Main Importations


those commonly grown in this country. Cotton seeds were brought
from Egypt and India for trial, for American growers hoped to
recapture part of the market which Egypt had come to supply.
The results from the trial of Egyptian seeds in Louisiana were so
poor that growers did not care to replant the seed. Mildly favor-
able reports of the Egyptian varieties were received from Texas,
Mississippi, and Florida. Generally, the Indian and Egyptian
varieties did not mature soon enough in this country.
 Spurred on by the high prices American mills were paying for
 Egyptian cotton, the Department of Agriculture made a number
 of new introductions between 1892 and 1894. It had previously
 been urged to import varieties from India in 1868, but the Depart-
 ment found that manufacturers claimed American cotton was
 superior and that it was preferred even in India. Cotton seeds also
 were imported from Tahiti, but their cultivation was not extended.
 Seeds of three varieties prominent in Egypt were distributed
 in the South by C. R. Dodge, fiber expert of the Department for
 many years. These plantings were stopped and the stocks were lost
 except for trials continued by W. H. Wentworth of Floresville,
 Texas. Wentworth selected a product of high quality, but the
 difficulty he had in marketing his cotton caused him to eventually
 discontinue the undertaking.
 H. J. Webber, in charge of plant breeding for the Department
 of Agriculture in 1897, continued the trials of Egyptian cotton,
 and extended tests to the river valleys of the Southwest. He used
 plant stocks of the Jannovitch from Egypt, under climatic con-
 ditions similar to those in its original home. After 1900, these
 breeding experiments were continued with fresh seed of several
 varieties obtained by David G. Fairchild. These experiments were
 extended to Arizona where the crop is now established as a
 result of this work by plant breeding scientists in the Department.

 JUTE
 Jute became the subject of widespread experiment in the South
after it was sent there from Calcutta in the winter of 1869-70.
 The following year a number of successful experiments in rais-
ing jute were reported. Jute cultivation was a pet project of Com-
missioner Watts, who was enthusiastic about its value to the South
because of the quality of the fiber and its superiority to flax and
hemp. He felt assured it would become an important crop and
hastened to claim credit to the Department for encouraging it.