262 
THE NATIONAL NURSERYMAN 
Further that all shipments of nursery stock in interstate commerce 
shall be plainly marked to show nature of contents, name and address of 
consignee, and country or district where grown. 
It further provides that the Secretary of Agriculture shall have 
authority to forbid the importation of any nursery stock, fruits, vege¬ 
tables, bulbs, plants, and seeds, from any country which he deems 
dangerous. 
It further provides that the Secretary of Agriculture may have autho¬ 
rity to quarantine any state or territory or any portion thereof, when in 
his judgment any dangerous plant diseases, or insect infestation exists 
in such state, territory, or portion, and while such quarantine is in force 
no nursery stock may be shipped from such section. 
There seems to have been a decided change in the position of Dr. 
Howard. At first he contended that the one all-important point was 
the inspection by the federal government. He regarded foreign certifi¬ 
cates of no value. He said that in many of the states the provisions for 
inspection were inadequate, and consequently he must have authority to 
inspect every importation of foreign stock. 
This bill does not seem to provide for any inspection of foreign nur¬ 
sery stock, but simply aims to provide means so that the Secretary of 
Agriculture may have information as to shipments of foreign nursery 
stock entering the country, and their destinations. What is proposed to 
be done with the information, is not stated, but it would seem that with¬ 
out legislation, such information is now available through the Treasury 
Department, and as no inspection is provided for, we must still rely, as 
we do now, on the inspection of our various states, so that your Com¬ 
mittee fails to see any advantage in that part of the proposed bill. 
It is proposed to place certain burdens on us in the way of permits 
before we can import. It provides that no shipment can be offered for 
entry unless it is accompanied by a foreign certificate of inspection, and 
as a matter of fact, it has been conceded by Dr. Howard and his party 
that foreign certificates have no practical value, yet under this bill we 
can’t make an entry of nursery stock if it so happens that a worthless 
foreign certificate has been left off. It gives the Secretary discretion as 
to whether he shall issue a permit or not, or in other words, gives him 
absolute power over the importation of foreign nursery stock. 
The section providing authority for the Secretary to quarantine 
against any foreign country or district, gives him absolute authority to 
say whether or not you may import foreign seedlings or other nursery 
stock, and the worst part of this proposition is that as you all know, your 
contracts for French seedlings are usually made six months or more in 
advance of shipment. Some of our members make their contracts at 
the time the seed is purchased, fully eighteen months in advance of 
shipment. 
Under this bill it would be entirely possible for the Secretary of Agri¬ 
culture during December of any year to issue an order of quarantine 
against some particular district in France; let us say Angers for example, 
and if such a quarantine order were issued, any stock for which you had 
contracted in Angers six months or eighteen months previous, could not 
be shipped to you, and you all know that at that date it would be 
absolutely impossible for you to purchase at other places most of the 
stock that you would require, consequently you would have none of that 
material for your subsequent Spring planting. Your rotation of crops 
would be interfered with, and not only yours, but many other nursery¬ 
men, and that is where the interests of the fruit growers and orchard men 
will be affected, for when a year came around during which that planting 
would naturally come into market, there would be a shortage of trees, 
and prices would go to the limit. 
It is not believed by your Committee that there is any necessity for 
such radical legislation. We have had experience with the Brown Tail 
Moth question during the past three years, and it has been entirely 
possible to control it, and we see no reason why authority should be given 
for an absolute quarantine of nursery stock. 
No special argument is needed to show you the danger of the provi¬ 
sion for a quarantine against any certain state or portion thereof. The 
section speaks for itself, and we can all imagine what might happen if 
such authority were lodged in the hands of any one official. On the 
recommendation of some inspector. Dr. Howard might decide that 
Monroe County, New York, or Lake County, Ohio, were danger spots 
draw a circle around those counties, and while that quarantine was in 
force, not a tree or a plant could be shipped out of those counties; cer¬ 
tainly too much arbitary power to be placed in the hands of any one 
man, and with no chance for appeal from his decision. 
It seems desirable to give you a little further information as to the 
course that has been followed by your Committee and by Dr. Howard, 
and his friends, for the reason that it is evident that there has been 
started a campaign of newspaper publicity on this subject, with the idea 
of stirring up agitation and arousing a sentiment in favor of the Simmons 
Bill, and when in these remarks Dr. Howard is spoken of, it is to be 
considered as referring to Dr. Howard and his assistants, who are work¬ 
ing together on this matter, and evidently in concert. 
During last winter we received letters threatening that if we did not 
cease our opposition to the bill then in Congress, that they would start on 
a campaign of newspaper publicity, and show us up, and we told them to 
go ahead, and that we would be very glad to be shown up in connection 
with this matter. They have implied bad faith on our part, but as far 
as that is concerned, your Committee feels that it has not been treated 
fairly, and is fully justified in any steps that it may have taken. 
Nursery Interests not Consulted 
For several years there had been a tacit understanding as admitted 
by Dr. Howard, that there would be no legislation of this character 
without consultation. 
Contrary to this understanding. Dr. Howard and four friends got 
together quietly in the winter of 1909, formulated a bill, got it through 
the House, and almost through the Senate, before the nurserymen knew 
anything about it. 
That bill provided for inspection on the dock at New York, an utterly 
foolish proposition, and so admitted later by Dr. Howard, and yet in 
some of the articles that they are publishing, they attack us for killing 
that bill. 
At that time. Dr. Howard agreed to meet us in conference, and 
endeavor to formulate a bill that would be satisfactory all around. We 
tried our best, both by letter and personal call, to secure a conference 
with Dr. Howard during the summer and fall of 1909, and were unable 
to do so. We had some correspondence with him, but were unable to 
reach an agreement, and as you all know, there are lots of matters that 
cannot be arranged by correspondence, but can be harmonized in a 
conference. 
In January, 1910, Mr. Rouse and your Chairman were invited to 
attend the convention of the Horticultural Inspectors at Boston, to dis¬ 
cuss federal legislation. 
We took to that conference a bill sometimes known as the Nursery¬ 
men’s Bill, which had been drawn up by us at the suggestion of Dr. 
Howard, and not because we had any legislation to propose, but simply 
to get our ideas on paper, so that they might be discussed with him. At 
the Boston meeting the Nurserymen’s Bill was carefully considered, dis" 
cussed, and that meeting voted to adopt the bill, and instructed its 
Legislative Committee to support it, with one or two slight amendments. 
Notwithstanding that action, the Legislative Committee of that 
organization appeared at a hearing at Washington in April following, and 
supported Dr. Howard’s position, and opposed the position of the nur¬ 
serymen. 
Action Without Authority 
During the winter of 1909, Dr. Howard issued an order to the steam¬ 
ship lines running into New York, and the railroad lines running out of 
New York, to the effect that they were not to handle any nursery stock 
on account of the suspicion of Brown Tail Moth, and cited as his authority 
a certain law passed in 1905, and called their attention to a penalty of 
$5,000 for a violation of that law. The railroads were afraid of Washing¬ 
ton anyway, and did not know what was going to happen to them, and 
shipments of nursery stock were held up in New York during the winter 
for a week or ten days. 
Under the law of 1905, quoted by Dr. Howard, he had not a shadow 
of authority for his action, and afterwards in Washington admitted that 
he had no authority, and said he was only bluffing. 
Is a man who will do as Dr. Howard then did, without any authority 
whatever, a safe man to intrdst with the absolute control of the nursery 
business of the country, and with no opportunity provided for an appeal 
from his decision? 
I 
