Mr. Willard moved the report be referred to the Auditing Committee,

Which was seconded,

And agreed to.

President Wood: The Chairman of the Membership Committee has asked me to state that any members of the Association who have names to propose will kindly hand them to the committee, who will report at a later session. Kindly hand any names to Mr. McCullough, chairman of the committee.

Mr. McCullough, A.: Methods have changed somewhat since our last meeting. Every member of the organization will be allowed opportunity to appear before the committee, whether they have anything pro or con the names proposed. After adjournment of this session, the committee will meet and listen to any member present.

President Wood: You will understand, any new names proposed will be handed to Mr. McCullough.

The Association will now go into executive session, in order to receive reports of different committees. Executive sessions are confined to the members of the Association. We will have another open session this afternoon at 2:30, at which any one interested, whether a member or not, will be welcome. At that time we will have the reading of certain set papers and other matters. I therefore declare the meeting will go into executive session.

AFTERNOON SESSION.
Tuesday, June 25, 1907.

The convention was called to order by President Wood, at 3 o'clock p. m.

President Wood: The first business before the meeting will be applications for membership. I will ask Mr. McCullough to make a statement.

Mr. McCullough: Your committee have had the following names handed them:

Manitowoc Seed Co., Manitowoc, Wis.

M. H. Brunjes & Son, Brooklyn, N. Y.

H. E. Fiske Seed Co., Boston, Mass.
A. J. Pieters Seed Co., Hollister, Cal.

C. Herbert Coy Seed Co., Valley, Neb.

These are all the names handed in. The committee desires to make a final report later on in the meeting. If there is any one in the room who knows anything why the committee should not take favorable action on these, we will be glad to hear from him.

President Wood: This is an open session, but we will have an executive session first thing to-morrow morning to act upon the names, after which the new members can be brought in, and have an open session afterwards. This is equivalent to posting the names for action at the executive session to-morrow morning.

President Wood: The first number on the program this afternoon is the address by Dr. B. T. Galloway, chief of the Bureau of Plant Industry, of the U. S. Department of Agriculture. I have pleasure in introducing Dr. Galloway.

I

Dr. Galloway: I had planned to illustrate my thoughts with lantern slides, but could not get next to the lantern man. will have to do as they do in presenting Shakespeare, but instead of saying, "This is where the music comes in." I will have to say, "This is where the slide should be." With the slides I could bring out the conditions as we have them with more emphasis than I can by putting them in words:

I want, in an informal way only, to say a few words to the Association regarding the work of the department, in its relations directly and indirectly to the seed trade.

WHAT THE DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE IS DOING FOR THE SEED TRADE

Address by Beverly T. Galloway, Chief of the Bureau of Plant Industry, U. S. Department of Agriculture.

I wish, in an informal way, to outline to your Association some of the work the Department of Agriculture is doing, and to explain, with the aid of lantern slides, its relations, directly and indirectly, to the seed trade.

I would like to preface my remarks with a statement regarding the general policy which the Department pursues in all of its work-a policy in line with the organic act establishing it, and which is not fully understood throughout the country. The law cstablishing the Department says that its duties shall be to acquire

and diffuse among the people of the United States useful information connected with agriculture, in the most general and comprehensive sense of that word, and to procure, propagate, and distribute among the people new and valuable seeds and plants. What I wish to particularly emphasize is the fact that the Department was organized to help the people; that is, the individuals who by and through the medium of the soil secure their livelihood. With a recognition of this general policy it is evident that the Department must frequently stand in the same relation to the seedsmen that it does to other organized bodies or associations which are purely commercial in their intent. The individual farmer is a producer. Soil, plants, and animals are the materials with which he works. He is in a measure isolated and unprotected, and must depend to a large extent on his own knowledge and efforts for whatever success he attains. It is the business of the seedsmen to dispose of their seeds to the man who tills the soil. Of course it is to the interest of the reputable seedsman to work to the advantage of the man who purchases seed from him. The seedsmen, however, are pretty well organized and can take care of their own interests much better than is the case with the farmer. Thus it comes about that the Department must frequently stand as a medium between the seedsmen and the man who tills the soil, and whenever there is an element of doubt the Department, from the nature of its established policy, must give the benefit of the doubt to the farmer. This policy is well illustrated by the efforts of those who make laws in the various States and of the National Government to protect the farmer as an individual against agencies that may injure or defraud him. It is to the credit of the seedsmen of this country that with very few exceptions they are working for the best interests of the country and for the best interests of the individual. Here and there, of course, there are exceptions, just as there are exceptions in all other classes of business; but, so far as the Department is concerned, it has found its efforts to aid the farmer and producer ably seconded by the trade itself.

