THE NATIONAL NURSERYMAN 
177 
of the association members to determine in annual con¬ 
vention, these broad policies, and it is equally the duty of 
your odicers and committees to execute those policies to 
the best of their abilities. 
STANDARDIZED LEGISLATION AND ADMINISTRATION 
Unquestionably more uniform state legislation and a 
more just, sane, and legal interpretation of the police 
power by State officials as regards quarantines, embar- 
gos, and other restrictive measures, is desirable and real¬ 
ly imperative. In any event nursery activities, just as 
all other industrial activities, ])robably will continue to 
be supervised, more or less, by governmental agencies; 
these agencies are made up of humans much like our¬ 
selves, and with ideals no doubt quite as high as our 
own; let us co-operate where and when we can, and when 
we must fight, either legislative or executive, let it he 
vigorous and fair. 
GOMPENSATORA' LEGISLATION 
May it not he wise to try and secure State and Federal 
laws providing for compensation where nursery stock is 
condemned or destroyed by officials? Why should the 
nurseryman hear such loss when the farmer in similar 
circumstances is compensated? Such measures would 
tend towards arousing the jmhlic to consider whether the 
cure ofttimes is not more injurious and costly than the 
disease. 
THE APRIL FEDERAL AND STATE CONFERENCE 
The results of the conference between State and Fed¬ 
eral officials held at Washington, April 28th to 30th, 1924, 
were of the utmost significance, and the agreement reach¬ 
ed undoubtedly will tend to remove or ameliorate many 
of the burdensome restrictions now imposed on interstate 
shipments of horticultural products. 
The recommendations of this Plant Quarantine Confer¬ 
ence have been promulgated, and clearly show the ap¬ 
parent sincere desire of the Federal and State officials in 
the future to he guided by the rule of reason and with 
greater consideration of the rights of all parties con¬ 
cerned. I will quote a single paragraph: 
“Recognizing that Plant Quarantines are often the only feas¬ 
ible means of preventing the entry or controlling the spread of 
disease and insectT^pests, it is nevertheless obvious that such 
quarantine should be established only when the economic bene¬ 
fit to a region, State or country clearly outweighs the incon¬ 
venience, expense and loss that such quarantine may occasion.’’ 
BOTANICAL GARDENS AND ARBORETUMS 
Here again we have neglected rare opportunities in 
not adequately supporting existing institutions, and in 
hut lamely or not at all working for new ones. They 
are the source of invaluable new plant material, of test¬ 
ing for hardiness and above all, they are training the 
public to he lovers of horticultural things and users of 
the material we have to sell. I think you will be enthusi¬ 
astic after hearing from the live chairman of this com¬ 
mittee, Mr. Pyle, and ready to really do something active 
in support of his suggestions. These institutions are ex¬ 
pensive to establish and maintain, and the good they do 
is often limited by inadequate funds. 
THE ARNOLD ARBORETUM 
The Arnold Arboretum, perhaps the largest and oldest 
institution of the kind in America, has introduced some 
of our finest ornamentals, with hundreds of others only 
waiting for the nurserymen to avail of them. I recom¬ 
mend that we appropriate $1,000.00 to the Arnold Ar¬ 
boretum as a slight recognition of what the American 
nurseryman owes this iiLStitution, and this might well he 
an annual apjiropriation. Adequate acknowledgement 
should he made to otlier similar institutions which are 
spreading the gospel of higher horticulture such as the 
Brooklyn and New York Botanical Gardens, Highland 
Park Arboretum, Rochester, New York; Shaw Botanical 
Gardens at St. Louis and the new Morton Arboretum at 
Chicago. 
COMMITTEE ON CO-OPERATION 
I have mentioned the fine co-operation already in op¬ 
eration with Slate and regional nursery associations and 
which should he worked out more fully; and tke splendid 
co-operation in Grown Gall research. Chairman Marshall 
has been at work and will report for this committee. 
The field for profitable co-operation has hardly been 
touched. We should affiliate with the U. S. Chamber of 
Commerce, the largest co-operative business organization 
in America and have nursery interests represented in that 
body by a National Counsellor. President Stark made this 
same recommendation in 1923. Well, why haven’t we 
acted? 
PLANT REGISTRATION OR PATENT 
Then there is the question of the protection and sup¬ 
port for originators of new plants through registration 
or otherwise. Mr. Moon is chairman of a committee on 
this most important subject, but he says it’s my pet crea¬ 
ture, and that I should say something about it. 
David Fairchild, U. S. Agricultural Explorer, who is 
more than anyone else the real father of this movement 
in the United States, wrote me last December 22nd: 
“I’m just going south, but I can’t go without saying that I 
am a firm believer in the plan as outlined to organize a horti¬ 
cultural council and get the backing of all the outside inter¬ 
ests as well as the professional horticulturists, and get ready 
for any possible counter-propaganda against the movement, and 
then go ahead and reform the patent act to cover the situation 
so far as it can at the outset, the first step being the registra¬ 
tion of plants.” 
A conference on this matter was held in Washington, 
November 5th, 1923, at which were present Messrs. Ros¬ 
ter, Moon, Stark and Kelsey, and Doctors Taylor, Ball, 
Corbett, Fairchild and Goville. It was agreed that proper 
plant registration which in effect would be Plant Patent, 
would revolutionize horticulture and agriculture, for 
with Patent protection, thousands of our best minds 
would turn to producing new fruits, flowers, grains and 
other plant products. 
Think of the value to humanity of a new wheat, pro¬ 
ducing two or three more bushels per acre than exist¬ 
ing. Surely the inventor of such a new wheat should be 
as fully protected as the inventor of Eskimo pie. Dr. 
Van Fleet died a poor man, yet he produced some of our 
most beautiful horticultural products. The inventor of 
Pigs in Clover became very rich. Think what such pro¬ 
tection would mean to every nurseryman! 
CANADA IS DOING IT 
Canada has just such a national horticultural organi¬ 
zation called the Canadian Horticultural Council, and is 
successfully registering plant material which carries ex¬ 
clusive ownership, and they are expecting later to secure 
legislation that will have all the full effect of patent. In 
the meantime, they are operating with much success to 
protect the property rights of introducers of new plant 
