The Bemidji daily pioneer. [volume] (Bemidji, Minn.) 1904-1971, 1912-06-07
Agricultural Quarantine Bill Now
Before Congress.
COUNTRY A DUMPING GROUND
More Than Half tho Insects That Do
stroy Fruit and Farm Crops
Have Come From Abroad-Oth-
or Invasions Threatened
Potato Wart Danger.
~ GEORGE CLINTON.

mons of New York on behalf of tho
committee on agriculture has reported
favorably bill to enable the secre-
tary of agriculture to establish quar-
anttne districts for plant diseases and
insect pests and to regulate the i'm
portation of nursery stock and other
plant products. Mr.. Simmons says
that under our present laws the Unit
ed States has become a dumping
ground for diseased and insect infest-
ed plants
If the Simmons bill is passed the
United States will be able to retaliate
upon Austria-Hungary, France, Ger
many. Holland, Switzerland and Tur.
key, all Of which countries absolutely
prohibit the entry from the United
States of all nursery stock and adj
NIT fruit only when the most rigid ex'
/ animation shows freedom from in.
festation.
1t is said that If the Simmons bill
had been made a law some years ago
the historic elms of Cambridge, Mass.
might still be standing, including the
is almost dead, under which George
Washington took command of the Con.
tinental army of the Revolution. It
was the embark beetle which was
the chief agent in the destruction Of
the Washington elm and the other
elms Of Massachusetts. This beetle
slipped in from Europe unchallenged
and unmolested. There was no quar-
antine to keep the pest out and as a
result splendid old trees are now be-
ing chopped down to be used for fire
wood. It Is said that this elm pest
may spread and prove as serious an
enemy to the elms Of the rest OF the
country as the chestnut disease has
proved to chestnut forests of the east
ern United States
Pests Como From Europe.
The authorities in the department
of agriculture have figured it up all
very carefully, and have cone to the
conclusion that more than half of the
important insect pests of fruits and
farm crops are of foreign origin, and
that they now occasion tax of nearly
half billion dollars annually. 1t has
been reckoned, for example, that the
San Jose scale, introduced into this
country from north China, and subse-
quently carried into every state in tho
Union, has already cost the orchard.
lists $50,000,000, and is adding to this
sum at the rate of $5,0O0,OO0 a year,
this annual charge coming from the
expense Of spraying operations and
from the shrinkage In quantity and
value Of the first yield Another re-
Gently introduced foreign insect pest
Is the alfalfa leaf weevil, whose raw
ages in the great alfalfa regions Of
Utah are 80 we'll known.
May Safeguard tho Future.
No quarantine law, however good,
can now repair the damage to prop
erty which these pests have wrought,
but the future can be safe-guarded,
| and the Simmons bill, it Is believed,
will go long way toward accomplish
| ing this end. For instance, it is point
| ed out that the so-called Mediter-
| ranean fruit fly has recently become
8.
and that unless a quarantine Is es-
tabl1shed against it, it is certain to be
brought into the United States either
from those islands or from other quar-
tiers of the world where it has gained
a. foothold. The Mediterranean fruit
ny is described as being more Sc
rious fruit pest than any now occur
ring on this continent. Its larvae, or
magots, infest all sorts Of fruits and
many vegetables, and the presence of
these In the fruit cannot be determ.
ined except by cutting the fruit open.
Its Introduction would be most disas.
trous to the citrous and deciduous fruit
ranches Of the Pacific coast and, in
fact, to all our fruit growing inter.
! ests"
! Another grave danger which ia
menacing the plant life of the country
Is the potato wart. The short crop
Of last year has already led to enor.
nous importations of foreign potatoes,
and these importatfons have come in
many instances from districts where
this dreaded disease is known to ex.
1st. We are. for example, now re.
oeiving quantities of potatoes from
Newfoundland, where the potato
disease is so firmly established that
her neighbor, Canada, has strictly
guaranteed against all potatoes from
the island, with the result that we are
now getting all the surplus. It is sig.
pifcant, also, that Canada is now con.
sidering the establishment Of quaran.
tine against potatoes from the United
States because this country is allow.
Ing the Importation of diseased pota,
toes from Newfoundland. The estab
lishment of this potato disease in the
great potato-growing regions of the
United States would result in losses
almost. beyond computation. It is
soil disease, and once in the soil it re
mains for period Of from eight to ten
years, and puts an effectual check on
potato production, invading and dc
stroying the potato tubers.
He Simply Had to Steal.
Pr0metheus stole the fire from