REGISTRATION OF NEW FRUITS. 



REPORT OF A CO^^MITTEE ON REGISTRATION OF THE PENINSULA HORTIC I' LTU R AL SOCIETY. 



AT THE last annual meeting of this society* 

 your committee was instructed as follows : 

 "Suggest a plan of action, in case it is found 

 to be feasible and proper to register new va- 

 ieties of fru its. " 



The evils against which registration is thought to be 

 a remedy affect originators, nurserymen and growers. 

 Originators seek protection similar to that afforded by 

 patents. Respectable nurserymen feel that their busi- 

 ness is impeded, and that an unfair rivalry is established 

 by certain disreputable practices — noticeably by the 

 sales of old varieties of plants under new names. 

 Experienced growers 



The fertilizer trade offers a parallel case. There is 

 no way by which the sense of sight, of smell or of taste 

 can become a true guide to a purchaser of phosphates. 

 Hence, the more recent state laws now require that the 

 seller shall register, with a duly appointed official, a 

 guaranteed statement as to materials used in making 

 said phosphates, their chemical composition, etc. If this 

 guarantee be broken by the manufacturer, serious con- 

 sequences follow. 



In formulating any plan for the consideration of this 

 meeting, it must be remembered that the Peninsula 

 Horticultural Society is not an incorporated body ; that 



it can neither sue nor 



have become o u t - 

 spoken in their con- 

 demnation of the ten- 

 dency to create vari- 

 eties on distinctions 

 too fine to be seen by 

 disinterested people. 

 They feel that steps 

 should be taken to 

 hold sellers responsi- 

 ble for any claim, pro- 

 viding it misleads and 

 causes either finan- 

 cial losses or annoy- 

 ances. In a spirit of 

 fairness, they admit 

 that anumberof trade 

 irregularities may 

 have been caused di- 

 rectly by a lack of in- 

 formation on the part 

 of growers — a lack of 

 information which 

 sometimes takes the 

 f o r m of an intense 

 eagerness to buy any- 

 thing which is said to 

 be either new or novel 

 in the fruit line. 



It is clear that all these complaints would cease imme- 

 diately if the true value of the plants or trees actuallv 

 sold was at once apparent to the purchaser. But from 

 the very nature of the case, this value can be known to 

 the originators or nurserymen alone ; hence, following 

 ordinary business rules, the seller should be forced to 

 give a guarantee, and if this be broken, damages can be 

 collected. 



4 



Fig. II. Tane-nashi. (See page 333 



ist. 

 2d. 

 3d. 

 4th. 



* Comprising Delaware and the remainder of the Chesapeake 

 peninsula. 



be sued. Then, too, 

 its membership is 

 drawn from three 

 states, and many dififi- 

 culties might be expe- 

 ' t ^ rienced if special leg- 



islation were sought, 

 consequently any 

 plan, to be of imme- 

 diate benefit, must 

 rest upon laws found 

 in the statute books of 

 every state. 



The following plan 

 is feasible, in case the 

 society has strength, 

 and the interest felt 

 in this movement is 

 sufficient : Let every 

 one dealing in nur- 

 - : ' sery stock be request- 



■ .-j^;; tt'y' ^d to register with 



<• - some duly appointed 



■ ■ -i-^^^ member of this soci- 



ety, and let his regis- 

 tration be in the form 

 of an affidavit, cover- 

 ing the following 

 points : 



The name of each variety offered for sale. 

 The name of its originator. 

 The history of its discovery. 



The history of the efforts made to determine 

 the permanence of the type. 



5th. The claims made by the originator or the seller 

 ?.s to the valuable peculiarities of the variety and the 

 tests upon which these claims rest. 



It could be made the duty of the official who received 

 these affidavits to tabulate, print and circulate them 



