The Londonderry sifter. (South Londonderry, Vt.) 1883-19??, 1889-11-21
AMERICAN AGRICULTURE,
THE DEPARTMENT WHERE ITS IN.
TEREsTS ARE LOOKED AFTER,
Scenes In the Seed Room aud Other
Divisions-The Work of the Score
tarv and His Assistants

Scenes IN the SEED Room anu othcr
Divisions-The Work OF the Score
tary and His Assistants.
Few people know anything about the
founding of the Agricultural Depart
ment. 1t was established in May, 1862,
when the country was in the midst OF the
Civil War, Before the organization OF
the department the agricultural interests
of the country were looked after to
more or less limited degree by the patent
Office, and, though this looking after was
very unsystematic, it did a great deal OF
good and showed plainly the possibilities
of department devoted to the industry
in which forty-two per cent. OF the
population are engaged. The good done
by the rather insignificant bureau while
under the domain of the patent office was
recognized by the farming population,
and through their representatives they
worked hard for its extension into some
thing more comprehensive. At this early
date, as is the case at present, the dis
tribution of seed was the most important
work undertaken by the department, and
the effect on the agricultural interests of
the country has been productive of great
good.
The duties of the Secretary, as set
forth in the act of Congress establishing
the department and the subsequent acts
are manifold, and they keep Secretary
Rusk buster than he ever was as farmer
in Wisconsin. In few words he is to
acquire and preserve all information con
corning agriculture which can be OBJ
tanned by means of agents, correspond
ence and by practical and scientific ex-
periments, by the collection of statistics
and new and valuable seeds and plants,
to test them by propagation and distribute
among the farmers of the country such as
in the opinion of experts will be of use.
TO do this requires somewhat over 400
clerks and the force has been system
atically arranged in divisions, so that
now the big institution is working on a
systematic basis.
The Seed Division, as has been stated,
is the largest and most important of the
various bureaus that come under the con
troll of Secretary Rusk. Its ramifications
extend all over the country, from ice
bound Alaska to the gulfwashed shores
of Florida. This division occupies a
separate building Immediately east of the
main building. For some time il
shared this building with the officers
of the Civil Service Commission.
This is to visitors the most interesting
of all the departments, for here one car
stand for hours iutcntly watching the
nimble fingers of the women employe;
folding the seeds in packages, address
ing, weighing and sending them off in
every direction. They sit at tables ex-
tending the whole length of the room
and here they work from 9 until 4, to-
tally oblivious of the groups of specta.
tors who gather about the doors. Some
measure and put seeds in packages,
Others pass circle of rubber around the
packages, which are then passed on tC
tables, where they are addressed and
weighed. Then young men scoop them
into mail bags and pile the bags when
filled on large wagons that take them to
the station. When the planter gets his
little package from the village postoffice
in the corner grocery he does not think
of the fair hands they have passed
through Every variety of seed, from
! the tiny mustard to the cocoanut, is sent
from this division.
The department does not confine itself
to the foreign seeds, but sends out those
already known in this country. The
primary object is to give increased values
to productions, to introduce new indus
tries and to establish principles relative to
climatic influences and from these draw
conclusions which point to the best geo.
graphical distribution of varieties, and to
introduce suitable varieties into sections
where they have not before been known.
This is a study, and a most fascinating
and interesting one. Many indirect fac
tors of great value can be obtained. As
an instance take the wheat crop. The
records of the department show that on
farms where this cereal has gradually di.
minished in production from twenty foul
bushels an acre to twenty bushels a change
of seed has often run the crop up to its
former average, showing that a dimin
ished production cannot always be attri.
buted to soil deterioration alone and that
systematic rotation of seed exchange is ar
important factor in maintaining the pro
ductive capacity of the soil.
Superintendent Saunders, who is well
known in this city as member of the
parking commission, talked in an interest
ing way to reporter as the two sauntered
through the building together.
"There is no doubt" he remarked
'of the importance of this subject, anc
to better illustrate the benefits derived
from it will tell you that some of oul
cereal crops are grown in climates tina
are not at all suitable for their best de
vclopment, and seeds grown there vii
necessarily perpetuate weak progeny
Now, for instance, here is the oat, sale
Mr. Saunders, picking up large package
from pretty girls table. ''This requires
a somewhat moist and cold temperature
for its fullest development, and wher,
the best oats are raised deterioration il
less rapid, and imported seed will be fcl
for many years, although it is only ;
question of time when they will reach ,
point of the lowest deterioration. Wher
plants are grown in climates best suited
to their fullest development, continued
Mr.. Saunders, ''they can be improved by
careful selection of the best seeds, bu