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May 18. 1922 



The Florists^ Review 



31 



QUARANTINE CONFERENCE 



BARS WILL BE LET DOWN. 



Promise at Close of Hearing. 



Material relaxation of the present 

 regulations surrounding the importation 

 of orchids, bulbs and other products was 

 promised by C. L. Marlatt, chairman of 

 the federal horticultural board, May 15, 

 following representations of a number 

 of those interested that the present re- 

 (luirements are unfair and discrimina- 

 tory. This announcement followed nine 

 hours of charges and countercharges re- 

 garding the acts of the board, in the 

 course of which the legality of all the 

 orders issued under the provisions of 

 the plant quarantine act was challenged 

 and the Secretary of Agriculture was 

 asked personally to cite the authority 

 under which the orders were issued. 



While the federal horticultural board 

 was severely criticized by many who 

 felt that its restrictions were unduly 

 drastic, state agricultural officials and 

 representatives of the nurserymen de- 

 clared that they were 100 per cent back 

 of the board in its enforcement of quar- 

 antine 37 and asked, if any changes 

 were made, they be to tighten up the re- 

 strictions rather than to weaken them. 



Eepresentatives of a number of for- 

 eign governments attended the meet- 

 ing to lay their cases before the board 

 and to urge that changes be made in the 

 regulations, under which the free entry 

 of their more important products would 

 l)e permitted, subject to such inspection 

 and certification as might be deemed 

 necessary. 



S. A. F. Statement. 



The representatives of the Society of 

 American Florists declared that they 

 credited the board with the best inten- 

 tions and asked that they be credited 

 with a genuine desire to cooperate with 

 the board in carrying out its legitimate 

 functions. They said they considered 

 the federal horticultural board a neces- 

 sary and useful body, provided it ad- 

 heres to its proper legal function — that 

 of advising the Secretary of Agricul- 

 ture liow to combat existing pests and 

 plant diseases and to prevent the intro- 

 duction of new or dangerous ones. 



' ' We believe in government control 

 of imports and in thorough inspection 

 .iiid certification of imported ])lant prod- 

 ucts when necessary," said James Mc- 

 Hutchison, chairman of the S. A. F. 

 tariff and legislative committee, "but 

 we jirotest vigorously against quaran- 

 tine 157 as administered, which operates 

 as ^ blanket economic embargo." 



The meeting was one of the best at- 

 tended of its kind ever staged at Wash- 

 ington. Those attending it were greeteil 

 by Secretary of Agriculture Wallace, 

 who declared that soon after he became 

 connected with the Department of Agri- 

 culture he heard of quarantine 37 and 

 has heard of it ever since. lie ap- 

 pointed an advisory board consisting of 

 Prof. J. P. Whitten, professor of horti- 

 culture of the University of California: 

 Dr. A. F. Woods, president of the Uni- 

 versity of Maryland Agricultural Col- 

 lege, and M. R. Cashman, president of 

 the Americnn Association of Nurserv- 



men. The arguments of the various 

 groups at interest, at the suggestion of 

 Secretary Wallace, were presented by 

 two speakers from each. 



Marlatt Presents Long Argument. 



Criticisms of the board by those pres- 

 ent were anticipated by Chairman Mar- 

 latt in his opening remarks. He imme- 

 diately launched into a defensive argu- 

 ment regarding the manner of procedure 

 followed in issuing the various regu- 

 latory orders. Instead of these orders 

 being issued without due consideration 

 being given the interests of those af- 

 fected, he declared that at least ten 

 steps were required before an order was 

 issued, among them being conferences 

 with experts in the bureau of plant 

 industry, submission of the proposed 

 orders to the branch of the industry 

 interested, revision where necessary in 

 accordance with its recommendations. 



After a conference attended 

 by a greater number of the 

 trade than have gathered at 

 any previous hearing, a prom- 

 ise was won from the federal 

 horticultural board at Wash- 

 ington this week that the re- 

 strictions on imports imposed 

 by quarantine 37 w^ould be re- 

 laxed. The board w^ill consult 

 committees representing the 

 various interests concerned in 

 arriving at the changes to be 

 made. The tariff and legisla- 

 tive committee of the S. A. F. 

 may be said to have won a 

 hard fight. 



