CHAPTER VI 



Conclusions 



From the time of its establishment as an administrative 

 unit of the first rank in 1889 to the fiscal year 1917, the 

 Department of Agriculture enjoyed a more rapid com- 

 parative growth, both in the amount of its appropriations 

 and in the number of its personnel, than any other of the 

 executive departments. Some effort has been made in the 

 foregoing chapters to give an idea of the scope and mul- 

 tiplicity of its present activities. During the past few years, 

 the writer has been frequently surprised to find how 'little 

 is popularly known concerning the work of this great insti- 

 tution, which by the very nature of its duties and functions, 

 should be the most popular of all the governmental depart- 

 ments. Contrary to the prevalent opinion, the activities of 

 the Department of Agriculture are by no means limited to 

 the protection or promotion of the interests of any one class 

 or of any one industry. 



The primary purpose of this study, however, has been to 

 describe in some detail and to examine the organization, and 

 administrative methods of this institution of government 

 as an instrument or machine for making efTective the ex- 

 pressed will of the representatives of the people. The value 

 of the various measures, with whose enforcement it is 

 charged, is a question not here considered. 



Numerous and diverse as are the functions of the Depart- 

 ment of Agriculture, they arc still more nearly homogeneous 

 in character than are those of most of the executive depart- 

 ments. As previously indicated, this has made possible a 

 relatively simple organization. The reorganization effected 

 in 191 5, while disturbing only slightly tiie previous structure, 

 secured a much more logical and ciYcctive grouping of the 



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