64 
THE NATIONAL NURSERYMAN 
tion and uniformity. The federal government may send 
out a bulletin containing iniormation on a certain impor¬ 
tant horticultural subject, applicable to a group 01 states. 
The states 01 this group may liave a bulletin on the same 
subject but not at all m harmony with the government 
bulletin, or the states have no bulletin on the subject. 
Then the leading farm papers 01 that section may discuss 
the same subject in their columns from time 
to time without agreeing with either the 
state or the lederal bulletin. Then aside 
from these three disagreeing discussions of 
the same subject a number 01 nurseries supply iniorma¬ 
tion in their catalogs, pamphlets or descriptive advertis¬ 
ing matter according 10 their nest j uugment. In this case 
1 am referring to a specuic case aitho no identifying de¬ 
tails have been given. A number oi such cases can be 
cited. But this example shows the lack of cooperation in 
horticultural puoncny and lias oeen uiscusseu oeeause it 
affects both the scientist and tiie nurseryman. Vv nil inese 
four or more sources of iniormation, each one differing 
from the others, the public is at a loss to know what 
authority to lonow. ror tins reason it would be advis¬ 
able lor the nurserymen 01 any particular section to re¬ 
quest a more unnorm supply 01 iniormation. It might 
be possible for them to get the state to supply them with 
good practical bulletins on horticultural subjects which 
the nurserymen should be permitted to distribute to their 
customers on request. Many individuals prefer to take 
and follow information when it conies from a nursery 
that they are doing business with than from an experi¬ 
ment station that they often didn’t know was in existence. 
Many other facts might be brought out that could be 
properly included in this discussion but enough has been 
said to show that there is a great opportunity to assist in 
the development of a better horticulture by encouraging 
a real whole-hearted cooperation between scientific hor¬ 
ticulturists and nurserymen. 
I would be very glad to get all possible information and 
constructive criticisms on this subject from individuals 
of both groups. Our goal can not be reached in one or 
two years but the sooner we, of both groups get bus) 
and make an earnest attempt to meet each other half-way 
and on an equal plane the sooner will we both profit 
thereby and great benefit will result to the public which 
needs our services and our goods. 
It seems that up to the present time, with a few excep¬ 
tions, the two groups have made no attempts to get to¬ 
gether but from what I have observed, I feel certain, 
that once they do so they will be surprised at what fine 
fellows the others are. There are so many broad-minded 
individuals endowed with good common sense in each 
group that when they meet, as they now have twice, on a 
small scale, they will soon become friends and each will 
realize that the other has some good points as well as 
some redeeming features. They will become greatly in¬ 
terested in each other because each can learn from the 
other, this can not be denied. We will overlook and for¬ 
give the small number in each group who feel they know 
it all. So my plea is let us get together, let us discuss 
our mutual problems, let us benefit by each other’s ex¬ 
periences and let us help each other, then we will have 
cooperation. 
A PROPOSED CORN BORER QUARANTINE 
The Federal Horticultural Board Holds a Hearing 
The Federal Horticultural Board proposes to quarantine New 
York, Pennsylvania, and all the New England States, prohibiting 
the inter-state movement of corn and broom corn, including all 
parts of the stalk, green or string beans in the pods, beets with 
tops, spinach, rhubarb, oat and rye straw as such or when used 
as packing, cut flowers or entire plants of chrysanthemums, as¬ 
ters, cosmos, zinnias, hollyhocks, also cut flowers or entire 
plants of gladiolus and dahlia, excepting the bulb thereof, with¬ 
out stems, and many other herbaceous plants, and in conformity 
with the notice of January 30th, held a public hearing at the 
office of the Board, in Washington on February 24th. 
In opening the hearing Dr. Marlatt stated that this was but 
one of several hearings that had been held on this subject, that 
the result of the first hearing had been to establish quarantine 
covering corn in the infested areas of Massachusetts, but that up 
to the present time no other federal quarantine had been placed 
as so little was known of the activities or results of the Borer 
and new infested areas were continually being reported. 
So many states are now placing quarantines on account of the 
Corn Borer, the department has been urged to take some action 
to forestall further state quarantines. 
The agents of the department are making exhaustive surveys 
in certain districts, especially in New York and New England 
and every effort is being made to discover the present bound¬ 
aries of the infested areas. 
Massachusetts, New York and New Hampshire have already 
placed state quarantines. Wisconsin, Illinois, Florida, Washing¬ 
ton, and Canada have quarantined certain states on corn and 
some have included nursery stock. The Board has already asked 
that modification of these quarantines be made in some of these 
states. 
Any quarantine action which the Board takes now must ne¬ 
cessarily be provisional and as an aid to state quarantines. 
Mr. Caffrey, who is in charge of the investigations being con¬ 
ducted by the Board, said that the work largely up to the present 
time was to determine the limits or spread of the borer. In 
Pennsylvania it covered a very small area. 
In many of the plants it is proposed to quarantine, it occurred 
only where corn or weeds were badly infested, and these plants 
were included in the list only because it indicated that the borer 
would take to them under certain conditions. Dahlias and bulbs 
are not dangerous carriers and even this may only occur when 
the stems are attached to the tubers. 
He thought that a quarantine should only be placed on badly 
infested areas and should not prevent the shipment of plants 
that are found to be clean or from uninfected areas. 
Detail maps were exhibited showing where the borer has so 
far been discovered. These maps indicated that it was confined 
to certain limited and well defined areas in Massachusetts, New 
York, and the northwest corner,—Erie County,—of Pennsylvania. 
In the discussion which followed, it was stated that in many 
fields and gardens where cultivation had been thorough; not a 
trace of a borer had been discovered, and that good cultivation 
and prevention of weed growth was one of the best methods of 
eradicating the insect. 
Dr. Britton, Connecticut State Entomologist, said that he had 
done considerable scouting in his state and found evidence of 
the borer. He is not in favor of applying a quarantine to states 
or portions of states that are not infested and did not think it 
right that the entire state of Massachusetts should be quaran¬ 
tined. He felt that the quarantine should be taken off the un¬ 
affected areas. One of the hardships to nurserymen, is the plac¬ 
ing of quarantine on straw which is so largely used by them as 
packing material and for which there is no suitable substitute. 
Wallace R. Pearson objected to the blanket quarantine on 
chrysanthemums. Hundreds of thousands of these plants are 
grown from cuttings and sold broad cast all over the country as 
small rooted plants and it was very clearly shown that these 
small plants were not attached by the borer. He also feels that 
the quarantine should only apply to areas affected and that every 
energy should be spent in cleaning up infested sections and that 
nurserymen, whose premises were clean should be given certifi¬ 
cates permiting them to ship their stock. “Get the people with 
you to help clean up,” he said. 
It was freely stated by several of the speakers, that while try¬ 
ing to warn the citizens in the infested districts of the danger of 
the Corn Borer, it had strired up uneasiness in other states. 
Dr. Marlatt agreed that this alarm was probably greater than 
the actual conditions warranted. 
The Massachusetts Commissioner of Agriculture said that if 
the Federal Board agreed that if the danger of the spread of 
the borer is not so great as it has been made to appear, he hoped 
