CONGRESSIONAL RECORD-SENATE. APRIL 10, Avenues in Which to Exert Himself in Order to Prosper Individually Farmers of Every Other Section

2338 CONGRESSIONAL RECORD-SENATE. APRIL 10, avenues in which to exert himself in order to prosper individually farmers of every other section. The leading products of ea.ch State are and benefit mankind, then we should have the manliness to say so, known to us all at present, but the tendency to abanrlon one branch an<.l not continue this Department in such a sickly condiltion that it of agriculture and gradually adopt another by some States is -of (?reat cannot work efficiently. interest to all. The agriculturists are the most prosperous of our We need apple-trees for the Northwest that will stand our cold win people to-da.y, their efforts crea.te most of our exports, and briug ters. Six years ago the Department imported a collection, number back money to pay the interest on our public debt; many of our iug two hundre<l and forty-five varieties, from St. Petersburg for the other industries are prostrate. purpose of increasing the list of hardy trees adapted to extreme north It is not the time to strike a.t our grea.test industry. The farmers ern climates. .Already the value of this importation is beincr felt; of the country have had liberal attention since the republican party localities in which the common apple-trees of the country could not came into power in 1tl60. If this democratic House checks the efforts live are bein~ furnished with fruit-trees that are not affected by any of the Government to communicate information to the men who toil degree of cola. in the fields, it will be remembered tha.t they poll half the votes on The practicability of growing and manufacturing tea is now known election. day. I sa.y not a word against reducing the salaries of the to be of reasonable expectation, in competition with countries where employes, but I do protest against cutting off the monthly report and labor is cheap, as much can be improved upon in regard to modes of the necessary help to carry on the Department. preparation; the ingenuity of our people will apply ma{}hinery to the And then, on motion of .Mr. WILSON, of Iowa, (at four o'clock and preparation. Foreign manufacturers in China are demonstrating this five minutes p. m.,) the House adjourned. by superseding hand-labor with machinery. The Department has over five thousand plants ready for distribution, a~d h38 been send ing out three thousand annually. We paid $22,6G4,840.7tl last year· • PETITIONS, ETC. for tea. The following memorials, petitions, and other papers were presented . Some years ago a valuable collection of oran~ and lemon trees at the Clerk's desk under the rule, and referred as stated: were imported after being carefully selected in ~urope. These are By Mr. HAMILTON, of New Jersey: The petition of citizens of now being propagated and distributed. Scarcely a day passes that a Hunterdon County, New Jersey, against any reduction of the tariff, box of these plants is not sent out. The work of propagation is slow. to the Committee of Ways and .Means. There are several thousand young plants under way at present. They By Mr. HOPKINS : The petition of 191 business men of Pittsburgh, require several years between stock and scion. The amount we ap Pennsylvanla, for the regulation of commerce and for the prohibition propriate for Jabor mea~ures the number propagated; the amount Of discrimination by common carriers, to the Committee on Commerce. produced is equal in value to the labor expended. The introduction By Mr. JENKS: The petition of George. Hayes, for an increase of of the best varieties is largely due to the Department of Agriculture. pension, to the Committee on Invalid Pensions. The far-famed Bahia orange was introduced by the Department after By :Mr. LUTTRELL: Papers relating to the claim of Battelle & much trouble. Several hundred are · being distributed this spring. Evans, for beef furnished the United States Army, to the Committee We paid $3,178,872last yeat for orancres and lemons. of Claims. Superior Chinese bananas that sell higher than the West India va By Mr. RANDALL: The petition of employes iu the Bureau of En riety have been introduced by the Department that produce more per graving and Printing, for one month's additional pay upon their dis acre and at an e.arlier age. We paid $:338,2'29.97 for imported ba- charge, to the Committee on Appropriations. nanas last year. · The Department propagates olives, for which we paid $48,223.49. They make a specialty of hybridizing, propagating, and distributing new and valuable grape-vines, for the fruit of which, as raisins, green grapes, pulp-juice, &c., we paid