Chapter 252. making appropriations for the Agricultural Department of the government for the fiscal year ending June thirtieth, eighteen hundred and eighty-one, and for other purposes
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CHAP. 252.— An Act making appropriations for the Agricultural Department of the government for the fiscal year ending June thirtieth, eighteen hundred and eighty-one, and for other purposes.June 16, 1880. *Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled*,Appropriations for the Agricultural Department. That the following sums be, and the same are hereby, appropriated, out of any money in the Treasury of the United States not otherwise appropriated, in full compensation for the service for the fiscal year ending June thirtieth, eighteen hundred and eighty-one, for the objects and purposes hereinafter expressed, namely:
DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. office of commissioner. For compensation of Commissioner of Agriculture, three thousand fiveCompensation of Commissioner of Agriculture. hundred dollars; chief clerk in said department, two thousand dollars; chief of division of accounts, disbursing-clerk, and superintendent of Department building, one thousand eight hundred dollars; two clerks Clerks, etc.of class four, three thousand six hundred dollars; two clerks of class three, three thousand two hundred dollars; four clerks of class two, five thou- 293 FORTY-SIXTH CONGRESS.
Sess. II. Ch. 252. 1880.sand six hundred dollars; four clerks of class one, four thousand eight hundred dollars; five clerks, atone thousand dollars each, five thousand dollars; clerks, copyists, carpenter, watchmen, attendant in museum, and laborer’s, ten thousand dollars. chemical division. For compensation of chief chemist, two thousand dollars; assistant Chemist.chemist, one thousand six hundred dollars; one assistant chemist, at one thousand two hundred dollars. botanical division.
For compensation of one botanist, one thousand eight hundred dollars.Botanist. entomological division. For compensation of entomologist, two thousand dollars.Entomologist. statistical division. For compensation of one statistician, two thousand dollars; one clerkStatistician. of class four, one thousand eight hundred dollars; two clerks of class three, three thousand two hundred dollars; one clerk of class two, one thousand four hundred dollars; two clerks of class one, two thousand four hundred dollars. garden and grounds.
For compensation of superintendent of garden and grounds, two thousand dollars.Superintend, en of garden. microscopical division. For compensation of microscopist, one thousand eight hundred dollars.Microscopist. seed division. For compensation of superintendent of seed division, one thousandSuperintendent of seed division. eight hundred dollars; superintendent of flower-seed room, nine hundred dollars; librarian, one thousand four hundred dollars; superintendent of folding-room, one thousand two hundred dollars; engineer, one thousand two hundred dollars; in all, seventy-two thousand one hundred dollars.
And it is hereby enacted that in addition to the proper vouchers andStatement of expenditures to Congress. accounts for the sums herein appropriated to the accounting-officers of the Treasury, the Commissioner of Agriculture shall present a detailed statement of the manner of the expenditure of the amounts hereby appropriated, to accompany his estimates to be presented at the next regular session of Congress: *Provided*, That no part of this sum shall*Proviso.* be paid to any person receiving at the same time other compensation as an officer or employee of the government. agricultural statistics.
For collecting agricultural statistics and compiling and writing Statistics.matter for monthly, annual, and special reports, ten thousand dollars: *Provided*, That no part of this sum shall be paid to any person receiving at the same time other compensât ion as an officer or employee of the government. 294 purchase and distribution of seeds, and so forth. For the purchase and propagation and distribution, as required byPurchase, propagation, and distribution of seeds, &c. law, of seeds, trees, shrubs, vines, cuttings, and plants, and expenses of putting up the same, eighty thousand dollars; an equal proportion of three-fourths of all seeds, plants, and cuttings shall, upon their request, be supplied to Senators, Representatives and Delegates in Congress for distribution among their agricultural constituents, or shall by their direction be sent to their constituents; and the persons receiving such seeds shall inform the department of the results of the experiments *Proviso.*therewith: *Provided*, That five thousand dollars of this amount shall, in the discretion of the Commissioner of Agriefilture, be devoted to experiments in connection with the culture and manufacture of tea, and shall be available *Proviso.*immediately: *Provided further*, That three thousand dollars of th’s sum shall be expended in the discretion of the Commissioner in experiments for the improvement of the varieties and culture of cotton:*Proviso.* *And provided also*, That the Commissioner shall report, as provided in this act, the place, quantity, and price of seeds purchased, from whom purchased, and the date of purchase; but nothing in this paragraph shall be construed to prevent the Commissioner of Agriculture from sending flower, garden, and other seeds to those who apply for the same; and the amount herein appropriated shall not be diverted or used for any other purpose but for the purchase, propagation, and distribution of improved and valuable seeds, plants, cuttings, and vines. experimental garden and grounds.
