Mat 8, 1913. 



The Florists^ Review 



15 



CONGRESS CORRECTS 

 TARIFF MISTAKES 



Plant, Bulb and Seed Schedules in Bill Now 

 Pending as Amended on the Floor of the House 



IMPOBTANT CHANGES MADE. 



Hyacinth Bulbs Advanced. 



The plant, bulb and nursery sched- 

 ules in the tariff bill, as adopted by 

 the House of Eepresentatives May 1, 

 remedy some of the inaccuracies of 

 classification and definition that were 

 subjects of controversy and confusion 

 in the old law and which were reported 

 to the House from the ways and means 

 committee to be incorporated in the 

 new law. Several important changes 

 were made on the floor of the House in 

 the form of amendments when the sched- 

 ules came up for adoption. 



Hyacinth bulbs are returned to their 

 former rate, as they stood under the 

 McKinley bill, and will be dutiable at 

 $2.50 per thousand, instead of at 50 

 cents per thousand, as they were rated 

 under the Payne bill, in which they were 

 classified among "other bulbs and bulb- 

 ous roots or corms." In the Payne 

 bill hyacinth clumps, which are rarely 

 imported, were listed with other clumps 

 dutiable at $2.50 per thousand, thus de- 

 feating the purpose of the bill, as un- 

 derstood at first by the trade, to place 

 hyacinth bulbs under that rating. The 

 remedy in the new bill was effected 

 by placing the word "bulbs" after 

 the word "hyacinth" in the schedule 

 first reported, making the duty $2.50 

 per thousand. It will be recalled that 

 this phase of the old bill was the sub- 

 ject of the famous Breck case, which 

 went through all the courts, the com- 

 merce court finally ruling that the items 

 should stand as they read. 



Azaleas in Two Classes. 



Another important change was ef- 

 fected when the general term, "aza- 

 leas," was made to read "Azalea In- 

 dica" in the classification under green- 

 house plants, all other azaleas being 

 classed as nursery stock and the rate 

 of duty for Azalea Indica being clearly 

 fixed at twenty-five per cent ad va- 

 lorem, with other azaleas left to come 

 under unenumerated nursery stock at 

 fifteen per cent ad valorem. The par- 

 agraph covering greenhouse stock was 

 changed to omit the words "and all 

 other decorative or greenhouse plants." 

 This leaves orchids, palms and Azalea 

 Indica at twenty-five per cent and in- 

 cludes all other greenhouse plants with 

 unenumerated nursery stock to be ad- 

 mitted at fifteen per cent ad valorem. 

 This removes possibility of confusion 

 in differentiating between greenhouse 

 and nursery stock. Before peony, the 

 word "herbaceous" was inserted, all 

 other peonies being classed as unenu- 

 merated nursery stock. 



Evergreen Seedlings. 



The most far-reaching change in the 

 horticultural schedules was made when 



SCHEDULES AS AMENDED. 



Plants, Bulbs and Seeds. 



Article. New rate, 



Orchids, palms, Azalea In- 

 dica and cut flowers, pre- 

 seryed or fresh 25 pc ad 



Lily of the valley pips, tu- 

 lip, narcissus, begonia 

 and gloxinia bulbs $1 M 



Hyacinth bulbs, astilbe, ] 



dlelytra and Illy of the 1- 



valley clumps $2.50 M J 



Lily bulbs and calla bulbs. |5 M 



Herbaceous peony. Iris 

 Kaempferl or Germanica, 

 canna, dahlia and ama- 

 ryllls bulbs $10 M 



All other bulbs, bulbous 

 roots, corma or tubers 

 which are cultivated for 

 their flowers or foliage. . 50c M 



Seeds, castor beans or 

 seeds, per bushel of 60 

 pounds 20c 



Flaxseed or linseed and 

 other oil seeds not spe- 

 cially provided for in 

 this section, per bushel 

 of 56 pounds 20c 



Poppy seed, per bushel of 

 47 pounds 15c 



Mushroom spawn and spin- 

 ach seed Ic lb 



Canary seed %c lb 



Caraway seed Ic lb 



Anise seed 2c lb 



Beet (except sugar beet), 

 carrot, corn salad, pars- 

 ley, parsnip, radish, tur- 

 nip and rutabaga seed . . 3c lb 



Cabbage, collard, kale and 



kohl-rabl seed 6c lb 



Egg plant and pepper seed 10c lb 



Seeds of all kinds not spe- 

 cially provided for in 

 this section 15 pc ad 



Peas for seed Not provided for 



Old rate. 

