174 



HORTICULTURE 



February 22, 1919 



give this ruling their unqualified support 

 anil approval. 



Judging by letters, which have been re- 

 ceived hy me and others, from our Mem 

 hers in Congress, it seems a foregone con- 

 clusion that the Federal Horticultural 

 Board does not intend t" modify its ruling 

 to any satisfactory extent, and that our ap- 

 peals I'm- recognition and adjustment must 

 he directed to Congress. 



Through my official position as Superin- 

 tendent of Parks of one of the largest park 

 systems in the country, a position, which 

 I have held now for fourteen years after 

 serving ten years in a similar capacity in 

 another city, I feel Justified in claiming 

 that I am representing through my plea, 

 thousands of people, who take great in- 

 terest In this mailer, hut who have no 

 means of knowing whal is going on or 

 to present and defend their cause. I beg 

 leave to present the following suggestions: 



1. That the Federal Hoard he re- 

 quested through Congress to postpone 

 the enforcement of Quarantine Order 

 No, :1T, for at least one year, during 

 which time the question can be thor- 

 oughly considered from all points of 

 view and interests. 



L\ That the membership of the Fed 

 oral Horticultural Hoard he changed so 

 that there shall he not less than (wo 

 professional horticulturists of practical 

 commercial experience in said Roard of 

 five members. 



3. That a questionnaire blank lie 

 drawn up, printed and distributed 

 among all horticulturists all over the 

 country, and through which a large 

 amount of valuable and determining in- 

 formation will be secured on hand of 

 which final conclusions may he based. 

 This entire question Is of such great im- 

 portance that I feel justified in tiespeaking 

 of you, your careful consideration and at- 

 tention to this entire matter, and for which 

 attention I wish to extend to you In ad- 

 vance, my grateful appreciation. 

 Yours very truly, 

 Theodore Wirth, Supt. 



PROTECTING AMERICAN CROP 



PLANTS AGAINST ALIEN 



ENEMIES. 



The last lecture of the annual win- 

 ter course of the Massachusetts Horti- 

 cultural Society was delivered last 

 Saturday by Dr. B. T. Galloway of the 

 United States Department of Agricul- 

 ture, Washington. D. C. 



Dr. Galloway dwelt largely. on the 

 work of the Department in introducing 

 new fruits and economic plants and 

 also on the causes leading up to the 

 adoption of the recent plant embargo, 

 known as Quarantine 37. 



The conclusions in reference to pro- 

 tecting American crop plants against 

 alien enemies were summarized as fol- 

 lows: — 



1. There are many thousands of in- 

 sects and diseases not yet introduced 

 here, which are known to attack 

 plants in foreign countries. Since th^ 

 organization of the Federal Horticul- 

 tural Board in 1912 and the develop- 

 ment of careful systems of inspection, 

 an average of about 100 dangerous in- 

 sects and about the same number of 

 fungous and related parasities have 

 been discovered each year on stock 

 shipped to this country from Holland. 

 Belgium, France, England, Germany, 

 and Japan. Holland is credited with 

 148 such insects. Japan 108. France 89. 

 Belgium 64, England 62, and Germany 

 15. 



2. The material proving the greatest 

 source of danger consists of balled or 

 potted plants with earth about their 

 roots. It is impracticable to properly 

 inspect such material here and the 

 certificates of foreign inspectors have 

 proved to be of little or no value. 

 From one of the smaller European 

 countries 1,236 separate and distinct 

 shipments were examined in the past 

 ^ ; x years and each shipment was 



found to be infested with one or more 

 dangerous insects; 307 of these ship- 

 ments were azaleas. 



3. No system of inspection will pre- 

 vent the spread of dangerous insects 

 and diseases. The very best system 

 of inspection may delay the spread 

 and for this reason properly conducted 

 inspection pays, for it may be regarded 

 as a form of insurance. Exclusion of 

 the plants themselves is not always 

 an absolute safeguard but it is the 

 safest method known and has been 

 adopted in one form or another by 

 practically all civilized countries. 



4. After careful study of all phases 

 of the subject the Federal Horticul- 

 tural Board decided on a system of 

 limited exclusion. Under this plan the 

 governing principle is to limit com- 

 mercial plant importations to the 

 classes of plants which have been 

 represented by the plant interests con- 

 cerned in this country as being essen- 

 tial to plant production; in other 

 words, the raw material out of which 

 salable fruit trees, roses, etc., are 

 made. To these have been added cer- 

 tain classes of plants, including bulbs 

 and seeds, which could be reasonably 

 safeguarded by inspection and disin- 

 fection. 



