January 12, 1918 



HORTICULTURE 



29 



PROPOSED QUARANTINE AGAINST FOREIGN 

 PLANT INTRODUCTIONS 



Extracts From an Address Before a Meeting of Horticultural Inspectors by J. G. Sanders, at Harrisburg, Pa. 



The American citizen, whether pro- 

 ducer or consumer, undoubtedly pays 

 the heaviest tax of any person in the 

 entire world for destruction caused by 

 insect pests and plant diseases. The 

 principal contributing factor to this 

 condition is the fact that we have per- 

 mitted the importation to America of 

 very many dangerous insects apd 

 plant diseases from foreign countries, 

 which have been introduced by vari- 

 ous methods and means, usually acci- 

 dentally. We have maintained an 

 open door for the unrestricted impor- 

 tation " of plants in living condition 

 from foreign countries, without ade- 

 quate methods for inspection. Fur- 

 thermore, the amount of plant impor- 

 tation has been so great and the quan- 

 tity so large, that it is absolutely im- 

 possible for any corps of inspectors to 

 adequately inspect this material for 

 dangerous insects and plant diseases. 



Too great dependence has been 

 placed on foreign countries for a sup- 

 ply of plant material which could 

 fully as well be produced in this 

 country, and it seems just now the 

 time has come when our American 

 horticulturists should rise to the occa- 

 sion, and produce those plants which 

 have been imported, from foreign 

 countries, insofar as climate and cost 

 permit. 



The tremendous number of very 

 serious and destructive insect pests 

 and plant diseases that have already 

 been introduced into America are 

 slight compared with the potentiali- 

 ties still remaining in foreign coun- 

 tries that have not yet been intro- 

 duced. As a matter of fact only a 

 small percentage of the dangerous and 

 destructive pests of foreign countries 

 have gained a foothold in America, 

 although under the present system of 

 heavy introduction of plant mate- 

 rial, large numbers of these pests are 

 being annually imported and are be- 

 coming established. Every year we 

 find several new pests which have 

 been established at some previous 

 date, and have multiplied to such an 

 extent that they have been brought to 

 the notice of scientists and trained ob- 

 servers. 



Not only the producers, but surely 

 the consumers as well, must in the 

 final analysis pay for the tremendous 

 losses which are incurred and the 

 burden has now become so great that 

 very general and powerful sentiment 

 Is growing among farmers and fruit 



growers everywhere, that action of a 

 drastic nature must be taken to pre- 

 vent the further introduction of plant 

 pests. If some step is not taken in 

 the near future the aggregate damage 

 from pests already introduced, and 

 those which are sure of introduction 

 under the present system will be over- 

 whelming. We have had considerable 

 agitation along the line of plant im- 

 portation during the past few years, 

 but no sufficiently drastic action has 

 been taken to prevent the annual in- 

 troduction of several new pests, which 

 have very marked power for destruc- 

 tion. It does seem that the entire 

 policy of i;lant importation is wrong, 

 and should be altered at once. 

 Genuine attempts have not been made 

 on the part of horticulturists in this 

 country to produce the stock which 

 they now buy from Europe at much 

 reduced figures. If we will consider 

 the total value of the nursery stock, 

 exclusive of bulbs, roots and tubers, 

 each year, we find that it averages 

 approximately a million and a quar- 

 ter dollars annually through the past 

 ten years. In fact, the average value 

 for the past ten years has been one 

 million two hundred thousand dollars, 

 making a total of twelve million dol- 

 lars of nursery stock imported through 

 the last ten years. When we con- 

 sider that the gipsy moth alone has 

 cost the Xew England States approxi- 

 mately fourteen million dollars, since 

 its introduction into America, for 

 treatment and suppression, exclusive 

 of the damage it has caused, can we 

 say that the further importation of 

 plants under the present arrangement 

 Is economic? 



The elimination of other regions of 

 the world, excepting Europe, would 

 work to our advantage to a wonderful 

 degree to lessening the danger of pest 

 importation. Nevertheless in Europe 

 there are very many dangerous and 

 destructive pests attacking a wide 

 range of commercial and ornamental 

 plants, so that tremendous danger 

 still lies in importation of any char- 

 acter from that region. About four 

 years ago this body passed a resolu- 

 tion calling on the Federal Congress 

 to prohibit the further importation of 

 plants with earth about the roots. On 

 account of the tremendous wei.sht and 

 mass of such material, which comes 

 to America within a short period ot 

 two shipping seasons, it is alisolutely 

 impossible for even well-trained in- 

 spectors to thoroughly inspect such 

 material. Unknown insects lie dor- 

 mant, hidden away in the soil about 

 the roots of plants— probably some 

 which have no connection whatever 

 with the plant being inspected, but 

 have entered the soil for pupation 

 and hibernation, having dropped or 



crawled from other trees or plants in 

 the vicinity, and have been accident- 

 ally taken up with the plants for im- 

 portation. 



In considering the possibilities of 

 pest importation in soil about the roots 

 of plants, we must bear in mind that 

 the majority of plants brought in from 

 Europe with balls of earth about the 

 roots are dug late in the autumn, at a 

 time when a majority of the insects 

 have entered hibernating quarters, and 

 as we all know the probability of find- 

 ing our various well known insects 

 in winter quarters in this country is 

 slight, just so we should remember the 

 possibility of finding imported insects 

 in hibernating quarters in soil brought 

 in with plants from Europe is slight. 

 Therefore, we have several factors 

 acting against the inspector and in 

 favor of the probable introduction of 

 pests, namely, the hibernating habits 

 of the pests in the soil, and the fact 

 that very large quantities of such ma- 

 terial — even amounting to many tons, 

 arrive oftentimes in single shipments, 

 and the possibility of large shipments 

 coming within a very short period of 

 time, taxes the inspectors to the ut- 

 most. Those of us who have had much 

 experience in inspecting foreign im- 

 portations, especially large importa- 

 tions, can certify to the absolute im- 

 possibility of careful inspection of 

 large shipments. The only wonder is 

 that we have not introduced and estab- 

 lished more insect pests and plant 

 diseases than have already arrived. 



CLOSING LARGE COUNTRY 

 HOMES. 



Following the example set by other 

 millionaires, wealthy people owning 

 estates in Dutchess county, New York, 

 have closed their houses for the winter 

 so as to assist in the conservation of 

 coal. Vincent Astor's beautiful resi- 

 dence at Rhinebeck is closed while 

 employees on the estate are burning 

 wood for fuel in the place ot coal. 

 The Frederick W. Vanderbilt mansion, 

 Hyde Park, is closed for the winter 

 while Colonel Archibald Rogers, whose 

 residence, "Crumwold Hall," In that 

 village, has closed his greenhouses in 

 order that coal may be saved. Levi 

 I'. Morton's estate, "EUreslie," near 

 Rhinebeck, is closed as are the Red- 

 mond mansion in Tivoli, the two 

 .Vliller residences in Rhinebeck and 

 .Mrs. Morgan's place at Staatsburgh. 

 Jacob Ruppert's mansion between 

 Staatsburgh and Rhinebeck is also 

 closed. The Stephen Clin place in 

 Khincbeck and four houses in Hyde 

 Tark— the James Roosevelt, the T. J. 

 Xewbolii, the Roosevelt and the How- 

 ard place are also closed for the 

 winter. 



