16 



The Florists^ Review 



rKBIUAUY 13. 1911). 



COUNTERING DREER'S BARRAGE 



B j q 



FEDERAL BOARD REPLIES. 



Defends Its Quarantine Order. 



Hcciiiisc cif tho storm of protest wliicli 

 hrokc ;il)oiit tlu' l-'cdcrjil Jlortic-ultiiral 

 Hoanl till' nioiiuMit tlu' ilrastic nature of 

 its <|iiiii;iiitin(' order was realized, Dr. 

 < '. I.. Marlatt. cliainiian, lias t'ldt ini- 

 [teiled to issue a dociiiueiit of some 4,000 

 \voi<ls alioiit eight eoluiiiiis of The Re- 

 view exiilaiiiiiiji; and defendiiiif its ac- 

 tion. The ' ' Memorariilnm,' ' as Di-. Mar- 

 latt calls it, iirincipallv is a reply to the 

 "J'rotest"' of Henry A. Dreer, Ine., 

 sent in circular form to many interested 

 anil ]uildisiied as a Jiafie advertisement 

 in The K(\ icw of .lanuary 0. This docu- 

 ment l>r. M.-irlatt holds res|ionsil)le for 

 " jiract ica'ly all"' the protest whiih has 

 arisen. 



In ills memorandum Dr. Marlatt se(d\s 

 to refute the (diarge that the trade has 

 been ignored .'inil seeks to gi\i' the im- 

 pression that a considerable propoi-tion 

 of the trade approves the :iction of the 

 lio.Mid. !!(» s;iys: 



Steps Leading to the Quarantine. 



"The need t'or .•idditional restrictions 

 on the inipoii;ition ol' nursery stock and 

 other plants and seeds has been under 

 caref'id consideration by the boaid for 

 several vear^. This need has been em- 

 jpiiasi/ed by numerous; rei|ue<ts and reso- 

 lutioM> urging greater restrictions on 

 plant importjit ions, tcceixed t'roni olli- 

 cials and .associaf ions representing state 

 departments of agriculture, state nurs- 

 er\' inspectors and (dlici.al entonodogists 

 arol pljint patlodogists ol' the I'nited 

 States. Siniil.ar reijuests li;i\e been re- 

 cei\eii fiom n.-itional an(| state forestry, 

 hort icnit ur;il and other allieil associ.a- 

 tions. and t'ldni many le;iding nursery 

 men ■■ind tlorivt>. As a ba-is t'or smdi 

 additional restrictions a public lie;iring 

 \\:is conducted at this dep.artnu'nt M;i>' 

 L'^, I'.Hs, .-ind till' |iropiived lestrictions 

 were thorduglily di--cus--i'(| with .all the 

 inteii'siv in\ii|\(d, iioduding lidtli ini 

 poiting nui xTv men ;ini| ^eedsnn'li, as 

 well a'^ leading pioducing iiuiservinen 

 :ind florists. 



• ' I'dlliiw ing this lie;i ri ii'_; aii'l at the 



re(|Ue-t of t.'ie luiard, tile subject was 



L;i\en c.-iiel'ul study in ;ill nt' its phases 



by the pl.'Mlt experts 1 1 1' tile I 'e | i;i it Ul e 11 1 



ol' A l;i iciilt ure user a jieiidd nt' s,\er;il 

 niontlis, in tiie cnursc nl' which ni;iny of 

 the principal iiMisiis ;iud llmist estab 

 lislinients (,!' the I'nited States were 



visited b\- thesr eNpelts ;iiii| tile details 

 of the pinpiiscl <|uarantine were dis 

 (■lisse(| with I hi' peisdus in chai'ge ot' 

 these esf.-i bjisjiiiii.iits. As a iesnlt ol' 

