America's Crop Heritage


had not been successful. Tull encountered opposition from the
Japanese matting industry similar to that experienced by other
explorers-the communities feared they might be deprived of a
market for their commodity if they permitted plants to leave
the country.
 However, the final abandonment of the matting industry in
America was not due to the difficulty in securing plants, but
the economic aspects of its cultivation. Upon Tull's return, the
Japanese rushes were distributed and a machine invented for
mat-weaving. Many other varieties of rushes and reeds also were
collected in Asia. Agriculturists hoped these crops might utilize
abandoned rice fields, cheap swampy lands, and parts of the
Mississippi delta. Although large collections of the plants had
been established by 1908, the problem of securing enough cheap
labor brought the work to a standstill, and attempts to promote
a matting industry were abandoned the following year.
 Experiments in the use of reeds for lathing in building con-
struction were abandoned due to the cost of preparation and
other findings of the experiments. The mitsumata paper plant,
from which a very superior quality of paper was manufactured
in Japan, was used in experiments, but failed to win notice after
a few years.
 Work over a period of many years by the Bureau of Plant
 Industry has resulted in a thriving bulb industry in the state
 of Washington. Introductions of quantities of bulbs for breeding
 from Bermuda, Japan, and other countries contributed to this
 success.
 The Bureau also assisted tobacco cultivation by making intro-
 ductions until varieties were found which would meet the
 exacting requirements of that industry. In 1901 Cuban and
 Sumatran varieties were introduced. Other varieties from Cuba
 were secured in 1904 for use as wrapper-leaf tobaccos, and in
 1936, 655 tobacco items were imported for breeding purposes.

 SOYBEANS
 Soybeans from Asia are probably the most outstanding plant
 introductions since the Kharkov and durum wheats. Economic
 products of the soybean plant, now a major field crop, include
 hay, forage, food and feed products, and oil for many industrial
 uses. Recent introductions of the soybean have been merged