Bonanza Years



THE CLOSE of the nineteenth century found America's agricul-
tural frontiers spread beyond the Rocky Mountains, north to the
Canadian border and south to the Rio Grande. Farmers who had
overworked their land by producing the same staple crops year
after year could no longer pull up stakes and seek a new home-
stead. Their incomes were decreasing as surpluses of the staple
crops piled up. The Spanish-American war had created a wave of
interest in tropical agriculture and consumers began to demand
more varied diets. Millions of dollars went each year into agri-
cultural imports. The economic development of many agricul-
tural areas awaited the discovery of crops which could be grown
successfully in a variety of climatic and soil conditions. Faced
with the shortage of arable land and the food demands of an
increasing population, farmers had an incentive to cultivate their
soil with greater care.
 GOVERNMENT ASSISTANCE
 The government sought to relieve the plight of agriculture by
putting crop production on a more efficient basis. One of the first
steps in this work was a program making plant introductions
systematic and scientific. The Department of Agriculture began
to provide many new services to farmers, and a group of scientists
and explorers was employed to begin the introduction of an
enormous quantity of valuable plants. During the first term of
James Wilson as Secretary of Agriculture, an appropriation of
$20,000 was allowed for this work.' This federal aid in 1897 was
 S... That twenty thousand dollars of the sum thus appropriated . .may be
used to collect, purchase, test, propagate, and distribute rare and valuable seeds,
bulbs, trees, shrubs, vines, cuttings, and plants from foreign countries for experi-
ments with reference to their introduction into this country; and the seeds, bulbs,
trees, shrubs, vines, cuttings, and plants thus collected, purchased, tested, and
propagated shall not be included in general distribution, but shall be used for
experimental tests, to be carried on with the cooperation of the agricultural ex-
periment stations.
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