1 6 THE UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE 



that part of the population which was engaged in farming. 

 The pubHc land laws formed then, as they do now, a body 

 of legislation quite distinct from that which has later been 

 enacted directly in the interest of the agricultural class. 



The almost complete apathy of Congress, during the first 

 sixty years of our history, toward lending the aid of the 

 Government to the promotion of agriculture stands out in 

 marked contrast to the attitude of that body today. Such 

 an attitude is explainable only by the absence of any wide- 

 spread or organized demand for such legislation ; for no 

 doubt the congressman then, as now, had 'an ear to the 

 ground.' With a liberal public land policy, with an abun- 

 dance of virgin soil and with the raw products of agricul- 

 ture comparatively unimportant in domestic commerce, the 

 life of the man who desired to till the soil was a relatively 

 free and independent one during the first half of the nine- 

 teenth century. The period of * scientific agriculture ' had 

 not yet begun. 



However, if Congress was content during these early 

 years to let the business of the farmer follow its natural 

 course, or receive such aid as it might from the various 

 states and localities, there was another branch of the 

 federal government whose activities in this field were 

 destined to have a marked influence on the future course of 

 events. Following the example set by Franklin while he 

 was a representative of Pennsylvania in England, American 

 consuls, after the Revolution, adopted the practice of send- 

 ing home specimens of foreign seeds, plants and domestic 

 animals which might be used to enrich and diversify the 

 agricultural production of the United States. At first this 

 practice was largely cxtra-oflRcial, but later it was made a 

 part of the duty of these officers. For several years, there 

 does not appear to have been any regular agency designated 

 to receive and dispense these contributions. 



In 1836, Henry L. Ellsworth, then Commissioner of 

 Patents (at this time the Patent Office was in the Depart- 

 ment of State), assumed the responsibility, independent of 



