174 



H K T I C U L T I- E E 



February 10. 1917 



THE PLANT QUARANTINE PROJECT 



Editor of Horticulture: 



Dear Sir:— My attention is directed 

 to the letter from "Importer" in your 

 Dec. 30 issue, also to John C. Wister's 

 reply in your Jan. 20 issue. Since 

 "Importer" (whose phraseology re- 

 veals his identity to many of us) pays 

 state, city and Federal taxes, he surely 

 has a right to protest against unrea- 

 sonable interference with his legiti- 

 mate business interests — especially 

 when that interference comes from 

 men in public service whose policy 

 should be lUxtriii-lin only as applied 

 to plant pests, but ronstructive and 

 helpful as applied to business 



Your correspondent censors you tor 

 publishing "Importer's" letter, but is 

 not HoKTicuLTURE a forum as its name 

 implies? Is not its mission partly to 

 protect and promote the welfare of 

 Horticulture? "Importer" merely says 

 in his own way what the retiring 

 Governor of Ohio recently said — that 

 "the realization had come to him that 

 business was being inspected and 

 regulated to death," while Mr. Wister 

 uses old stock arguments that have 

 been dunned into our mentality for so 

 many years that we almost wish they 

 were true, so that they would cease. 

 The fact that you published both ar- 

 ticles indicates a commendable sense 

 of fairness and patience. 



In most instances the importer is 

 merely the agent for the importing 

 florists or nurseryman; his services are 

 required largely to enable the real im- 

 porter to comply with the increasing 

 number of Customs and Entomolog- 

 ical regulations, he promotes Ameri- 

 can Horticulture by helping supply it 

 with the necessary raw materials, and 

 he is not in any way responsible for 

 the annual damage of 700 million dol- 

 lars (or is it billions) to our farm 

 crops or forests. 



The fact seems to be entirely over- 

 looked that most of the imported 

 pests and diseases do not come on 

 commercial shipments, but from re- 

 mote parts of the world from which 

 the Department of Agriculture and 

 other experimental institutions alone 

 import, yet the measure proposed by 

 the American Forestry Association to 

 which "Importer" refers, seeks to 

 place an absolute quarantine on every 

 form of plant life — except what is con- 

 signed to the Dept. of Agriculture. 



To refer only to the diseases which 

 Mr. Wister mentions. Was not the 

 gypsy moth imported by one of our 

 entomologists? Did not the white 

 pine blister rust come in on a ship- 

 ment from a German firm who grows 

 stock only for forestry purposes? Did 

 the asparagus beetle, the cabbage 

 worm, the onion maggot come on com- 

 mercial shipments to nurserymen or 

 florists? did any florist or nurseryman 

 ever import any cabbages, onions, or 

 asparagus? 



Our friend "Importer" asks why we 

 cannot combat these pests if Europe 

 can. but I have a different reason than 

 the one Mr. Wister gives. The Euro- 

 peans cultivate the birds that live on 

 insects; their inspectors are trained 

 men and do not report a bad case of 

 "crown gall" on Manetti stocks be- 



cause of the callous at the base of the 

 cuttings; they are supposed to know 

 their business and attend strictly to 

 that business. 



The recent Forestry conference was 

 attended by the forestry and lumber 

 interests, also by several prominent 

 entomologists. I listened to more mis- 

 statements than I ever heard before in 

 the same time, no opportunity was 

 given for discussion after each paper, 

 but the responsibility for about every 

 pest, from the cotton l)oll wevil to the 

 wheat rust was laid at the door of the 

 nurserymen and florists, and resolu- 

 tions were unanimously adopted en- 

 dorsing an absolute embargo on all 

 plant and tree life in future — for the 

 protection of our national forests and 

 crops. Then I left. 



Many of these men were eminent 

 scientists, most of them no doubt fair- 

 minded men. but how much do such 

 men know about the commercial end 

 of the florist business — the produc- 

 tion of the plants and flowers they buy 

 at Christmas and Easter? Their pro- 

 posed embargo would shut out such 

 indispensable items as Japanese lily 

 bulbs lily of the valley pips, French 

 and Dutch bulbs. Manetti stocks, etc. 

 What disease could valley pips or Jap- 

 anese lilies bring in that could affect 

 our forests or crops? 



