Every evening, Wilmington daily commercial., 1920-02-21
A Battle Over Free Seed.
BY Frederic J. Haskin

| hOnored congressional custom OF wiuf1ipI
the voters approval by generous dona
tions Of free aecd hung trembling in th'
balance this week when the .rrepressibl'
Mr.. Blanton Of Tcxns opened fire on th'
100000 seed item In the agriculture
appropriation bill.
The gentleman from Texas charged that
his honorable colleagues were hImbuggIns
their constituents by sending them ths
seed as gift, when in reality they were
being paid for by taxes and the increased
cost Of living.
The farmers of this country" he shout
cd, would rather have their taxes cut
than 10 receive o fifteen cent package of
seed, that they don't want and can't
use, from their senator or congressman.
For few minutes il looked as though
the seeds were doomed but when the rotl
call was taken, at Mr.. Blantou's request,
enough votes were mustered 90 defeat the
amendment striking the item from the
appropriation bill, The vote stood $50 20
II, some seventy Of Mr. Blantons fellow
congressman voting with him, probably
for the first time IN their lives.
RACK YARD GARDENERS.
Colleagues Of the Texas congressman
| declare in rebuttal Of his argument that
/ the farmers arc not the ones most benefit
| ed by the seed distribution, the greater
| number Of the packages going 10 the back
! yard gardener who can not purchase his
| seed in the bulk the farmer finds neces-
| sary. and at the price at which the farmer
| is able TO obtain them.
| They declared that the seeds only cost
| the United States government a trihc
over three and a half cents o package,
| including the cost Of purchasing them,
putting them in packages and mailing
them to various points throughout the
country, excluding only the cost Of the
extra clerks the senator or congressman
must employ 10 address the franks. The
same grade Of seed, If purchased by the
gardener or smell farmer, would cost him
about twenty-five cents a package, snd
even then he would not be sure that he
was securing the same grade Of fseed furnish
cd by the government.
The seeds, il was stated, are the best
that can be purchased IN the United
States, and, before their distribution, are
thoroughly tested and examined by
government experts for their purity and
vitality.
Members Of the House stated that not
infrequently the seed is sent to those,
who but for the free distribution Mr.
Blanton objected to- would not utilize
the small amount of ground at their
command, thus increasing If only in a
slight degree the food production of the
country, and reducing the cost OF living
for the amateur aPriculturist.
A congressman from the heart Of New
York City, where the majority Of the
voters means are extremely limited
declared that he could use every package
of the I8, 900 allotted to him, and twice
las h. aa..lsf
MANY Of my people, he said, "are too
poor 10 afford even the twenty-five
cents 10 purchase similar seeds, but when
they receive the stuff free are able to grow
the few fresh vegetables their tables pro-
vide during the summer, and sometimes
are able to put up few cans for winter.
Their contention that 10 Is the back
yard and window box gardener who uses
the government seed is borne out by the
fact that the kinds Of seeds for which
there are the greatest demands are those
grown IN small gardens, such as peas,
beans, corn, lettuce and radishes. Tona-
toes, too, have their vogue, but are not
as popular as the other five. IL viii be
noticed that Of the FIVE, three are staples
and two are what are known as appe-
Tiers"
The late Tim Sullivan, of New York,
once wrote 10 the head of the bureau
Of plant industry, and requested that his
entire allotment be composed of beans.
''My constituents" he said, ''seem to
ike them above all other things. They
must live on beans. Every letter [ get
asks for several packages, and if | sent
all that are requested, the whole city
Of New York would be feastIng on beans
for the next five years"
IN no i0u aznh zanafor and
congressman Is allotted eighteen thousand
packages of vegetable and two thousand
of flower seed, but many OF them ask
that their flower allotment be changed to
vegetables, which is done if the supply
at the bureau Of plant industry will
permit.
SIXTY MILLION PACKETS.
The very few congressman who do not
use their entire allotment are besieged by
requests from their colleagues that their
extra supply be turned over TO them.
Some members of both Houses, however.
have other means of securing an extra
supply. which they refuse TO divlllge for
fear others will learn their methods snd |
initiate them.
Each Of the $4,000 packages the SEN
ators and congressman receives contains !
five small packets of seed, such SIS are /
on sale in grocery stores and seed houses. /
This year the entire output Of the depart +
ment was over 100000 packages, each /
five packets, bringing the /
total up to 60,000000 packets
Last year the output wac some millions /
short, each senator and congressman re- /
ceiving only 1900 packages of vege-
tables, and 1000 of flowers, but the de
mand was so great, and the number of
their constituents who were disappointed /
in not obtaining any of the seed was so
large that the appropriation -for the pur-
chasing and handling of the supply was
increased to the present figures
The increased demand, the members
believe, was partly due TO the extensive
the Food Administration
carried on, encouraging the people to
the food supply of the country
rs well as to preserve it. Persons living
in apartment houses grew their fresh
in window boxes, and those
having any ground at all. even the tiniest
Of plots, felt it their patriotic duty to put
this ground under cultivation and produce
all the food stuff they possible could.
Having grown their few bits of vege-
tables the window box farmers found that
a few fresh radishes, or an occasional head
IF criSD lettuce made a very aecapta BILE