Evening star., 1899-03-11
TESTING GROUND FOR SEEDS
Proposed Utilization of Part of the Reclaimed
Flats.
Work to BE Carried on by the De-
pnrtment of Agriculture Under
Authorization by Congress.


work on an early date in the spring upon
| improving q portion of the reclaimed Po-
tcmac flats, Potomac Park. A botanical
garden upon small scale is to be located
on the flats this year, to be gradually in
creased in size. An area of 20 acres will
be absorbed by the department. but 1t is
proposed to put only about 10 acres in cul-
tivation this year.
The bill which passed Congress and was
signed March 3, relating to the control of
wharf property and certain public spaces
in the District, carried the following pro-
vision:
That the Secretary of War is authorized
to grant permission to the Department CT
Agriculture for the temporary occupatio
of such area areas of Potomac Park,
not exceeding a-tOtal of seventy-five acres
in extent, may not be needed in any one
season for the reclamation or park i'm
pI Oyament, the said areas to be used by the
Department of Agriculture as testing
81 ounds: Provided, That nothing herein
contained shall be construed to change the
essential character of the lands SO used,
which lands shall continue to be a public
park, as provided in the act of Congress
approved March 3, 1897: And provided fur
ther, That said area areas shall be
vacated by the Department of Agriculture
at the close of any season upon the request
of the Secretary of War: And provided fur
uEder the charge of the Secretary of War"
Plan of the Department.
The plan Of the department under this
authorization is to prepare place where
experiments can be made in the propaga-
ton of certain rare and valuable seeds, and
where d botanical quarantine station may
be established so that importations of
plants and seeds may be tested for the
presence of diseases which might threaten
American products of the same species.
For some time the department has been
collecting. through agents sent to different
parts of the world, seeds and plants which
may be desirable to introduce into the
United States. 1r many cases these i'm
portati0nS have been lost in the experiment
stations scattered throughout the country
and the department deemed it necessary to
nave station close at hand, where the
seeds could be propagated and watched. If
they prove successful they can be distrib-
uted later in the right quarters.
Moreover, the proposed garden will fur
nish field for practical work by the thirty
or more botanical experts employed by the
department. who now have little oppor-
tunity for field labor and observation in the
line of their duties. 1t will not be possible
to plant everything that is brought to this
country on experiment. but it is believed
that the garden will afford a great deal of
dement, TO agriculture. Such importations
as new kind of rice from Japan, destined
II successfully cultivated in this country
" AitItStSS tue value OF LOUISIANA rice pro-
ductions, and & drought-proof cold-defy-
ing wheat from Russia will have to be ex-
perlmented with in the respective localities
where those cereals are ordinarily grown.
The Area to Be Utilized.
The Department Of Agriculture is now
negotiating with the War Department,
under the pl Uvisions of the act, for control
of the desired portion of the fats 1t is
probable that the section lying west of the
Long bridge and between that structure
and the sewer outlet will be utilized The
department will not lay out drives nor con-
vert its new possessions into a park
The act in which this authorize ton is
provided also carries another stipulation
which may later affect the Potomac flats.
1t is as folIows
That before January /, 1908, the fence
around the Bots nical Garden shall be re-
moved: Provided, That at the first session
of the Fifty-sixth Congress the Joint COM
mittee on library is directed to report bill
embodying a plan for removing the Bo-
tanical Garden to another location
The suggestion has been made that the
reclaimed flats, now officially DESIGNATED
Potomac Park, might be used as site for
the Botanical Garden if the change is made.
To Remove the Botanical Garden.
The proposition to remove the Botanical
garden originated from the desire of many
senators and representatives to improve
the mall. 1t has been urged that the pres
ent site of the garden and its present con-
dition makes 1t something of an eyesore
More than this, however 1t breaks the con-
tinuity of the drive from the Capitol to the
White House, causing those who drive that
way to turn into Pennsylvania avenue or
take the cobblestones of the back streets
The House put forward the proposition to
take down the fence around the garden and
the Senate added the amendment looking to
the removal of the building and it's contents
to another site and throwing open the
grounds to the use of the public The Bo-
tanical Garden is under no department.
but is controlled by Congress, the Joint
committee on the library taking jurisdic-
tion