The old argument is always ad- 

 vanced that in this broad land of ours 

 anything can be produced that is pro- 

 duced elsewhere. That applies per 

 haps to manufactures, but not always 

 to the products of nature. Nature 

 drops her favors in widely scattered 

 localities — not always within our 

 borders. Kentias grow naturally only 

 on Lord Howe Island; you could hard- 

 ly find it on the map. Many imported 

 Items can be grown here — but not in 

 a commer<^ial sense. We can grow 

 lily of the valley pips in our bad; 

 yard — but which of our growers would 

 force them? 



A successful florist naturally loves 

 plants or trees; a plant that is dry 

 asks for water in the langua.^e lie 

 understands. A nurseryman will get 

 out of his wagon to relieve a wayside 

 tree from a nest of caterpiUars. An 

 average one is willing to subordinate 

 his own interests to the general wel- 

 fare at any time, but he asks the 

 State to keep their property tairly 

 clean so that he can keep his nur- 

 series or greenhouses really clean, nnd 

 he objects to having his business 

 unnecessarily dislocated - especially 

 when that dislocation would not re 

 duce the pests that affect our forests 

 or farm crops to any degree. 



The Federal Horticultural Board of 

 Washington consists of bureau chiefs 

 of the Department of Agriculture. It 

 has power to quarantine any foreign 

 country or locality from which any 

 pest does come — or might come — a 

 power which it uses with discretion 

 and in co-operation with not only our 

 most eminent entomologists, but with 

 the nursery and florist interests, and 

 I think that all matters with regard 

 to quarantine can be safely left in 

 its hands. 



James McHutchison. 



Editor HoRTicuLTUKic: 



Prior to the passage of the "Plant 

 Quarantine Law" of 1912, agitation was 

 worked up by lectures, magazine arti- 

 cles, pamphlets, etc., with the evident 

 object of creating an atmosphere fa- 

 vorable to its passage. The im- 

 pression was given that about all of 

 the insect pests and plant diseases that 

 affect our forests and farm crops were 

 Imported into the United States by 

 selfish nurserymen and florists — along 

 with the plants and nursery stock 

 which they imported from Europe. 

 This propaganda resulted in the pas- 

 sage of the Plant Quarantine Act in 

 1912, though the agitation still con- 

 tinues. 



To operate the "Plant Quarantine 

 Act" the Federal Horticultural Board 

 was created with headquarters in 

 Washington, D. C; it consists of five 

 bureau chiefs of the Department of Ag- 

 riculture, with Dr. C. L. Marlatt as 

 chairman. All of these men are well 

 qualified for their duties and though 

 the law gives them almost autocratic 

 powers, power to quarantine any for- 

 eign country or locality, they have 

 used this power witli commendable 

 discretion and moderation. But this 

 does not satisfy a group of State Ento- 

 mologists who demand nothing less 

 than an absolute quarantine against 

 the importation of plant life from all 

 foreign sources. 



At a meeting of Entomologists about 

 a year ago, resolutions were passed 

 which in effect requested the Federal 

 Horticultural Board to put this abso- 

 lute quarantine into effect, but as no 

 action was taken, the Entomologists 

 interested the American Forestry As- 

 sociation in its plans (this association 

 consists largely of foresters, ento- 

 mologists, lumber men and others in- 

 terested in our forests). Naturally 

 such men know little about the com- 

 mercial side of the nursery or florist 

 business, but when they were informed 

 (by men who should know better) that 

 an absolute quarantine of all imported 

 plant life was necessary for the pro- 

 tection of our forests and farm crops, 

 they took up the subject with enthu- 

 siasm and called a special conference 

 in Washington, D. C, to adopt meas- 

 ures to stop importation — even of the 

 raw materials. 



The conference was held on January 

 19th. myself as chairman of the Legis- 

 lative C^ommittee of the S. A. F. and 

 O. H. and J. McHutchison of New 

 York, a member of my committee be- 

 ing present on behalf of the S. A. F. 

 The Legislative Committee of the 

 American Association of Nurserymen 

 was also there, besides several individ- 

 ual members of the Nurserymen's and 

 Florists' organizations. Many speeches 

 and ijapers were delivered advocating 

 an absolute quarantine, but no oppor- 

 tunity was given for discussion after 

 each paper, so the horticultural side of 

 the question was not voiced. Resolu- 

 tions were unanimously adopted favor- 

 ing an absolute quarantine, and to 

 show what it means to the florists and 

 nurserymen, I quote from the proposed 

 bill the first two sections as follows: 



Section 1. That it aball be unlawful for 



