18 



The Florists^ Review 



AU008T 28. 1919. 



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TARIFF AND LEGISLATION 



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THE last year was one of the most 

 eventful of our organization, I 

 might say in the history of the florists 

 of North America. Numerous regula- 

 tions bearing on the florists ' business in 

 many ways were promulgated and sent 

 out by the Federal Horticultural Board, 

 making it almost impossible to Import 

 anything in the florists' or nursery line 

 from foreign countries. 



The coal situation during the first 

 three months of our fiscal year was 

 dreary, owing largely to the conflicting 

 ei;ror8 occurring between the national 

 fuel administration and the local fuel 

 administrators. All of this trouble, 

 with the exception of a few isolated 

 c^ses, was happily ended November 11 

 upon the signing Qi the armistice. 



' Shipping. 



The embargo on shipping caused by 

 the concentration of ships on the Atlan- 

 tic ocean to transport soldiers and am- 

 munition made it difficult to receive 

 imports from anywhere. This condition 

 was also much relieved when the armis- 

 tice was signed. 



Quarantine No. 37. 



The most important work before your 

 committee during the last twelve 

 months, possibly the most important in 

 the history of our society, has been in 

 connection with the plant import pro- 

 hibition known as Quarantine No. 37 

 of the Federal Horticultural Board. 



Your committee made every effort to 

 secure the rescinding of this measure 

 and the substitution in its place of regu- 

 lations which would do justice to, and 

 not unnecessarily interfere with, the 

 horticultural interests of the country 

 and which would, by correct methods 

 of inspection, properly and within rea- 

 son, safeguard the country against an 

 invasion of foreign pests and diseases. 

 However, they were unsuccessful in 

 bringing about these results and the new 

 regulation has been in force since 

 June 1. 



Members of your committee attended 

 the public meeting which was called by 

 the Federal Horticultural Board at 

 Washington October 18 and presented 

 concrete facts and figures showing not 

 only the interests involved, but also the 

 impossibility of commercially produc- 

 ing certain lines of plants and bulbs in 

 this country in which not only the en- 

 tire horticultural trade is commercially 

 interested, but which are demanded by 

 the public and which could not, by the 

 greatest stretch of imagination on the 

 part of the scientific members of the 

 Federal Horticultural Board, be con- 

 strued as being of any greater menace in 

 carrying pests than hundreds of other 

 non-horticultural subjects, which are not 

 only permitted entry, but which come in 

 even without inspection. 



Meetlag In Vain. 



However, it was evident to everyone 

 at this meeting from the introductory 



mie report of WllUnm F. Onde as chaliurtn of 

 tlw commltte« on tJirlff unrt IwrlslntJon pre#ent<^ 

 •t the S A. V. convention August 19. J 



remarks made by the chairman of the 

 Federal Horticultural Board that our 

 efforts would be in vain, that the board 

 was plainly committed to practically 

 complete prohibition, which was sub- 

 stantiated by Quarantine No. 37 being 

 promulgated and officially signed by the 

 Secretary of Agriculture November 18. 



Your committee's next move was to 

 secure an interview with the Secretary 

 of Agriculture, and with this in view 

 we prepared a brief setting forth our .ob- 

 jections to the ruling. This brief, be- 

 fore being offered to the secretary, was 

 first presented to the executive commit- 

 tee of your association in session at De- 

 troit, January 31, 1919, where it re- 

 ceived unanimous approval and the sig- 

 natures of all the members of your ex- 

 ecutive committee. Armed with this 

 document, we were prepared to meet the 

 secretary and planned accordingly and 

 February 5 received a hurried call to 

 come to Washington the following morn- 

 ing, presumably to meet the Secretary 

 of Agriculture, but were instead pre- 

 seqted to the Federal Horticultural 

 Board, with whom we had a session last- 

 ing five hours. We were told that the 

 board held out certain inducements, but 

 they were not such as the committee 

 could accept. 



