The Commissionership


point to the want of, and the benefit desirable from, a varied
cultivation."
 Many Southerners were interested in supplying this home
market for new crops recommended in Capron's report. These
were tea, coffee, cinchona, jute, ramie, sugar beets, sumac and
madder for dyes, sisal hemp, okra and esparto grass for paper, and
oil-producing plants, including the caster bean, caraway, anise,
and lavender.

 FREDERICK WATTS

 Frederick Watts of Pennsylvania, Commissioner of Agriculture
from August, 1871, to June, 1877, received his appointment as a
matter of political patronage to his state. He put less emphasis
on the introduction of plants than Capron, but expenditures for
this purpose increased during his term in office. Watts denied that
plants could be acclimatized to the cold, but the demand for semi-
tropical plants continued to grow in the South. Chinese tea plants
were in great demand and many thousands were distributed
annually. The Department's collection of exotic economic plants
was increasing yearly in number and in value. The "orange-
family" was cited as particularly valuable and the best commercial
varieties were propagated for distribution. Attempts were made
to satisfy the demands of the South for pasture grasses. Watts was
enthusiastic over the importance of fiber-producing plants and
believed ramie and jute were about to assume places of importance.
 He also felt that the farmers were securing tremendous benefits
from the distributions of wheat, oats, and grasses. As the farmers
increased their requests for seed, Congress enlarged the appro-
priation for this work. The trial of new seeds made farmers con-
scious of the value of experimental work, and their reports of
the results they got were helpful to all concerned.
 By 1874 the Department was becoming more discriminating in
its purchases of seeds from firms proved reliable by experience.
By buying direct from growers, larger quantities for distribution
were secured at a nominal cost. Much attention was given to the
selection of seeds, and many recipients vouched for the excellence
and good germination of seeds distributed by the Department.
 Watts more than tripled the number of seeds distributed each
year during his term, and Congress increased the appropriations
for this work from $45,000 in 1872, to $75,000 in 1878. Roughly