Figure 16. — Count Sutemi Chinda and wife. Viscountess Iwa Chinda. 



The successful planting of the second shipment of Japanese flowering 

 cherry trees in the Nation's Capital marked the beginning of a living 

 symbol of friendship between the peoples of Japan and the United States. 

 Four years later, 99 percent of the trees planted around the Tidal Basin 

 were well established, 8 to 12 feet tall, and blooming each spring (56). 



The Department of Agriculture continued to maintain controls over the 

 imports on nursery stock, seeds, and other plant material under the strict 

 regulations of Quarantine 37, which was first announced on November 

 18, 1918, by Secretary F. Houston (57). It was apparent that, in the 

 coming years, some replacement stock for the Potomac and Tidal Basin 

 areas would have to be drawn from selected nurseries within this country. 

 At the same time, the Department continued to take an active interest in 

 the welfare and future propagation of the cherry trees originally planted 

 around the Tidal Basin and in Potomac Park (fig. 19). 



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