With this somewhat general explanation I now pass directly to some specific problems upon which the Department is engaged, which will probably be better understood from the statements I have made. With the use of the illustrations I have secured, I would like to call your attention, first, to an important line of work upon which the Department has been engaged for several ycars and which is doing a great deal toward building up the wealth of the country, creating a demand for better agricultural practices, and, in a number of ways, directly and indirectly affecting the seed trade. I refer to the agricultural exploration work which the Department is carrying on in various parts of the world for the purpose of securing seeds and plants of promising value.

It is not necessary here to enter upon details of the manner in which this work is carried on and the results. Suffice it to say that our plan is to send out experienced men into various parts of the world in search of new and promising crops. It has been our experience that the best results are secured from men who are already familiar with agricultural conditions, or at least conditions affecting special crops in this country. As a concrete

example of this I may call attention to the result of the work of Mr. M. A. Carleton, our Cerealist, in securing grains from Russia and other parts of the world. Mr. Carleton has made grains a special study for twenty years. He knew the needs of the country, especially the middle West; and when, therefore, seven or eight years ago he went to southwestern Russia and came in contact with the wheats of that region, grown under slight rainfall, he was able to use intelligent judgment in selecting varieties which would be useful here. The success of the introduction of these wheats is familiar to all and resulted last year in the production of about fifty million bushels, valued at about thirty-seven million dollars.

The illustration presented will give you a sort of bird's-eye view of some of the more important work, those first shown being pictures made by one of our explorers who is now in China and has been there for more than a year. He has traveled extensively through Korea, Manchuria, and extreme eastern Siberia, securing many valuable things which have been forwarded here from time to time. The illustrations of Chinese vegetable gardens, the methods of handling the important soy bean crop of China, the poppy fields, used extensively for the manufacture of opium, the new ornamental plants, etc., will prove, I trust, instructive.

One of the introductions to which particular attention has been given is the Japanese salad plant Udo, illustrations of which are now presented. This plant grows well in many sections of the country and is handled and served very much like celery.

ONE OF THE SHIPMENTS OF THE JAPANESE RUSH PLANT.

The cases give some idea of the large quantity of material that has been brought in at Chico, Cal.

To secure the extensive use of the plant, however, will probably take considerable time, as the taste for it is a cultivated one, like that for the olive and some other plant products. It is a promising introduction, however, and is already being widely disseminated and distributed.

as this

One of the most promising plant introductions we are now working with is the Japanese matting grass. We import about five million dollars' worth of matting every year, and matting is made from a Juncus readily grown here we are trying to establish the industry. The types of Juncus grown for matting, however, are especially selected ones and will not come true from seed. Recently we have had one of our explorers abroad getting a stock of the roots of the important types, and the illustrations show some of the results. The large shipment illustrated was secured after many difficulties from certain portions of Japan and was landed at Chico, Cal., where the plants are now being grown successfully. They will be distributed next winter. Already machinery has been perfected for the weaving of this matting grassmachinery that will enable an American operator to do as much work in a day as an Oriental does in thirty days.

Where a large amount of testing and propagating work is conducted by the Bureau of Plant Industry.

In passing, brief attention may be called to the illustrations showing our Chico gardens, at Chico, Cal. Here we receive, propagate, and distribute the many valuable seeds and plants sent in from all over the world. The illustration is unique from the fact that for the first time in many years there was snow at this place last winter, which, while unusual, did no serious damage.