140 PROCEEDINGS OF THIRTY-THIRD FRUIT-GROWERS ' CONVENTION. 

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was ridiculous, and the prejudiced feeling toward the south gradually 

 subsided; but the same story would crop out at intervals, and some 

 good convincing talk was necessary to disprove it. 



Then came the story that to defoliate a tree would kill it, for it mast 

 be known that very little budding had been done on the city lots, and 

 the majority of the trees were of the seedling variety, ornamental only, 

 no oranges being grown for commercial use; and naturally the owners 

 of such trees did not recognize, as quickly as those who grow citrus 

 fruits for profit, the great danger of allowing the dreaded pest to 

 spread, over the State. 



At a very critical stage in the eradication work, when every energy 

 was being expended to complete the .work before another brood of Hies 

 would be clue, opinions arose which varied widely as to the proper 

 course to pursue, based on advice given by people unacquainted with 

 the real facts of the case. The questions involved were of a legal 

 nature, questioning the right of the authorities to proceed along the 

 lines as indicated in the official order. Many owners insisted that the 

 legal advice given them to resist the order was applicable to the present 

 situation as well as to matters not involving horticulture. These few 

 valiant defenders of the foliage of Marysville were joined with other 

 leaders in a movement to prevent what they believed, at that time, was 

 an attempt to destroy the verdant beauty of their home city by uncon- 

 stitutional means. Injunctions were served on the Commissioners and 

 the work stopped at a very critical time. Here again the law's delay 

 caused more valuable time to be sacrificed. The matter was brought 

 before the court, with the result that the order was upheld to the letter, 

 and the work, already late, again proceeded. 



The cause whereby the work was not completed within the specified 

 time is directly traceable to influences exerted and advice given from 

 sources not authoritatively interested and from an assumed advisory 

 standpoint only, which resulted in the bulk of the voluntary work being 

 delayed until the last minute, making it a physical impossibility to com- 

 plete the same on time. 



As enforced-eradication can not be executed until after the expiration 

 of preliminary service, the enforced eradication must then follow cer- 

 tain prescribed lines as indicated by our legal statutes. This important 

 point seems not to have been considered by many persons who have 

 severely criticised the failure to complete the work in the given time. 



"While we were not unconscious of the many pointed insinuations 

 aimed at us, both orally and in print, the overpowering sense of our 

 duty to so important a cause, and realizing the great interests at stake, 

 outweighed any desire on our part at petty retaliation, and we refrained 

 from replying to any attacks upon us, although the opportunities to do 

 so were legion. Instead, we proceeded calmly and impartially with our 



