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Wo arc pre-oinineutly a nation of fanners, and as such arc likely to remain for many 

 generations to come. Our temperate and stimulating climate, tiie variety of our soil, 

 aud the great diversity and range of latitude <and elevation, give us almost every cli- 

 mate and condition of temperature necessai'y for producing all the valuable plants 

 and fruits in the greatest abundance. The rural tastes of our people and the vast do- 

 main of territory yet uuopen to homestead occupancy combine to assure not only a 

 continuance but an increase in the interest hitherto manifested in agricultural pur- 

 suits. 



It is a source of regret that so few members of either House of Congress visit the 

 Department of Agriculture and examine its workings. The committee have derived 

 both pleasure and profit from visits to this Department. If members from agricultural 

 districts, without regard to their professions, would give this Department of the Gov- 

 ernment a small share of their time and attention, it would be a source of great en- 

 couragement to the officers of this Department, and very much lighten their labors. 



The extensive correspondence of this Department is strong proof of its importance 

 to the entire country. At this season of the year the letters received and answered 

 ■will average one thousand per day, and some days amount to two thousand, and even 

 three thousand, and yet, with this amount of work, the corresjiondence of the Depart- 

 ment is usually kept up to date. 



Not only as evidence of the importance of this branch of the public service, but as 

 proof that the Commissioner of Agriculture properly appreciates the great work in- 

 trnsted to his care, the following quotation is given from his last preliminary report to 

 the President, which will accompany his annual report for 1874, and which has ah'eady 

 been made to this House and ordered to be printed : 



" It gives me great pleasure to know that the operations of this Department for the 

 past year have served to awaken and greatly increase a spirit of improvement in the 

 agricultural interests of the country. A territory so extensive as ours, possessing 

 every variety of fertility and every diversity of climate which are congenial to the 

 productions of the earth, and with a population whose habits, manners, customs, en- 

 joyments, and wants ditfer as much as the climate in which they live or the countries 

 from which they come, requires a supervision which shall adapt itself as much as pos- 

 sible to an appreciation of their condition, meet their wants, and make that provision 

 for their necessities and improvement which their situation will not allow them to 

 make for themselves. The isolated situation of the farmers affords them few opportu- 

 nities of keeping step with the rapid march of the world's progress, and any aid which 

 can be given them by this Department is as strongly marked as it is highly appreci- 

 ated. For their benefit, it has been the jwovince of this Department to seek for the 

 best seeds which the world can supyly, to study their adaptation to the soil and climate 

 of the country, and to put them into the hands of those who will make them profita- 

 ble to the section where they respectively reside. When any discovery is made in 

 the method of cultivation or propagation, it is promptly communicated through the 

 medium of a monthly publication. Many persons, in this and other countries, are 

 constantly engaged in experiments to improve seeds and plants, as well as the discov- 

 ery of new methods for their cultivation, whereby the work of the farmer may be made 

 more profitable. These are anxiously watched and the results promptly communi- 

 cated, and, when successful, availed of by extensive distribution. The counsel, advice, 

 and information of the Department are cheerfully given to all persons who apply ou 

 any subject which pertains to the interests of agriculture." 



The principal means of communication between the Department of Agriculture and 

 the farmers of the country is the annual report of the Commissioner, This work con- 

 tains statistics of vital importance to the farming community, and its non-appearance 

 creates dissatisfaction among that large class engaged ex«lusively in the tillage of the 

 soil and other classes depenclent upon them for support. 



It is sincerely to be hoped that Congress will hereafter promptly provide for the 

 printing of the usual, if not a larger, number of copies of this valuable work. It is 

 only through its statistical division that reliable data can be obtained as to the condi- 

 tion, prospects, and results of the cereal, cotton, and other crops of the country. 



With from one to four correspondents in each county of almost every State and Ter- 

 ritory of the Union, the Department is enabled to furnish information of great value, 

 at stated periods of each mouth, as to the probable production of any given crop. The 

 returns from these correspondents are carefully studied, estimated, tabulated, and pub- 

 lished, not only for the benefit of the farmers, whose interest is paramount to all oth- 

 ers, but also for the benefit of the merchants and manufacturers who deal in the vari- 

 ous productions of the farm and garden. By this means legitimate parties are pro- 

 tected from the rapacity of the speculator, who deals most profitably upon fabricated 

 reports. 



So reliable has this information become that its effects upon the markets of the coun- 

 try are very perceptible by nearly all business men, and it has therefore been found 

 necessary, of late years, to carefully guard this information up to the hours of publica- 

 tion. These are current facts which appear in the monthly reports. 



