Part I.] IIEPORT OF SECRETARY. 23 



That a Federal quarantine be established on all trees and 

 shrubs from foreign countries; that Congress be asked for an 

 appropriation of $240,000 for work in blister rust suppression; 

 that currants and gooseberries be declared a public nuisance 

 and be destroyed in all sections where the disease has been 

 found; that Congress establish a line north and south on the 

 Great Plains, beyond which no currants or pines may be sent 

 from the eastern part of the United States. The interstate 

 committee has been reorganized so as to take in all areas in this 

 country and Canada where five-needle pines grow, and the name 

 has been changed to the " Committee for the Suppression of the 

 Pine Blister Rust in North America." 



Clearly we are facing a very serious situation in relation to 

 our white pines, and if we are to save this valuable tree to the 

 State and Nation, drastic action must be taken at once. 



The Seed Situation for 1917. 



From the farmer's viewpoint the seed situation for 1917 is 

 generally disturbing, due to a combination of causes. Weather 

 conditions during the summer of 1916 in many parts of the 

 United States were unsatisfactory for seed development and 

 maturity, while seeds from Holland, France, Germany and Den- 

 mark have been cut off by an embargo since the early part of 

 the summer, and there is no assurance of its being lifted in time 

 to affect the 1917 supply. 



The seed bean crop is short, due to unfavorable weather and 

 labor conditions. Various estimates place it at from 15 to 40 

 per cent of normal. Sweet corn is estimated at 50 per cent, 

 and peas at from 30 to 40. Eastern grown carrot seed was almost 

 an entire failure. The principal seeds affected by European con- 

 ditions include cabbage, cauliflower, spinach, mangels and beets 

 from Denmark, celery, carrots, lettuce, radishes and turnips from 

 France and onions and garlic from Italy. Danish seeds have 

 been out of the market so far on account of the embargo, and it 

 is impossible to say how long this condition will continue. Spin- 

 ach seed, which last year sold for 12 cents, is now quoted at 

 60 cents. There are no available statistics as to the Danish 

 supply which would be available to the country should the 

 embargo be lifted, although it is reported that the Russian 



