Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1902-03-19
CAPITAL CHAT.
86,4O0 Packages Of Seeds
Coming to Maine.
A Government Enterprise of Magni-
tude and Importance.
nominations Probable for the Eight
Maine Born Representatives.

Washington, March 1S.-(SpeciaD.-
Within the next three or four weeks
something like sc, 400 packages of vege-
table and flower seeds win find their
way into the State of Maine. The little
white slips, bearing the names of the
beneficiaries and also the name Of the
Maine senator or member of the House
sending the package, which is a frank
That allows the matter to go through
the mails free, will alone make bag
after bag Of heavy mail. Probably two
big freight cars would not begin to
hold all these seeds which will go to
every town and hamlet in the Pine Tree
State.
This is the largest quota of Congress
sional seeds that ever went to Maine
in any one year. Heretofore every
member of the House and every sena
tor has had about 5000 packages all told
Of garden seeds and vegetable seeds.
but Congress last year increased the
number to IA, 400 each, and that is the
number of packages which each of the
Maine senators and each of the four
members of the House will have. That
makes $1,000, which is nearly enough to
State. 1t is customary for city writer's
and city people to make fun of the gov
eminent seeds, which are the most
talked about and most abused of any
of the perquisites a Congressman re-
ceives. People like to laugh at such
gratuities and likewise to wag their
heads and say 1.-The seed is no good"
Such may be the case in some in
stances, but as a rule the seeds that
the agricultural department parcels out
to the Congressional districts of the
country are of the best varieties and
well worth experimenting with on the
farms. Great care-is exercised in Sc
lecting this seed and great care is also
exercised in sending the right varieties
to the right localities. The quantities
are sufficient to warrant one in trying
to get enough for a fair crop in two or
three years.
The flower seeds, of course, are pop
ular with the ladies and the new vari-
cites will bear experimenting with, not
only to beautify the front yard or o
choice corner in the garden, but to fur
nish excellent bouquets for the table
during the summer season or for glad
dening the appearance of the sitting
room. The vegetable seeds include
nearly every vegetable known in Maine,
including corn, peas, turnips, beets
beans and others too numerous to men
ton.
This is just the time when the Maine
members are busiest getting the seeds
disposed of. The Southern farmers
have already received their quotas be-
cause the crops are earlier in that vicin-
ity. The frost is all out of the ground,
the blowing is being done and the crops
before long will be sprouting But as
soon as that portion of the country is
attended to the clerks in the agricultural
department turn their attention to dis
patching the quota for the Northern
states, where the crops are later The
work of writing n,400 labels which falls
upon the clerk of every Maine member
and senator, is something tremendous.
To write 1000 names is no small task. OF
course some of the packages are sent il
bulk for distribution among friends and
neighborS but nevertheless a large num-
Der of labels must be written.
Senators and members see nothing Of
the seeds themselves. The names of the
beneficaries written on the franked
slips, as stated are forwarded to tha
agricultural department and from there
to the firms that have contracted to fur
nish the seeds. Thence they go out to
the thousands of people in Maine. who
will have an opportunity ere long to
plant the new varieties and determine
whether they are any Improvement over
the seeds they have been planting. 1t
probably will not be more than three
weeks before every postmaster in the
State will notice that the mail is swelling
and that the quantity of ranked matter
is increasing Members from the city dis
tricts care nothing for the quota of seeds
unless it be for the flower varieties, and
try to trade them with rural members in
return for documents and other Congress
sional perquistes. The Maine men, on
the contrary, want all the seeds allotted
to them for every man has several agri-
cultural counties in his district.
1t would be interesting to know how
much mail matter is carried into Maine
every day for which the government gets
no revenue Each of the Maine senators
and congressman receives large num-
Der of government publications on many
different subjects, all ofswhich are sent
to the libraries and to individuals over
the State that want them. These always
go under the congressman'S frank and cost
nothing for the sending from the moment
they are deposited in mail box here lii
Washington till they are put down in the
little postoffice in the Pine Tree State or
placed at the door of the ADDRESSED by
the mail carrier.
Then hundreds of letters written by the
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