Feiuuauy S, 1'.)17. 



The Florists^ Review 



17 



MAY QUARANTINE ALL OUR STOCK 



SENATE PASSES BILL GIVING DANGEROUS AUTHORITY 



PROPOSED NEW LEGISLATION. 



Drastic and Dangerous. 



Prior to tlie i);i.ssagc of tlie plant quar- 

 .-iritiiic law of 1!)12, aj;itatioii was worked 

 up hy lectures, magazine articles, pani- 

 plilets, etc., with tlie eviilent oliject of 

 creatiiij;' an atniospheie faxoralile to its 

 {lassa^ic. The impression was <j;iveu that 

 about all of the insect ])ests and plant 

 diseases that al'I'eet our forests and farm 

 <'roj)s were imported into the I'nited 

 states by sellish nurserynuMi and llorists 

 — along with the ])h-uits and nursery 

 stock which they imported from i'lurope. 

 This ])ro])agaiida resulted in the passaj^(> 

 of the jilant ipiaiJintiiie act in I'.M'J, 

 thoiiyh the agitation continues. 



To operate the plant quarantine act, 

 <he Federal Horticultural Board was 

 created, with headcpiarters in Washing- 

 ton, D. C; it consists of live bureau 

 chiefs of the JJepartnient of Agriculture, 

 with Dr. C. L. Marlatt as chairman. 

 -Ml of tiiese men are well qualified for 

 their duties and though the law gives 

 them almost autocratic powers, power 

 to ()uarantine any foicign country or 

 locality, they have used this power witli 

 <'ommondable discretion and moderation. 

 Hut this does not satisfy a group of 

 state entomologists, who deiuaiid noth- 

 ing less than an absolut(^ (|uaiantine 

 against the importation of plant life 

 from all foreign sourcM^s. 



State Entomologists Get Busy. 



At a meeting of entomologists about 



a year ago, resolutions were ]iassed 



which in elVect re(iuesteil the Federal 



Horticultural Board to put this absolute 



luarantinc into effect, but as no action 



•vas taken, tlio entomologists interested 



I he American Forestry Association in 



■ 's plans. This association consists 



■irgely of foresters, entomologists, lum- 



"'r men and others interested in our 



I "rests. .Naturally, sucli men know lit- 



' 'c about the commercial side of the nur- 



■ry or florists' business, but when they 



'"re informed — by men who sliould 



NOW better — that an altsolute quaran- 



■'*'• of all imported jilant life was neccs- 



'i.^' for the j>rotection of our forests 



'I farm crops, they took u]i the suli- 



♦ with enthusiasm and c;illed a sjte- 



:il conference in Washington, 1). C, to 



ii'pt measures to stop inijiortation, e\eu 



' ' he raw materials. 



A One-sided Conference. 



I he conference was lield .lanuary 10. 

 . as chairman of the legislative com- 

 mittee of the S. A. v., and .1. Mcllutchi- 

 "». of New Yorl\, a member of my com- 

 iftee, were present on behalf of the 

 A. F. The legis];iti\e committee of 

 ''"' American Association of Nui-sery- 

 '"f 1 was also there, besiiles several in- 

 'ividual members of the nurserymen \s 

 "I'l florists' organizations. Many 

 -fieeclios and papeis were delivered ad- 

 ' ocating an absolute quarantine, but 

 'lo opportunity was given for discus- 

 sion after each paper; so tli-' '.. ' 'd- 



THE SENATE ACTS. 



i'"cbruaiy '.'> the Heiiate gave the 



Secretary of Agriculture unliin 



ited authority to establish abso- 



lutt' (piarantine of all horticultural 



pKiducts by adopting an anieiid- 



iiieut to tiie present (juarantiiie 



law, making Section S read as 



t'olhiw s: 



Sec. 8. That the Secretary of Agri- 

 culture is authorized and directed to 

 quarantine anv — stjrtt^i-^ territory or dis- 

 trict of thiyWiitcd Starts, or any portion 

 thereof, i*1u'n he shaU TtrtrrmrrW flTar" 

 such qu.-yrantine is necessary to prevent 

 the spread of a dangerous plant disease 

 or insect infestation, new to or not there- 

 tofore widely prevalent or distributed 

 within and throughout the United States. 



The amciidniciit goes on to ]>r<)- 



\ ide that the law sh.all ajijily to 



any class of nursery stock or any other 

 class of plants, fruits, vegetables, roots, 

 bulbs, seeds, or other plant products, or 

 any class of stone or quarry products, 

 or any other article of any character what- 

 soever, capable of carrying any dangerous 

 plant disease or insect infestation, speci- 

 fied in the notice of quarantine. 



The sei-retarv is requirccl to 



h(dd a public he;iriiig bcl'ore [iro- 



nnilg.-it iiiL;- u quarantine. 



The House nlready had passc^d 

 the ;igricult ur.al ;iiipi-opri;ition bill. 

