THE SECRETARY'S PORTFOLIO. 419 



larojely one-sided in the protection rut. Producers have rarely appeared before 

 the commission. In two instances liowever horticulturists have made arguments 

 in favor of reduced duties and free trade in certain products that liave met the 

 approbation of the farmers and fruit growers of the Avest. Hiram Sibley, who 

 is spoken of familiarly as " the biggest farmer in the world," made a very can- 

 did statement before the commission, and fortified it with concise and well 

 arranged logic. We simply quote his conclusion: 



We advocate in the interest of American farmers and seed dealers the aboli- 

 tion of import duties on all flower seeds and vegetable seeds, except beet, carrot, 

 lettuce, onion, parsnip, and turnip, upon which there is no objection to a low 

 tariff of ten or twenty per cent. We assert it is not right to impose a high 

 tax upon seven million seed users for the benefit of one hundred seed growers. 



The policy of a tariff upon imported seeds seems at war with the policy of the 

 government, which now distributes seeds of food crops freely among growers. 

 Again, the present discrimination against certain grains for seeds in favor of 

 grains for food is unjust; if any difference is made it should be in favor of the 

 seed, according to the present policy of the government, which admits live stock 

 for breeding purposes duty free. 



Later when the commission was in session at Chicago, Mr. Parker Earle, pres- 

 ident of the Mississippi Valley Horticultural Society, representing fifteen States, 

 appeared before it under the following resolution presented by Mr. Plumb, of 

 Wisconsin, and Mr. Garfield, of Michigan, and adopted by the society : 



Resolved, That it is the sense of the Mississippi Valley Horticultural Society 

 that there should be absolute free trade in horticultural products of domestic 

 growth between the United States and the British possessions, and that the 

 president of this society be requested to present this matter to the United States 

 tariff commission, and to urge the use of its influence to forward this end. 



Mr. Earle stated that we were peculiarly interested in the American tariff 

 imposed upon fruits of Canadian production as well as the Canadian tariff 

 imposed upon fruits exported from this country to Canada. He said that 

 between 1854 and 186G we were working under a reciprocity treaty which was 

 terminated at the latter date by a notice from our government. Under that 

 treaty the trade in horticultural products between the two countries began to 

 be built up, and has continued to grow even since the imposition of duties. 

 There is no question but it is the wish of our Canadian friends to have free 

 trade in these products. The Canadian duties were imposed very largely in a 

 spirit of retaliation. The duties on fruits average about twenty per cent against 

 fruits of the States. He said, from reliable sources he was informed, that an 

 immediate repeal of this tax would follow a similar release on the part of our 

 government, which would again establish free trade in these articles and thereby 

 result in great convenience to all persons engaged in commercial fruit growing 

 on either side. 



The amount of traffic is greatly diminished by the embarrassments connected 

 with the collection of duties. Even now several hundred car loads of apples 

 are imported each fall when they are needed to supply our northwest. 



This trade depends upon the season When the fruits are comparatively light 

 on this side, we wish to import from Canada, if they have had a good fruit crop 

 there, and it is for the welfare of our people that such importation should be as 

 free as possible. And we are constantly exporting, from the commencement of 

 the season in the gulf states, the early fruits and vegetables all up through the 

 valley of the Mississippi until they begin to ripen at home, berries, pears, 

 peaches, apples, etc. That traffic is becoming considerable, and this exporta- 



