Ministry of Agriculture

“ The Minister of Agriculture, Forestry, Fisheries and Food shall administer the affairs relating to agriculture, fisheries and livestock, foods, farmland and irrigation, the promotion of food industry, development of farming and fishing communities and the distribution of agricultural products. ”

“ Often the department is organized in numerous branches with specialists at the head of each. Thus, there are dairy commissioners, horticultural boards, livestock sanitary boards, foresters, entomologists (specialists in insect life in its relation to agriculture) , and others, to look after every aspect of farming. In a constantly decreasing number of states the powers of the agricultural officers are slight and their work ineffectual; but in others the organization is thorough and the work efficiently done and of the greatest value to the state. ”

“ The Department of Agriculture under its present direction is accomplishing much in developing and utilizing the vast agricultural capabilities of the country, and for information respecting the details of its management reference is made to the annual report of the Commissioner. ”

“ The most extensive action for strengthening the agricultural industry ever taken by any government was inaugurated through the farm marketing act of June 15 last. Under its provisions the Federal Farm Board has been established, comprised of men long and widely experienced in agriculture and sponsored by the farm organizations of the country. ”

“ To encourage and promote agricultural development, a separate Department of Agriculture was created, and has been organized, and is at this time actively promoting, with the facilities at hand, our agricultural interests. ”

“ We are signally honored by the co-operation of one of the most important members of the President's Cabinet, the Secretary of Agriculture, assisting in our program by the presence of leading officials of his staff, all endeavoring in every possible way to supply excellent sustaining foods to mankind, and to add from many choice products of field or of forest, to the joy and comforts of living. ”

“ Farmers are invited to visit these experimental farms, and a large correspondence is conducted with those interested in agriculture in all parts of the Dominion, who are encouraged to ask advice and information from the officers of the farms.
The governments of the several provinces each have a department of agriculture. Among other provincial agencies for imparting information there are farmers’ institutes, travelling dairies, live-stock associations, farmers’, Agricultural organizations and education. ”

“ In the field of agriculture we have agencies and instrumentalities, fortunately, such as no other government in the world can show. The Department of Agriculture is undoubtedly the greatest practical and scientific agricultural organization in the world. ”

“ When the first Commissioner of Agriculture, Isaac Newton, prepared his initial annual report to President Lincoln, he wrote: "I hardly deem it necessary to attempt to convince our intelligent countrymen of the vast importance of such a department, inasmuch as whatever improves the condition and character of the farmer feeds the life springs of national character, wealth, and power." We can all be grateful that the United States Department of Agriculture continues its vital mission today. ”

“ The members meet regularly, and discuss farming subjects, are periodically addressed by officers of the Department of Agriculture, and also hold an annual conference. The bureau has proved a valuable means of education, as it brings the farmers together, and engenders a spirit of co-operation and mutual assistance. ”

“ The Commissioner of Agriculture appoints the directors of farmers’ institutes, watches over the sale of food products that might be injurious to health, and has general care of the agricultural needs of the State. ”

“ The Department of Agriculture and Commerce shall perform its functions under the executive authority of the Commissioner of Agriculture and Commerce who shall have executive supervision and administration control over the Bureau of Agricultural Administration, Bureau of Plant and Animal Industry, Bureau of Lands, Bureau of Forestry and Fishery, Bureau of Science, Bureau of Commerce and Industries, Bureau of Mines and Weather Bureau. ”

“ The department very naturally took up first the work of aiding the development and introducing improvements in agriculture, horticulture, forestry, dairying, the breeding of horses, cattle, sheep, swine, poultry, and bees; the protection of game and fish, the cultivation of flax, home and cottage industries, such as spinning, weaving, lace-making, and similar household arts; the improvement of cooking and household economy, nursing, and various other occupations and industries pertaining to the common people and of the utmost importance for their health, happiness, and prosperity. ”

“ When President Abraham Lincoln signed the legislation establishing the United States Department of Agriculture on May 15, 1862, he created an institution whose impact has been felt in every corner of our land and on every continent. During the past century and a quarter, the Department of Agriculture has forged a partnership with farmers that has given the American people a high-quality, wholesome, safe, and affordable food supply unequaled anywhere. ”

“ The slow but steady growth of a white population will create a market for local agricultural produce. The powerfully equipped Scientific Departments, the Veterinary and Forestry Departments, and the Department of Agriculture newly established on a considerable scale, will be able to guide and assist the enterprise of the new-comer, and save him from repeating the ill-starred experiments of the pioneer. ”

“ Along the line of better crops we have done more for the farmer, and have done it more effectively, than any other Nation. Hut we have done little, and far less than many other Nations, for better business and better living on the farm. Hereafter we shall need in State and Nation not only the work of Departments of Agriculture such as we have now, but we shall need to have added to their functions such duties as will make them departments of rural business and rural life as well. Our Departments of Agriculture should cover the whole field of the farmer's life. ”

