Evening star., 1922-03-19


~ 900 will be grown from loo,-
900 packages Of vegetable
seeds and 10000 packages Of flower
seeds which are being sent out from
Washington by each and every one Of
the S6 senator's and 435 members Of
the House, under 1s,eoo.00o franks
tfree postage) to home gardeners in
every state in the Union
And aside from questions Of policy
regarding this often-called seed
graft" which causes an annual scrap
and a yearly crop OF deristve Jokes.
there is an interesting ghuman-interest
story behind this congressional dis
tribution of free seeds-the origin
Of the custom, which gave birth to
the present Department Of Agricul-
ture: the field and laboratory Job OF
testing all these seeds, the physical
task Of putting them into packages
and preparing them for postage. the
fact that in some instances they are
the only contact between men In the
mountains and their government, the
letters from people who have derived
pleasure and profit from these seeds
even the story of the historic build
ing which Is used as the government
seedhouse." on the main thorough
fare of the National Capital.
This Is Congress seed season;
doubly SO, for the question Of con-
tinuing for the fiscal year OF 1928 the
annual appropriation Of $360.oo0 is
now under consideration. and within
the next two weeks the time expires
for members Of Congress to complete
the considerable task Of writing
names and addresses on the 100000
franks or postage-free slips which
will carry the seeds everywhere
throughout this country.
"A THOUGH the purchase and dis
ment. which began in 1889. laid the
foundation for the establishment Of
the Department of Agriculture as 1t
exists today, for some years now 1t
has been the policy of the department
eo oppose this particular appropria-,
tion. on the grounds that the money
can be better spent on procuring new
and rare seeds and cuttings, from for
eign countries-which activity by
agricultural explorers has been pre-
viously described In The Sunday Star.
So the Department Of Agriculture
has acquired the habit Of leaving out
this item from its budget estimates
ft,vf VI In.
serts 1t. according to time-honored
custom and to meet the requests that
come in a veritable flood Of letters
asking for free seeds. That's what
the House has just done-inserted
again in the agricultural appropria-.
zion bill for the fiscal year starting
July 1 next an item Of $360,000 for.
tree seeds for congressional distribu-1
Zion. 1t IL a foregone -conclusion that
che Senate will approve this amend
Gent.
Now let's look over the historical
background for this annual graft"
The purchase Of seeds and plants by
the government may be said to date
back to colonial days. AS early as
l743 the British parliament granted
$500. 900 to promote the cultivation
Of indigo and other crops In the
American colonies, and the assem-
blies of the various colonies appro-
priated small sums from time to time
to encourage the cultivation OF
plants new to the country, such as
hops in Virginia, mulberry trees for
silk culture in Georgia and vineyards
for the establishment Of an American
wine industry, lately Volsteaded out
Of existence in this country or at.
least driven under cover.
Our greatest patriots contributed
active assistance to furthering this
announcement to food production.
Franklin, while in England as agent
for Pennsylvania, sent home silk
worm eggs and mulberry cuttings.
Thomas Jefferson, during the five
years he represented this country
as minister to- France (17s4-17Ss),
forwarded numerous seed samples to
.ahe home country. Other representa-
eives Of this country during early
days followed these notable examples
until. during the administration OF
John Quincy Adams, instructions
were given to all United States con-
suls to forward plants and seeds to
Washington for distribution.
NOTWITHSTANDING these efforts
to introduce new seeds and
-J.,,s rnanv variefies Of fruits and