New crops for Kansas

Abstract

Introduction: Nature works in a misterious way her wonders to perform. Often some valuable tree or cereal will be found in one country or locality only, while it may be adapted to many parts of the globe because of some particular character. Sometimes certain plants do even better in a new country than in the old country, for instance, the American locust tree does better in Europe than here for there it escapes the borates which so hinders its best developement here. In the last half century the work of transplanting and testing the trees, cereals and grasses of one locality or country in other localities or countries has been carried on to a great extent. In many instances this work has been performed by single individuals. For instance, people coming to this country to settle, often bring with them their favorite apple, cherry or pear. But in the United States by far the greater amount of this work, has been carried on by the department of agriculture with the co-operation of the experiment stations of the different states. The worth of this work cannot well be overestimated. It has transformed the sun burned and dust swept plains of the central west, into comfortable homes surrounded by growing crops. It has brought Kansas the soy bean, kaffir corn, sorghum, wheat and alfalfa.