6 



DISTRIBUTION OF- SEEDS AXD PLANTS. 



VEGETABLE AND FLOWER SEEDS. 



The most prominent feature of this distribution for several years, 

 in fact since ISOO. has been the purchase and distribution of standard 

 varieties of vegetable and flower seeds, which alone can be secured in 

 sufficient quantities to meet the requirements of the law. The cjuota 

 of each of the 487 Senators, Members, and Delegates in Congress for 

 the past three years has been 20,000 packages of vegetable and 2,000 

 packages of flower seed, each package consisting of five packets con- 

 taining different kinds of seed. The Secretary's quota for distribu- 

 tion direct to miscellaneous applicants, including State agricultural 

 experiment stations, schools, hospitals, army posts, crop reporters, co- 

 operators, and American citizens in foreign countries, was 1.000.000 

 packages of vegetable and 150.000 packages of flower seeds. Pro- 

 vision was also made whereby Members of Congress could exchange 

 their vegetable seed for an equal number of flower-seed packets, or 

 vice versa, to enable them to adjust their quotas to the demands of 

 their constituents. The number of packets provided in the last dis- 

 tribution, which began December 2, 1911, and ended April 19, 1912, 

 was 51,138,240 packets of vegetable seed and 12,226,315 packets of 

 flower seed, or a total of 63,364,555 packets. The kinds and quantities 

 of seed included in this distribution are shown in Table I. 



Table I. — Vcfjctdhlc and flower seeds distributed in the year 1911-12. 



Vegetable seeds. 



Flower seeds. 



Kind. 



Bean (pole) 



Beet 



Brussels sprouts 



Carrot 



Collards 



Com 



Cucumber 



Endive 



Kale 



Kohl-rabi 



Lettuce 



Muskmelon 



Okra 



Onion 



Parsley 



Parsnip 



Pea 



Radish 



Squash 



Tomato 



Turnip 



Watermelon 



Number 

 of va- 

 rieties. 



3 

 5 

 1 

 6 

 3 

 3 

 1 

 2 

 8 

 7 

 3 

 4 

 2 

 2 

 9 



12 

 3 

 8 

 6 



20 



Quan- 

 tity. 



Pounds. 

 25,070 

 25,699 



3,740 

 19,450 



7,495 



325,472 



11,259 



8,383 



4,008 



1,832 

 73,043 

 22, 890 



9,094 

 20.512 



5,. 305 



10, 482 



174, 600 



132,330 



7,500 

 14,215 

 25,945 

 19, 155 



Kind. 



Ageratum 



Antirrhinum 



Aster 



Balsam 



Calendula 



Cand.vtuft 



Castor bean 



Celosia 



Cosmos 



Dianthus 



Eschsoholtzia 



Kochia 



Mignonette 



Morning-glory, dwarf 

 Morning-glory, tall . . . 



Nasturtium, tall 



Pansy 



Petunia 



Poppy, double 



Poppy, single 



Portulaca 



Sweet pea 



Zinnia 



Quan- 

 tity. 



Pounds. 



5 



.354 



168 



378 



1,780 



2,052 



100 



8 



1,181 



807 



580 



1.427 



1,798 



447 



3,425 



11,572 



124 



158 



1,407 



1,172 



349 



17,000 



1,608 



The total weight of the vegetable and flower seeds alone was 

 994,116 pounds, or over 497 tons, enough to fill 20 freight cars. 



[Cir. 100] 



