Jasper County Democrat, Volume 19, Number 10, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 3 May 1916 — The Persistent Free Seed Graft. [ARTICLE]

The Persistent Free Seed Graft.

Free seed th as been a popular form of patronage from time immemorial. As the Mississippi congressman said, in answer to a contemptuous remark about peddling garden seeds, • some of the greatest statesmen in the world have distributed seeds,” instancing Thomas Jefferson and Benjamin Franklin. It is hardly necessary, however, to point out that the situation has changed since the days when it originated. It is no longer difficult for any gardener or farmer to get standard seeds of good quality. Why should the government send a citizen, on request, a packet of seeds that he can buy for a few cents right around the corner? It is undoubtedly a legitimate function of the agricultural department to distribute new varieties of seeds, to encourage the cultivation of foreign plants adaptable to our soil, but, as everybody knows, this item is but a small part of the whole. The petty graft, at least, should be abolished.—South Bend News-Times.