Leadership of the Patent Office


because "great diversities of heat and cold, ardity and moisture,
desolation and extreme productiveness, these very contrasts open
up a wide field for scientific investigations, to ascertain what crops
and modes of culture are best adapted to all these diversities."
The commissioners also urged that the vitality and productivity
of plants propagated by buds or cuttings should constantly be
increased by the dissemination of new seed stocks.
 Foreign Seed Buyers-Among those plants commanding the
interest of the Patent Office, tea and the Chinese sugar cane
received the greatest emphasis. An agent of the office went to
Europe in the fall of 1854 to procure seeds of grains, grasses, and
leguminous plants direct from the growers. At the same time, the
dissemination of choice varieties found within the United States
was not neglected.
 D. J. Browne, agricultural expert, made two trips to Europe to
procure seeds from reliable sources, and spent large sums of money
with the principal foreign seed establishments. This buying pro-
gram was severely criticized by dealers in America, and a Senate
committee's investigation followed. Browne's activities were above
criticism, however, and his work in Europe makes him our first
accredited agricultural explorer.
 As in earlier years, considerable attention was directed to viti-
culture in conjunction with experiments to promote a domestic
wine industry. Temperance, the argument ran, would be encour-
aged by substituting wine consumption for distilled and "fac-
titious" liquors. An assemblage of citizens from most of the states
and territories met at the Patent Office on January 3, 1859. They
supported the program, and resolved themselves into an "Advisory
Board of Agriculture of the Patent Office."
 New Plants From Asia-The vast vegetable resources of eastern
Asia received much attention during the nineteenth century as
sources of new plants for America. In 1856 the minister to China
was requested to procure seeds and plants up to the value of
$1,000. The similarity of the climate of the eastern United States
and regions of Central Asia led the commissioner to believe
Chinese crops would thrive in America. Long a rich source of
plant life, Central Asia was still an unexplored region and appealed
to gardeners because of its rare plants of high value.
 The Navy brought sugar cane cuttings from islands in the
Pacific area, but the amber sorgo, tea, and many other plants