 this I'xtended iioprn\ ;i tentative drafi 

 ot' |.|(ipose(| legulatinus \\;is t'c 1 1 m u l;i t ed 



:iiid submitted to the priiici|ial niirsery- 

 nic'ii •i\' the c-iHiiilr\. A linal cmi t'erence 



W;is t heU h(dd in t he nHJce I.I' t he c 1 1 a i f 



man ol the bu;iid. < )ctidiei 1 s. I'.t| s. at 

 which, 'ill interest |., I |i;irties were inviTei> 

 to siiliiiiil cliticisiiis III' sn^Liestions either 

 in |ierson or by letter. The ipia r;int ine 

 ;ind regulations .-is prnin n l:^a t ed repre- 

 sent, t hel'et'ul'e, the best judL^inent o t' 

 the pljllit experts nf this de|i;ii't mellt 



In the Senate of the United 

 States. February 7, a largre part of 

 the clay was devoted to debate de- 

 niinciatory of the order of the Brit- 

 ish Board of Trade restricting- the 

 importation of articles principally 

 manufactured in the United States. 

 But none of the Senators who 

 loudly demanded action by our 

 State Department seemed aware 

 that one of our own gfovemmental 

 ag-encies, the Federal Horticultural 

 Board, had fired the first shot in 

 commercial warfare by prohibit- 

 ing- imports of plants principally 

 produced in England, France, Bel- 

 gium and Holland. 



It is presumed British nursery- 

 men will seek to prevent the with- 

 drawal of the embargoes of which 

 the United States complains until 

 our government cancels its quar- 

 antine against British nursery 

 products, ^'^''i':' 



based on this extended consideiiit ion ot 

 the entire subject. 



Object^sns in Letters of Protest. 



'"Heceiitly numeidus letters have 

 reached tile de|iartnient protesting 

 against the enforcement of the (piaian- 

 tine. Practically all (d' these letters 

 are ill response to a jninted circular I'li- 

 titled • I'rotest Against tlie Horticultural 

 import l'r(diibition, " signed by Henry A. 

 Dreer, of IMi i laihdphia, and sent to 

 nurserymen all over the coiintrv. Most 

 of the letters I'eceived simply repeat the 

 st;itements contained in Mr. Dreer's 

 circular letter. 



•-Ill that letti-r reference is made to 

 wli;it is coiisiijered inconsistencies in the 

 regul;it ions in that they permit the 

 eiitrv of rose stoidxs for pro|pagat ion 

 and of six varieties of bulbs, while they 

 exclude budded or grafted roses and all 

 bulbs with the exception ot' the six 

 \ ;i riet ies referred t o. 



--During the peiind when the i|u;ii'an- 

 tine w;|s iiihier disciissiiill the federal 

 lliu't iciilt ur;i I r)o;iid w;is urged very 

 sti'ioigly by many ;id\isei's, incliuling 

 holt iciilt iiral ;ind t'oiesi ry ;iss(iciat ions 

 and st;ite pl;iiit i aspect nis ;ind their or 

 ^,-1 ni/a t iiuis ;ind in;in\ .\ iiieric;i n l:i'ow 

 ei's. 111 |iridiibit the ini poit;i1 inn nl' ;ill 

 niirsei'V stuck and ntlier plants, nn the 

 ground that :ill smh plants nrr suiirces 

 of risk of i lit ioi|ii,-ing d.-in^eiuiis insects 

 a nd |ilaiit disi ases. 



■'Such d;ingeis ilii exist. They are 

 greatest in i in poi t at imis I'ldin little 

 known coiintiies, mjiny nf which i|ii imt 

 iii.'ii Ilia i II any sysiem i.l' i iis|iiM| inn. The 

 dangers .-ire prnonrt inn;i lly ;^ri';itei' 



among the miscellailenlis cLmsscs nt' 



nursery stnck ;ind nther |i|;iiits, iiicluil 

 iiig bulbs, which are iinpnited in sni;iller 



ijUa lit it ies, but which represent nuillei 

 oils genei';i ,'iiid sjircies ;iiid in;iy bring 

 in a cnl'lespiiild ini; llUlllber III' liew pl.'int 

 pests. 



