134 
THE NATIONAL NURSERYMAN 
of iiispectioii is an infallible preventive. The Depart- 
nient felt, however, that it would not he juslilied, at this 
time, in prohibiting the importation of nursery stoek 
which is essential to the floriculture and horticulture of 
the country, including fruit seedlings and fruit stocks, 
although it seemed clear, on the other hand, that every¬ 
thing feasible should he done to reduce to a minimum 
the danger which attends the importation of all nursery 
stock. In excluding ornamental stocks and seedlings, 
the De])artment has, therefore, taken a definite step 
toward absolute safety, which will materially reduce the 
risk known to exist, and, at the same time, will not de¬ 
prive the people of anything which is indispensable. 
(c) That it is unreasonable to admit six speeilied var¬ 
ieties of bulbs and exclude the far greater number of 
other bulbs, corns, tubers, etc. 
In respect to this point, the experience of the Depart¬ 
ment, through many years, has shown that, with certain 
classes of bulbs, there is but little danger, if inspection is 
careful. These comj)rise the cleaner sort of bulbs that 
are more easily disinfected, which come in large quan¬ 
tities from a limited number of well known countries 
which, have the best inspection services. All danger is 
not absent even then, but it is comparatively small, and 
the quarantine si)ecities such bulbs and allows them to 
come in. On the other hand, the excluded bulbs, which 
are not named, belong to miscellaneous classes, which 
come from more remote corjiers of the earth, whose insect 
dangers are necessarily little known and therefore still 
more dillicult to make even comparatively safe by inspec¬ 
tion. 
Fifth: Objections to collateral matters and matters of 
less importance. 
(a) The Department is charged with recommending 
the order as a tariff measure so as to stimulate the bus¬ 
iness and enhance the profits of certain domestic nur¬ 
series which, in greater or less measure, produce the 
excluded plants or plants which can be, to some extent, 
substituted for them. This result may follow in some 
cases. It is impossible for any fair-minded and disinter¬ 
ested person, however, to trace the action of the Depart¬ 
ment, step by step, to consult the authorities it has relied 
on, as it has moved through its promulgation of piece¬ 
meal quarantines toward this quarantine, as now framed 
and issued, without being convinced that the action taken 
has been the result of nothing but a clear purpose to stop, 
as far as possble, the entrance of further plant diseases 
and plant pests into the United Slates, such as have, in 
the past, been so injurious to the forests, fields, farms, 
and orchards of the country. 
(b) It is claimed that the quarantine is unjust to the 
European countries that supply such a large amount of 
the plants and plant products which will be excluded 
by the quarantine. 
Aside from the fact that this quarantine will put this 
countiy more nearly on a par with the cbief plant export¬ 
ing countries of Europe, which have, for a long time, 
maintained almost absolute jirohibition against jilant im- 
ports from the United Stales, it should be sufficient to 
point out that a quarantine, which admittedly will cause 
loss to, and necessitate a period of readjustment on the 
part of some of our own citizens, should not be given up 
for the reason that it will adversely aff ect some citizens 
of other countries, when it is designed to and will pro¬ 
tect an immensely greater number of our own people 
from an injury and loss which experience has shown is 
certain to result if this quarantine is not enforced. 
(c) Other matters, such as controversies which have 
arisen at the hearings and otherwise betw een the officials 
of the Department and some florists and nurserymen 
with reference, for instance, to the habits of particular 
insects or as to wdiether certain pests or diseases are 
really actively dangerous or as to wdiether they have ever i 
heen found in this or that class of imported jilanls, seem 
to me relatively unimportant and to call for little com¬ 
ment, as they do not affect the broader considerations on 
which this (juarantine is based. What the facts are in i 
each case, as maintained by the Department, is shown to 
be based on testimony of technical and scientific investi¬ 
gators and specialists and their testimony is, of neces¬ 
sity, a much more certain means of arriving at the truth 
that the more or less incidental obseiwations of those 
whose time must be largely devoted to the commercial 
side of plant importation, propagation, and distribution, 
no matter how well established they may believe their 
conclusions to be. 
As the result of my consideration of this entire mat¬ 
ter, it appears to me that the Department had to face and 
solve this problem: Given the fact, on one hand, that 
any importation of plants and plant products is necessar¬ 
ily fraught with danger from disease or pests, and the 
further fact, on the other hand, that entire exclusion 
would be unwise at this time, how could a general quar¬ 
antine be drawm so as to reduce to the lowest terms both 
the disease and pest dangers involved in importation and 
the injury involved in restrietion. 
In working out the solution of this problem, twm con¬ 
siderations have been kept constantly in mind with ref¬ 
erence to the different classes of plants and plant pro¬ 
ducts to be covered by the quarantine order: (1) the ne¬ 
cessity or importance of the particular plant and (2) the 
danger arising out of its importation. The quarantine, 
as finally formulated, has been the result of bringing to 
bear upon these two considerations such technical and 
scientific information as could be obtained from sources 
believed to be reliable. 
Necessarily, there are all kinds of gradations, both in 
the risk of disease or infestation and in the importance 
or necessity of the various plants considered. Where the 
necessity is at the maximum and the risk is toward the 
minimum, the quarantine w ill be found to be inoperative, 
as, for instance, in the case of fruits, vegetables, and 
cereals, for food and similar purposes, and field, vege¬ 
table, and flower seeds. When, on the other hand, the 
risk is at the maximum and the necessity is at the mini¬ 
mum, the quarantine is found to be strict, as, for in¬ 
stance, in the case of plants wdiose roots are balled in or¬ 
dinary earth. , 
It is clearly my opinion that the distinctions and 
classes in this quarantine order have been made only 
after careful consideration of the best information ob¬ 
tainable. It is also evident that the various restrictions 
embodied in the order are not necessarily final; one 
amendment has already been issued, that of February 
12, 1019, with reference to the use of sterilized soil about 
the roots of imported plants. It is, therefore, always pos- 
