18 REPORT OF THE COMMISSIONEK OF AGRICULTUEE. 



a premhim on educated labor where that commodity is scarce. A care- 

 ful examination of the wage-tables and of the price-list of breadstufls and 

 Ijrovisions in the differcDt sections of the country will enable laborers to 

 determine where toil is best rewarded, after deducting the cost of sub- 

 sistence. 



BOTANICAL DIVISION. 



The follow^ing ino[uiries concerning the botanical collection of this de- 

 I)artmentare sometimes made: What are they? What arc tlieir usesi 

 And what are their needs 1 



The botanical collections consist of i)repared specimens intended to 

 represent every species of plant, shrub, or tree growing in the United 

 States, and to some extent, also, the vegetable productions of other 

 countries. They include also definite and authentic specimens of our 

 forest woods and the more important fruits, cones, and seeds. The 

 foundation of this herbarium was laid by the numerous collections made 

 at different times by the government erpeditions, as the expedition to 

 Japan under Commodore Perry; the North and South Pacific exploring 

 expeditions, Commodore Wilkes' expedition, the Mexican boundary sur- 

 vey, and the Pacific Eailroad surveys. 



The botanical collections made by most of these expeditions, after being 

 liroperly investigated and described by those distinguished American 

 botanists. Doctors Torry and Gray, were deposited with the Smithsonian 

 Institution until the year 1869, when an arrangement was made between 

 the Secretary of that Institution and the Commissioner of Agriculture 

 by which the botanical collections were transferred to the Department 

 of Agriculture, and committed to the care of a properly-qualified bot- 

 anist connected with the department. 



This arrangement was entered into for two purposes: first, the Agri- 

 cultural Department needed the services of a botanist to give attention 

 to critical questions which were continually arising as to the nature and 

 qualities of certain plants which attracted the attention of agricultur- 

 ists in various parts of the country ; and, secondly, the large and im- 

 portant botanical collections of the Smithsonian Institution could not 

 be made practically useful without the employment for a number of 

 years of a competent botanist to arrange and classify them, and make 

 them available for piu-poses of study and reference. The opportunity 

 thus presented itself of uniting the practical vrants of the Department 

 of Agriculture with the interests of science and education as repre 

 sented by the Smithsonian Institution. 



Since the transfer above mentioned large additions have been made 

 by the recent government surveys, by some purchases, and by some 

 exchanges with foreign governments. The herbarium has been trans- 

 ferred to more commodious rooms, and many new cases have been pro- 

 vided, so that all the specimens are easy of access and measurably well 

 displayed. 



