Lesser Importations


of willows to 150 applicants. In the same year a second planting
of newly introduced cuttings was started.
 A third tree introduction during this time was the cork oak
which had once interested Thomas Jefferson. Reports of success
were received ten years after distributions were made in Missis-
sippi in 1859. Le Duc was considerably interested in the cork
oak in 1878. Reports from California promised the cork oak
could supply the needs of the wine industry there. However, the
cork supply for the United States still is imported from the
Mediterranean countries because its cultivation depends on a
supply of cheap labor.
 An arboretum of various hardy trees and shrubs was being
collected as rapidly as the plants could be gathered in 1870. Dis-
tributions of Spanish chestnuts and English walnuts were reported
doing well. The Laurus of western China, a good timber tree of
solid, durable wood, was forwarded to the Department by the
consul-general from Shanghai in 1880. State experiment stations
were established at the time these problems in forestry arose and
did much to test for adaptation in local areas. California growers
in 1889 were enthusiastic over results of the plantings of cork oak,
the camphor trees of Japan and China, the Japanese mulberry
tree, the eucalyptus, and the English Oak.
 Reforestation-As settlers moved westward into the plains region
and established their homesteads, the shortage of trees adaptable
to arid climates and soils became more apparent. At the same
time, the nation suddenly awoke to the fact that forests were
rapidly dwindling under the demands of industry and the clear-
ing of land for agricultural purposes. The first move to encourage
conservation and reforestation was an act by Congress in 1880
setting aside land for this work. However, the program met with
difficulties because proved forest trees were not available in
sufficient quantities. In 1897, 500 packages of seed of the Aus-
tralian tanbark wattle were mailed to applicants in the Southwest,
Pacific Coast, and Gulf States. A noted botanical collector, Dr.
Edward Palmer, was commissioned in 1897 to secure trees of
economic importance to the Southwest from the dry regions of
the Mexican plateau.
 Work by the Department of Agriculture during this period was
directed mainly to the South and West because agriculture in
these sections was undergoing a complete transformation, and the
new areas opening up presented special problems in cultivation.