January 11, 1919 



HORTICULTURE 



35 



Primula malacoides 



THE PLANT IMPORT TANGLE. 



Secretary D. F. Houston of the Agri- 

 cultural Department, Washington, has 

 sent another reply to Senator Calder 

 of New York, in response to a letter 

 addressed to the Senator by Winfred 

 Rolker. In this reply the Secretary 

 refuses to interfere with the action of 

 the Federal Horticultural Board and 

 it will now rest with Congress to de- 

 fine the rights of the Board, and to 

 take action in protection of the flor- 

 ists trade, sadly to be interfered with 

 by this latest quarantining regulation 

 to go into force June 1, 1919. The 

 trade is again requested to take im- 

 mediate action, if they object to such 

 quarantining, by protesting with their 

 respective Congressmen, Representa- 

 tives as well as Senators of their State. 

 Herewith a form of protest, which can 

 be either copied verbatim and sent 

 to the Washington Congressmen or 

 changed according to the views and 

 inclinations of each protesting florist 

 and nurseryman. Landscaping Archi- 



tects, Park Superintendents, Private 

 Gardeners, and anyone interested in 

 the beautiful occupation to cultivate 

 plants and their flowers, is requested 

 to join in protesting. 



Following is the form of protest. 



Place and date 1919. 



Hon M. C. 



Washington, D. C. 

 Sir: — 



Will you kindly oblige me, one of 

 your constituents, by using your per- 

 sonal influence with the Hon. D. F. 

 Houston, Secretary of Agriculture, to 

 rescind, revise, or modify the latest 

 rules and regulations for the quaran- 

 tining of imported plants and bulbs, 

 issued by the Federal Horticultural 

 Board, a sub-division of his depart 

 ment, and to whom he relegated such 

 work. To my best knowledge such ex- 

 treme drastic, nearly total, exclusion 

 of PLANTS and BULBS importations 

 is not warranted by existing facts, 

 nor by the conditions called for un- 

 der Section 7 of the Plant Quarantine 



Act of August 20th, 1912, on which 

 section the Board bases its authority. 

 No disease nor dangerous insects are 

 specified, no localities nor countries 

 are named in the promulgation from 

 where to expect such new dangers', 

 only a general sweeping assertion Is 

 made. Further only six varieties of 

 bulbs are allowed entry, and these 

 under impracticable restrictions, when 

 hundreds or more equally innocent 

 kinds of bulbs are excluded. Rose 

 stocks for propagating are allowed en- 

 try, but the rose plants, budded or 

 grafted on such stocks are excluded, 

 without any apparent cause or expla- 

 nation. 



Why shall the Horticultural Trade 

 of America be made to suffer in order 

 to avert apparently much exaggerated 

 dangers; a trade that has supported 

 our government in the Liberty Loan 

 Campaign and in the Red Cross work 

 most loyally and at considerable per- 

 sonal sacrifice. Are we, a body of 

 more than 10,000 working florists, sini- 