 25 pc ad 



11 M 



$2.50 M 



except 



hyac'ths 



$5M 



910 M 



50cM 

 25c 



25c 



15c 



Iclb 

 Free 

 Free 

 Free 



4c lb 



8c lb 

 20clb 



10c lb 

 40c bu 



Nursery Stock, Etc. 



Article. New rate. Old rate. 



Stocks, cuttings or seed- 

 lings of Myrobolan plum. 

 Mahaleb or Mazzard 

 cherry, Manettl, multi- 

 flora, Rosa rugosa and 

 briar rose, three years 

 old or less $1 M $1 M 



Stocks, cuttings or seed- 

 lings of pear, apple, 

 quince, and the Saint 

 Julien plum, three years 

 old or less $1 M $1 M 



Rose plants, budded, 

 grafted or grown on 

 their own roots 4c each 4c each 



Stocks, cuttings and seed- 

 lings of all fruit and 

 ornamental trees, decidu- 

 ous and evergreen shrubs 

 and vines, and all trees, 

 shrubs, plants and vines 

 commonly known as 

 nursery or greenhouse 

 stock, not specially pro- 

 vided for in this section 15 pc ad 25 pc ad 



To Be Admitted Free. 



The horticultural free list is as follows: 

 Seeds^-Cardamon, cauliflower, celery, cori- 

 ander, cotton, cummin, fennel, fenugreek, 

 hemp, horehound, mangelwurzel, mustard, 

 rape, St. John's bread or bean, sorghum, 

 sugar beet and sugar cane for seed; bulbs 

 and bulbous roots, not edible and not other- 

 wise provided for in this section; all flower 

 and grass seeds; coniferous evergreen seed- 

 lings, four years old or less; all the fore- 

 going not specially provided for in this sec- 

 tion. 



the free list was reached. The word 

 "coniferous" was inserted before "ev- 



ergreen seedlings," which are followed 

 bv "4 years old or less," making the 

 phrase read, "coniferous evergreen 

 seedlings 4 years old or less." The 

 result is that stock which can be de- 

 scribed in those words will continue to 

 be admitted free as under previous tariff 

 laws, while evergreens not seedlings, or 

 not coniferous in character, or of an 

 age of 5 years or more, will be duti- 

 able at fifteen per cent ad valorem as 

 nursery stock not otherwise provided 

 for. This change is one long sought by 

 a portion of the nursery trade and will 

 be of great value to the trade and to 

 the government. Honest importers will 

 be relieved of unscrupulous competition, 

 as the new pnraseology will make it 

 much easier to prevent Koster Blue 

 spruce, kalmias, boxwood, bay trees, 

 rhododendrons and many other items 

 being brought in free by means of 

 fraudulent entries as evergreen seed- 

 lings. 



The addition of the words "Eosa 

 rugosa" in the paragraph covering 

 stocks and cuttings also will be of 

 great assistance as specifying unmis- 

 takably the rate to be paid on this item. 

 The government will no longer under- 

 take to collect 4 cents each on these, 

 and fraudulent entries of budded roses 

 as briar roses should be less easy. 



Greenhouse and Nursery Stock. 



Eepresentative Eainey, of Illinois, 

 for the committee, offered on the floor 

 of the House the amendments that were 

 made to the bill. Chairman William F. 

 Gude, of the tariff committee of the So- 

 ciety of American Florists, pointed out 

 to Mr. Eainey the complications that 

 must arise through the inaccurate clas- 

 sification of greenhouse plants. 



No Change in Seeds. 



No changes were made in the seed 

 schedule, the objectionable provision 

 for an ad valorem duty of fifteen per 

 cent on seeds not specially provided 

 for being permitted to remain. 



When Mr, Eainey offered the amend- 

 ments to the bulb and plant schedules 

 Eepresentative Mann asked the occa- 

 sion for making them, and Mr. Eainey 

 replied that they had been suggested 

 by the Treasury Department. Mr. 

 Mann gave it as his opinion that, in- 

 stead of settling disputes over classi- 

 fication, as Mr. Eainey declared the 

 Treasury Department said they would 

 do, the amendments would be apt to 

 cause disputes. 



"No," said Eepresentative Palmer. 



"The gentleman does not know the 

 difference between dielytra and peo- 

 nies," said Mr. Mann to Mr. Palmer. 



"I am an erpert on peonies," re- 

 plied Mr. Palmer. 



"What is a dielytra?" asked Mr. 

 Mann. 



