Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1901-01-10
SECRETARY WILSON TALKS
CONGRESS GOOD TO THE AGRIC,I.
TURAL DEPARTMENT..
Some Valuable Results From the Seed
Distribution. Which Will
Soon Begin.

appropriation each year and will have about
Tour million dollars to spend during the next
Twelve months" The Secretary is particu-
| larry well pleased with the record which
has been made during the past four years
| In the matter of introducing new varieties
OF staple articles of farm produce, and with
the results of the experiments which have
been made to improve the condition of
| farmers generally throughout the country
| The annual seed distribution is now in
progress. and while this has always been
| regarded with considerable disfavor by ev-
cry Secretary of Agriculture, the manner in
which it is done and the good results
achieved with part Of the appropriation
nave considerably softened the criticism of
the project whole 81 am not going to
| night Congress" said Secretary Wilson IF
| 1t wants seeds and appropriate the money
10 buy them it Is our duty to furnish them
| In the very best way it can be done The
| appropriation for this work was formerly
| Sl:nOO0 This year Congress has added
| sfo,ooo to this appropriation, but allows me
| 10 eNpend at least $4,000 for the importa-
| ton of seeds and plants for experimental
purposes. About 100000 worth of seeds
VIII be sent out by the congressman this
year. The clerical work which falls to the
department from the sending out of these
seeds will cost S2S.000. l shall spend about
S-',"I IN the importation of foreign seeds
ana plants. and the balance Of the money
VIII be used to fill special requests we ara
continually getting from different parts Of
the country for seeds of various kinds
Seeds BETTER Than Ever.
| The seeds which are sent out under the
supervision of the Department of Agricul-
ture to the congressional distribution are
| Oh better quality than are sold by any
| professional seedsmen In the United States
| There never were better seeds They are
| tested In every possible way not ONLY as 70
| their terminating power, but we actually
grow them and know that the variety is
the same as called for in the contract
The contract for furnishing these seeds
is let to the lowest bidder. and we recog-
nize no other factor in awarding this bust
ness. The contract is let some time In cd
vance, so as to give the man who takes 1t
time to buy his seeds In the localities or
from the people where It Is necessary for
him to get them. We keep a regular saed
account with each congressman. the num-
Der of packages of seeds to which he ia on
titled is credited to him and he sends 70 nc
the franks to be pasted upon the packages
by the contractors. These franks are count
ed and charged to his account until his So
quota Is exhausted
We commence this week to distrjhuta
seeds In southern Florida Three months
from now we will finish the distribution
along the northern border of the United
States While 1t is true that a great many
or these seeds go to places or to people
"nere they do no good. l find there are
some sections of the United States where
they are mighty valued and where they I'M
oouptedly do great deal of good.
Valued in Southern States.
This Is especially true in the southern
states. Booker T. Washington came to me
not long ago and said: I am going to have
a meeting Of colored farmers at Tuscogee.
IN Alabama, and 1 want You to give me
some seeds for them All right / said:
how many will there be?' About 700 he
replied. sent seven hundred packages of
har M
value to those people In some Of these
southern districts the farmers have very
little money and many of them live at great
distance from stores or places where seeds
can be bought, and those they get from
their congressman OF from this department
mean great deal to them and their fam
lilies On the whole. so long as We are al
lowed to use part of the seed approximation
Tor other purposes than the congressional
distribution I am very well satisfied with
things as they are. Certainly no harm is
done, and perhaps considerable good
1--WE give the farmers wife enough flower
seeds to make a very nice garden and we
give the farmer himself a good selection of
the very best varieties of STAPLE field and
garden seeds. which, il utilized TO their fun
value, as l think they are in majority Of
instances. bring to the government indi-
rectly very handsome return for the in
vestment."
The Congressional Quota.
Each senator. representative and delegate
ly nine thousand packages Of seeds Each
one of these packages contains five papers,
each representing a different vegetable or
flower. In addition to this supply the men,
bers Of Congress from tobacco and cotton
growing districts are allowed cotton and
tobacco Seed-11O packages of the former
and go packages of the latter. In each of
the packages of seed peas, beans or corn
are made the basis Of the selection To
these are added beets cucumbers lettuce,
melons onions and radishes.
The selection of flower seeds reads like
a description of old shioned garden,
for here we find sweet alyssum, larkspur.
mignonette, nasturtlum, panSy, petunia.
portulaca, stocks, zinnia, sweet pea and
others ignored nowadays by scientific fiori-
culture, but still the favorites with the
people.
The total number of packets of all vege-
table and flower seeds sent out Is about
fifteen million, fourteen million of these
being vegetable and one million flower
seeds
The contractor buys his lettuce and onion
seeds in California. The vine seeds such
as cucumbers and melons, come almost en-
tirey from Nebraska and Kansas The
peas come from three places. Cape Vincent,
n. Y; Traverse. Mich. and Manitowoc.
Wis, all these places being in the same
latitude and the plants found there being
free from destructive insects. The corn
comes from the central northern states,
and the beans all grown in New York.
The radish seeds imported, for APP
parently they do not retain their good
qualities when grown in this country.
The Departments Supervision.
These seeds are brought to Washington
By the contractor and put up by machinery
under the direct supervision Of officer
of the seed division Of the Agricultural De-
partment and many thousands of pounds
Of the seeds brought here are rejected as
being below the high standard required
The congressional franks given to the
contractor by the Department Of Agricul
ture after they have been charged to he
account, and be affiXes
them to the seed packets and delivers chem
at the post office. There have been 4
good many scandals in past years over tie
matter of seed distribution, and probably
there We're good grounds for many Of the
stories which told. There is less
abuse now than formerly Of the seed privi-
lege. Members from cities trade their
quota of seeds to country members for
other government distributions, generally
documents. Before the supply OF publi-
cation called 1.-THE Horse was exhausted
many members traded their seeds for this
valuable book and sent it to their city
I'll