In 1862, Saunders was hired as the superintendent of the experimental gardens at the newly created Department of Agriculture, where he remained for the rest of his life. At the time, the organization was called the Bureau of Agriculture and did not achieve cabinet status until 1889. During his thirty-eight-year career, Saunders contributed to landscape design and horticulture.
Landscape design Saunders was selected by a committee of Union governors in 1863 to design the Soldiers' National Cemetery in Gettysburg. Saunders and the committee designed the cemetery on a radial plan centered around a central monument, grouping the Union dead by state. The graves were marked with rectangular slabs of gray granite inscribed with the name, rank, and company of each soldier. He explained that this repetition of "objects in themselves simple and commonplace" was intended to evoke a sense of "solemnity." Saunders included uncommon varieties of trees and shrubs to frame the site, many of which he had recently introduced to America. Before Lincoln left for Gettysburg to deliver his address, he met with Saunders to review the cemetery design. Saunders later wrote, "[Lincoln] was much pleased with the method of the graves, saying it differed from the ordinary cemetery, and after I had explained the reasons, said it was an admirable and befitting arrangement." In 1865, after
Lincoln's assassination, Saunders was asked to design the landscape for a Lincoln monument at Oak Ridge Cemetery, the same cemetery he had originally planned in 1861. His design featured open areas of lawn and groupings of non-native trees, including magnolias, arborvitae, and mock orange. Saunders also designed the landscaping for the west facade of the Capitol and other locations in the capital. As president of the Washington Parking Commission, he oversaw the planting of 80,000 trees, which contributed to the city becoming known as the "City of Trees."
Horticulture Saunders was appointed head of the newly created
United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) Experimental Gardens in 1862 and remained in the position until his death in 1900. He defined the mission of the organization and established its operating guidelines in his "Catalogue of the Plants, Bulbs, Tubers, Etc., for Distribution from the U.S. Propagating Garden with a Report on the Objectives and Aims of the Garden" (1862). It was the first publication of the USDA. His guidelines called for the USDA to procure new and better plants for the country and "ascertain, by experiment, the influences of varied culture" and "investigate more thoroughly the various maladies and diseases of plants and the insects that destroy them." Between 1865 and 1867, the USDA Experimental Garden evaluated more than 120 wheats, 167 ryes, 230 melon varieties, 70 peas, 50 grass species for hay production, and over 500 strawberries, grapes, apples, and pears. The results of this work were published and made available to farmers. Using this experimental approach, Saunders introduced hundreds of economically important plants, including the
Japanese persimmon, the
Eucalyptus globulus tree, the
Japanese cedar (
Cryptomeria japonica), the
camphor tree, one of the first
magnolia trees in Washington, D.C., and others. About 300 varieties of winter-hardy apples from Russia were evaluated and introduced into the United States. The
navel orange was Saunders' most well-known plant introduction. In 1871, he received a dozen young orange trees from
Bahia, Brazil. The fruit was described as large, sweet, and seedless. Saunders presented two of the trees to
Eliza Tibbets, who moved to
Riverside, California. The trees thrived in the California climate, and orchards of this citrus variety became widespread in Southern California. According to the 1937 "USDA Yearbook of Agriculture," the introduction of the Washington navel orange was "one of the outstanding events in the economic and social development of California."
Grange Saunders supported the interests and economic welfare of American farmers. In 1867, he and six colleagues founded the
National Grange, an organization dedicated to promoting the economic and political well-being of agriculture and rural communities. Saunders authored the Grange's constitution and was elected its first Master, a position he held for six years. During his tenure, Saunders advocated for women's participation and representation in the organization. ==Works==