BUILDING OUR HORTICULTURE UP OR DOWN? 
T WOULD be a grudging and obtuse critic who, to-day, 
would deny the sincerity and good intentions of the Federal 
Horticultural Board. Whatever may have appeared to be 
the case during the early months of Quarantine 37, each new 
hearing and each new pronouncement has made it increas¬ 
ingly apparent that the Board actually believes that its inter¬ 
pretation and administration of the quarantine are promoting 
horticultural growth and progress in America. 
Seen through the eyes of its members, ours is a “virgin coun¬ 
try surrounded by a cordon of new, destructive insect pests and 
plant diseases” all awaiting an opportunity to enter, gain a 
foothold and forthwith take part in the extermination of our 
cultivated crops and much of our native and garden flora. View¬ 
ing every foreign bulb, shoot, cutting, and blossom as a poten¬ 
tial bearer of one or more of these enemies, the Board can see 
as the sole bulwark betwixt us and a gruesome termination of 
our very existence, naught but the reduction of plant material 
importations to the absolute minimum—which is zero! And 
that object it has frankly set up as its goal, and set out to attain. 
Meanwhile it views existing provisions for the securing of 
novelties, of essential propagating stock and of material of 
scientific or educational value (by botanic gardens or through 
the Department of Agriculture) as temporarily unavoidable 
evils and side issues, to be curtailed and eliminated so far as 
and as soon as practicable. Such is the frequently reiterated 
programme—and who will deny that the Board is bending every 
effort in its behalf, with a determination and persistence worthy 
a better, broader-minded cause. 
But—having granted its sincerity—one may reasonably ask in 
all seriousness whether or not the Federal Horticultural Board 
lacks a faculty of fully as great importance, which might be 
called foresight, observation, “horse sense,” or ability to note 
what is going on about it. 
It has announced the exclusion from unlimited entry, after 
January 1, 1926, of all Narcissus, on the assumption that there 
will then be a sufficient supply of home-grown bulbs to supply 
the demand. Yet David Griffiths, bulb specialist of the Bureau 
of Plant Industry, has recently said in a published article, 
“We should keep firmly in mind that while there is 
no doubt but that we can grow satisfactorily the com¬ 
plete line of the varieties of Narcissus in this country, 
there is but little probability of our accomplishing the 
fulfilling of our needs in the next 20 years.” 
The Board has excluded Spanish Iris and admitted unlimited 
entry of Lilies, not because the former represents any greater 
danger than Lily bulbs, but because it is being raised in large 
quantities in California; nevertheless, would-be purchasers order 
from their retailers in vain, while the dealers themselves make 
futile efforts to secure the stocks on the promise of which they 
continue to list the items in their catalogues. These are state¬ 
ments of practical fact, not theories. 
The Board asserts that its regulations actually exclude nothing, 
and that it has no intention of excluding any desirable plant from 
the country’s horticultural commerce (unless, of course, it is 
specifically found to be diseased or infested). However, a 
survey of the retail plant situation in 20 different cities through¬ 
out the United States this past Easter, tells another story. 
Again stern facts: 
B EFORE the advent of Quarantine 37, practically every 
florist offered generous stocks of such flowering plants 
as Azaleas, Genistas, Dielytras, Hydrangeas, Spireas, etc., at 
moderate prices—and they were bought freely, either to be used 
as gifts or for personal service to brighten American homes and 
lives. In Easter, 1923, Araucarias were “off the market” in 18of 
the 29 cities referred to above; in “ medium supply” in one; and 
in “plentiful supply” in one other. Dielytras were missing from 
19 cities and were noted in but “ small supply” in only one; Rho¬ 
dodendrons could not be had in 17 instances and were seriously 
limited in the other three; Deutzias were “plentiful” in one city, 
in “medium supply” in seven, and totally absent in 12. Lilacs 
were available to a limited extent in 11 cities and completely 
missing in nine. And so it went throughout a list of eight or ten 
sorts, with Hydrangeas alone to be had in goodly numbers in 
more than ten cities (14 to be exact) in medium supply in five, 
and not to be had at all in one. In the case of the once-popular 
and ever-beloved Azalea, five cities could offer none, and 15 had 
small supplies—and most of these were plants which five years 
ago might have cost $1.50 to $5.00 but this year brought from 
$10 to $15. 
H ERE then is an answer to the claim that “no plant is ex¬ 
cluded by Quarantine 37.” Here is a reply to those who, 
urged by a blind and misguided patriotism, reconcile themeslves 
to the terms of the Quarantine, and hopefully talk of the “sub¬ 
stitutes” that are soon to take the place of anything our growers 
cannot grow for our use. IVhere and what are these substitutes? 
Who is growing them? Where are they coming from? 
Horticultural progress must needs go forward on two sound 
legs: (1) One made up of the fruits and experience of many gene¬ 
rations of study, observation, and toil throughout the civilized 
world [read in this respect the account of our present day in¬ 
debtedness to the past that Mr. Wilson’s articles are now telling 
in our pages.]; (2) The other composed of personal initiative, in¬ 
terest, inspiration and satisfied desires here at home. Cripple 
the one—as is being done today—and it will be futile to look for 
the other to advance, and carry forward the whole load by itself. 
The policies and practices of the Federal Horticultural Board 
do worse than impede progress—they actually are heading us 
backwards! 
NEWS OF THE SOCIETIES 
The American Peony Society meets for its annual exhibition 
at St. Paul, Minn., the tentative dates being June 12th, 13th, 
and 14th, of course subject to change through weather con¬ 
ditions. Those interested in knowing the exact date should 
