146 
WISCONSIN HORTICULTURE 
July, 1919 
IMPORTING PLANT NOVEL- 
TIES 
S. B. Fracker, Acting State En- 
tomologist. 
An order preventing the impor- 
tation into the United States of 
nursery stock and plant material 
on a commercial scale went into ef- 
fect on June 1. So many ques- 
tions have been asked the writer 
about this quarantine and such bit- 
ter criticism has been expressed 
against the quarantine for provi- 
sions it does not in realty contain 
that it seems best to make a brief 
explanation of the order and its 
causes. 
Under this quarantine the bring- 
ing into the United States of or- 
dinary ornamental shrubs and 
fruit trees is to be discontinued 
but permits may be secured from 
the Federal Horticultural Board in 
the same manner as heretofore for 
the entry of fruit and rose stocks, 
lily bulbs, lily of the valley, narcis- 
sus, hyacinths, tulips and crocus. 
This provision answers the question 
of a large number of nurserymen 
and horticulturists, “Where are we 
going to get our rose and fruit 
stocks now that the quarantine lias 
gone into effect ? ’ ’ 
Perhaps the most important fea- 
ture of the quarantine consists of 
its provision for the introduction of 
plant novelties, new varieties, and 
necessary propagating stock. I nder 
regulation 14, application may be 
made to the Secretary of Agricul- 
ture for special permits for the im- 
portation of nursery stock and 
other plants needed for the pur- 
pose of keeping the country sup- 
plied with new varieties and pro- 
pagating stock. The application 
must be accompanied by a state- 
ment certifying that the plants to 
be imported are novelties, or, if 
standard varieties of foreign plants, 
that adequate quantities for their 
propagation are not available in 
this country. Special regulations 
are made covering plants imported 
under these permits in order to pre- 
vent the introduction of additional 
insect pests and plant diseases. 
The United States has received 
during recent years so many ex- 
tremely serious insects and plant 
diseases that the situation appeared 
to be a desperate one. in addition 
to such established pests as the 
Gipsy and Brown-Tail Moths, 
against which over one million dol- 
lars a year is being spent as a per- 
manent control campaign, the hor- 
ticulturists of this country could 
look back only one or two decades 
to discover the arrival of the citrus 
canker, which at the expenditure of 
hundreds of thousands of dollars 
has now been nearly eradicated 
from Florida ; the chesnut blight 
which is surely but gradually wip- 
ing out the chesnuts of the eastern 
states; the white pine blister rust 
which is compelling all New Eng- 
land wood-lot owners to go to the 
expense of taking out their currant 
and gooseberry bushes or watch 
their white pine become valueless ; 
the pink bollworm of cotton which 
threatened the cotton crop at least 
as seriously as the boll weevil (the 
latter, according to the census, hav- 
ing caused the south several hun- 
dred million dollars in reduced cot- 
ton production) ; and the European 
corn borer which has decreased the 
total corn crop of Hungary 25 per 
cent and that of some parts of Rus- 
sia, 95 to 100 percent. 
We have become so used to the 
expenditure of money for insecti- 
cides and the loss of crop caused by 
the imported cabbage butterfly, im- 
ported grain weevils, imported as- 
paragus beetle, imported poplar 
borer, imported currant worm, im- 
ported cabbage maggot, and many 
others that we often do not appre- 
ciate the total damage they do. It 
is hard to believe that the introduc- 
tion of any new ornamental shrub 
or of all the shrubs and trees which 
have been imported since the Civil 
War could compensate for the dam- 
age caused by the insects named. 
After seeing samples of the Potato 
Wart recently introduced into 
Pennsylvania, I feel confident in 
saying that no conceivable plant in- 
troduction could pay Wisconsin for 
the accidental importation of this 
disease into the great potato grow- 
ing regions of the state. 
Inspection of plant importations 
has been and always will be inade- 
quate. Inspectors are looking for 
the invisible and attempting the im- 
possible in trying to prevent the in- 
introduction of plant diseases. The 
only hope of protecting the horti 
cultural interests from the losses 
which follow the arrival of im- 
ported pests consists of a quaran- 
tine against the plants on which 
they come and their importation, if 
necessary, under the most careful 
and severe restrictions. 
What Causes “Brown Patches” 
on the Lawn 
Objectionable “brown patches” 
appear on fine laws, greenswards, 
and the putting greens of golf 
courses usually during the hot, 
moist weather of summer, the dis- 
ease being most noticable when tfie 
weather is hot and muggy, and on 
ground which is kept too moist by 
insufficient drainage or heavy 
sprinkling. The brown spots — 
caused by a fungus — are at first 
more or less circular and grow in 
centrifugal fashion, becoming a 
foot or more in diameter. 
During the early morning many 
