The evening times., 1896-12-03
MORE SEEDS THAN BEFORE
Quantity to Be- distributed Is
Doubled This Year.
WHAT WILL CONGRESS Dos
Experimental Feature in Which the
Custom II ad Its origin Is Entirely
Over Most of His share to Con.
gressmen-The Total Cost.

| tribution Of seeds by the Department OF
| Agriculture as has never been known be-
fore in the history Of this government.
Secretary Morton year ago made an at
tempt to abolish the custom, but instead,
| the appropriation was practically doubled.
| He has been compelled for TINS year To
spend a fixed sum for seeds.
| In consequence, where go tons OF seeds
were sent out last year. the total this year
! will reach nearly 500 tons. He was al
| lowed only small sum FOR office cN-
| penses, and the large amount OF WORK IN
packing and shipping, that mas usnitiiS been
done at the department buildings here must
he done somewhere else; also, II Is likely
| that only a small percentage or the seeds
| that heretofore have passed through The
| hands of clerks VIII he so distributed tins
| year.
| Secretary Morton's suggestion last year
| was treated as an attempt at dictation, and
was received with exceeding bad grace
| lie was in effect told To mind his own busl-
ness and compelled To ho the thing he dis
/ approved in such "A way that the postoince
groaned with the burden IL had to carry in
| few weeks, and the benefit OF the seeds
| To farmers was reduced to a minimum.
Nevertheless, Congress may this year rec
| ogniZe that the whole system is a farce
and as a consequence make no appropri't-
| ton. 1t may even repeal The law. Thc qu"s-
! ton is sure to come up again.
The distribution OF seeds, as IL now exists,
| has been about half a century growing up.
| Ii was begun near THE close or the thlrtics
| by Commissioner Of Patents Ellsworth.
The wholerarminginterest were thcnundcr
| the Patent Office.
Mr.. Ellsworth conceived the idea that II
would be of great advantage TO the farming
communities of the United States. ana So
10 the whole people, ir new varieties OF
cultivated plants could be put under sue
cessful cultivation
HOW THE PRACTICE GREW.
Accordingly he wrote many consular
officers ana requested them To- send hun
seeds of foreign plants that might be grown
in this country, explaining that he would
send them to farmers who had the intelli-
EenCe and means 10 make experiments
with them. This was entirely a private
matter with him, and entailed not penny
OF expense upon the government.
He received hearty response and began
To get seeds of many kinds, and where
plants We're not reproduced by seeds, cut
tings and even young plants We're for
warded- Expenses for the service began
TO grow. In some cases there was cost in
obtaining the plants and in others in
shipping.
As the suggestioIs came from Mr. Els
worth he could hardly ask the consul to
bear this. Also, there was an expense for
NtIuliiE setus anu pidpis 10 fDeiE utstiHd-
tons in this country. Mr.. Ellsworth began
to be soreIy taxcd-by-. these outlays, for
which he got no return whatever. Yet the
advantages were 80 considerable and
evident that he disliked To see his plan
giveL up. Fr1
Finally il was suggested that the cost
of distribution could be. easily lifted from
his shoulders. a Congressman in that day
could frank anything Through the mails.
Accordingly the stream Of rare seeds and
plants from abroad for experiments in this
country was diverted so as TO pass through
the hands of members and bear their
franks. From this ii was n short step
To- the appropriation OF public money to
purchase seeds.
There were no experimental stations and
agricultural colleges supported at govern
ment expense III those days, and these pr-
vate experiments served a valuable pur-
pose. The sagadty of Ellsworth was fully
proved by results.
EXPERIMENTALFEA
The idea OF making an experiment with
the seeds distributed was essential in the
earlier days.
or late II has been entirely lost sight Of
as a practical matter, and remained only
as n legend curiously considered by intel
ligent children as IL lay printed before
them OH the Wrappers of packages sent
their parents by their member OF Congress.
This legend was a stipulation that the
seeds Were sent with the understanding
that they Were to be tried and report made
10 the Secretary as 10 the success OF the
experiment. or course, any trial in
cluded the assumption that the seeds We're
of new plants; or, at least, OF new va
rieties.
As matter of fact, the seeds have been
for years entirely ordinary And of about
100000 persons who received the pack
ages year before last, only $40 acknowl-
edged the receipt of them, and in most of
these cases II was merely TO ask for addi-
tional packets.
Ii was this stipulation of the law that the
distribution should be for the purpose of
making tests and improvements that Sec
retary Morton seized upon to throw the
whole business out OF his department 1t
is well known how he got an opinion from
Attorney General Olney that he must adj
vertise for seeds rare and uncommon to the
country. or such as can be made more prof
table by frequent changes from one part
ofour country TO another and threw out all
bids received, because they did not propose
to furnish such seeds as described by the
law.
He then turned over the rooms occu-
pied up to that date for the distribu-
ton OF seeds to scientific divisions of the
department. Places that had furnished
employment to 125 unskiIed proteges Of
five months in the year were abolished
Congress at once set to work to secure
the usual allotment of seeds, but they came
too late to he of any value in the South.
The act repealed the requirement that the
seeds should be Of rare varieties, acknowi-
edging that Mr.. Morton was technically
correct. Also the law was changed so dis
to leave the Secretary no option except
to spend $3.50, 900 for seeds, leaving only
$4,000 for expenses here.
Under this allotment Mr.. Morton claim
ed that he could not afford to attempt to
distribute tile seeds from here, and made
the purchases with the accompanying con-
tract that the packages should be made up
and directed by the contractors
FROM SEEDsMAN TO FARMER.
1t was arranged that members might
then, if they chose, send on bundles OF
franks to be attached and the seeds for
warded at once from the seedsman's ware
house. This was necessary ii Was fl,ir,