The Washington union. [volume] (City of Washington [D.C.]) 1857-1859, 1858-08-29
THE AGRICULTURAL REPORT or TIE PATENT
OFFICE
WASHINGTON Aug. Is.
Ioorrc.pondence o. the rhtlAdolphla Ledger

WASHINGTON Aug Is
The Agricultural Report from the Patent Office VIII BE-
Of the interesting and important Of the series Ii
will embrace additional Information the subject OF tho
introduction the plant into agriculture and
show that there is Why tea should not become
one of our staple products.
Success in the tea culture partially realized from
the experiment of the late lreneus Smith, in Greenfield
s. c.. during the years l8i5 10 1852 The Agricultural
Bureau of the Patent Office has taken intro
duce the plant and establish the feasibility of It's culture
by practical experiments In the Report for 1888 there
many valuable suggestions the subject There is
why the production Of this plant, which has
taken its permanent place among necessares Of life
should be confined AS 1t has for the most part BEEN
China Similar conditions Of soil and climate to the tea
districts Of China may be found in Southern States
1t has been often objected that, though the tea plan,
will grow here it cannot be manipulated and prepared
Tor account of the high cost OF labor in this
try, compared with the low wages paid In China. To
this may be answered. that American skill and ngenu
t when applied to the subject will produce aborsavng
machinery for all the processes of preparing the la
the place the objection Is ut by the feast
by of importing Cinnamon ut low wages to assist In
the work Then again, the laborers which bring to
the work will be robust and we'll fed and worthy
and more capable of labor than the enteebed Asiatics
We have great advantage also ia home market for
the product and in the greatest facilities for internal
transportation.
The carriage Of tea from the tea districts in China %
the ports where it is shipped il estimated ut four
cents pound On part OF the United States would
its conveyance for the distance more than
fourth of that rate.
But also to consider that the tea produced at
home consumed ut home, would be Of vastly bet
ter quality than the China teas that get The prepa
ration Of tho tea ia China to enable it To bear trans
poration very much deterioates its quality They
to spoil the tea to ship it, Indeed the tea that com
monty exported to England and the United States is but
poor trash in comparison with the drank in China and
in Russia and elsewhere after it has been subjected only
to land transportation
II is stated 10y Mr.. MAXWELL who secretary Of tho
tfal FAC H.. p.A xr.Aa
nal fair at Novogorod which he attended he found teas
green black and yellow, selling at forty dollars $40
pound The statement Is in his work upon Russia This
high cost not produced by tho expense OF land trans
portaton from China because he found at the same time
black teas pressed into cake selling at forty 10
fifty cents pound
Teas oould doubt be produced in tho United States
that are better worth dollars pound than those now
used worth dollar Tcas better than those we now
probably bc produced after while at cost not
higher than the imported article.
This is but of the and Interesting subjects to
which the Agricultural Report the Patent Office I'm.
der its experienced and ahlc head, Mr. Il. d. Brown,
has lately directed its attention The Commissioner Of
Patents Mr. Holt, and the Secretary Of the Interior
within whose department the Patent Office falls are en-
ghtened men, and have given to is agricultural branch
their Jealous and intelligent aid Secretary Thompson
has given wider scope to the usefulness OF the nsu
on by the collection Of statistics respecting tho prouc
ton and consumption Of cotton and other staples.
The Agricultural Bureau is by restricted
its interested enemies would make the public believe to
the importation and distribution OF seeds and cuttings
though it has achieved for the country vast and lasting
benefits by that means.
Hereafter less attention will he given to this object
than to many others For the object has been attained
by bringing into the country many varieties Of valuable
grains, grapes, garden vegetables, &C., which have b.
come rs it wcre minshed here, and will take care Of
themselves.
Among the twenty six varieties Of tumip seed import
ed and distributed, has proved to be invaluable to
this country producing 1t does thirty tons
Ic hs1..s fhara fnur fam sff
Some of the seedsnen who formerly had monopoly Of
the business are Of course very jealous Of the operations
of the Patent Office through which than three
hundred seed have been established in various
of tho country. Such has been the stimulus given by
the distribution OF seeds by the Patent Office agrcu
tre and horticulture that the business of importing and
vending foreign seeds has been vastly increased mil
lion of dollars worth Of seeds and shrubs annual
ly imported against less than fourth of that
prior to the FREQ distribution Of seeds Hence, hear
the groans of few growers and vendors Of domestic seeds
who had fondly hoped to cngross the business Tonama
them would give them notoriety, which their attacks
the Patent Office have not gained But may mention,
that foreign Seeds which they have denounced are
freely imported and vcndcd in all Cities which would
not be the they not much esteemed
But, have before mentioned, the seed distribution
is no longer leading object Of the Patent Office. The
bureau now engaged in preparing, in this city the
public grounds, free nursery large scale for tho
supply Of ornamental shade and other trees not only for
this but for other towns and cities 1t has directed i
attention also to the Improvement Of the cultivation OF
the vine, and of the production Of wine
The system Of inquiry in regard to the classes Of insects
injurious beneficial to various agricultural products
commenced in 1884, is still in progress and with very
useful results As grass is Of the valuable pro
ducts of the country, taken in the aggregate, part Of
the fund of the bureau employed to test the value and
relative usefulness of the different grasses that to DO
found in the country, whether Of native foreign origin
But in ine the report itself, nearly ready, will
show to the satisfaction Of the country that the agr
cultural branch of tho Patent Office is Of the most
best nublic institutions.
w.