The record-union., 1897-11-19


of entry, as is the case with other for
customs officers are constantly on
guard, so nothing in the plant or fruit
line can be landed without inspection
Section provides that when nursery
stock, plants, cuttings, buds, gratis,
fruit, etc, are found infested with dam
gerous or injurious insects or diseases
they shall be treated at the expense of
the owner in accordance with the reg
ulations of the Secretary ofAgriculture,
or they shall be destroyed in case their
condition is such as to warrant such
destruction. The first clause of this
as practically the same as rule two of
the regulations of the State Board of
Horticulture but lacks the proviso that
after treatment the stock, ETC., must re-
main in quarantine for a period of four
teen days in order to determine the re-
suit of the diSinfection. OF course,
under this Act the Secretary can for
mulate regulations to cover this
Referring to the second clause, con-
slider that rule five of the regulations of
the State Board is much more prefer
able, for under it plants infected by
insects or disease unknown to the State
are prohibited from landing, and that
invariably means their destruction.
Section deals with the issuing OF
certificates of inspection that shall re-
lease the inspected stock from further
inspection or quarantine. To counter
felt, change or deface any certificate
exceeding five hundred dollars, or to
r'S
and Imprisonment.
Section reads: 'sThat whenever
it shall appear to the Secretary of Ag-
riculture that any foreign country shall
have provided proper and competent in
spectlon and treatment, in accordance
with the provisions of this Act for
the objects above specified, as being
subject to inspection and treatment, he
may, by proclamation or otherwise. ac-
cept such inspection and treatment in
lieu of inspection performed by officers
appointed by himself, which accepta-
ton or proclamation by the Secretary
OF Agriculture shall relieve all such ar
ticles specified in the foregoing sections
or TINS Act when properly stamped or
labeled, from further quarantine or re-
St1ictions''
Ihls is not safe section and should
1t pass in that form hope the Secre-
tary OF Agriculture will not exercise his
authority in granting to any country
such a privilege.
From our experience I am convinced
that it would not be a safe proceeding.
imported plants and trees that gave
unmlstakable evidence of having been
disinfected before shipment, have been
found upon arrival to still contain live
insects or their eggs. importers after
securing from the Secretary a procla-
nation to that effect, might possibly
become careless or Indifferent regarding
the work of diSinfection, knowing that
their stock was free from inspection or
quarantine upon entering the United
States. If the stock is clean, or has
been properly disinfected, there can be
no objection to its inspection.
A very important oversight in the pro-
posed Act is the omission Of a section
prohibiting the landing of animals det-
rimental to horticulture or agriculture
AT present there is no national law to
prevent the landing of such a pest as
the Australian rabbit, that has been
such serious drawback to the agricult-
ural interests of Australia. Under Rule
XII. of the Regulations of the State
Board of Horticulture, such animals,
also flying foxes that live upon soft
fruits, are excluded, but this protection
only covers California
Sections ., &. Z and of the proposed
National Horticultural quarantine law
deal with stock that is about to be trans
ported from one State or Territory. or
the District of Columbia, into another
State or Territory or the District
of Columbia, and would be
subject to interstate commerce law. The
regulation of internal quarantine is a
more difficult question to handle and our
California experience may be a good
precedent in formulating State laws, for
think such inspection should come
under State rather than national legis-
lation.
The people most directly interested in
the condition of the trees or plants are
those living in the district where they
are to be planted, and they should have
the say regarding inspection, so it is my
opinion that national law should so no
further than to control imports and in
terstate traffic as far as trees or plants
to another. leaving each State, so de-
string. to legislate for its own protec-
ton, by passing laws that are applicable
to its own conditions and interests.
In California it is we'll known fact
that nearly. if not all, of our serious
orchard and field pests are of foreign
origin. Our experience in combating
some Of them convinces us that it is
cheaper to keep them out than to try
and stamp them out, or even check them
after once established. Take for in
stance the so-called "San Jose SCALE"
perniciosus, that is supposed
TO be native of Chile, or possibly ia
pan, although the history of the original
trees found infested with this pest
points to the former country as it's habi-
tant
In the sixties and seventies Califor-
mans We're introducing fruit trees from
nearly all portions of the world where
fruits are CROWN so it is more probable
that the trees came from Chile rather
than that trees We're sentthere from Cal
iforna. The scale was known in that
country about the time attention was
called to it here. One of our pioneers
was a former resident of Chile and after
a fortune located IN the beau
tiful Santa Clara Valley. near San Jose,
and surrounded his home with fruit trees
and shrubs from other countries. 1t
was in this orchard. or the immediate
vicinity, that the scale was first noticed.
Since then il has been carried by nat
ural soread and the use of scions, buds
and nursery stock until nearly every
State in the Union has been contami-
mated by its soaring presence. Had the
original trees been DESTROYED immedi-
afelY uoon their arrival Ii would have