Why Discriminate? 



-'While cnliiplete exclusion lindnllbl 

 edlv afl'mils the urcit est ine;isiii',' of 



safet.v, the governing jniiudple in tho 

 (piarantine is to limit jilant inti'oduc- 

 tions to the classes of ]daiits whi(di h;ive 

 been re|)reseiited by the jdant interests 

 concerned in this country as being es- 

 seiiti.-il to ]>lant ])rodiictioii ; in other 

 vvords, the raw material out of which 

 salable fruit trees, roses, etc., are made. 

 To these were added certain classes of 

 plants, iiu liiding bulbs .and seeds, which 

 could be reasonabl.v safeguarded by in- 

 spection and disinfection. 



''In the case of rose stocks the dis- 

 tiiKdion between stocks on the one hand 

 and budded or grafted roses on the 

 (dher was made with a view to limit- 

 ing importations largtdv to such stocks 

 as :ire usually grown in commercial 

 nurseries wlii-re specdal care is i'.\er(dse(l 

 to contrcd and eradicate pests. The 

 stocks |)ermitteil entry under Item ;'> of 

 Regulation '■'> are practically always 

 grown ill coininercial nurseries, while 

 budded .and graft eil rose jilants ma.v, im- 

 mediately iip(ui their arrival in the 

 riiited States, be shipped broadcast 

 over the country to consumers who |iay 

 little or no attention to the eradication 

 of ;iny insects or diseases the ])laiits 

 ni:iy carry. Kose stocks, furthermore, 

 ;is imported .-ire seldom more than 1 

 year old, whereas the finished rose |dants 

 are L' vears or more old and conse(pient- 

 ly correspondingly more likcdy to be the 

 nie,-ins of introducing pests. 



To Admit Novelties. 



-' With respect to bulbs it was realized 

 that a danger existed .-ind the entry was 

 restiicteil to (dasses (d' bulbs least sub- 

 ject to risk of bringing iii new ])ests 

 and wlii(di, from their nature, coiihl be 

 most readily inspecteil and determined 

 as clean. The ex( liideil bulbs iuv(dve the 

 less important and miscell.-ineous im- 

 portations coming t'ldiii widely scat- 

 tereil sources and the eiitiv of which is 

 atteiideil with much greater risk of in- 

 troduction of pl;int diseases and insect 

 l"'-t>. 



--rrnvisinii is made in the i|Uarantiiie 

 lor the entry in limiled "piantities of 



tllesr pi'nhibiti'd bulbs uild other jdailts 

 throiigli the otlice of foreign Seed ami 

 I'lant 1 lit induct ion of this dep;irt nieiit , 

 lUr tile purpose ii\' keeping the country 

 sup|diei| with new vmieties and the 

 necessarv pmp.-igat ing stock — sik h eiiti'v 

 ni'cess;i ri ly being safeguarded bv the 

 highly developed ins|iectioii .and i|uar;ni- 

 tiiie service now organi/ed by this de- 

 partment. It is iinpract ic;ible In give 

 this tvpe nf ilispectinli In cum lllelc ia 1 

 iinpiO'tat inljs. The <-nst WdiiM be pro 

 hibitive, esprciallv under conditions 

 which wniild I'l'ipiire very J'reipieiit pro- 

 vision I'nr holding the imported material 

 in ipi;ir;int ine for ;i period of months or 

 veai's, ;iii(| the necessity tor verv high 

 grade :ind expert iiispectnrs. Kiirtlier- 

 nioi'e. inspectors with the t r.-iiii ing re- 

 'juiied fnr this critical wurk are not 

 avail;ible I'nr li;indling iin pnrt;i t iiois nf 



these lest lii'teil l'l;|ss,', ( , |' pl;|||ts nil a 



cniiiiiiercial sea |e. 



Quarantine 'Was Approved 



'•.Mr. Dreer's letter alsn cnnvevs the 



