THE NATIONAL NURSERYMAN 
G6 
Horticultural Board, many foreign countries are looking 
into the crop protection measures adopted by the United 
States with appreciative eyes. The arguments advanced 
by the Federal Horticultural Board to justify its action 
are beginning to be accepted as valid to justify the most 
rigorous protection of any country’s crops. England re¬ 
cently has instituted a mild form of protective action to 
begin with, and several other countries are on the brink 
of doing likewise. All this is surely lovely to contem¬ 
plate from a plant doctor’s standpoint, but the fruit and 
cereal growing sections of the United States may well 
be filled with the greatest apprehension lest this rapidly 
spreading idea of crop protection by Chinese Wall meth¬ 
ods bites the hand that feeds it. 
There has been discovered in this country lately a vir¬ 
ulent form of “Take All” of wheat, a most destructive 
disease, known in Europe in a related form and there¬ 
fore capable of establishing itself there by means of our 
wheat exports. A hitherto unknown smut, now called 
“Flag Smut,” has appeared recently in some of our 
wheat growing sections. These two diseases alone, 
about which the Department of Agriculture has issued 
no less than 3 bulletins within the last eight months, 
provide almost unassailable arguments to the farmers’ 
associations in Europe to ask their governments for 
heavy restrictions on the movement of American cereal 
products. It has been found that even milling does not 
completely eliminate such diseases. 
It is unnecessary to point out that every farmer in 
Europe would welcome such crop protective restrictions 
and will work for them once the wonderfully straight 
road to eliminate our agricultural competition has been 
shown to him. Against such a movement we have ab¬ 
solutely no defense for our own Federal Horticultural 
Board has established tin 1 principle of exclusion against 
possible infestations and has been truly merciless to 
foreign producers in its application of this principle, as 
Belgian, I rench, Dutch and English nurserymen can 
bear witness to. 
Let us not be deceived by the assurance of the scien¬ 
tists that we can safely pursue these exclusion policies 
\\ it bout running the great risk of seeing our own ex¬ 
ports restricted. Common business sense tells me that 
our European friend farmer, when he discovers this 
royal road to eliminate competition, (by using a few of 
our wheat diseases and pointing to our quarantine No. 
37> will press his advantage. He would be foolish if he 
did not do so. in fact there are already indications in tin 1 
European press and trade papers of the beginning of an 
agitation in this direction. 
The danger is not confined to our cereal exports. Our 
dreaded Pear Blight is unknown as yet in the fruit 
growing centre of Europe. Europe apparently has not 
yet realized how easily this destructive blight may be 
carried by our fruit products exports. It is only a ques¬ 
tion of time and of sufficient increase in our fruit ex¬ 
ports to Europe, when this pest will take its toll in Eur¬ 
opean orchards, unless, in accordance with the doctrines 
and actions of the F. II. B., Europe forbids the importa¬ 
tion of American fruit and fruit products. 
How little propaganda of the scarehead variety ad 
employed by the F. IT. B. is necessary to put the fear of 
flag Smut or Pear Blight into the hearts of Eur¬ 
opean fruit and grain growers is known only to those 
who observed the Philoxera’in Europe. Which Eur¬ 
opean government would not gladly take hold of this ir¬ 
reproachable argument to help its own farmers along? 
From the above it must be clear to any student of 
trade conditions and commercial intercourse between 
nations that in applying the principle of exclusion to 
foreign plant products, we are exposing our own far 
more important exports of related products to the most 
effective form of foreign home industry protection ever 
invented. The foreign delegations to the Federal Horti¬ 
cultural Board, praying for modifications, have found 
out how all-powerful is the argument of crop protection. 
Not the slightest concession was granted them. Even 
the argument that the American products going to Eur¬ 
ope were not free from harmful agents and that Amer¬ 
ica in fairness should be willing to take a similar risk, 
carried no weight with our Federal Horticultural Board 
whatsoever. 
But what if we do keep all the foreign insects and 
plant diseases out and we are gradually forced to keep 
our highly protected crops at home? We now suffer, 
according to the F. H. B., $100 loss to our crops for 
every dollar’s worth of imported plant products, but 
when our latest crop protection idea begins to prevail 
abroad, we will surely suffer $1000 loss or more to our 
farm values for every dollars worth of foreign products 
not now bought from our foreign customers. 
The Federal Horticultural Board is a very useful body 
of men. It deserves great praise for its valiant efforts 
to protect the crops. There is nothing to show that in 
its endeavor to rid the country of injurious insects and 
plant diseases, it does not act with the greatest sincerity. 
Its intention is to do the greatest amount of good to the 
largest number of people in the U. S. By its exclusion 
theories, however, the F. H. B. undoubtedly overshoots 
the mark. It hugs the baby to death. 
We must go back to the days before Quarantine No. 
37 went into effect. Our regulations covering foreign 
plant products imports were more severe in 1918 than 
those of any other nation, but they did not exclude. Bus¬ 
iness remained possible, and if necessary any nation 
might put the same restrictions on our exports, without 
wholly destroying them. 
The sooner we announce the return to pre-war reg¬ 
ulations to cover plant products imports, the sooner we 
will remove the precedent, which may at any time be 
used against us with disastrous effect. It has got to be 
removed anyway, sooner or later, for this country can¬ 
not afford to play with an idea which is conceived to 
protect our crops, but which acts to destroy our exports. 
Without exports we do not need half of the crops, so 
let us encourage our foreign customers to send us their 
products, under our pre-war protection rules, so that 
we may continue to send them ours. 
THE WM II. MOON GO. INCREASES ITS ACREAGE 
The William II. Moon Company, Morrisville, Pa., has 
purchased 105 acres located below Yardley, adjoining 
their property in the Lower Makefield township. 
