new varieties of trees, such as the
mulberry, for feeding the silkworm. The British Government
offered a bounty for silk produced in the Colonies, and similar