“ The report of the Commissioner of Agriculture accompanying this message will be found one of great interest, marking, as it does, the great progress of the last century in the variety of products of the soil; increased knowledge and skill in the labor of producing, saving, and manipulating the same to prepare them for the use of man; in the improvements in machinery to aid the agriculturist in his labors, and in a knowledge of those scientific subjects necessary to a thorough system of economy in agricultural production, namely, chemistry, botany, entomology, etc. ”

“ The Agricultural Department is performing a splendid work in soil Conservation. It assists in the preservation and protection of trees and in planting work, as well as the fostering of farm crops and the husbandry of meat products. The College of Agriculture is devoted to the cultivation of intelligent and scientific methods in all branches of crop production. Fertilization of the soil, destruction of injurious agents, and new methods of intensive farming, are all taken up in the various branches of the Department. ”

“ After years of obscurity, the life of the farmer has suddenly become of immense importance to society. To-day the Bureau of Agriculture and other forces are rapidly changing its future. State fairs, granges, courses of instruction for men and women in school-houses, and "farmer's bulletins" give instruction; experiment stations deal with such difficulties as weeds, soils, drainage, and pests, and teach scientifically about cattle, poultry, bee keeping, crops, and the dairy. ”

“ The dairying industry is increasing. The Afrikander cattle, powerful draught animals, large horned, bony and giving little milk, are being crossed with other stock. A government Department of Agriculture, created in 1904, affords help to the farmers in various ways, notably in combatting insect plagues, in experimental farms, and in improving the breed of horses, sheep and cattle. ”

“ The Department of Agriculture is doing good work, and experts are sent out into the different farming districts to teach the benefits of mixed farming to persons not already acquainted with them, and any one who wants advice on the management of vineyards, orchards and farms can, by writing to the Department, have an expert sent at once. ”

“ In the United States the care of agriculture is, I believe, left to the separate States, but the Federal Bureau of Agriculture it is which issues warnings of the need of conserving the natural resources of the country. ”

“ The vital interest of the whole community in the success of agriculture as the great basal industry has been distinctly recognized during the nineteenth century by the widespread establishment of governmental agencies for its promotion. Agriculture has now a definite place in the ministries of almost all the civilized nations of the globe. In Great Britain the government fosters agricultural interests through a Board of Agriculture (q.v.) . In the United States the Federal Government maintains a Department of Agriculture (q.v.) ”

“ Starting tomorrow I will hold office at the Department of Agriculture, until i can get a clear and demonstrable picture of our agricultural accomplishments for our first 100 days and i can see the program for the million new jobs get off the ground, and i can see that short-term goals are in synch with the goals of farmer groups and agribusiness. ”

“ The Department of Agriculture and other agencies are actively assisting the farmers to locate, safeguard, and secure at cost an adequate supply of sound seed.
The farmers of this country are as efficient as any other farmers in the world. They do not produce more per acre than the farmers in Europe. ”

“ The government established a department of agriculture to which were given control of the taking of a decennial census, the encouragement of immigration, the collection of agricultural and other statistics, the establishment of model farms and agricultural schools, the holding of annual exhibitions and fairs, and other matters calculated to encourage the cultivation of the soil in both sections of the province. ”

“ The commercial, manufacturing, and navigating interests are all to a great extent dependent on the agricultural. It is therefore the most important interest of the nation, and has a just claim to the fostering care and protection of the Government so far as they can be extended consistently with the provisions of the Constitution. As this can not be done by the ordinary modes of legislation, I respectfully recommend the establishment of an agricultural bureau, to be charged with the duty of giving to this leading branch of American industry the encouragement which it so well deserves. ”

“ This department has set up departmental councils, which distribute seeds every year. They make considerable grants to improve the breed of cattle. They also encourage progress in the farmers by organising competitions for poultry-rearing, fruit-growing, etc. ”

“ The Department of Agriculture has steadily extended its scope. Better methods of cultivation, lessons in soil chemistry, and experiments with new and special crops have helped conserve the resources of the land. ”

“ The interests of agriculture are committed to the charge of a special Department under a Director and controlled by the Development Commissioner. Among the aims of the Department are, the amelioration of agricultural conditions, the encouragement of experiments with new products, the introduction of modern scientific implements, the improvement of indigenous staples. ”

“ Population fluctuating slightly at the moment, completely static for the past five centuries. A slight decrease in agriculture, matched by an increase in synthetic food production. A slight population movement toward the more urban planets and the more densely populated centers. A trend downward in employment—nonworking population increasing by about .0001 per cent annually. Not that they were building better robots; they were just building them faster than they wore out. They all told the same story—a stable economy, a static population, a peaceful and undisturbed Empire ”