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The Florists' Review 



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Apbil 17, 1913. 



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McHUTCMSON ON 



THE NEW TARIFF 



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DEFECTS IN TARIFF BILL. 



McHutcbison & Co., the New York 

 importers, have directed the attention of 

 Hon. Oscar W. Underwood, chairman 

 of the ways and means committee of 

 the House of Eepresentatives, to nu- 

 merous mistakes of classification and 

 definition in the new tariff bill that 

 will create considerable confusion in 

 ratjng unless rectified before becoming 

 effective. Following is a copy of- the 

 letter to Mr. Underwood: 



Sections 219 and 220 of Schedule G 

 in the new tariff bill cover horticultural 

 products such as bulbs, plants and trees. 

 In these articles accuracy of classifica- 

 tion and definition is of vastly more 

 importance than the rate of duty, be- 

 cause the rate of duty depends alto- 

 gether upon the definition of the items. 



The last tariff contained many mis- 

 takes, which involved much expense to 

 the importers in having the board of 

 appraisers pass upon disputed points. 

 Unless some changes are made in the 

 wording of the two paragraphs men- 

 tioned above, we shall have the same 

 trouble over again, as the new tariff 

 makes exactly the same mistakes. 



In the new tariff the same items carry 

 different rates of duty and items are 

 classified incorrectly. We refer in par- 

 ticular to the following: 



Section 219 rates "orchids, palms, 

 azaleas and all other decorative or 

 greenhouse plants, twenty-five per cent 

 ad valorem." Section 220 rates "all 

 fruit or ornamental trees, deciduous and 

 evergreen shrubs and vines, commonly 

 known as nursery or greenhouse stock, 

 fifteen per cent ad valorem." This 

 makes the same items fifteen per cent 

 and twenty-five per cent ad valorem. 

 Greenhouse plants and greenhouse stock 

 are the same. 



The word "azaleas" is too vague. 

 Probably Azalea Indica is intended, but 

 it is grown in greenhouses in winter 

 only. All other varieties of azaleas 

 are grown outside in nurseries, and are 

 nursery s^ock, not greenhouse plants. 



The terms "greenhouse stock" and 

 "greenhouse plants" are also too in- 

 definite. Many shrubs and plants which 

 grow in the open air in southern states 

 are known as "nursery stock." Far- 

 ther north, where the weather is colder, 

 the same stock is grown in greenhouses 

 and is known as "greenhouse stock." 

 These classifications would pass if the 

 duty were the same. 



Section 220 rates "seedlings of my- 

 robolan plum, $1 per 1,000." Section 

 561 rates * ' myrobolans ' ' free of duty. 

 It should be specifically stated whether 

 Section 561 refers to myrobolan seeds, 

 fruit or seedlings. 



Section 220 rates "evergreen shrubs 

 and vines, fifteen per cent." Section 

 602 rates "evergreen seedlings" free, 

 but places them under the classification 

 of "seeds." The same mistake was 

 made in the last tariff and it took three 

 years, and much expense to get a de- 



cision from the board of appraisers. 

 If it is your intention to continue ever- 

 green seedlings on the free list, they 

 should not be in section 220, and should 

 not be classified as "seeds." Ever- 

 green seeds and evergreen seedlings are 

 quite different articles. 



Section 220 rates "seedlings of briar 

 rose, 3 years old or less, $1 per 1,000," 

 also "rose plants, budded, grafted or 

 own roots, 4 cents each." The prin- 

 cipal briar rose in commerce is Rosa 

 rugosa, a shrub, grown from seed and 

 sold as 2 or 3 years old. The last 

 tariff was also indefinite on this point 

 and only after three years and much 

 expense* to importers was it decided it 

 is not a rose (see T. D. No. 32926). 

 Your tariff should be specific in includ- 



ivf\lk 



Baocroft't Formosa Lily. 



ing Rosa rugosa as a briar rose and 

 dutiable at $1 per 1,000, It is sold as 

 low as $4 per 1,000. 



