4 DISTRIBUTIOISr OF SEEDS AND PLANTS. 



organized at Charleston (1T84:), New York (1785), Philadelphia 

 (1791), Boston (1792), and Washington (1809). 



In 1839, through the efforts of Hon. Henry L. Ellsworth, Commis- 

 sioner of Patents, an appropriation of $1,000 was made for the pur- 

 pose of collecting and distributing seeds, prosecuting agricultural in- 

 vestigations, and procuring agricultural statistics, with wdiich 30,000 

 packages of seeds Avere purchased and distributed. This appropria- 

 tion marks the beginning of our present Department of Agriculture. 

 Similar appropriations continued to be made, increasing in amount 

 from year to year as the importance and value of the work came to 

 be recognized, but prior to 18G5 the appropriations were always for 

 the combined purposes of purchasing seeds and collecting statistics, 

 so that the actual amount expended for seeds alone can not be de- 

 termined. From 1839 to 18G2 the work was handled by a small force 

 of clerks in the Patent Office, but in 18G2 it was transferred to 

 the newly created Department of Agriculture. For 40 years there- 

 after the work was carried on by a group of employees known as 

 the " Seed Division," until 1901-2, when various affiliated but hitherto 

 independent branches of the Department were brought together to 

 form the present Bureau of Plant Industry. During the period of 

 72 years from 1839, when the first appropriation of $1,000 was made, 

 to 1911, when $289,G80 was appropriated, the quantity of seed dis- 

 tributee! has steadily increased and the methods of handling it have 

 undergone many changes. 



OBJECT OF THE DISTRIBUTION. 



The law under which the Department of Agriculture was organized 

 provides — 



Tliere shall l)e at tlio seat of Govenunont a Dejiartnient of Agriciiltiu-p. llie 

 general design and duties of wliicli sLiall be to acquire and diffuse among tlie 

 (peoiDle of the United States useful information on subjects connected with agri- 

 culture in the most general and comprehensive sense of that word and to pro- 

 (■iirc. proixKjdtc. tind (listiihtitc among the people new and vahiahlc needs and 

 plants. (Sec. 520, R. S.) 



There can 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 varieties of vegetables, fruits, flowering 

 plants, and new crops in order to increase the horticultural and agri- 

 cultural products of the United States, and for many years attempts 

 were made to confine the distribution to new varieties of vegetables, 

 grains, sorghums, and fruits. The distribution of such seeds has 

 undoubtedly left a decided impression upon the agriculture of this 

 country. As the demand for the new seeds and plants introduced by 

 the Department increased, however, such demand very naturally 

 found expression in requests made to Senators, Representatives, and 



[Cir. 100] 



