soil or earth," but no named roses. Up to 1912 these came in without 
any inspection. Since 191 2 no taint of disease has been found on the 
millions imported }-early. Mr. Harry B. Weiss, State Inspector of 
New Jersey since 191 1, through whose hands possibly 50 per cent of 
all rose importations have passed, states that he has never found a 
rose or rose stock infested with a dangerous pest. 
Quarantine 37 excludes Orchids though a method of fumigating 
these plants has been found and used by the Department of Agricul- 
ture. Pineapples, bananas and other tropical fruits are admitted. 
Why bar tropical plants, which cannot be raised in America and which 
a little care would render more completely harmless? 
It ^^-il] be noticed that all bulbs and plants admitted must be free 
of "sand, soil or earth." The amount required for packing is small 
and might easily and with the willing co-operation of other countries 
be sterilized. Are the thousands of tons of clay, sand and gravel 
brought each year to America as ballast from all parts of the world 
sterilized? This clay is sold to potteries, the sand and gravel are used 
for filling and sold indiscriminately to any bidder. None is dumped 
in the sea. Does it seem quite reasonable? 
No further examples of inconsistency need be given, but there are 
two commercial aspects claimed by the F. H. B. and the friends of 
Quarantine 37 to be advantageous. The first is the elimination or 
minimizing of foreign competition. Contemplation of this advantage 
leaves the American nurseryman cold. He realizes that commercial 
growing has been an art in certain European countries for centuries: 
that it will take many years to train men adequately for this highly 
specialized occupation and that the material for such traim'ng is 
scarce; that land values, wages and climate will raise prices ex- 
orbitantly and curtail profit and production. He also knows that it 
requires from five to fifteen years to create an adequate commercial 
stock and that although the form of our government may be fixed, 
those who administer it are not. Who will finance him during the lean 
years while seeds are germinating, types are being fixed, cuttings are 
taking root and plants reaching a marketable size? Certainly no 
bank or indi\idual with an eye to business because at the end of those 
years a new Federal Horticultural Board may raise the quarantine 
and admit a flood of more cheaply grown foreign bulbs, plants and 
trees. They would be better grown, too, because in Europe they have 
done for centuries what we should have to learn almost from the 
beginning. Instead of improving the lot of the American nurseryman, 
Quarantine 37 has placed him in a serious financial dilemma. 
Another business fallacy is the claim that it is better for America 
to be self-contained and produce her own nursery stock as well as 
49 
