REGULATORY POWERS OF THE DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE
The Department of Agriculture has certain important powers of regulation and control. Animals are inspected at market centers to discover the presence of disease, and localities infected are quarantined.
In 1915 more than 15 million sheep were inspected and nearly 4 million dipped to cure scabies. As a result nearly one and one half million square miles of land were released from quarantine. In the same year more than a million square miles were released from quarantine against scabies in cattle.
In quarantining a state, or portion of a state, the Department acts by authority of laws passed by Congress under its power to regulate interstate and foreign commerce (Constitution, Art. I, Sec. 8, cl. 3). By the same authority, all cattle for export and all imported from foreign countries are inspected and those diseased excluded. Slaughter houses and meat-packing establishments where meat is packed for interstate or foreign commerce are inspected; meat that is unfit for use being condemned, while that which is good has the government stamp placed upon it. Such measures are primarily health measures (see Chapter XX), but they have great economic value.
In a similar manner imported seeds, plants, and plant products are inspected to prevent the importation of plant diseases and plant pests, and also to prevent adulteration of plant products. Warehouses are inspected and licenses granted to those that are suitable for the proper storage of cotton, grains, tobacco, flaxseed, and wool. The Department enforces the laws that fix the standards for grading cotton and grain, and licenses grain inspectors. It also enforces the Food and Drugs Act (see Chapter XX).
Topics for investigation:
Difficulties experienced by farmers in your locality in marketing produce or livestock.
Assistance received from the United States Department of
Agriculture to overcome the difficulties.
Experiments in cooperative marketing in your locality.
Products of your locality that require storage facilities.
Adequacy of storage facilities.