Section 219 rates "hyacinths" as 

 "clumps" instead of bulbs. The same 

 mistake was made in the last tariff and 

 took years to rectify. 



In these items the correct classifica- 

 tion is vastly more important than the 

 rate of duty. When the classification is 

 not clear it opens a large avenue for 

 fraud, the result being that the dis- 

 honest firm pays only half the duty the 

 honest firm pays. Under present tariff, 

 honest firms are paying twenty-five per 

 cent duty on evergreens grown by 

 grafting or cuttings, while other firms 



are getting them in free of duty a- 

 "evergreen seedlings." The tariii 

 should be specific as to what an ever- 

 green seedling is. 



We respectfully request that Section 

 219 and 220 be rewritten. We suggest 

 no changes in the proposed rates o1 

 duty, but they should be specific and 

 read as follows: 



Section 219 should read: "Orchid^ 

 palms. Azalea Indica and all other dec 

 orative or greenhouse plants and cut 

 flowefs, preserved or fresh, twenty-fiv.' 

 per cent ad valorem; lily of the valley 

 pips, tulips, narcissus, begonia ani 

 gloxinia bulbs, $1 per 1,000; hyacintli 

 bulbs, astilbe, dielytra and lily of tlii> 

 valley clumps, $2.50 per 1,000; lily ancl 

 calla bulbs, $5 per 1,000; iris, cannu 

 and dahlia roots and amaryllis bulbs, 

 $10 per 1,000; all other bulbs, bulbous 

 roots and corms which are cultivated 

 for their flowers or foliage, 50 cents 

 per 1,000." 



Section 220 should read: "Stocks, 

 cuttings or seedlings of myrobolan and 

 St. Julian plum, mahaleb and mazzard 

 cherry, pear, apple and quince, Manetti, 

 multiflora, Rosa rugosa and briar rose, 

 3 years old or' l^ss, $1 per 1,000 

 plants; rose plants, budded, grafted or 

 grown on own roots, 4 cents each; 

 stocks, cuttings and seedlings of all 

 fruit and ornamental trees, shrubs and 

 vines, commonly known as nursery 

 stock, not specifically provided for in 

 this section, fifteen per cent ad va- 

 lorem." 



Section 602 should read: "Evergreen 

 seedlings, 4 years old or less, free"; 

 otherwise there is nothing to prevent 

 large evergreen trees, grown from seed, 

 say six*l%et high, coming in as "ever- 

 green seedlings," free of duty. 



Section 561 should read "myrobolan 

 seeds," "seedlings" or "fruits" or 

 whatever you intend to be free of duty. 



The new tariff is fair, equitable and 

 quite acceptable. If you do not see fit 

 to make the above noted corrections, 

 then let us respectfully request that 

 you make the ad valorem duties in Sec- 

 tions 219 and 220 the same, either fif- 

 teen per cent or twenty-five per cent, as 

 there is practically no difference in 

 these items as you have them classified. 



FOBMOSAS FOB EASTEB. 



Only a small part of the lilies flow- 

 ered for Easter were Formosas, but all 

 over the country growers tried batches 

 of these, with the idea that, if they 

 made good, larger quantities would be 

 desirable for another early Easter. The 

 principal complaint against the bulbs 

 from Formosa is that the plants are 

 uneven; they are likely to run to great 

 height and do not flower so nearly all 

 at one time as do the longiflorums and 

 giganteums. Growers who had the fa 

 cilities for shifting the plants into tern 

 peratures suitable to their individual 

 needs had fairly good success in flower- 

 ing the whole batch at the date wanted. 

 Too great height is not desirable, but 

 a few tall plants come in handy; one 

 man reports that he obtained an extra 

 price for a small number of good plants 

 that had run up to an unusual height, 

 these being just what was wanted for 

 the back row of a church decoration. 

 As a rule Formosa bulbs are florif erous ; 

 they give a good -number of flowers 

 per bulb, and every grower knows that, 

 while the store men like Jilies that 

 have from three to five flowers, there 

 is no profit in plants that throw only 