After this second meeting with the 

 Federal Horticultural Board your com- 

 mittee finally, through the efforts of 

 Senator Calder, of New York, and Con- 



gressman Bacharach, of New Jerttey, 

 March 1, 1919, were presented by Mr. 

 Bacharach to Secretary Houston. At 

 this meeting they also had the support 

 of the legislative committee of the 

 American Association of Nurserymen. 

 Each committee presented its brief to 

 the secretary, who courteously listened 

 to our arguments and promised to give 

 the presentation made in said briefs due 

 consideration. 



March 28 Secretary Houston rendered 

 his decision, in which he supported the 

 regulation of the Federal Horticultural 

 Board and on the strength of which 

 Quarantine No. 37, with few minor ques> 

 tionable amendments, is now in force. 



Work Not Completed. 



Your committee feels that its work in 

 connection with this regulation has not 

 been completed, but before taking 

 further action requests further instruc- 

 tions from this society as a body. If it 

 is your desire that your committee shall 

 make additional efforts to secure satis- 

 factory adjustment of said ruling, a 

 vote to that effect of the society as- 

 sembled in convention will greatly 

 strengthen its position if it should find 

 it necessary to appear before a con- 

 gressional committee or any other legal 

 body. 



Your committee furthermore requests 

 that, if it is your desire that it continue 

 its efforts to secure changes in this regu- 

 lation, it be empowered to employ legal 

 advice if it finds it necessary or expe- 

 dient to do so in the course of its pro- 

 ceedings. 



Your committee takes this opportu- 

 nity to express its appreciation to many 

 in the trade who rendered valuable as- 

 sistance. 



THE Journal of the society which your 

 secretary was, at the last convention, 

 directed to publish, has now run through 

 six numbers and has proved to be of 

 great service in the society 's work. Not 

 only is it a medium of communication 

 between the executive board and our 

 members, but much matter that would 

 ordinarily entail special printing and 

 distribution is published in its pages, 

 and attracts far greater attention in 

 consequence. It is also of great service 

 in the missionary work necessary in the 

 interests of the society and serves to 

 keep members in touch with the various 

 details of the society's work. It has 

 been a great aid to our publicity cam- 

 paign, to which large space is devoted 

 each month. 



The secretary's office has received 

 many inquiries in regard to the possi- 

 bility of placing advertisements in the 

 publication. It will be remembered that 

 when the Journal was decided upon, it 

 was expressly stipulated that no ad- 

 vertising was to be accepted. In our 

 application for registration at the post- 

 office for second-class mailing privileges, 

 it was necessary to declare that its 

 columns were public, to the extent that 



Prom the report of John Yonng, secretary of 

 the Society of American Florlsta, presented at 

 the Detroit convention, Anguat 19, 1919. 



anyone could place an advertisement 

 therein. Without a doubt, as a medium 

 for trade announcements, the Journal is 

 a publication of high character, but any 

 change of policy in this direction neces- 

 sarily requires action from the society 

 in convention. 



Cost of Printing. 



The cost of printing and mailing the 

 Journal per month, for an ordinary issue 

 confined mainly to our membership, is 

 not more than $200 on the average, the 

 actual cost of printing 3,500 copies of 

 a 32-page issue being only $182. The 

 printing of the last volume of proceed- 

 ings, covering the 1917 convention in 

 New York, alone cost $1,199.75, with a 

 smaller distribution than usual. The 

 1916 proceedings, a smaller volume, and 

 with printing costs lower, cost, with 

 mailing and postage, $1,579.98. Had 

 we issued a similar volume for 1918 the 

 printing cost, owing to conditions in the 

 paper and printing trade which then 

 existed, and practically still exist, neces- 

 sarily would have been, approximately, 

 nearly one-third more. 



All this expense has been avoided by 

 publishing the proceedings of the last 

 convention in the Journal. In addition, 

 we have saved the cost of printing the 

 minutes of the executive board's meet- 



