December, 1922 



THE CANADIAN HORTICULTURIST 



241 



Canadian 

 Horticultural Council j 



Plant Registration 



L. F. Burrows, Secretary, C. H. Council 



THE plant registration committee, under 

 the chairmanship of W. T. Macoun, at- 

 tended a meeting of the directors of the 

 Council held in Ottawa on Nov. 13, and pre- 

 sented a report (published in full elsewhere on 

 this page), recommending a procedure to be 

 adopted in the establishment of a bureau of 

 plant registration. In a preamble to the report 

 it was stated that : 



Purpose of the Work 



"The committee have worked with a view 

 that the purpose of plant registration is two- 

 fold: 



" 1st. To make available the results of 



the work of the thousands of amateur plant 



breeders. 



" 2nd. To provide some means of recog- 

 nition and protection to the plant breeder 



as an inducement to him to submit the 



results of his work. 



"Briefly, the committee have been endeavor- 

 ing to find a means of placing the plant breeder 

 on a plane with the inventor. At present any- 

 thing new — outside the realm of living matter — 

 may lie patented, and the inventor so protected 

 as to enable him to reap the maximum benefits 

 of his invention. The investigator in the field 

 of living matter, however, has so nuch incentive 

 before him, and although his inventions may 

 be of considerable value to mankind, his own 

 reward, if any, is insignificant. This is true not 

 only in the case of the private individual, but 

 with public individuals as well. We need only 

 mention the case of Dr. Charles Saunders, late 

 Dominion Cerealist, who, though undoubtedly 

 one of the foremost in his profession in America, 

 received a retiring pension of but $900 a year, 

 though the work he did in the origination of 

 new varieties meant millions of dollars to the 

 people of Canada while he occupied his posi- 

 tion, and will mean millions more in the years 

 to come. 



"Since the formation of the committee, each 

 member has expended a great deal of his time 

 r in investigating the possibilities of bringing 

 plant registration into effect in the Dominion 

 of Canada. The opinions of a large number of 

 interested persons in Canada, the United States 

 and in European countries have been secured, 

 all of whom are strongly convinced that the 

 scheme is most practical and that if brought 

 into effect untold benefit would accrue, not 

 only to the horticulturists of Canada but, 

 through the incentive given, to horticulturists 

 throughout the world." 



Reasons for the Need 



In further support of the necessity and value 

 of a plant registration bureau, it was stated 

 that: 



" I. Most of the valuable cultivated plants 

 upon which mankind is now dependent for food 

 and clothing have been improved through the 

 discoveries of men who have neither been paid 

 for their work nor honored for their gigantic 

 services. 



"2. There are to-day fewer plant breeders 

 m America than there were 20 years ago. 



" .1. As a career plant breeding offers nothing 

 but a starvation wage at the close of life. 



" 4. Not a tenth of one per cent of our good 

 varieties of plants have been produced by gov- 

 ernmeirt paid men. (Experiment stations and 

 colleges, where government officials carry out 

 plant breeding, have been in existence but ^ 

 short time; whereas, varieties have l>cen origi- 

 nating with private individuals ever since the 

 first settlements in America and with indi- 

 viduals in other countries for thousands of 

 years.) 



"5. The very foundation of successful agri- 



culture lies in the use of varieties of plants 

 which are adapted to each locality. 



"6. Plant breeding more than any other 

 profession requires a continuous application 

 over long years (apples 40 years) to accomplish 

 anything and that it must be done in the country 

 where collections of the plants which are to be 

 bred can be kept. 



" 7. The keeping of these collections is a 

 very expensive thing and the cost of maintaining 

 them always falls on the individual plant 

 breeder. 



"Notwithstanding all these facts, not one 

 single thing has been done to encourage pioneers 

 who because they love plants have sacrificed 

 their fortunes and their lives to produce the 

 luscious fruits, the lovely flowers and the de- 

 licious vegetables which fill our gardens, and 

 because the patent laws do not recognize dis- 

 covery in the field of living matter, the plant 

 breeder is poorer in proportion to the size of 

 his collections and the length of time he has 

 been breeding plants. 



"A bureau of plant registration is most 

 urgently needed in order that plant hybrids 

 may be protected and in this way the art of 

 plant breeding be placed where it belongs 

 amongst the highest of arts. It will undoubted- 

 ly take plant breeding out of the class of hope- 

 less unprofitable professions and put it where 

 it belongs amongst those wliich render to society 

 the most lasting and productive benefits^one 

 upon which the future beauty of our flower 

 gardens and the wealth of our orchards and 

 fields depends." 

 J ( Those to Whom is Due the Credit 



iThe report was signed by the plant registra- 

 tion committee consisting of W. T. Macoun, 

 Ottawa, chairman; H. J. Moore, Islington, 

 Out.; Jas. E. Carter, Guelph, Ont.; S. F. 

 Davidson, Fonthill, Ont., and F. E. Buck, 

 Vancouver, B.C. 



]After very careful consideration, the directors 

 of the Council adopted the report and decided to 

 meet the honorable the minister of agriculture 

 and request assistance, financial and otherwise, 

 in order that the plan may be gone on with. 

 Those present were: The president, Lt.-Col. 

