e4-



 Leadership of the Patent

 Office 1836-62



PRIOR to the agricultural appropriation of 1839, the govern-
ment had made several sporadic attempts to encourage plant im-
portation. In revising the tariff regulations in 1816, Congress per-
mitted foreign plants and trees to enter duty-free. Efforts were
made in 1822 to use the Mall, an area of 200 acres between the
Capitol and the Washington Monument, as an experimental farm
for propagating new seeds and plants. Dufour and Perrine had
received land grants to carry on their work, and a committee on
Agriculture was created in the House in 1820 and in the Senate in
1825.
 The grant of 1839, however, was the first significant Federal
achievement in the field of agriculture. It called for an appropri-
ation of $1,000 from the Patent Office funds to aid in collecting
and publishing agricultural statistics and for the collection and
distribution of seeds. Known as the Agricultural Division of the
Patent Office, the new bureau came under the jurisdiction of the
State Department. This work of handling new seeds and plants
was considered a function of the Patent Office because of the
department's concern with new discoveries and inventions.
 ELLSWORTH FAVORS PLAN
 Oliver Ellsworth, head of the Patent Office during this period,
was instrumental in securing the appropriation of 1839. In the
first Annual Report of 1837, Ellsworth recommended the establish-
ment of a "depository" for new varieties of seeds and plants until
they were distributed. Introductions brought in by the Navy had
often failed for the lack of a regular means of distributing plant
materials left with customs collectors. Although no immediate
action was taken by Congress, Ellsworth continued to receive and
 [38]