180 
THE NATIONAL NURSERYMAN 
CRAMTON BILL 
The attention of all Members is directed to the Cramton 
Bill, H. R. 247, introduced in the House of Representatives 
April 11, 1921, and referred to the Committee on Interstate and 
Foreign Commerce. 
The Bill follows: 
“Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives 
of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That 
it shall be unlawful for any person to ship or deliver for ship¬ 
ment from any State or Territory or the District of Columbia, 
to any other State or Territory or the District of Columbia, or 
to receive in any State or Territory or the District of Colum¬ 
bia from any other State or Territory, or the District of Col¬ 
umbia, and having so received, to deliver in original unbroken 
package, for pay or otherwise, or offer to deliver to any other 
person, any nursery stock which does not bear on each tree, 
shrub, or plant, or on the original unbroken package thereof, a 
label stating the true, accepted, and correct name of the var¬ 
iety of such nursery stock, the name of the person who grew 
the same, and the place where it was grown. The accepted 
name of a variety shall be the name accepted by the recog¬ 
nized authority for the class of nursery stock in question, such 
as, in the case of fruit trees, the American Pomological So¬ 
ciety. “Nursery stock,” for the purposes of this Act, shall in¬ 
clude all field and greenhouse grown plants, such as fruit 
trees, fruit-tree stock, trees, shrubs, vines, cuttings, grafts, 
scions, Ibuds, and all other plants or parts of plants for plant¬ 
ing or propagation. 
Sec. 2. That no person shall so ship or deliver for shipment 
or so receive and deliver or offer to deliver to another, any 
nursery stock that it not true to name or that is wrongly or 
improperly labeled in a manner that will tend to mislead or 
deceive. 
Sec. 3. That any person who shall violate any of the pro¬ 
visions of this Act or who shall forge, counterfeit, alter, deface 
or destroy any label, certificate, or invoice provided in this Act 
or in the regulations of the Secretary of Agriculture, made and 
promulgated under the authority of this Act, shall be deemed 
guilty of a misdemeanor, and upon conviction shall be punish¬ 
ed by a fine not exceeding $200 or by imprisonment not ex¬ 
ceeding six months, or by both such fine and imprisonment, in 
the discretion of the court. Upon conviction of any person of 
violation of any of the provisions of this Act the Secretary of 
Agriculture shall publish the name of such person. 
Sec. 4. That it shall be the duty of each district attorney to 
whom the Secretary of Agriculture shall report any violation 
of this Act or to whom any director of experiment station or 
any official of any State or any other person shall present sat¬ 
isfactory evidence of any such violation to cause appropriate 
proceedings to be commenced and prosecuted in t he proper 
courts of the United States without delay for the enforcement 
of the penalties herein provided for. 
Sec. 5. That the term “Territory” as used in this Act shall 
include the District of Alaska and the insular possessions of 
the United States. The word “person” as used in this Act shall 
be construed to import both the plural and the singular, as the 
case demands, and shall include corporations, companies, so¬ 
cieties, and associations. When construing and enforcing the 
provisions of this Act, the act, omission, or failure of any offi¬ 
cer, agent, or other person acting for or employed by any cor¬ 
poration, company, society, or association, within the scope of 
his employment or office, shall in every case be also deemed to 
be the act, omission, or failure of such corporation, company, 
society, or association, as well as that of the other person.” 
Nurserymen who buy stock from others realize the difficul¬ 
ties that compliance with such a law would mean if, indeed, 
compliance would be possible. Nursery stock frequently passes 
through two and three hands before it finally reaches the con¬ 
sumer. And sometimes a variety is bought in different quan¬ 
tities from half a dozen other nurserymen. It would entail an 
endless amount of red-tape to keep a record of the name of the 
grower of each tree and it would require tracing every tree 
through the hands of each man handling it back to the grower. 
Under this Bill, the nurseryman selling to the consumer 
would be responsible, while the nurserymen acting as jobbers 
and reselling the stock and the grower as well would be re¬ 
lieved of all responsibility. The nurseryman shipping to the 
consumer would also be responsible for the acts of all his em¬ 
ployees. 
Another objection from a business standpoint would be that 
the seller would have to advertise to his customers the name 
and address of the nursery firm supplying any of the stock not 
grown by the shipper. 
This same Bill was introduced last year but failed of pas¬ 
sage on account of vigorous opposition. It is again before Con¬ 
gress. I earnestly suggest that members handling fruit trees, 
fruit-tree seedlings, ornamentals, and greenhouse plants write 
their Members of Congress their objections to the Bill. With 
this Association itself undertaking to protect the planter and 
doing that, such a Bill is untimely and unnecessary. If the 
members approve of my doing so, I shall be glad to go down to 
Washington where I have a number of friends in both the Sen¬ 
ate and House and explain the unnecessary and unworkable 
provisions in this bill. Will you let me hear from you with a 
letter that I can use? 
Yours truly, 
JOHN WATSON, 
Secretary. 
May 12, 1921. 
Princeton, N. J. 
HOLMAN BROS., Leavenworth, Kan. 
Gooseberries, Currants, Blackberries, 
Clematis Paniculata, Rhubarb, Asparagus. 
For Fall delivery. Write for prices. 
WANTED 
i 
& 
m 
% 
& 
ROSE GROWER —Fully experienced with out-door Budded 
Field grown Roses, permanent position and good opportunity 
to satisfactory party. State experience and wages wanted. 
P. O. Box 346, New Brunswick, N. J. 
WANTED—ASSISTANT FOREMAN 
Young man with experience in growing a general line of 
nursery stock, including fruit and ornamental stock for posi¬ 
tion as Assistant Foreman. Give references and complete 
information first letter. 
McKAY NURSERY COMPANY, Madison, Wis. 
Nurseries at Waterloo, Wis. 
ESTABLISHED 1893 -THE NATIONAL NURSERYMAN- INCORPORATED 1902 
The only Trade Journal devoted exclusively to the interests of growers and dealers in nursery stock. 
Edited by a practical nurseryman, Ernest Hemming, Flourtown, Pennsylvania, to whom all correspondence 
pertaining to the Editorial Department, should be addressed. 
Nurserymen cannot afford to be without a trade paper. The advertising pages, patronized by all leading 
nurserymen throughout the world, will save many dollars to the subscriber. These pages are a record of the stock 
offered for sale. 
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