.•md, finally, submission to the Secretary 

 of Agriculture for his signature. The 

 board should not be blamed exclusively 

 for any of the effects of the orders, he 

 said, because none was ever issued with- 

 out being taken up with other experts 

 in tlie Department of Agriculture. Dr. 

 Marlatt emphasized the fact that the 

 gathering was a conference and not a 

 hearing, and ho declared that the sole 

 intention in calling the meeting was 

 to secure the ideas nf the various 

 branches with :\ view to determining 

 wliat changes, either additions or dele- 

 tions, should be made in regulation 3 of 

 ([uarantine 37. 



Each of the persons present at the 

 conference was presented with a lengthy 

 statement prepared by Dr. Marlatt, 

 showing in detail the action taken in 

 regard to each of the various branches 

 of plant products covered by a quar- 

 antine. This statement referred ex- 

 tcTisively to correspondence with per- 

 sons and papers in the trade, which led 

 up to this conference, and also attempted 



to explain the apparent discriminations 

 existing under the various regulations. 



J. Horace McFarland, of llarrisburg, 

 Pa., started the ball rolling by attack- 

 ing the legality of the action of the 

 board in issuing these regulations. lie 

 declared that he could see nothing in 

 the law itself which gave to the Depart- 

 ment of Agriculture the authority 

 which had been assumed by the board 

 in announcing its list of "preferred 

 I)ernnttees" under which certain ama- 

 teurs and others were allowed to import 

 freely, while others were prohibited 

 from making practically any imports. 



There was no intimation that the law 

 itself was unconstitutional, and, in fact, 

 throughout the meeting Mr. McFarland 

 and practically everybody else empha- 

 sized their belief that this legislation 

 is necessary, but, he said, "it is believed 

 that a most serious mistake has been 

 made and that quarantine 37 is basical- 

 ly illegal." 



"The federal horticultural board 

 should be declared the plant tariff 

 board," according to F. R. Pierson. He 

 declared that the orders of the board 

 were not so effective in keeping out 

 possible plant diseases and pests as in 

 providing a "protective wall" around 

 American growers, which effectively 

 barred foreign producers from compet- 

 ing in this market, a sentiment which 

 was later affirmed by the representa- 

 tives of several of the foreign govern- 

 ments. 



Inspection at Port of Entry. 



Mr. McFarland was also the first 

 speaker to discuss the actual regula- 

 tions. He severely criticized the orders 

 of the board and the method both of 

 promulgation and enforcement. He rec- 

 ommended that steps be taken to relieve 

 the present situation, one of the chief 

 of which would be the establishment of 

 inspection stations at a number of ports 

 of entry where most of the plant prod- 

 ucts imported into the country are re- 

 ceived. The most favorable sites of 

 such stations, lie said, were New York, 

 New Orleans, Boston and Tacoma, 

 Wash., and the establishment of such .a 

 service would eliminate the necessity 

 of subjecting the importations to the 

 enforced long trips to and from Wash- 

 'ington or San Francisco, with the con- 

 se(|iient danger of loss and damage. 



The speaker also urged that only such 

 bulbs should be excluded as are known 

 to be carriers or possible carriers of in 

 jurious insects or diseases. At present, 

 he pointed out, all but five classes of 

 bulbs are barred from entry and even 

 thougli, as claimed by the board, those 

 five permitted classes comprise ninety 

 per cent of the total bulb importations, 

 the other ten per cent included varieties 

 that are in considerable demand from 

 amateur growers and scientific organi- 

 zations interested in horticulture. Mr. 

 McFarland further urged that amend- 

 ments be made to the regulations to in- 

 sure equal treatment to all classes of 

 importers. 



Nurserymen Support Board. 



Up to this time the proceedings had 

 been strictlv of an unfavorable chrirnc- 



