The Twentieth Century


 In 1927, an unusually active year, approximately 370,000
plants, seeds, cuttings, roots, and bulbs were distributed to
domestic experimenters, and about 7,000 were sent to foreign
collaborators and others.
 The general distribution of free seed by Congress, which
included many imported seeds and bulbs, was discontinued
in 1923. Seed distribution for serious experimental purposes
was continued, however, under the control of the Department.
This work spread many cotton, tobacco, and forage crop varieties
into suitable, local regions. Congress doubled the appropriation
of $20,000 for plant introduction work in 1905, and the allot-
ment grew in succeeding years until it reached $182,300 in 1928.

 SIGNIFICANT INTRODUCTIONS, 1901-13
 The work of the Division of Plant Exploration and Intro-
duction has encompassed a study of thousands of plants of pos-
sible economic value. Some individuals, unduly impressed by
the special qualities of certain plants, have promoted them
against the tide of popular taste. However, their efforts can be
defended on the grounds that profitable and practical new crops
may be developed by such experimentation.

 WHEATS
 The spectacular success of Carleton's wheat introductions
from Russia proclaimed the value of searching for new varieties
of wheat. Although many wheat introductions were made, no
new wheats proved as highly successful as the Kubanka and
Kharkov varieties. By 1903 the value of the durum wheats had
been recognized, but further introductions of macaroni wheats
were made, including two special lots-one a rust-resistant variety
from Bombay, and the other the Saragolla from Italy. A drouth-
resistant wild wheat found in Palestine aroused so much interest
that an explorer was commissioned to procure seed for breeding.
A hardy wild wheat found by Aaron Aaronsohn on the dry
mountain slopes of Palestine created a flurry of excitement from
1910 to 1914 but did not prove as valuable as expected.
 The famous Marquis was rapidly adopted in 1913 and 1914
from seed imported from Canada. This hard red spring wheat
descended from a cross made by A. P. and William Saunders
was the most extensively grown spring wheat from 1919 to 1935.