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THE NATIONAL NURSERYMAN 
LATEST REPORT ON SIMMONS BILL 
Editor National Nurseryman: 
Dear vSir: 
The ])resent status of the Siminons bill is as follows: 
Our Committee reaehed an agreement with the Depart¬ 
ment of Agriculture on several minor changes in the bill 
some time ago, and finally reached an agreement on the 
wording of the quarantine sections limiting their operation 
to insects and diseases new to or newly discovered in the 
United States. 
On IMonday of this week our Committee had a hearing 
before the House Committee on Agriculture, and at that 
hearing Mr. Harlatt of the Department of Agriculture 
reported the agreement made with the nurserymen, and 
recommended the passage of the bill as amended. 
A strong delegation of California fruit people backed up 
by several California Members of Congress, made a very 
urgent appeal for more drastic legislation, advocating 
absolute power of quarantine and inspection at ports of 
entry. 
It was quite evident that the sympathy of the members 
of the House’Committee was not with the nurserymen, and 
while we presented our arguments, we were quite convinced 
that the Committee would not favor any bill leaving the 
quarantine sections to apply only to new insects. 
After the hearing was concluded the whole matter was 
referred to a Sub-Committee with instructions to formulate 
a bill and report same to the full Committee. 
A little later our Committee decided to say to Dr. Howard 
that in view of the situation and the evident inclination for 
more stringent legislation, that we had decided to stand for 
the printed wording of the quarantine sections number 
8 and g of the bill as introduced in January, which would 
practically mean full quarantine powers both foreign and 
domestic, and urged the Doctor to secure if possible the 
approval of the House Committee to this proposition. 
I have a letter this morning from Dr. Howard saying that 
the Sub-Committee has agreed to report the bill to the full 
Committee as suggested by the Department, and un¬ 
doubtedly this recommendation will be adopted by the 
House Committee. It, of course, remains to be seen what 
action will be taken by the House and Senate. 
The only changes in the printed bill introduced January 
15th, of importance are the provisions for notice and hearing 
before any quarantine or radical action is determined on by 
the Commission, and Section 4 provides that the notifications 
may be sent to the state official whose duty it is to look after 
inspection at destination. 
This bill, of course, is not what has been desired bv our 
Committee, but a careful consideration of all the facts, 
circumstances, and opposition which developed at Washing¬ 
ton, influenced us to believe that the time had come when 
it was necessary for us to join hands with the Department 
and agree to this bill in order to ward off something else 
that might be much more dangerous and burdensome, or in 
other words, it was in the judgment of our Committee the 
best that we could do under the circumstances, and if the 
measure is adopted by'the House Committee and without 
further amendments, we shall feel that under existing 
conditions we were fortunate. 
Yours truly, 
Feb. 23, 1912. Wm. Pitkin, Chainnan. 
“We do not wish to have our adv run any longer. We sold all our 
Ibota Privet through it ’’ 
Texas. G. Verhalen. 
We are grateful to the Revere Rubber Co. of Boston, Mass, for their 
1912 calendar on which there appears a very appropriate colored 
illustration. 
IMPORTS OF POTASH SALTS INTO THE UNITED 
STATES 
The recent announcement by the Department of Agriculture and 
from other sources regarding discoveries of large supplies of potash in 
the United States lends interest to a statement prepared by the Bureau 
of Statistics, Department of Commerce and Labor, showing that the 
importation of potash salts is now running at the rate of over a million 
dollars a month and has aggregated since 1900 approximately 75 
million dollars. While these potash salts enter the country in various 
forms and thus under various titles, including muriate of potash, 
sulphate of potash, carbonate of potash, kainit, etc., their aggregate 
import value in the 9 months ending with September, 191 h, was eleven 
and one-half million dollars, against about seven million in the cor¬ 
responding months of 1910 and a little over five million in the correspond¬ 
ing months of 1909, thus indicating a steady and rapid growth in the 
importation of this class of products. Taking the figures for fiscal years, 
the total for 1911 was fourteen million dollars, compared with less than 
twelve million in 1910, less than four million in 1900 and less than 
two million in 1890. 
The principal classes of potash salts imported into the United 
States are, in the order of magnitude of imports in the fiscal year 1911 ; 
kainit, 1,300 million pounds; muriate of potash, 431 million pounds; 
sulphate of potash, 106 million pounds; carbonate of potash, 23 million 
pounds; nitrate of potash, or crude saltpeter, 9 million pounds; caustic 
potash, 7 million pounds; and all other salts of potash, 6 million pounds. 
Measured by value the largest importations during the year occurred 
in the muriate, 63^ million dollars; kainit, 2 2-3 million; the sulphate, 
nearly 2 million; and the carbonate, three-quarters of a million 
dollars. 
American farms absorb a large proportion of the imported potash 
salts, most of which are valuable as fertilizers by reason of their large 
content of potash. This is especially true of kainit, muriate of potash, 
and the sulphate of potash. Nitrate of potash, or crude saltpeter, is 
chiefly used in the manufacture of gunpowder and nitric acid; caustic 
potash, in the manufacture of soap; and carbonate of potash, or 
“potash,” as popularly called, obtained largely from the ashes of certain 
land and marine plants, is used in the manufacture of soft soap, for 
cleansing purposes, in dyeing, and for the emulsifying of oils; while 
the chemical and other industries utilize the foregoing and other potash 
salts in the preparation of drugs and medicines and in other technical 
processes. 
Germany is the chief source of kainit and, indeed, of all the imported 
potash salts except crude saltpeter. Of the muriate imported in 1911, 
431 million pounds, Germany supplied all except 334" million pounds 
received from Belgium and i ^ million pounds from the United Kingdom 
most of which was, in-each case, presumably, of German origin. Practi¬ 
cally all the imports of sulphate of potash are from Germany, and of the 
23 million pounds of carbonate of potash imported in the last fiscal year, 
Germany is credited with 16 million pounds, compared with less than 
half that sum from all other European countries. In the case of nitrate 
of potash, or crude saltpeter, however, British India is the chief source, 
that country being credited with over 9 million pounds out of a total 
importation of 93^ million pounds in the fiscal year which ended June 
30, 1911. 
C. R. Burr of C. R. Burr & Co., Manchester, Conn., called on his 
nursery friends in Rochester on his western trip, recently. Mr. Bur-^ 
has a great many friends in the nursery business and they are always 
glad to see him. 
John A. Cannady of Carrollton, Ills., had a fire which did $10,000 
damage to his nursery. The storage house and contents were de¬ 
stroyed. Insurance $2,500. 
National Nurseryman; 
Enclosed find $1.00 for my subscription for 1912. Your paper is 
alright and fills its place perfectly. 
Michigan. C. L. Bashford. 
