Mabcb 10, 1921. 



The Florists^ Review 



39 



ILUJOIiUJIlUJMlUJMi^^ 



H. B. AN SWERS BACK 



MABLATT ISSUES DEFENSE. 



F. H. B. Answers Criticisms. 



The chairman of the federal horticul- 

 tural board, Dr. C. L. Marlatt, has sent 

 to The Keview ten closely typewritten 

 pages, containing 4,000 to 5,000 words, 

 composing a statement of the board, as 

 he says, "relative to Quarantine 37, to 

 Indicate more fully than has hitherto 

 been possible tlie broad possibilities of 

 plant introduction under this quaran- 

 tine and to answer certain entirely un- 

 justified criticisms which have been 

 given wide publicity through the hor- 

 ticultural and other related trade and 

 amateur papers and journals through- 

 out the country." 



"Any law or regulation which re- 

 stricts freedom of action on the part 

 of the individual necessarily has 

 enemies," begins the statement. "Fed- 

 eral and state plant quarantine legisla- 

 tion aiming to protect this country from 

 new important plant pests is not an ex- 

 ception to this rule. Just now Quaran- 

 tine 37, which restricts the entry of 

 foreign plants to prevent such entry of 

 pests, is being unjustly criticised by a 

 few persons wlio would like to see this 

 quarantine abolished or amended so 

 that in large measure the old-time free 

 importation of foreign nursery stock 

 and other plants could be resumed with 

 all its attendant dangers. It would 

 hardly be worth while to pay attention 

 to those criticisms except that they 

 absolutely misrepresent tlie quarantine 

 and have been widely circularized 

 througli a fairly active ]>ropaganda and 

 unfortunately have been acce])ted at 

 face value Ity many plant amateurs and 

 societies of Huch amateurs. Such per- 

 sons and societies, from lack of ac- 

 quaintance with the quarantine and its 

 workings, liave thus obtained a very 

 erroneous iday of tlie actual restrictions 

 now bfl^ig enforced on the entry of 

 foreign plants. The agricultural and 

 horticultural and nursery interests of 

 this country a])]ireciate the need for this 

 quarantine and understand the ])ro- 

 visions limiting plant importations." 



What May Come In. 



Quoting such critical epithets as "a 

 Chinese wall jiolicy for America," Dr. 

 Marlatt describes which jdants may 

 come into tln' United States and how, 

 giving the following categories: 



1. rnlimilcil entry is iK>ssil>le without ppr- 

 mit iir atlifr restriction of field, yeKetal)le and 

 tlower see<ls. anil of frnits, vecetaliles, I'ereals 

 .ind other plant iirodmts iniporteil for incdii'inal, 

 foiHl or inaniifaeliirin;; piirjioses. 



2. T'niimited entry is i>ossil>le under iiomiit 

 of from eidlity to ninety per cent of the l)nlbs 

 liitlierto iniiKirted; of all storks. entlinRS. scions 

 and tinds of fruits; the important rose stocks. 

 and all seeds of frnit and forest trees .md of 

 "rnamental j)lants and shrnlis, including hardy 

 perennial plants. 



:i. Kntry. limited only hy lecilimate needs, 

 of all other pl.ints is provided for under special 

 permit for tlie purpose of keepini; the I'rjnntry 

 siipidied with any new variety or any necessary 

 propacatiriK stock. 

 *■ 4. The exceptions to these paragr.iphs (1 to 

 3 1 are those involved niider specific ipmrantines. 

 as. for example, the (|ii:irantines relative to citrns 

 plants, lmmtMX>. banana, etc.. but nny plants 

 prohibited entry imder such <piarantines may be 

 imported by or thronsh the I'nited States De- 

 partment of .\Kriciiltiire. for nny necessary ex- 

 perimental, siienlifie or iiitriKlnction pnrposes. 



"As already indicated,"' the state- 



ment further reads, "provision is made 

 under the quarantine for the importa- 

 tion of any of these plants under spe- 

 cial permits, the only limitation being 

 the showing of the necessity for their 

 importation to supply stocks of any new 

 plants or of any old plants not now 

 commercially available in the United 

 States, for the purpose of establishing 

 reproduction plantings which may ulti- 

 mately make this country independent 

 of furtlier foreign supplies. With re- 

 spect to such importations, the depart- 

 ment lias adopted a policy of great lib- 

 erality under the point of view that it 

 wishes to afford every reasonable means 

 for the introduction for the purpose in- 

 dicated of any plants not now available 

 in this country. The immediate sale of 

 plants thus imported is necessarily not 



|9VERY now and then a well^^ 

 19 pkaied reader speaks the word 

 which is the means of bringing a 

 new advertiser to 



M^' 



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 CO. 

