America's Crop Heritage


on hybridization and selection. Disease control and cultivation
methods became the main concerns of the Bureau. An appropri-
ation of $100,000 was given the Bureau in 1915 for an annual
broadcast of new field seeds. This work was distinct from the
Congressional seed distributions, and did not include seeds of
new foreign plants.
 During the 1920's, the shift in interest from introduction
to breeding as a means of improving crops became more pro-
nounced. Plant introduction was no longer the most important
service rendered by the Department of Agriculture as new
breeding materials-genes-for barley, alfalfa, sugar cane, and
Irish potatoes were sought. The Department looked for new,
noncompetitive crops, and varieties resistant to disease, insects,
and climatic conditions. Plant explorers searched for grasses and
browse plants for range control as well as insecticide plants to
replace the lead and arsenic compounds which were becoming
less effective.
 A further departure in the original objectives of the Depart-
ment of Agriculture occurred in 1934 when the Bureau of
Plant Industry became interested in ornamentals as such. In the
past, introductions of ornamentals had been made in conjunction
with some recognized economic function of the plant. The
Department entered a new field of research in 1937 when a
Vegetable Breeding Laboratory was established near Charleston,
South Carolina.
 DISTRIBUTION METHODS
 Plant introduction gardens and field stations followed the
practice of distributing materials in areas where they were
likely to succeed. For example, the introduction garden at
Brownsville assisted the citrus industry in that region. In 1909
the Chico gardens distributed more than five thousand plants-
among which were the wild Chinese peach, the dry-land elm,
a new Chinese poplar, edible hawthorns, and a Chinese jujube-
all sent there by the plant explorer, Meyer. The Office of Seed
and Plant Introduction was responsible for the distribution of
over forty thousand "special rare foreign plants" in 1912. An
appropriation in 1913 promoted the wider dissemination of
alfalfa, clover, cowpeas, grasses, lespedeza, millet, soybeans, velvet
beans, and cotton. Large appropriations for this work continued
up to 1928.