 It now goes to :i con fcicMice com- 

 mitted'. If the conference .agrees 

 to the (|uai;intiiie amendment it 

 no doubt will become the l.aw. 



tiii'al siile of the question was not \'oi<-eil. 

 lu'solutions were unanimously adopted 

 l'a\()ring an absolute ipiarantine, and to 

 show what it means to the llorists and 

 nurserymen, I quote i'rom tin- jirojioseii 

 bill tlu^ first two sections, as I'ollows: 



Sec. 1. Ph.it it shall be \iiila\vfMl for any 

 person to iinpiirt or offer for entry into the I'nited 

 states any inirsery stock. I'rovided; 'rii.-it the 

 Seeret.iry of Ai;riciilture ni.iy import, yrow and 

 propai-'ale nursery stoik in small (luantilies for 

 ■ ■\liirimiiit.il .•iihI sricntilic purposes, upon such 

 loiiilitions anil under siiih re^-iilatioris as lie m.'iy 

 •Tdvise. 



Si'e. L'. Tliat for tlie purpose of this .\ct the 

 lei.ni "nursery stoi'k" shall imliidi- .ill lield- 

 L'rouM llorists' stock, trees, shrubs, vineV. cnt- 

 tiMi.'s, j;rafts. seions. buds, bedding plants, all 

 hi'rbaceoiis idants. b-ilbs. roots, .■iiid otiier |)lanls 

 ind plant prodiirts for jiroji.i^'.atioii, except field. 

 M i,'et,-ilile, lluwer and tree seeds 



Effect of the Bill. 



This bill, if passed, will shut out 

 ln-.-ictically everything tlic florists now 

 import, iiududing Azalea ]n<lica, bay 

 trees and araiaarias, valley pips for 

 forcing or any other juirpose, .lapanese 

 lily liulbs, Freneli bulbs, Dutch bulbs, 

 Manetti stocks used for greenhouse 

 grafting of roses, orchids and nursery 

 stock of every kind. It would not only 

 sliut out dracipna plants, but the canes 

 which ar(^ tiecessary to produce them. 

 it would shut out kenti;i plants; also the 

 seeds necessary to grow our own jilants. 

 "What for?" you ask; the answer is, 

 "To save our forests.'' Tf any member 

 of the S. A. F. thinks it necessary to 

 stop the importation of valley pips, 

 Manetti stocks or .Tapanosc lily bulbs to 



protect our forests, T should like to hear 

 from liini. 



Arraiigenieuts were made it the con- 

 ference committee so th.it tlio measure 

 would not be iiilroduced in- Congress 

 until coniiiiittees from the ii.it ional asso- 

 ciations ol' florists and nurseiynien had 

 an ojqport unit \ of conlrerring with a 

 sjieeial committee of the American For- 

 estry Association appointeil t'or that 

 juirpose. This anaiigement shows the 

 right spirit, and, though the s]iei ial com- 

 mittee consists mostly of state inspect- 

 ors, we hope to be abl(> to show them 

 that while their plan, if put into opera- 

 tion, would jiut ba(d\. the llmists' busi- 

 ness many years, it woidd not go far in 

 |irotecting our forests or farm crojis or 

 I'cduce the dis(>ases whi(di afflict them 

 to any ajipreciable degree. 



A Crisis in Trade Affairs. 



The measures that lia\(' threatened 

 (Mir interests for se\er;il ye.'irs lia\e now 

 I'e.nidied a crisis. We sh;ill need on our 

 committee men of' ability who are will- 

 ing to subordinate their |ieison;il inter- 

 ests to the W(dfare of the tr;ide — men 

 who understand why stotd; is imjioiteil, 

 \vhy .at least the raw niateiials .are nec- 

 essary to our widfaie — men who know 

 something .alioiu insect ])ests and plant 

 diseases and \vlio can adequately (-xjiress 

 their \iews. 



Since our policy will liueiy haxe to be 

 defined before our annual con\ention in 

 August, till' nuf-;eryiuen 's conv(Mitiou 

 beiiiL;' ludd in .lune, I will <eek the ad- 

 \ ice ot' the executi\(> committee of the 

 S. A. 1\ on the subject, but as the mat- 

 ter is such a \"ital on(> to in.any of our 

 members, I deem it wise to inform the 

 gi>ner,al trade^ tiirough the medium of 

 The l\'e\ lew jiijil trust the Ivlitor will 

 give this repoit the publicity it de- 

 ■<erves. Win. F. Ciude, 



<h;iirm:in l.eLrlslat i\ e Committee of tlie 



s. A. F. 



THRIPS ON CYCLAMENS. 



Kindly let me know what ails the en- 

 closed cyclamen leaf. <_'an you tell me 

 the cause .and tlie remedy t'or this trou- 

 ble.' I had plants in the same condition 

 last vear. P. H.— 0. 



Th(^ leal' I'orwarded ^\as covered with 

 Ihrips. This usually comes from an 

 dry atui()s(iliere and is accentuated if 

 tlie plants, in addition, gi^t too drv at 

 the roots. A remedy is to keep more 

 moisture in the atmosphere and spray 

 the affected jilants frequently \\ith a 

 fine spray nozzle. Tf you lay the plants 

 on their sides and use a nicotine or soap 

 spray and direct it carefully at the 

 lowt'i' sides of the leaves, you will ex- 

 terminate a large majoritv of the pests. 



C. W. 



Fargo, N. D. — Several blocks of a new 

 addition to the town have been actpiired 

 by the Smedley Floral Co., which con- 

 templates the erection of greenhouses 

 on the property. 



