14 



The Florists^ Review 



.\i,M:» 11 <i. I'.M'.t 



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<^ THE TRADE'S PROTEST i^ 



1 



THE TRADE'S POSITION. 



What the Committee Represents. 



This comniitttT ioj)roson1s tlio Socifty 

 ui- American Florists, an oryanizatioii 

 with a national charter, having an ac- 

 tive, associate, and afliliated member- 

 ship of over 2L',000 of the leading ilo 

 lists, flower and plant orowers in cMM-y 

 -tate of the Union. 



We come to you, Mr. Secretary, to 

 persoiiallv jirotest afjainst the arbitrary 

 action of the Federal Horticultural 

 Board (which is under your jurisdiction) 

 in prohibiting-, after June 1 next, the 

 importation of jtracticallv all plants, 

 plant pt()ducts, and raw materials re- 

 .{uired for the eonduct and maintenance 

 of our busiiK'ss and in placiiiji such re- 

 strictions on tlie further importation (tf 

 other essentials as to make their im- 

 portation almost impossible; brinfii»S 

 about a situation which is without a 

 parallel in the history of enlifihtened 

 nations. 



The Plant Quarantine Act was ].assed 

 by Congress August 120, 191-J, without 

 the great body of llorists, nurserymen 

 and s-cedstnen even knowing of its incep- 

 tion. This act and its amendm.'iits 

 gave '^.-lid board great ]iowers to which, 

 Tf they were used in aci-ordance with the 

 wor.l \iud spirit in which Congrt>ss in- 

 tended them to be used, we woubl offer 

 no objection, as proper restrictions could 

 only benefit the country as a whole, in- 

 cluiling all horticultural interests, but 

 the ruling made by your board was, 

 undoubtedly, influenced: 



Questionable Influences. 



Pirst — By pressure brought to l)ear 

 upon it by certain scientific bodies and 

 other organizations not in touch with 

 commercial life and with unwarranted 

 fear they have pictured to themselves 

 some huiidreds of dangerous insect pests. 

 rusts, blights and other diseases, scurry 

 Ing to our shores, bent on devouring or 

 destroying the croi>s and forests of our 

 land. 



gppond — While this committee has not 

 seen the numerous lettirs whi(d» we arc 

 fold are on file in possession of the Fed 

 cral Horticultural lioard from varioiK 

 nurseries, urging that this (|u:irantine 

 be established, we are in ])osscssion of 

 the following facts: On the same clay on 

 which the Holland Nurserymen 'sAsso- 

 .'iation received a cablegram tiotifying 

 them that Quarantine No. .''.7 had re 

 ceived your signature, four different 

 firms in Boskoop, Holland, each received 

 a cablegram from one of the very few- 

 nurserymen who, in open session, en- 

 dorsed this prohibition act of the Fed- 

 eral Horticultural Board in which said 

 firm asked for a rpiotation on 100,000 

 evergreens and conifers, which is con- 

 clusive proof that this concern was not 

 giving its sujtport for the ]iurpose of 

 guarding the country from insect pests. 

 It was ready to let the country take the 

 chance by importing evergreens by the 



THE HEARING 



A joint conunlttee of the Society 

 of American Florists and the 

 American Association of Nursery- 

 men went to Washingrton Satur- 

 day, March 1, to ask Secretary of 

 AgrrlcTilture D. F. Houston to raise 

 the quarantine on importingf 

 plants and bulbs that is to gro into 

 effect June 1. 



The meetingf was arrangfed by 

 Senator William M. Calder, of New 

 York, and Representative Bach- 

 arach, of New Jersey. The sen- 

 ator was absent, owing* to an im- 

 portant session in the Senate, but 

 the cong-ressman met the com- 

 mittee and escorted its members 

 to the Department of Agriculture. 



The representatives of the 

 Nurserymen's Association were 

 Thomas B. Meehan, Curtis Nye 

 Smith, W. W. Hoopes, Henry T. 

 Moon, Charles Perkins, Jr., and 

 Orlando Harrison. The S. A. F. 

 was represented by J. D. Bisele, 

 Charles H. Totty, C. B. Knick- 

 man and Frank B. Fierson. 



A newspaper man, who is fa- 

 miliar with these audiences, told 

 the committee that if they g-ot 

 fifteen minutes' hearing' they 

 might consider themselves fortu- 

 nate. 



Secretary Houston received the 

 committee cordially. He was pre- 

 sented with a tsrpewritten petition, 

 askin? that the quarantine on im- 

 ports of plants and bulbs, to g-o 

 into effect, be annulled. The prin- 

 cipal points in the petition were 

 outlined by Curtis Nye Smith, for 

 '*-''«> nurservmen, and by Frank B. 

 Fierson, for the florists, the two 

 speakers working* in harmony. 

 The secretary listened atten- 

 tively, asked some questions and 

 g-ave the committee the impres- 

 sion that their case is hopeful. 

