REPORT OF CHIEF OF SEED DIVISION. 



SiE : The distribution of seeds in accordance with the act of Congress, 

 May 15, 1862, establishing the Department of Agriculture, has grown 

 to be a business of the greatest practical importance to the agriculture 

 of the nation. Prior to January 1, 18G3, there were distributed to mem- 

 bers of Congress and other persons throughout the Union 300,304 pack- 

 ages of garden and field seeds. Since that time, the number which has 

 been sent out annually has gradually increased, so that the amount 

 aggregated last year nearly 4,000,000 packages. The seeds, which are 

 annually purchased by the Commissioner of the most reliable seedsmen 

 and growers of seed throughout this and foreign countries, are, after 

 being carefully tested, put up in small packages under the immediate 

 supervision of the superintendent of the seed division, and are then 

 subject to the distribution authorized by act of Congress. 



The amount appropriated for the purchase and distribution of seeds 

 and plants for the fiscal year ending June 30, 1885, was $100,000. Large 

 as this amount may seem to the casual reader, it is not suflBcient to 

 properly remunerate the statistical correspondents, were a fair price 

 allowed them for the labor they perform. The Agricultural Depart- 

 ment has a principal crop correspondent with three assistants in every 

 county, and a general statistical agent in each State. The number of 

 packages sent to the county correspondents during the fiscal year 

 already referred to was 412,609, while the State correspondents received 

 104,281. A careful record is kept in the offices of the chief clerk and of 

 the chief of the seed division of each package, when, and to whom 

 mailed. The present law in regard to the method of distribution re- 

 quires that " an equal proportion of two-thirds of all the seeds, plants, 

 and cuttings shall, upon the request of Senators and Eepresentatives 

 and Delegates in Congress, be supplied to them for distribution among 

 their agricultural constituents, and the person receiving such seed shall 

 inform the Department of the results of their experiments therewith." 

 In my opinion, no seeds ought to be distributed where the object is to 

 have them tested without requiring a written report from the person 

 receiving them. I would earnestly recommend, where special reports 

 are desired, that the seeds and plants be distributed in sufficient quan- 

 tities to enable the recipients to make a thorough test of their value; 

 and where seeds are sent with the view of having such tests made, 

 they should be sent to the most intelligent, painstaking farmers, who 

 not only know how to observe facts, but how to keep a correct record 

 of them. 



The leading objects of the governmental distribution of garden, field, 

 forage, and other plants may be briefly summarized as follows : 



1. To test the merits of new and valuable plants in different localities 

 and soils. 



2. To thereby increase the annual average yield by the use of well- 

 bred, fully ripened, perfect seed. 



3. To promote the best interests of all classes, in whatever industrial 



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