The Vermont watchman. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1883-1911, 1885-06-03

From this dispatch it appears that soon
after the commissioner entered upon
his duties, his attention was called to
the fact that the laboratory fund was
nearly exhausted. In order to avoid
making a deficiency he was compelled
to furlough several employees until the
end of the fiscal year, without pay.
Now it appears that several other
specific appropriations are in a like con-
dition of exhaustion, and many minor
branches of work must be temporarily
suspended. The statistical division suf-
fers the loss of all its state agents, and
other suspensions will necessarily be
made. The condition of affairs in the
seed division, is, in some respects, in
explicable. The appropriation for this
division, for the current fiscal year, was
100000. On the first of the present
month there remained only thirty-two
dollars of this fund in the treasury. The
estimate made in detail by the head of
this division, and approved by the COM
missioner, for the purchase of seeds,
called for the expenditure of $4,000,
which would leave 100000 to pay
the expenses of packing and dis
tribution. The amount actually ex-
to be $50, 900. AS a result, there are
several kinds of seeds on hand in large
quantities, with no money on hand to
pay the expenses of packing and distri-
button.
There are thus in excess $4,000
pounds of beet sugar seed, between 700
and 800 bushels of peas and between
600 and 700 bushels of sorghum seed.
There have been distributed during the
past year about 5000 pounds of the
beet sugar seed, and the supply on hand
is sufficient to last nearly three years at
that rate. Some of the peas on hand
cost seven dollars per bushel. A part
of the sorghum seeds have been emptied
from their sacks upon the floor, and
two boys are employed to stir them
around, as a measure of precaution to
keep them from spelling. A wide va
riety of prices seems to have been paid
for seed. For example, LOO bushels
of sorghum seed were purchased from
New York firm, at prices ranging
from S2.35 to 1896 per bushel, while
300 bushels of the same variety were
obtained from Western man for one
dollar per bushel.
The chemist of the department said
that at the time this stock was pur-
chased it sold as low as twenty-five
cents per bushel in Nebraska, but that
one dollar per bushel would have been
an exceedingly good price for the very
best quality ready prepared for plant
ing. He said there was no reason for
the purchase of either sorghum or beet
seed. There was no purpose in view,
there was no new variety to be tried.
There was no more reason for distrib-
uting the old variety than for sending
out white wheat.
1t is said that many discoveries have
been made which justify suspicion,
to state it mildly, that some of the de-
tails of department management have
latterly not been carefully looked after.
1t seems by this that Mr. o. S. Bliss,
the Vermont state agent of the depart
ment, must forego his comfortable little
salary of $500 year, at least for
awhile, though as it is not known that
he has done anything to earn it (unless
it was to sympathize with Loring in his
hatred of Collier), perhaps there is lit
tie occasion for mourning over that.