MAIN BUILDING OF THE U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. YEARBOOK Olf THK UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 1895. WASHINGTON: GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE. 4 1896. [PUBLIC—No. 15.] An act providing for the public printing and binding and the distribution of public documents, * * ## * if * Section 17, paragraph 2 : The Annual Report of the Secretary of Agriculture shall hereafter be submitted and printed in two parts, as follows : Part one, which shall contain purely busi- ness and executive matter which it is necessary for the Secretary to submit to the President and Congress; part two, which shall contain such reports from the different buïeaus and divisions, and such papers prepared by their special agents, accompanied by suitable illustrations, as shall, in the opinion of the Secretary, be specially suited to interest and instruct the farmers of the country, and to include a general report of the operations of the Department for their information. There shall be printed of part one, one thousand copies for the Senate, two thou- sand copies for the House, and three thousand copies for the Department of Agri- culture ; and of part two, one hundred and ten thousand copies for the use of the Senate, three hundred and sixty thousand copies for the use of the House of Rep- resentatives, and thirty thousand copies for the use of the Department of Agri- culture, tho illustrations for the same to be executed under the supervision of the Public Printer, in accordance with directions of the Joint Committee on Printing, said illustrations to be subject to the approval of the Secretary of Agriculture; and the title of each of the said parts shall be such as to show that such part is complete in itself. 2 PEEFAOE. Ever since 1849, when the report of the Department of Agriculture was first published in a separate volume, as Part 11 of the Annual Report of the Commissioner of Patents, it has been customary to issue large editions for distribution by Congress. Of the report for 1851, 110,000 copies were printed, 100,000 of which were for distribu- tion by Congress. The original edition of 110,000 copies was grad- ually increased with the growth of the population of the country and the development of its various agricultural interests, until it reached in 1892 half a million copies. The volume in the old form was made up of business and executive reports for the use of the President and of Congress, and such statements of the results of scientific work as promised to be useful to farmers. In the belief that a volume de- signed for such extensive distribution among farmers should be specially prepared for them, a provision was incorporated in the act of January 12, 1895 (printed on the opposite page), requiring that future annual reports of the Department of Agriculture should be divided into two volumes: First, an executive and business report, and, second, a volume made up of papers from the Department bureaus and divisions '^ specially suited to interest and instruct the farmers of the country." As the report for 1894 had been prepared before this act became a law, all that could be done last year was to separate the papers submitted and publish them in the new form. While it is hoped that the present volume is somewhat, of an advance upon the Yearbook for 1894, it does not fully come up to the ideal which the Department has set before it. The plan has been to prepare a volume consisting of three parts : (1) ''A general report of the operations of the Department" dur- ing the year, by the Secretary of Agriculture. (2) A series of papers from the different bureaus and divisions of the Department, and from some of the experts of the agricultural experiment stations, discussing in a popular manner the results of investigations in agricultural science or new developments in farm practice. These papers are presented in the form of popular essays rather than scientific reports, and with the object of making them attractive as well as instructive they are illustrated as fully as possi- ble. The several topics have been treated in as thorough a manner 3 4 PREFACE. as space permitted, but no attempt has been made to cover the entire range of subjects that would be included in a handbook of agricul- tural science. As the years go on, it is hoped that the Department will, in successive issues of this work, give farmers a good library covering the applications of science to practical agriculture. No systematic treatment has, however, been possible in planning for this or succeeding Yearbooks, and only such subjects have been taken up as have been reasonably well investigated and seem timely or suit- able for discussion. (3) An appendix. The publications of the United States Govern- ment having