16 



The Florists' Review 



■■- '.T-- S'^r-.-Kii' 





Maboh «. 19» 



with mo88, a small amount of this sand 

 will cling to these roots and their being 

 passed on account of this restriction will 

 depend entirely upon each individual in- 

 spector's interpretation of this ruling. 

 Palm seeds also are admitted under 

 the "no sand, soil or earth" restric- 

 tions. They are most important raw 

 materials. They can only be safely 

 transported from their native habitats 

 when packed in sand or soil. Probably 

 no other seed loses its germinating 

 power more quickly than some of the 

 important species of palms, and the loss 

 of a shipment due to improper packing 

 does not mean simply the value of the 

 seed but the loss of a year's crop of 

 plants. 



Like a Tariff Wall. 



While we appreciate what may have 

 been intended on the part of the Fed- 

 eral Horticultural Board as an effort 

 to stimulate home production, its ruling, 

 making it compulsory for us to produce 

 certain lines of stock which have here- 

 tofore been imported from foreign coun- 

 tries (and which cannot be commercially 

 produced here), shows every evidence 

 of a trade protection measure against 

 foreign competition, and, while we are 

 satisfied that the board has not, inten- 

 tionally, allowed its action to be in- 

 fluenced by any such considerations, we 

 cannot help but feel that influence has 

 been brought to bear upon said board 

 and support has been given to it by some 

 growers or nurserymen in order to 

 further their own interests by closing 

 the market to the trade in general for 

 the purchase of many choice varieties of 

 plants which wfe have heretofore pur- 

 chased of foreign countries. We con- 

 tend that the Federal Horticultural 

 Board has, unwittingly and without 

 realizing it, lent its aid to the further- 

 ance of this improper purpose and has, 

 therefore, not lived within the spirit of 

 the act of congress which created it, 

 and is assuming power not intended to 

 be delegated to it, and which belongs to 

 Congress alone. 



While the discussioii of the possibility 

 or practicability of producing certain 

 plants, bulbs, etc., commercially in 

 the United States should be entirely for- 

 eign to the question of protecting the 

 country against an invasion of bugs and 

 pests, this has been injected into the 

 issue by the board's ruling and we are 

 forced to at least touch on the most 

 vital points of this subject. 



Items Excluded. 



Among the most important subjects 

 that this ruling excludes, from the flo- 

 rist's point of view, and to which the 

 nurserymen will add many more, are 

 azaleas, bay trees, Norfolk island pines, 

 rhododendrons, boxwood, palms and 

 tree peonies. While we admit that all 

 of these and many other plants now im- 

 ported can be and are grown here, but 

 few of them — an insufficient quantity — 

 can be grown commercially. We can 

 do it only if — 



First — We succeed in finding or cre- 

 ating suitable climatic conditions. 



Second — We had the generations of 

 patient, highly trained men that Bel- 

 gium, France, Holland and other Euro- 

 pean countries have. We cannot get or 

 train this material here. 



Third — American capital will not in- 

 terest itself in a business in which it 

 must wait from ten to fifteen years for 

 returns; particularly so with the Fed- 

 eral Horticultural Board holding an az 



over its head which it can drop without 

 a moment's notice after a few years, 

 when it realizes what sad havoc it has 

 created. 



The past four years of warfare have 

 given to our expert growers the greatest 

 possible stimulus to produce here the va- 

 rieties of plants formerly impoi:ted, and 

 the fact that with few exceptions they 

 are not being produced is proof that 

 they cannot be commercially produced. 

 Among these few exceptions are the 

 dracsenas and on these the board's rul- 

 ing will rob us of the raw material neces- 

 sary to produce them. 



Orchids also are excluded. Our sup- 

 plies of these come from tropical coun- 

 tries. The commercial varieties of 

 orchids which are imported to supply 

 cut flowers are short-lived — rabout five 

 years being the average — and successive 

 importations from their native habitats 

 are necessary to keep up a supply. The 



|3|VERY now and then a wett 

 19 pleased reader speaks the word 

 which is the means of bringing a 

 new advertiser to 



Such friendly assistance is thoroughly 

 appreciated* 



Give us the name of anyone from 

 whom you are buying, not an adver* 

 tiser. We especially wish to interest 

 those selling articles of florist's use 

 not at present advertised. 



FLORISTS' PUBLISHING 00. 

 530-60 Gaston BIdg. Chicago 



department has found that these plants 

 can be made safe by fumigation with 

 hydrocyanic acid gas. 



