The Twentieth Century


a Chinese poplar, and the Chinese elm which is now widely
planted in the Great Plains and New England Areas.
 The spinach industry of Virginia was saved from extinction
by a disease-resistant variety brought back by Meyer, from which
the Virginia Savoy was developed. Chinese cabbage (celery
cabbage) and several kinds of bamboos also were considered as
significant introductions.
 On his last trip to China in 1918, Meyer disappeared from
the deck of a steamer plying the Yangtze River. There is some
indication that he may have committed suicide, for his letters
reveal that the mental and physical hardships of his lonely
existence may have broken his will to live. His last important
"introduction," found in his luggage after his death, came to be
one of the best-known lawn grasses in Florida-the Centipede
Grass. In a will made before leaving Washington, Meyer had
provided a thousand dollars for the staff of the Office of Plant
Introduction, but the money was dedicated in honor of his
memory for what became the Meyer Medal for meritorious work
in plant introduction.

 WORK OF BURBANK
 Luther Burbank did much to awaken interest in the com-
mercial possibilities of new plant forms through his many valu-
able plant "creations." The wide publicity his work received
may be accounted for by the fact that his attitude towards plant
breeding was as much commercial as scientific. He not only
tested plants introduced by the Department of Agriculture, but
also imported many varieties himself. However, he often failed
to keep adequate scientific records of the elements that entered
into his selections. In at least one instance, he claimed to have
created a plant, the spineless cactus, which actually had been
sent in by David Fairchild years before in introductions from
South America and the Mediterranean region. He did add,
however, an amazing number of new, superior varieties of stone
fruits and other economic and ornamental plants to American
agriculture.

 INTRODUCTION BECOMES LESS IMPORTANT
 When William A. Taylor succeeded Galloway in 1913, the
Bureau's emphasis on plant introduction was superseded by work