The Garden Magazine 



Quarantine No. 37 



THE impending operation of this obnox- 

 ious "quarantine" continues to be the 

 topic of liveliest interest for discussion 

 among horticulturists generally. Let 

 there be no misunderstanding or confusion about 

 this law. It is on the books and the quarantine 

 goes into effect June first; and inasmuch as the 

 officials are satisfied with their work it will stand 

 as long as the present officials are in office, ap- 

 parently. 



Horticulturists should pattern themselves 

 along the lines of the prohibitionists and other 

 reformers; and see to it that when the power is 

 in their hands that with a changed congress and 

 newjofficials a reasonable modification be brought 

 about. Unfortunately officialdom apparently fails 

 to appreciate any distinction between the require- 

 ments of gardens and of forests. They have no 

 appreciation for the Roses, Peonies, Phloxes, 

 Larkspurs of English, French, or Dutch origin; 

 the ornamental delights of our gardens such as 

 Bay, Box, Rhododendrons that come from Bel- 

 gium — to them all these things have no ex- 

 istence. The dealers in these plants are as anxious 

 as anybody in the world to have stock healthy and 

 clean. 



That confusion of ideas exists is plain enough; 

 but, of course, there are none so blind as those 

 who will not see, and the members of the Federal 

 Horticultural Board — specialists trained to look 

 for disease and insect parasites and for nothing 

 else — see danger and a menace in everything they 

 examine. That is the common reaction of the 

 specialists — lack of contact with their fellow men 

 and inability to appreciate any but their own 

 points of view. 



According to recent information, it would 

 appear that the decision to impose the quaran- 

 tine at this time was brought about by outside 

 influences. That the board (to its credit let it 

 be said) was working on the basis of bringing 

 about practically complete exclusion of foreign 

 plants somewhere about the year 1925; that the 

 War Trade Board, in view of the difficulty of 

 getting shipping space during the height of the 

 fighting effort of the great war saw here an 

 opportunity to commandeer space on cargo ships 

 at the expense of the horticultural industry; and 

 that therefore, at the suggestion of the War 

 Trade Board, the members of the Federal Hor- 

 ticultural Board were induced to promulgate a 

 drastic order in advance of the time originally 

 intended. 



The horticulturists have not been behind other 

 people in supporting the nation's effort in the 

 war; which, perhaps, has affected their industry 

 in even a greater degree than almost any other. 



As a war measure the horticultural trade would 

 undoubtedly be quite willing to forego the in- 

 troduction of foreign plant material; and garden 

 owners would not ask that freight space be taken 

 up unnecessarily for materials that would be an 

 embellishment to their gardens. But, before 

 any benefit from this action could result the war 

 became a thing of the past! The need no longer 

 existed, but the order had been issued and must 

 "stand forever." 



Since the last number of The Garden Maga- 

 zine went to press a modifying order has been 

 issued by the Secretary of Agriculture as follows: 



AMENDMENT NO. 2 TO REGULATIONS SUPPLEMENTAL 

 TO NOTICE OF QUARANTINE NO. 37 



Under authority conferred by the plant quarantine act of August 

 20, 1912 (37 Stat., 315), it is ordered that Regulation 14 of the Rules 

 and Regulations Supplemental to notice of Quarantine No. 37 Gov- 

 erning the Importation of Nursery Stock and Other Plants and Seeds> 

 into the United States, effective June I, 1919, be, and the same is 

 hereby, amended to read as follows: Regulation 14. Special per- 

 mits for importation in limited quantities of prohibited stock. 



Application may be made to the Secretary of Agriculture for spe- 

 cial permits for the importation, in limited quantities and under 

 safeguards to be prescribed in such permits, of nursery stock and 

 other plants and seeds not covered by the preceding regulations 

 for the purpose of keeping the country supplied with new varieties 

 and necessary propagating stock: Provided, That this shall not apply 

 to nursery stock and other plants and seeds covered by special 

 quarantines and other restrictive orders now in force, nor to such 

 as may hereafter be made the subject of special quarantines. A list 

 of nursery stock and other plants and seeds covered by special quar- 

 antines and other restrictive orders now in force is given in Appendix 

 A of these regulations. 



Done in the District of Columbia this 27th day of March, 1919. 



Witness my hand and the seal of the United States Department 

 of Agriculture. 



D. F. Houston, 

 Secretary of Agriculture. 



By this amendment, the secretary, in effect, 

 seems to take the stand that he is open to convic- 

 tion; but is like the proverbial Irish debator who 

 also was open to conviction but "would like to 

 see the man who could convince me." 



Unfortunately for horticulturists and garden- 

 ers past experiences with the tender mercies of 

 authorities at Washington in handling novelty 

 introductions from abroad does not create any 

 feeling of comfort. To cite one instance in par- 

 ticular, the splendid collection of Japanese 

 Cherries that Mr. E. H. Wilson gathered in his 

 tour of Japan, would not be in existence in this 

 country to-day if dependence had been placed 

 solely on the shipment of specimens that was 

 consigned through the authorities at Washington. 



Unquestionably it is the business of our officials 

 to protect us and the larger industries of the 

 country from importations of any destructive 

 influence, but it seems a confession of weakness 

 to take the stand that the only way to prevent 

 the importation of an insect-infested plant is to 

 forbid the importation of a healthy one. 



We hold no brief for dealers in plants who are 

 solely importers of foreign material. A great 



155 



deal of the foreign stuff that comes into this 

 country is a detriment to our national garden 

 art, not because of its diseased or infested char- 

 acter, but because it is of a type that does not 

 fit into American soil and climate. But that 

 is beside the question. Unfortunately some 

 nurserymen lack sufficient faith in the future 

 possibilities of their own business to do more 

 than act as brokers for what has been produced 

 and tried out abroad. It remains to be seen 

 whether their attitude will be changed in the 

 near future, or whether, with a closed market, 

 these same people will be content to remain 

 unprogressive; simply propagating the material 

 from such stock as they already have on hand. 



Will You Share Your Seeds With 

 France ? 



ILTAVE you bought all your seeds — especially 

 ■*■ *■ your vegetable seeds — for your 1919 garden 

 yet? If not, or if in the near future you have 

 occasion to send in a supplementary order, don't 

 you want to share a little part of it with the men 

 and women and children who are striving against 

 pitifully tremendous odds to reclaim devastated 

 France? 



Word comes to us that there is a severe short- 

 age of garden seeds over there, as well as an in- 

 sufficient supply of tools and implements. Even 

 if there were plenty to buy, many of the peasant 

 families have lost practically all their possessions 

 during the war and are in no position to buy 

 seed, notwithstanding the vital importance of 

 securing as many crops as possible this summer 

 to meet the needs of another year — a year of 

 difficult, up-hill gradual reconstruction. And 

 the worst of it is that these families are, many of 

 them, experienced in intensive gardening to an 

 extent that we over here are hardly familiar with. 

 Think of it — knowledge, skill and experience, 

 an ardent desire, a more than ready willingness 

 to toil, and above all a dire need for the food that 

 it could result in — all these in unlimited amount, 

 and no seeds wherewith to carry on the work! 



If, therefore, when you send in a seed order, 

 you will ask for a little more than you really need, 

 even a half a dozen packets, and will send that 

 surplus to the American Committee for Devas- 

 tated France, 16 East 39th Street, New York 

 City, it will be sent immediately overseas, to be 

 put in the hands of a struggling French peasant 

 or his wife or his children who will treasure it 

 and give it greater care and attention than you 

 can imagine. This is such a little thing to do as 

 measured by what America has already done, 

 but it will mean so much to France. Can you 

 let the opportunity slip by? 