more or less bearing upon agriculture have become so numerous that an epitome of their more important contents has become almost a necessity. Scattered through the publications of the Department of Agriculture, for example, are many valuable data, facts of interest, recipes, and directions with regard to agricultural and horticultural practice, which it is desirable to bring together for convenience of reference. Accordingly, in the appendix to the present volume there will be found a large amount of miscellaneous information taken from the reports of this Department and presented with especial regard to the requirements of the agricultural reader. Statistics of agriculture taken from the reports of the Census, and much interesting information relative to the exports, imports, and per capita consumption of agricultural products from the publica- tions of the Bureau of Statistics of the Treasury Department, have also been compiled in convenient form down to the latest avail- able date. It has thus been sought to make the volume a concise reference book of useful agricultural information based in great part upon the work of this and other Departments of the Government, without making it an encyclopedia of general information. In brief, the effort has been to make a book, and not a mere Government report—a book worthy to be published in an edition of half a million copies and at an expense to the people, if we count both publication and distribu- tion, of over $400,000. Time and space have not been spared in the preparation of an index to the book, which, it is believed, will prove an efficient guide to all who consult it. CHARLES W. DABNEY, Jr., Assistant Secretary. WASHINGTON, D. C, February 1, 1896. OOÍ¡rTEI^TS: ! Page. Report of the Secretary __ 9 Soil Ferments Important in Agriculture. By H. W. Wiley 69 Origin, Value, and Reclamation of Alkali Lands. By E. W. Hilgard 103 Reasons for Cultivating the Soil. By Milton Whitney 123 Humus in its Relation to Soil Fertility. By Harry Snyder _. 131 Frosts and Freezes as Affecting Cultivated Plants. By B. T. Galloway 143 The Two Freezes of 1894-95 in Florida, and what they Teach. By Her- bert J. Webber___ 159 Testing Seeds at Home. By A. J. Pieters 175 Oil-Producing Seeds. By G. H. Hicks 185 Some Additions to Our Vegetable Dietary. By Frederick V. Coville 205 Hemp Culture. By Chas. Richards Dodge 215 Canadian Field Peas. By Thomas Shaw 223 Irrigation for the Garden and Greenhouse. By L. R. Taft 233 The Health of Plants in Greenhouses. By B. T- Galloway 247 Principles of Pruning and Care of Wounds in Woody Plants. By Albert F. Woods 257 The Pineapple Industry in the united States. By Herbert J. Webber 269 Small-Fruit Culture for Market. By William A. Taylor _ _ 283 The Cause and Prevention of Pear Blight. By M. B. Waite 295 Grass Gardens. By F. Lamson-Scribner 301 Forage Conditions of the Prairie Region. By Jared G. Smith 809 Grasses of Salt Marshes. By F. Lamson-Scribner 325 The Relation of Forests to Farms. By B, E. Fernow . _ 333 Tree Planting in the Western Plains. By Charles A. Keffer 341 The Shade-Tree Insect Problem in the Eastern united States. By L. O. Howard 361 The Principal Insect Enemies of the Grape. By C. L. Marlatt 385 Four Common Birds of the Farm and Garden. By Sylvester D. Judd 405 The Meadow Lark and Baltimore Oriole. By F. E. L. Beal 419 Inefficiency of Milk Separators in Removing Bacteria. By Veranus A. Moore 431 Butter Substitutes. By E. A. de Schweinitz 445 The Manufacture and Consumption of Cheese. By Henry E. Alvord 453 Climate, Soil Characteristics, and Irrigation Methods of California. By Charles W. Irish 475 Cooperative Road Construction. By Roy Stone 487 A Pioneer in Agricultural Science. By W. P. Cutter 493 Work of the Department of Agriculture as Illustrated at the Atlanta Expo- sition. By Robert E. Wait 503 APPENDIX. Organization of the Department of Agriculture 523 Statistics of the principal crops _ 526 5 \ b CONTENTS. Page. Exports of the products of domestic agriculture for the years ended June 30, 1891 to 1895 543 Surveyors* measure . _ _ _ 547 Imports of agricultural products for the years ended June 30,1891 to 1895 __ 548 Total values of exports of domestic merchandise since 1890 551 Exports of YSiW cotton from the United States since 1890 551 Production of certain fruits and nuts, mostly semitropical, in the United States in 1889, and the quantities and values imported from 1890 to 1895, inclusive 551 Statistics of fruit and vegetable canning in the United States 553 Average price and consumption of sugar 552 Tea, coffee,, wines, etc . 552 Freight rates in effect January 1, 1892 to 1896, in cents per 100 pounds 553 Freight rates on wheat from New York to Liverpool 553 Freight rates (all rail) on live stock and dressed meats from Chicago to New York .