 The interview lasted thirty min- 

 utes. No time has been set for 

 the decision. Phil. 



A snmmary «if the pr^t'st of tlx- s. A. \. 

 v-ommittfp on tariff ami I.'triwlation prcsontod to 

 The S<>orotnr.v of Acricultnrc it Wn-)iiii^t.m, 

 Mar<h 1 



Imiidied tliousand before the doors were 

 (dosed — simi)ly petty profiteering at the 

 expense of the public. This committee 

 does not wish to even insinuate that all 

 of these endorsements received by letter 

 were prompted by selfish motives, but 

 this committee, and the public, should 

 be permitted to see and pass on these 

 endorsements, the same as on evidence 

 given in open session, in or<ler that it 

 might point out to the board where 

 selfish or jirofiteering interests prompted 

 such endorsement. 



Exceptions to the Board's Ruling. 



First — That the board is unjust to 

 the horticultural trade as well as to the 

 public in making such sweefdng restric- 

 tions as are ordered in Quarantine No. 

 ."«7: that the actual conditions existing 

 do not, and dangers from past invasion 

 did not, warrant such drastic measures; 

 that if restrictions are known to be 

 necessary against the importation of 

 stock from certain countries or sources, 

 it should have specified the country or 

 source from which such danger threat- 

 ened and not unjustly close the doors of 

 the entire world to the American people. 



The board's action should have been 

 taken in accordance with Section 7 of 

 the Plant Quarantine Act, which «ays: 



I'liMt, whenever, in order to itrc-vent the iiitrn 

 iluction into the United States of any tree 

 plant, or fruit disease or of any injurious inseot, 

 new to or not lieretofore widely prevalent or 

 distributed within and throuKhout the United 

 States, the Secretary of Agriculture shall dp 

 termine that it is necessary to forbid the im 

 portation into the United States of any cla-^^ 

 of nursery stock or of any other class of plants 

 frnits, vegetables, roots, bulbs, seeds, or othi-r 

 plant products from a country or locality wlieri 

 such disease or insect infestation exists hi 

 shall promulgate such determination, specifying 

 the country and locality and the class of nurserj- 

 stock or other class of plants, fruits, vegetables, 

 roots, bulbs, seeds or other plant products which, 

 in his opinion, should be excluded. 



Second — Item No. I in Quarantine 



No. 37 permits the importation of the 



following bulbs: Lily bulbs, lily of the 



valley, narcissus, hyacinths, tulips and 



wheti free from sand, soil or 



crocus 

 e;nth. 

 We 

 liidbs. 



dmit that these six varieties of 

 grown principally in Holland, 

 France, .Japan and Germany, can be 

 brought in without dangerous insect or 

 other pests, but the board fails to ex- 

 plain why more than a hundred other 

 \arieties of bulbs, conns, rhizomes and 

 tubers, which are of precisely the same 

 nature and just as immune to pests and 

 diseases, are prohibited. Why does the 

 board exclude these? They are part 

 and parcel of every general seedsman's 

 stock; they are a source of revenue to 

 the seedsman either in the sale of the 

 bulbs or the cut flowers, and a source of 

 enjoyment and pleasure to the amateur. 



Why Exclude These? 



We insist upon it that we are entitled 

 to inttdligent enlightenment on why 

 these eipially harmless bulbs are ex- 

 ( bided. Why can a crocus or hyacinth 

 come in and why must the ecjually inno- 

 cent gl.adiolus, snowdrop or beautiful 

 !~!lianish iris be excluded? 



The following is a partial list of the 

 Muist imjiortant of the items referred to, 

 imt there are many others of the same 

 nature: 



Amaryllis. 

 Anemones. 

 TnlMTOUS llegojii:)s. 



• "aladlums, 



• 'annas, 

 ('(ilcliicums, 

 Cmwn ImiH'rials. 

 Dahlias, 

 Dielytras. 

 Kncharis. 



If the board 



f)ne of these to 



Kritillarias 



(Madioll, 



<;ioxinias. 



Incarvillea 



Iris, 



Ixias. 



Monthretias 



Oxalis, 



Hichardias, 



Tigridlas. 



actually knows any 

 be dangerous, let it 

 specify which and where it comes from 

 and exclude such; if they are all too 

 dangerous to permit to come into the 

 country exclude them all, but, if their 

 ideas are only general that a dangerous 

 insect might at some time accompany 

 such a bulb, the board has no right to 

 unnecessarily med<lle with such a va^t 

 interest as the bulb trade. 



The Care of Buds and Grafts. 



Tliird Item "1 in Quarantine Act. No. 

 '■\~ permits the entry of stocks, cuttings, 

 scions and buds of fruits for propagat- 

 ing, when free of soil, sand or earth. 

 The admission of these economic items 

 is just and necessary, but if no danger 

 exists in bringing in these fruit stocks 

 for budding or grafting purposes or the 

 necessary buds, scions or cuttings to 

 graft or bnd upon these stoeks, or if it 