 H. L. Roberts, Grimsby, Ont.; F. W. Bishop, 

 Paradise, N.S. ; W. H. Stewart, Aylmer, Que.; 

 W. E. Groves, Hamilton, Ont.; C. W. Baxter, 

 Grimsby, Out., and L. F. Burrows, Ottawa. 

 Plan Placed Before Minister 



Later a memorandum was presented to the 

 minister, and several of the directors and 

 members of the registration committee spoke in 

 support of the project. The minister was much 

 impressed with the necessity and value of a 

 plant registration bureau, and expressed his 

 sympathy and support of the request for as- 

 sistance. He was unable to state, however, 

 that the necessary assistance would be granted 

 as it was a matter for the government to decide, 

 but in so far as it was possible for him to do so, 

 he gave the directors to understand that the 

 necessary assistance in the administration in the 

 future of such a worthy project would be forth- 

 cotning. 



The directors instructed the plant registration 

 committee to proceed with the establishment of 

 a registration bureau as provided in the report 

 previously adopted. 



Provincial Representatives 



At a meeting of the plant registration com- 

 mittee, after the meeting of tlie directors, the 

 following were named and are being requested 

 to act as provincial representatives of the 

 committee: British Columbia — Prof. F. E. 

 Buck, University of B.C., Vancouver. Alberta 

 — W. F. Broadstock, secretary, Edmonton Po- 

 tato Growers' Association, Edmonton. Sask- 

 atchewan — Dr. C. F. Patterson, University of 

 Saskatchewan, Saskatoon. Manitoba — Prof. F. 

 W. Brodrick, Manitoba Agricultural C'i' 

 Winnipeg. Ontario — 'H. J. Moore, Islin 

 Quebec — Prof. T. G. Bunting, Macdonald Cvi. 

 lege. Prince Edward Island — J. A. Clark. 

 Supt., Dom. Experimental Farm, Charlotte- 

 town. New Brunswick — A. G. Turney, Pro- 

 vincial Horticulturist, Fredericton. Nova Sco- 



tia — W. S. Blair, Supt., Dom. Experimental 

 Farm, Kentville. Yukon — ^James Farr, Swede 

 Creek, Dawson. 



Steps are being taken to prepare an index' of 

 the recognized names of all herbaceous horti- 

 cultural plants, shrubs or trees, and it is ex- 

 pected that the plant registration bureau will 

 be in a position to accept applications for 

 recording and registration at an early date. 



Note: — It is desirable that particular atten- 

 tion be given to sections 2 and 4 of the report 

 of the plant registration committee, wherein 

 the difference between recording and registration 

 is clearly defined. 



Plant Registration Bureau 



THE plant registration committee presented 

 to the directors of the Council, on Nov. 13, 

 the following plans and regulations for the 

 establishment of a plant registration bureau: 



1. The registration committee named by 

 the Council will name a provincial representa- 

 tive for and in each province. The committee 

 will also name separate committees to advise 

 regarding classes, such as gladioli, paeonies, 

 roses, etc., for recording. 



Recording and Registering 



2. By recording, the registration committee 

 does not establish the particular value or general 

 characteristics of new plants, but only settles 

 the right of priority of the name of the new 

 plant. The registration committee may con- 

 duct further investigations and, if satisfied 

 that the new plant is worthy of registration, 

 such registration shall indicate that the new 

 plant is considered to be of outstanding merit. 



3. Only horticultural herbaceous plants, 

 shrubs or trees will be accepted for recording. 



4. Any variety which is not recognized as 

 being in existence at time of application (that 

 is, which is new) may be recorded, but a variety 

 to be registered must first be tested and found 

 to be of outstanding merit. 



Fees and Applications 



5. A fee of $5 shall accompany each applica- 

 tion from Canada and of $10 from points out- 

 side Canada. If the variety is not recorded, the 

 fee, less expenses incurred, will be remitted. 



^6. Each application for recording will be 

 forwarded first to the provincial representative, 

 who will satisfy himself that the application 

 covers a new variety. 



7. The description given must not bring into 

 comparison any other variety already known in 

 the trade, in such a way as to discredit this other 

 variety. 



Should the committee think that the descrip- 

 tion given is likely to prejudice another variety, 

 they will ask the raiser to alter the terms of the 

 description. If the raiser refuses to do so, Ihe 

 recording may be refused and the fees returned 

 less the expenses incurred in returning the 

 money and for correspondence. 



8. The application will state: (a) The full 

 name of the raiser of the plant, (b) The full 

 name of the seller (if necessary). (c)jThe name 

 of the new plant, (d) A brief description of the 

 new plant, (e) Conditions under which the 

 raiser wishes to sell or distribute the new plant. 



9. The application with supplementary de- 

 scription (and specimens, if possible) will be 

 fonvarded by the provincial representative to 

 the secretary of the Council. 



To Prevent Duplication 



10. An index will be maintained in the olTice 

 of the secretary on which is recorded the com- 

 plete name and, where possible, the description 

 of every known variety of horticultural herba- 

 ceous plants, shrubs or trees. Each application 

 as received will be checked with the index in 

 order to assure that the name applied for is not 



ilready in use. 



11. After checking, the application (and 

 specimen, if possible) will be forwarded to the 

 Dominion Horticulturist for a report as to 

 whether, in his opinion, the variety is new and 

 is pro|)crly described in the application. 



12. The report of the Dominion Horticultur- 



