FLORIDA STATE HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY 
103 
sacks of some sort of produce and ship 
those produce to Brownsville from down 
in Mexico? 
Write me what is the chance to get 
large lots of seed in Mexico. 
Yours truly, 
I will say that the seed of the avocado 
is prohibited from Mexico and Central 
America on account of the presence in that 
section of the avocado weevil, a pest, 
which, if introduced into Florida might 
mean the ruination of the great avocado 
plantings now being established in this 
State. 
How in the world can we hope to keep 
uninformed foreigners from bringing in 
destructive pests, when people in our own 
State, who know that material is prohib¬ 
ited, and who know that it is likely to 
bring in some dangerous insect, try to 
smuggle plants or seeds in in such a man¬ 
ner? We are facing a similar situation in 
North Florida in regard to the Satsuma 
orange. The interest being taken in this 
fruit is intense, and the nurseries are 
swamped with orders for Satsumas, and 
have to turn down many requests. A few 
short-sighted people say that they can’t see 
why they cannot get all the Satsuma trees 
they want from Georgia and Alabama, 
when they cannot get them in Florida, and 
some of them are making efforts to secure 
Satsuma trees from Georgia and Ala¬ 
bama. The mere fact that they will more 
than likely bring in citrus canker with the 
trees does not worry them a bit. So you 
see that the only hope of the Plant Board 
to keep out destructive pests, or to delay 
their entry into the State, is by the hearty 
and complete co-operation of you folks 
whose living is tied up in the horticultural, 
agricultural and industrial development of 
the State. 
Mr. Newell: You have seen from Mr. 
Brown’s lecture some of the difficulties 
connected with the enormous task of pro¬ 
tecting Florida against these many ene¬ 
mies. You also know, those of you who 
have thought about it, that the State of 
Florida cannot carry this load alone. We 
must have the help and backing of Uncle 
Sam. We must have his moral and legal 
backing and his financial assistance. We 
have had the help of the Horticultural 
Board for several years and perhaps the 
most important quarantine rule of the 
Federal Horticultural Board, to us, is 
“Quarantine No. 37,” which prohibits the 
wholesale and unlimited importation from 
foreign countries of trees and plants. 
This is the quarantine rule that has stop¬ 
ped the steady influx of pests into this 
country. An attack on this rule is going 
to be made at a hearing in Washington 
on May 15th. Its continued enforcement 
is going to be opposed by certain brokers 
and dealers who want to profit on import¬ 
ed material and care nothing for the fu¬ 
ture of our industries. Quarantine No. 
37 is a protection to every orchard and 
farm in the State of Florida and if this so¬ 
ciety wants to insure this protection being 
continued it should so express itself—per¬ 
haps in the form of a resolution to the 
Federal Horticultural Board, before its 
hearing on the 15th instant. 