 '}20-60 Caxton Bldg. Chicago 



J 



permitted, and the plants imported are 

 required to be kept and utilized for the 

 purpose of reproducing additional 

 stocks for the ])eriod (one to five years) 

 designated in the jjermit — this period 

 being based upon the time needed for 

 such multiplication or reproduction. No 

 restrictions are ])laced on the sale of 

 any plants produced from such imported 

 stock except that the importer will be 

 expected to maintain a sufficient supply 

 to meet his continuing needs. Special 

 jiermits for such importations are issued 

 to any and ;ill aj)plicants who agree to 

 the conditions of the permits and will 

 he continued to ho issued with respect 

 to any ])lant until the DejiartiiK'nt of 

 Agriculture is convinced that ade(|uate 

 stocks are commerci.-illy .-i v.-iilahle in the 

 United States. 



Experts Pass on Permits. 



"With respect to any retpiest for a 

 special permit, the determination 

 whether the jilants retpiested are either 

 new or are commercially un.'ivaiiiihle in 

 the United States is iiuide by a coiiiniit- 

 tee of experts ajqiointed by the chief of 

 the bureau of plant industry of the de- 

 jtartment, men therefore who are 

 thoroughly acquainted with the subject. 



In addition, the recommendation of this 

 committee before being returned to the 

 board receives the ai)i)roval of the chief 

 of that bureau. Undoubtedly some 

 errors have been made in refusing per- 

 mits, but on proper presentation of 

 evidence the permits in question have 

 been issued. There may also have been 

 some lack of uniformity at the outset 

 before an adequate system of records 

 and control was worked out, but under 

 the existing system action should be 

 uniform. 



"The requirement of a bond in con- 

 nection with such special permits has 

 been objected to iu a few instances. It 

 developed that such bonding of per- 

 mittees was a necessary requirement. 

 The mere promise of a few importers at 

 least was apparently not sufficient and 

 at the outset plants imported under spe- 

 cial permits for the purpose of propa- 

 gation were in some instances promptly 

 sold in violation of the permit. The 

 bond seems to be the only means of in- 

 suring full compliance with the permit 

 and unfortunately it is a burden which 

 must fall on all alike. 



"The records of the department in- 

 dicate that since the promulgation of 

 this quarantine some 650 permits liave 

 been issued for the entry of those so- 

 called "prohibited plants." The plants 

 authorized entry in these permits in- 

 clude bulbs, ornamentals, roses, orchids, 

 herbaceous plants, etc., to a total of up- 

 wards of sixteen million plants. The 

 bulk of these is naturally represented 

 by bulbs and bulblets which must be 

 secured in large quantities for adetjuate 

 reproduction purposes, but the permits 

 also include several hundred thousand 

 ornamentals. Altogether these permits 

 include authority for the entry of 5,000 

 different varieties of pliints out of some 

 r),500 covered iu the requests received; 

 in other words, ten out of eleven of the 

 ]>lant varieties requested have been au- 

 thorized entry. 



Inspection in Washington. 



"Strong objection has been made to 

 what is described as the requirement 

 for sending all plants to Washington 

 for inspection and certification. Iu 

 l)oint of fact, this requirement applies 

 only to the importation of so-called 

 'j)rohibitcd plants' for reproduction 

 l)urposes and not at all to the classes 

 of plants which are permitted unlimited 

 commercial importation. The objection 

 to inspection in W^ashington of plants 

 iin{)orted under special permit has a 

 sound basis, viz,, delay, expense and 

 rarely some risk to the health of the 

 ]ilants. This reciuirement, however, is 

 i)ased merely on the lack of funds to 

 establish adequate inspection offices and 

 forces at numerous jiorts of entry. The 

 (le))artment has been i)erfectly willing, 

 and has endeavored to secure ajipropria- 

 tions which would enable it, to estab- 

 lish properly equipped inspection points 

 at the two or three main ports of entrj-. 



All Ultimately Barred Out? 



"By the use of a portion of a sen- 

 tence which has a perfectly plain mean- 

 ing in connection with the report in 

 which it occurs, it is represented in this 