A Challenge of Fact. 



We take the liberty, Mr. Secretary, 



of quoting from a letter bearing your 



signature, addressed to the Honorable 



William M. Calder, in which you say: 



It iB true that, as a general rule, plants com- 

 ing to the United States from Holland have 

 been In better ronditlon than those from any 

 other country, and much freer from pests than 

 those from Belgium. Nevertheless, many in- 

 jurious insects have been detected in connection 

 with stock imported from Holland since August 

 20, 1912, when the Federal Plant Quarantine Act 

 became effective. During the period of six 

 years of enforcement of this Act and inspection 

 of imported plant materials, no less than 148 

 different species of injurious insects have been 

 discovered on Holland nursery stock, much of 

 which was house-grown. Many of these Insects 

 are not now established in the United States 

 and would constitute new elements of danger to 

 the horticulture and agriculture of this country. 



One of the members of our committee 

 has tabulated the number of importa- 

 tions made by his company during the 

 six years you refer to and finds that 

 his concern alone made 1,611 separate 

 importations during that period. These 

 were distributed among nineteen dif- 

 ferent countries and consisted of any- 

 where from one up to 100 or more cases 

 each. All of these imports were in- 

 spected by state inspectors under fed- 

 eral regulations and in the entire lot 

 there was not one shipment that was 

 held up for quarantine. 



We must quote part of this letter 

 again : "No less than 148 different spe- 

 cies of injurious insects have been ms- 

 covered on Holland nursery stock, mueh 

 of which was house-grown." Please 

 note the clause: "Much of which 

 was house-grown. ' ' We must take posi- 

 tive exception to this, it not being a 

 statement of facts. While the bulk of 

 the Belgium product is house-grown, 

 there is practically no stock for export 

 grown under glass in Holland. What 

 greenhouses the exporters in Holland 

 have are used exclusively for propagat- 

 ing purposes. While some of their 

 plants are grown in pots, this is done in 

 the open air and not in houses. 



This, Mr. Secretary, should convince 

 you that your informant in this report 

 was either ignorant of facts or was care- 

 less in furnishing you with and misled 

 you with these data. 



Recommendations. 



Finally, in coming before you, Mr. 

 Secretary, we do so as American citi- 

 zens, representing an important indus- 

 try. 



We have not come to you to beg for 

 favors or mercy from the Federal Hor- 

 ticultural Board, but we ask for jus- 

 tice. This can only be done by Quaran- 

 tine No. 37 being rescinded and if neces- 

 sary a new regulation be substituted in 

 place of same which will protect the 

 country from any serious invasion of 

 pests, but which will not place unneces- 

 sary restrictions or hardships on any 

 branch of the horticultural trade. 



It is recommended by this committee: 



1. That Quarantine No. 37, with 

 regulations, and which represents the 

 subject of our protest, be rescinded. 



2. That when further quarantine 

 regulations are considered necessary, 

 that such be made in accordance with 

 Section 7 of the Act of Congress of Au- 

 gust 20, 1912, and its amendments of 

 March 4, 1913, and March 4, 1917. 



3. That due notice for such hearings 

 be sent to all of the horticultural trade 

 papers, to the secretaries of the Society 

 of American Florists and Ornamental 

 Horticulturists, the American Associa- 

 tion of Nurserymen, the American Bose 

 Society and to the leading firms in hor- 

 ticultural lines. That in said notices the 

 items to be considered be given in spe- 

 cific and not in general terms. 



4. That such hearings shall not be 

 called between April 1 and June 1 or 

 during three weeks prior to Christmas or 

 Easter, at which time it is not possible 

 for florists to attend. 



We further suggest that when such 

 hearings are held the details of any 

 proposed edict be fully submitted, but 

 if this is impracticable, then it would 

 appear advisable to submit the final 

 draft when completed to the officers of 

 the representative horticultural trade 

 bodies, whose committees should be 

 given an opportunity to offer sugges- 

 tions regarding additions or modifica- 

 tions which their practical commercial 

 experience and knowledge might dictate. 



THE BRITISH VIEW. 



Plant C^rantine Stirs Ezportera. 



Speaking of Quarantine No. 37, clos 

 ing the United States to foreign plants- 

 men, George Jackman & Son, Woking 

 Surrey, England, say: 



* ' Such a measure must affect the Brit- 

 ish nurseryman adversely. Several 

 firms have for years made special pro- 



