, 1922-06-08

and the price paid. This is "a straight official let
ter.
congressman are coming more and more to send
their quotas of seeds out. not to the voting lists
in their districts but to the school children, to
civic organizations. chambers of commerce, banks.
and factories for workmen. and a great deal to
miners.
with the department opposed to the congression-
III SEED distribution. and with congress habitually
TOR 1t, Oliver II. Jones, originally from Cincinnati
who is in active charge of this work. has had an
unenviable Job as. buffer between the department
ana congress for about twenty years. He prob
ABLY knows all the members of congress more in
tlmately than any other man I'm Washington. he
cause he is calling upon them In their offices every
day in the year. AT present he is getting more
thah 2oo telephone calls a day from them, dictates
ABOUT lO letters a day to them, and has 20 or 30
of them calling on him in his office each day.
The seed distribution Is conducted under the
bureau of plant industry, of which DR. William A
Taylor Is chief. II. A. Oakley and J. T.. w. Tracy
purchase under contract all the seed that enters
INTO the congressional distribution and supervise
the mechanical and physical work of filling the
packages and mailing them. Mr.. Tracy is in
charge of the seed warehouse, located at $50 Penn
sylvania avenue. which Is not ut all modern, well
ventilated or lighted. This building was erected
In 1884 and was the scene of receptions. banquets
and inaugural balls for Andrew jackson, Martin
Van Buren, and Abraham Lincoln. This is not a
government-owned building. but has been rented
by the department and used as a seed warehouse
for about ten years.
The filling OF the orders Of congressman is an
interesting part of the free-seed distribution. The
members supply their franks in sheets of ten.
They are cut up into single slips and counted into
bundles by expert counters from the bureau of
engraving and printing. AS a member sends In
an order n blue slip is made out calling upon the
seed warehouse TO deliver that quantity. and this
is accompanied by the corresponding number of
franks, The seed packages are either sent to the
office of the member OF congress, II the franks are
not addressed. or are mailed out directly from
the seed warehouse II they are addressed.
These franks are now coming In at the rate OF
aOO.OOO or 100000 n day. Each member is entitled
to 10000 packages of vegetable seeds and 1000
packages Of flower seeds. AS each OF these pack
ages contains FIVE small papers of seeds. 1t really
means that 10000 pnpers Of seeds are sent out
by each member of the senate aud house.
The way In which these seeds are first put into
the small papers and sealed and then put one each
OF five different kinds into n hrger pncknge and
senIed. with the members frank pasted on each
package for direct mailing. Is an interesting part
OF the congressional distribution system. This
is done by contract, and this year II new contract
or Is IN the job. Frank Clarke OF Waco. Tex. who
hns speeded up the work by devising n new gluing
machine.
The seed envelopes are filled by machinery.
which automatically weighs the contents Of each
envelope. Two girls work at one of these ma
chimes. one filling and the other sealing the little
envelopes on "a revolving belt. Filling and sealing
$4,000 of these little envelopes Is considered IA good
days work. The girls get piecework over 10000
a DIS.
other girls sit mt big tables pasting the congress
slonnl franks onto the coninlner on which are
printed the nuines OF the five varieties OF vege-
tnbies or flowers that are to be placed within. A
belt carrier runs beside huge bins into which the
small packages OF seed have been dumped. As
the rirls finish FASTING the franks on the big en-
velopes they are carried. one at n time, along this
travelling belt roadway and In front OF a HIN at
regular Intervals are girls. each OF whom slips In
n small envelope. and the contniner proceeds to
an inspector and then past another girl. who seals
up the package by machinery.