The Twentieth Century


by breeding, into new, superior plants with little resemblance
of the original.
 Interest in the soybean as a commercial crop began with the
 introduction of three varieties from Japan in 1900. Nearly three
 hundred varieties were obtained in China, Japan, and India
 in 1909. The Department recommended soybeans as a crop that
 could be substituted for cotton in the South.
 In 1910, twenty soybeans from a group of 350 under test
 were selected for wide distribution. Three hundred varieties
 received from Korea and northern Manchuria in 1914 were
 expected to extend soybean cultivation northward in America.
 An increased acreage was planted in 1916 for oil production
 and stock feed. Four years later there was a rapid expansion
 in the cultivation of eight selections made by the Department
 from over a thousand varieties collected up to that time.
 Further selection progressed as soybean acreage was expanded.
The distribution of soybeans was a prominent feature of field
crop seed distribution after 1914. Estimated value of the crop
of 2,500,000 acres in 1924 was $23,917,500. Because of its con-
tributions to the new industry, the Bureau of Plant Industry
claimed credit for half this value. Ryerson, in 1933, stated that all
but three of the twenty varieties of soybeans then in cultivation
were found by the Office of Plant Introduction.
 When it became clear that the soybean would be a major
crop, the Department decided to send two explorers to search
the soybean areas of Japan, Sakhalin, Manchuria, Korea, and
China to make sure our farmers would have the best varieties.
After two years of work, P. H. Dorsett, of the Division of Plant
Exploration and Introduction, and W. J. Morse, of the Division
of Forage Crops and Diseases, returned with almost three thou-
sand varieties.
 The expedition also collected seeds of mung beans, lespedeza,
alfalfas, barleys, wheats, grasses, and other agricultural plants.
More soybean varieties were obtained, especially from Man-
churia, in order to extend their cultivation to new areas. The
acreage in soybeans continued to increase to meet the demands
for the crop as food and feed, and for industry in the manufac-
ture of paint, varnish, and glue.
 Tung trees, identical with the varnish trees referred to by
early plant explorers, were fruiting in 1910 from introductions