THE NATIONAL NURSERYMAN 
249 
Provisions and Present vStatus of Bill 
The bill as it now stands, the last one the Committee 
knows anything about, provides in substance: 
Section i. That it shall be unlawful to import nursery 
stock till a permit shall have been issued therefor by the 
Secretary of Agriculture, and accompanied by a foreign 
certificate. 
Section 2 provides for necessary notification, and this 
notification must show name and address of shipper and 
consignee, nature and quantity of stock, and country and 
locality where grown. 
Section 3. Package shall be plainly marked to indicate 
nature of contents, name and address of consignee, and place 
where grown. 
Section 4. Same marking on packages of imported 
nursery stock in interstate commerce. 
Section 5 provides for including in the 
provisions other plants, seeds, and so forth, 
not included in the term nursery stock. 
Section 6 defines nursery stock. 
Section 7 is the quarantine section on im¬ 
ported stock, and states that whenever, in 
order to prevent the introduction of diseases 
or insects new or not widely distributed in the 
United States, the Secretary shall determine 
that it is necessary to prohibit the impor¬ 
tation of nursery stock or other grades of 
plants from the country where such disease 
or insect infestation exists, he shall promul¬ 
gate such determination,but before so doing 
shall, after due notice to interested parties, 
give a public hearing. 
Section 8 is on domestic quarantine, 
and provides for notices to parties inter¬ 
ested. 
Section 9 provides that the Secretary 
shall make and promulgate rules and regu¬ 
lations, and it has been agreed with the Department that 
before these rules and regulations are decided on, the 
nurserymen’s committee shall be consulted. 
Section 10 provides penalties. 
Section 11 provides that the act of an officer in violation 
of the law shall be deemed an act of the corporation. 
Section 12 authorizes the Secretary to appoint a federal 
horticultural board of five members from the Bureau of 
Entomology, the Bureau of Plant Industry, and the Bureau 
of Forest Service, not more than two being from one bureau. 
Section 13 provides an appropriation of %25,000. 
Section 14 makes the act effective July ist, 1912. 
Mr. Pitkin stated further that the bill does not provide 
for federal inspection of imported stock, but leaves that to the 
state departments as at present. The bill is on the regular 
calendar, but I am imformed that it is not likely to be reached 
during the present session. 
Many of our members, no doubt, feel that they cannot 
endorse any bill providing for quarantine regulations. Your 
committee would be very glad to report that no such bill had 
been agreed upon. It was evident, however, that some legis¬ 
lation was bound to be enacted. It was evident that the 
sentiment of the Department of Agriculture, the House Com¬ 
mittee on Agriculture, and the very strong California fruit 
interests, was thoroughly in favor of drastic regulations which 
would seriously hamper the nurserymen. It appeared that 
the best thing to do was to compromise the differences with 
the Department of Agriculture, and unite with the Depart¬ 
ment in favoring the present bill, believing that if we con¬ 
tinued our opposition, the result would be something much 
more burdensome than the bill now on the calendar. No 
legislation is likely to be enacted during the present session. 
Therefore, your legislative committee should be instructed as 
to your views and wishes, and authorized to watch the 
progress of the present bill, and safeguard as far as possible 
the interests of the members of this Association. 
Eastern Legislation 
Your committee has had under consider¬ 
ation one or two items of. state legislation 
in the East. The committee has tried to 
arrange with the authorities of the state of 
Maine'for a test case on the agent’s license 
law, but they evidently are not anxious to 
test out their law. They continue to 
collect a license fee, however, from those 
that are willing to pay. 
The committee has advised members 
generally through the trade journals to in¬ 
struct their agents not to pay the license 
fee. The committee for the current year 
should be authorized to continue their 
oversight of the situation. In some other 
states consideration has been given to the 
laws, but it has been thought best to let 
matters rest till some move was made by 
state officials. 
A new law in Massachusetts gives the 
inspector opportunity for discretion in con¬ 
nection with shipments containing some diseased or infested 
stock, and permits him to admit the clean portion and de¬ 
stroy any few infested trees he may find. 
AIembers of committee—Wm. Pitkin, J. H. Dayton, 
J. M. Pitkin, Abner Hoopes, Thos. B. Meehan. 
DIGEST OF REPORT OF COMMITTEE ON LEGISLATION 
WEST OF MISSISSIPPI RIVER ^ 
By Peter Youngers, Chairman 
As soon as possible after the convention at St. Louis, I 
commenced an action in Montana. The Montana Nursery 
Company of Billings and some personal friends all recom¬ 
mended Mr. W.M. Johnston of Billings as the proper attorney. 
I personally visited him, and had him prepare an opinion and 
agree upon a price, in the event of taking the matter to court. 
Upon submitting the matter to the executive committee, I 
received word to go ahead. 
In October I instructed Mr. Johnston to proceed to test 
the constitutionality of the law regarding license fee. It 
seemed impossible to start action, as the attorney-general 
would not join in the matter, nor would the state board 
(Continued on page 252) 
IRVING ROUSE 
