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HORTICULTURE: 



April 5, 1919 



THE PLANT EMBARGO MENACE 



AN AMENDMENT. 



The following communication has 

 been received from the office of the 

 Secretary of Agriculture and speaks 

 for itself: 



United States Department of Agri- 

 culture, Office of the Secretary. 

 Federal Horticultural Board. 



Amendment No. 2 to Regulations 



Supplemental to Notice of 



Quarantine No. 37 



Under authority conferred by the 

 plant quarantine act of August 20, 

 1912 (37 Stat., 315), it is ordered that 

 Regulation 14 of the Rules and Regu- 

 lations Supplemental to Notice of 

 Quarantine No. 37 Governing the Im- 

 portation of Nursery Stock and Other 

 Plants and Seeds into the United 

 States, effective June 1, 1919, be, and 

 the same is hereby, amended to read 

 as follows: Regulation 14. Special 

 permits for importation in limited 

 quantities of prohibited stock. 



Application may be made to the Sec- 

 retary of Agriculture for special per- 

 mits for the importation, in limited 

 quantities and under safeguards to be 

 prescribed in such permits, of nursery 

 stock and other plants and seeds not 

 covered by the preceding regulations 

 for the purpose of keeping the country 

 supplied with new varieties and neces- 

 sary propagating stock: Provided, 

 That this shall not apply to nursery 

 stock and other plants and seeds cov- 

 ered by special quarantines and other 

 restrictive orders now in force, nor to 

 such as may hereafter be made the 

 subject of special quarantines. A list 

 of nursery stock and other plants and 

 seeds covered by special quarantines 

 and other restrictive orders now in 

 force is given in Appendix A of these 

 regulations. 



Done in the District of Columbia 

 this 27th day of March, 1919. 



Witness my hand and the seal of 

 the United States Department of Agri- 

 culture. 



D. P. Houston, 

 (Seal) Secretary of Agriculture. 



NOT NECESSARILY FINAL. 



Extract from letter of Secretary D. 

 F. Houston, Department of Agricul- 

 ture, dated Washington, March 28th, 

 1919, addressed to Winfred' Rolker, 

 New York Florists' Club Protesting 

 Committee, 51 Barclay street, New 

 York, N. Y.: 



It is clearly my opinion that the dis- 

 tinction and classes in this quarantine 

 order have been made only after care- 



ful consideration of the best informa- 

 tion obtainable. It is also evident that 

 the various restrictions embodied in 

 the order are not necessarily final; 

 one amendment has already been 

 issued, that of February 12, 1919, with 

 reference to the use of sterilized soil 

 about the roots of imported plants. It 

 is, therefore, always possible that 

 further convincing evidence may make 

 other amendments necessary, not only 

 for modifying or removing restrictions 

 now in force, but also for extending 

 existing restrictions or adding further 

 prohibitions thereto, etc., etc., matter 

 follows, and ends with: 



In view of the facts and considera- 

 tions above set forth, it is my opinion 

 that Plant Quarantine 37 is scientific 

 in origin and purpose, as well as sound 

 in principle, and that its enforcement 

 will make for the safety of the plant. 

 fruit and forest interests of the coun- 

 try, with as little injury to private 

 agencies and individuals as is compati- 

 ble therewith. 



(Signed) D. F. Houston, 

 Secretary." 



SHIP'S BALLAST NOT AN IMPOR- 

 TANT SOURCE OF INTRODUC- 

 ING PLANT ENEMIES. 

 Objectors to the plant quarantine 

 have insisted that there is as much 

 danger of the introduction of insect 

 pests in the earth used as ballast by 

 ships returning from Europe as in the 

 earth around foreign plants imported 

 in balls, pots or tubs. The earth 

 around balled, potted or tubbed plants 

 can not be disinfected or cleaned and 

 involves a large and known risk. In 

 view of the argument that earth bal- 

 last is equally dangerous, the Federal 

 Horticultural Board of the United 

 States Department of Agriculture dur- 

 ing the past two months has under- 

 taken a thorough investigation of such 

 ships' ballast. This investigation has 

 had special relation to the ports of 

 New York and Boston, but is being ex- 

 tended to cover New Orleans, San 

 Francisco, and other principal ports of 

 the United States. The war conditions 

 have evidently very much increased 

 the amount of ballast thus brought to 

 the ports of Boston and New York, for 

 the reason that during the war trans- 

 ports carrying troops to France re- 

 turned, for the most part, in ballast. 

 The material employed for such bal- 

 last, however, would seem to involve 

 very little risk of being the means of 

 the introduction of dangerous plant 



enemies, according to statements 

 made by the investigators of the De- 

 partment of Agriculture. The bulk of 

 it consists of sand, gravel, broken 

 rock, and even ashes. Soil is occasion- 

 ally employed, but in the main this 

 soil seems to have been derived from 

 river banks or from excavations for 

 construction purposes (cellar soil); in 

 other words, such primeval soil as has 

 had probably little or no touch with 

 cultivated land. It is not at all prob- 

 able that valuable garden or field soil 

 would be secured and used for ballast 

 purposes. The sand and gravel is as a 

 rule sold for building or other con- 

 struction purposes, and the broken 

 rock and soil have been used to some 

 extent for filling in, and that brought 

 in on government vessels largely for 

 fills in connection with government 

 constructions on the water front. Some 

 of this ballast has been towed to sea 

 and dumped along with city waste. It 

 is perfectly apparent that there is very' 

 little danger from such material, and 

 it cannot be considered in the same 

 sense at all as the highly cultivated 

 soil coming with plants grown in 

 greenhouses or in gardens or fields, 

 and should any insect life get into 

 such ballast material it would be ac- 

 cidental and exceptional. This inves- 

 tigation, however, will be continued 

 to determine whether there is any 

 danger in connection with such ballast 

 which should be guarded against. Un- 

 doubtedly the amount of ballast 

 brought. to American ports will greatly 

 diminish when normal commercial 

 conditions are fully resumed. 



PACHYSANDRA TERMINALIS. 

 I notice one of your advertisers has 

 fifty thousand small plants of this to 

 offer and to those outside of Boston 

 and vicinity it may be well to state 

 that this is one of the finest little 

 plants for making an evergreen mat 

 under trees where nothing else will 

 grow. The true terminalis has glos- 

 sy green foliage, is perennial, and is a 

 very desirable cover plant. It also 

 does well in full sun as well as in the 

 shade. If you can't make grass grow 

 under your trees, .try this. Wood 

 meadow grass is scarce these days. 



G. C. W. 



The St. Louis Florists' Association 

 met Monday, March 24, at Knights of 

 Columbus Hall. They discussed pub- 

 licity and supported the Milwaukee 

 plan of collecting funds. 