a million dollars-last year. IN SENATE. The basket-willow will grow in every swamp in the country, and in many swamps where nothing else will flourish. The Department has MONDAY, April 10, 1876. been at work for years propagating and distributing the be~t varie ties. There are two hundred distinct varieties, and skilled botanists Prayer by the Chaplain, Rev. BYRON SUNDERLAND, D. D: are required to select the best and most useful, not only for basket The Journal of the proceedings of Thursday last was read aud making but for the purpose ·of inducing verdure on the t reeless plains approved. of the \Vest, and for fencing and other purposes. We pay $80~,236.44 PETITIONS .U.'D M.El\:IORIALB. a year for willow and wilJow-ware. Mr. WINDOM. I present the petition of a mass meeting held at Great apprehension has existed during the last few years in conse Winona, Minnesota, signed by T. J. Slavin, p1·esident, and James T. quence of the devastations of insects. The potato crop has been Bowditch, secretary, reciting that- threatened by the potato-bull', and vast territory devasted by the grass Whereas Edward O'Meagher Condon, a citizen of the United States and a soldier hopper. The black locust, whlch was considered the mostvaluabletree of the late war, is now undergoing a. life sentence in a British prison for a crime of for economic purposes, was easily grown from t.he seed, and was valu which there is ample proof he never was guilty; and whereas said sente11ce was passed upon and conviction obtained upon the e>idence of perjured witnesses; O.D(l able for fuel and all farm purposes, has been within a few years liter whereas the said Edward O'Meagher Condon has for the last ten years been made ally swept from the face of the whole Northwest, where it occupied the associate of the lowest order of criminals ; and whereas there has never bmm thousands of acres, by an insect that no one had seen before nor knew any successful interference on the part of our Government to obtain his release : anything about. The natural history of these pests must.be studied Therefore, · Be it resolved, That the citizens of Winona, in mass meeting assembled, do peti by some entomologist, and the D~partment employs a man in that tion Congress that such steps may be taken as shall lead to a. thorouglt investiga capacity. It is impossible to estimate the amount of loss to the hus tion into the facts of this ca~e. and that the United States demand of En~land the bandman caused by insects. Their ravages are not confined to States, unconditional sonender of the said Condon, or at lt!aat secure for him a fair aml but are co-extensive with the nation. impartial trial as speedily as possible. The microscopist has also been of vast service since his appoint I move the reference of the petition to the Committee on Foreign ment was made. His advice to cra.uberry-growers, showing the ori Relations. · gin and progress of the rot in the berry which had caused losses in a The motion was agreed to. single county of many thousand dollars, was conceded to be of the Mr. FRELINGHUYSEN. I present a petition of workingmen of greatest value, aud is an illustration of the value of the division. the county of Hunterdon, New Jersey, praying that Congress may It is now well understood that fungoid growths are connec~ed with leave the tariff laws undist.urbed for the present, and that when any nearly all the diseases of plants and fruits; a vast number a1·e due to alteration is made they will take counsel of the workingmen of the fungi alone. In this class of investigations discovery of the true country rat.her than of the enemies of our industries and commerce. cause of a disease is very often .equivalent to its eradication, and I move its reference to the Committee on Finance. without the aid of an intelligent observer of microscopic objects it The motion was agreed to. would be simply impossible to reach proper conclusions with regard Mr. FRELINGHUYSEN. I present a like petition of workingmen to the nature and extent of plant diseases. of Mercer County, New Jersey; which I move be referred to the The every-day work of the Department includes answers to in Committee on Finance. quiries upon almost every conceivable subject connected wit.h the The motion was agreed to. farm and the orchard, and I venture to assert that the advice given Mr. MAXEY. I present the petition of Franklin Round, late ser and suggestions made, even through the daily correspondence, would geant Seventh United States Infantry, and ordnance sergeant of the be no mean return for the cost of the Department. United States Army, praying to be allowed a pension.

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