For labor in experimental garden, five thousand dollars; plant-pots,Labor and miscellaneous. two hundred and fifty dollars; repairing and painting greenhouses, and so forth, eight hundred dollar’s; new boiler for propagating-house, two hundred and fifty dollars; purchasing and propagating new plants and seeds of economic value, six hundred dollars; tools for greenhouses, one hundred and fifty dollars; repairs to heating apparatus, new pipes, and so forth, four hundred and fifty dollars; charcoal, sand, and sod for potting plants, one hundred dollar’s; in all, seven thousand six hundred dollars.
For labor, new implements, repair of tools, wagons, and carts, manure, repairing and whitewashing fence and purchasing trees for arboretum, five thousand dollars. museum and herbarium. For collecting and modeling specimens of fruit and vegetables, andSpecimens of fruit, &c. collecting and preparing specimens for the museum and herbarium, one thousand dollars. investigation as to insects injurious to agriculture. For investigating the history and habits of insects injurious to agriculture;Insects. for experiments in ascertaining the best means of destroying them; chemicals, traveling and other expenses in the practical work of the entomological division, five thousand dollars. furniture and repairs.
For repairs of building, heating-apparatus, furniture, carpets, and Furniture and repairs.matting, water and gas-pipes, and so forth, four thousand dollars. For one fire and burglar proof safe, one thousand dollars; in all, five thousand dollars. library. For entomological and botanical works of reference, works on chemistry,Library. mineralogy, and charts, current agricultural works for library, miscellaneous agricultural periodicals, and the completion of imperfect series, one thousand dollars. 295 laboratory.
For chemicals and apparatus for the use of the chemist and microscopist,Laboratory. and for necessary expenses in conducting experiments, four thousand dollars, to be available immediately. For the purpose of testingTesting wools, &c. by scientific examination the textile strength, felting capacity, and other peculiarities of the different wools and animal fibers on exhibition at the International Sheep and Wool Exposition to be held in Philadelphia ineighteen hundred and eighty, four thousand dollars, to be available immediately.
For the purchase of machinery and apparatus, and for experimentsSorghum. in the manufacture of sugar from sorghum and cornstalks and other su gar-producing plants seven thousand five hundred dollars; and out of the above sum the Commissioner of Agriculture is hereby authorized to pay to the chief chemist one thousand dollars as additional compensation for the next fiscal, year, and the Commissioner is hereby authorized to sell and apply the products of such manufacture in further experiments authorized by this provision. contingent expenses.
For stationery, freight, express charges, fuel, lights, subsistenceContingent expenses.and care of horses, repairs of harness and wagons, paper, twine, and gum for folding-room; and for miscellaneous items, namely, for advertising, telegraphing, dry goods, soap, brushes, brooms, mats, oils, paints, glass, lumber, hardware, ice, purchasing supplies; and for necessary items, including actual traveling expenses, while on the business of the Department, ten thousand dollars. investigation op diseases op parmanimals.
For the investigation of the diseases of swine and infectious and contagiousDiseases of farm-animals. diseases of swine, and infectious and contagious diseases to which all other classes of domesticated animals are subject, ten thousand dollars. postage. For postage on return letters, circulars, and miscellaneous articles, for Postage,correspondents and foreign letters, four thousand dollars. arid lands. For the purpose of enabling the Commissioner of Agriculture to procureArid lands. data touching the agricultural needs of the arid region of the United States, five thousand dollars.
That with a view to the reclamation of the arid and waste lands lyingArtesian wells. in certain Western States and Territories the Commissioner of Agriculture is hereby authorized to contract for the sinking of two artesian wells on the plains east of the Eocky Mountains. The said wells are to be sunk at such places as the Commissioner of Agriculture may designate; and whenever the site of either of such wells shall be designated the Secretary of the Interior is hereby authorized and required to declare the reservation of four square miles with the said site as nearly as possible in the centre thereof, and the land so reserved shall not be subject to sale or disposal under any law of the United States until such Reservation has been released.
Any party making a contract to sink an artesian well, under this act, shall at the end of each week after the work shall have been begun, forward to the Commissioner of Agriculture a report containing a statement of the character of the ground or rock through which the well is sunk, giving the thickness of the strata of each formation, and he shall furnish samples of all the different materials through which the well is sunk, and conform with all regulations 296 FORTY-SIXTH CONGRESS.
Sess. II. Ch. 252, 253. 1880. made by the Commissioner of Agriculture. The sum of twenty thousand dollars is hereby appropriated to carry out the objects of this provision, the same to be disbursed under such rules and regulations as the Commissioner of Agriculture shall prescribe. For the purpose of enabling the Commissioner of Agriculture to continueForestry. an investigation and report upon the subject of forestry, five thousand dollars. Sec. 2. The Commissioner of Agriculture is hereby directed andAccounts and reports. required to account and report to the proper accounting officers of the Treasury, in the same manner and at the same times, as the heads of executive departments of the government are now required by law to account and report.
Sec. 3. That all acts or parts of acts inconsistent or in conflict withRepeal provisions. the provisions of this act are hereby repealed. Approved, June 16, 1880.