5. The main features of the new 

 quarantine are as follows: — 



Requires permits and compliance 

 with regulations for importation of 

 lily bulbs, lily of the valley, narcissus, 

 hyacinths, tulips, and crocus; stocks, 

 cuttings, scions, and buds of fruits for 

 propagation: rose stocks for propaga- 

 tion, including Manetti. Multiflora, 

 Brier Rose, and Rose Rugosa; nuts, in- 

 cluding palm seeds, for propagation: 

 seeds of fruit, forest, ornamental, and 

 shade trees, seeds of deciduous and 

 evergreen ornamental shrubs, and 

 seeds of hardy perennial plants. 



Leaves unrestricted, except in spe- 

 cial cases, importations of fruits, vege- 

 tables, cereals, and other plant 

 products imported for medicinal, food 

 or manufacturing purposes: and field, 

 vegetable and flower seeds. 



Excludes all other classes of plants 

 for propagation, including fruit trees, 

 grapevines, bush fruits, grafted and 

 budded roses, forest, ornamental and 

 deciduous trees, ornamental and de- 

 ciduous shrubs, pine trees of all- kinds, 

 broad-leaved evergreens (such as aza- 

 leas and rhododendrons), and a long 

 list of plant material commonly known 

 as florists' stock. 



Excluded plants may still be import- 

 ed through the agency of the Depart 

 ment of Agriculture, in limited quanti- 

 ties to supply the country with novel- 

 ties and necessary propagating stock, 

 such entry being safeguarded by high- 

 ly-developed inspection and quarantine 

 service which has been organized by 

 the department, 



6. The office of Foreign Seed and 

 Plant Introduction in the Department 

 of Agriculture will act as an agency to 

 aid horticulturists and others in the 

 importation of novelties and plants 

 for propagating, etc. The office has 

 been introducing new and rare plants 

 for more than twenty years and during 

 that time it has brought in more than 

 50,000 lots. It has developed special 

 facilities for the care of plants during 

 inspection and has established five 

 field stations where its introductions 

 are propagated and tested. It is en 

 gaged in constructive work on stocks 



for American fruit trees and stocks 

 for roses and other ornamental plants. 

 Studies are also being made of the re- 

 gions which offer the best conditions 

 for the growing of ornamentals and 

 otheT plants now imported in large 

 numbers but which under the new 

 quarantine will be excluded. 



The lecture provoked much heated 

 discussion and general condemnation 

 of what was regarded as a most arbi- 

 trary and high-handed action on the 

 part of the officials, who were regard- 

 ed by the audience as having over- 

 stepped the authority given them by 

 Congress. 



A WINTER MUSHROOM 



There is one wild mushroom, the 

 Velvet-stemmed Collybia, which Is 

 often rather plentiful during the win- 

 ter months. It may be found from 

 October to May and was fairly abund- 

 ant during December, 1918. On ac- 

 count of the mild weather thus far 

 this season, it is also very likely to 

 occur during spells of mild weather 

 in January and February. 



This mushroom is easily recognized 

 by the tan-colored cap, the velvety- 

 brown stem which fades out to nearly 

 white at the top, the white or cream- 

 colored gills on the lower side of the 

 cap, and the habit of growing in dense 

 clusters on dead wood. The cap 

 varies somewhat in its shades of color 

 from light yellowish-brown to reddish- 

 brown. During wet weather it is very 

 sticky so that leaves and dirt adhere 

 to it. These can be easily picked or 

 washed off, however. The mushrooms 

 grow in clusters on trees, stumps, 

 fallen logs, or buried wood of elm, wil- 

 low, maple, basswood, and other de- 

 ciduous trees. They have even been 

 found in cities. 



On account of the season in which 

 they grow, there will probably be lit- 

 tle danger of confusing them with 

 poisonous kinds. No specimens should 

 be eaten, however, which do not con- 

 form to the description just given. No 

 decaying caps should be gathered, but 

 dried or shrivelled caps will usually 

 freshen up while being washed. Freez- 

 ing does not seem to injure their edi- 

 bility. 



The Velvet-stemmed Collybia has an 

 excellent flavor, and is, in fact, one 

 of the best of our edible mushrooms. 

 The best way of cooking it is to wash 

 thoroughly, then parboil for thirty 

 minutes in water to which a little salt 

 may be added and fry it with a steak 

 in plenty of butter. The stems should 

 be rejected unless very young. An- 

 other way Is to fry them for about fif- 

 teen minutes in butter or bacon fat 

 after parboiling. They may be served 

 on toast or as a separate dish. — 

 W. G. Stover, Department of Botany. 

 Ohio State University. Columbus. 

 Ohio. 



