Evening star., 1912-09-29

seeds being tested after harvest.
The vegetable seeds. used by the depart-
| ment are mostly grown in this country
/ Formerly the seed-produc-
| EurODean ing section of this country
| was within 100 miles of
oo"A'0S' New York city, but the last
| fifty years the territory has spread to
| include practically the entire United
States Lettuce and radishes. the two
largest items. are grown in California.
which leads the world in their produc-
ton. The majority of flower seeds come
| from Europe, especially France and Ger
| many, and from northern Africa, where
they can be produced at less expense
than in this country.
Seeds, upon acceptance, are shipped into
Washington during the late fall and WIN
ter months. where they are packeted, as
! sembled and mailed by contract. The
packeting is done by machines, which
automatically measure the exact quantity
required for packet, seal the packets and
drop them into hoppers, which lead to
bins on the floor below. Each machine
will put up from 5000 to $4,000 packets
of seed a day. and twenty machlnes are
used. Consequently, from December ID to
April Ii, the period they are in opera ton,
i they are steadily turning out about LOO
packets a minute.
The five packets containing the differ
ent kinds of seed which go to make up
combination are then assembled in ad-
dressed envelopes. which are called pack
ages. by operators who sit before endless
moving belts in front of the seed bins,
each operator handling only one kind of
seed When the envelopes reach the
end of the belt they pass through ma
chimes which automatically seal them at
the rate of 10000 day. The seed ware
house is equipped with four of these
belts and four sealing machines. making
the daily output about 10000 packages,
or about 80 a minute. Under the old
i.process the seeds were put into the
packets with spoons by a large force of
girls employed each winter.
The term seed distribution also covers
a certain number of plants as well. For
example. about 10000
Plants strawberry plants are
annually distributed
niSo. about 24O0O grapevines
and 3GCO citrous plants Dutch bulbs
are also included. One of the most valu-
able features is the sending out of i'm
pl owed seed the intention being to inn
prove the present condition of the crop
Improved cotton seed is an example OF
which 1J.GD packages are sent out each
year. OF tobacco seed there are twenty
four varieties distributed, a factor re-
sponsible for the Improvement OF the to-
bacco crop. Another popular feature Is
the distribution of grass seed, of which
about 20HO packages are sent out an
nualy. The list of seeds distributed in
cludes several other kinds. of which ''im-
proved" seeds are sent out
Seed distribution was the first step to-
ward the organization of the Department
of Agriculture Therefore it is but nat
ural that the law under which the de-
partment was organized should place con-
siderab BILE importance on this phase of the
matter That such was the case is shown
by the provision stating that one of the
duties shall be TO procure. propagate and
distribute among the people new and
valuable seeds and plants. In speaking
of this provision, B. r Galloway. chief of
the bureau OF plant industry, said there
could be no doubt that the purpose of the
earlier legislation for the purchase and
distribution of seeds was to introduce
into this country new and improved va
rieties of vegetables fruits. howering
plants and new crops in order to increasc
the horticultural and agricultural prod
ucts of the United States.
X
For many years." said DIR. Galloway,
attempts were made to confine the dis
tribution to new yare-
Growth OF ties of V e a b S,
grains, sorghums and
'Ae o"S'on. fruits. The distribution
of such seeds has undoubtedly left
decided impression upon the agriculture
of this country. But the demand for
the new seeds and plants introduced by
the department increased, such demands
very naturally found expression In re-
quests made to senators, representatives
and delegates in Congress, and the num-
ber of these requests soon became so
great that it Impossible to fill
them with strictly new varieties of
seeds. The practice of sending out
larger and larger quantities of vegetable
seeds thus developed. These seeds, while
in no wise new, We're useful in the new
communities to which they were largely
sent.
During the years from 1889 to 1893
practically the entire seed appropria-
ton was expended for standard varie-
ties of vegetable and flower seeds. In
1894 a change was advocated and ac-
ton was taken to discontinue the GUS
tomary distribution. This action was
not approved by Congress, and in 1896
the wording of the previous act was
changed. The new provision, when
sent to the Attorney General for de-
cision. was held to be mandatory in re-
gard to the distribution of seeds, and
instead of leaving it to the discretion
'of the Secretary of Agriculture, as be-
fore. it was now compulsory"
The enthusiasm which annually greets
TINS dlStrlDutlOn OF Tree SeeuS can OIly
be fully realized by those closely con-
nected with their distribution. AS the
time for the distribution draws near
the mail of the senators and repre-
sentatives begins to increase and re-
quests flood their offices. These are
transformed into stereotyped requis
tions upon the department. sometimes
the senator or representative will send
his franks already addressed. but more
often that part of the work as well is
left to the Department of Agriculture.
A fairly large proportion of the re-
quests, however, are sent direct to the
Department of Agri-
Urgent culture, and it is this
class of mail which
no4uoS'S' really shows the pOpu
larity of the custom. Dirty postal
cards, written in cramped style and
hardly readable; the quaint wording
and spelling of an alien who asks that
The Most Honable, Mr.. Secatery please
sent some Seeds" and the jocose familiar
ity of the farmer who ScraWlingly asks
Dear Uncle Jimmy" to forward seeds
at once: all these come in an ever
increasing stream. Sometimes, after the
lapse of but d few days. a postal will
be received containing the petulant
query of some farmer who wants to
know why them seeds amt come yit?"
who fails to realize that he is but one
among thousands after the same thing.
ton is constantly going on, from the
~, ctrhf tod ,<yh h.i