The Hood River glacier. (Hood River, Or.) 1889-1933, 1921-08-04
PLANT SPECIALISTS
FORM ORGANIZATION

Plant specialists of Oregon. Wash
ington, Idaho and British Columbia,
closing an annual session, character
lied as the best since the custom was
inaugurated four years ago, here last
Thursday. accepted an invitation of
the State Board of Horticulture of
Washington and the Yakima Chamber
of Commerce to hold the fifth meeting
in Yakima next year.
No definite oganization up to Thurs
day. when it was decided to formally
launch a body to be Known as the
| Northwestern Association of Horticul.
turists, Plant Pathologsts and Ento-
mologists, had ever been formed. A
president, vice president and secretary
| treasurer will be elected annually, each
| branch of the three sciences repre-
sented having an officer.
While no revolutionary theories were
advanced, representatives of the three
branches engaged in the advancement
of horticultural interests of the Pacific
| Northwest declared that the clearing
house of the convention demonstrated
that steady progress was being made
in combating diseases and insect pests
and in maintaining soil fertility and
securing maximum yield results. An
appeal was made Thursday by Chas
| A. Park, of Salem, chairman of the
| Western Plant Quarantine Board and
president of the Oregon State Board of
Horticulture, for a rigid enforcement
of plant quarantine laws. Mr.. Park
said
1.-The carefully considered and dill
gently enforced plant quarantine or
ders issued by the Pacific Coast states
up to date have, in large measure,
resulted in keeping fruit and melon
flies out of our orchards and truck
farms; in keeping the Gypsy and
Brown-tail moths out of our forests
and the Blister-rust away from our
pine trees. The Oriental peach moth,
now we'll established in other parts of
the United States, has been kept out
of the orchards of the Pacific Coast
states by the application of close quar-
antine inspection, and the same may
be said of the japanese beetle. The
ravages of the Chestnut bark disease,
the eastern filbert blight and the Euro
pean corn worm, together with the
restrictions they cause to be placed
upon these crops are things we read
about in the official publications of
some of the eastern states, but, thanks
to the effects of plant quarantine, the
producers have no experience with
these virulent crop pests upon the Pa
cifc Coast. The Mexican cotton boil
weevi and the pink boil worm, both
introduced insect pests, in addition to
greatly reducing the annual output of
this staple, are causing the issuance
of the most dratsic and far reaching
federal and state laws, rules and regu
lations directed against the cultivation
and movement of the cotton plant and
its various products. The cotton fields
of the Pacific Coast are free of both
these pests, and are also free of the
burden and loss that would most GER
tainly follow their establishment. The
sweet potato weevil has as yet not be-
come established on the Pacific Coast,
vet the pest, is a regular immigrant
and a common acquaintance OF the
quarantine Inspector. The potato
wart disease still remains. with one
exception, in its native habitat, and
finally our knowledge of the citrus
canker, is still confined to what we
read in official bulletins of the state of
Florida.
"All of the foregoing crop pests, ex-
cept the fruit flies, have become well
established in the United States east
of the Rocky mountains. They were
introduced into that territory before
the adoption and enforcement of plant
quarantine regulations by the several
states concerned. No one of the crop
pests has become established in the
Pacific Coast states. Yet since the in
auguration and enforcement of plant
quarantine regulations on this coast
each and every one of these crop pests,
with the exception of the European
corn worm, have been repeatedly in
tercepted in imports of plant products
and DESTROYED by the local inspectors.
1.-The true value of plant quarantines
to the crop producers of the Pacific
Northwest can be summed up in the
following simple sentence: The pres
ent unchallenged entrance of our prod
ucts into the markets of the world
forms an enviable condition by no
means common to The crop producers
of the world at large. In fact it con-
stitutes vary rare exception.
Consider the alternative. The mar
kets of the world promptly closed to
establishment on the Pacific Coast of
the Mediterranean fruit fly would be
sufficient cause to create such situa-
tion. If this omnivorous pest should
gain an entrance either by accident or
laxity in enforcement of quarantine
regulations, every fruit growing state
in the Union and all other fruit cOun-
tries would promptly apply, in fact
would be compelled to apply, for their
own protection the same prohibitive
regulations against the importation of
all of our fresh fruits as we now en-
force against the territory of Hawaii
and other countries infested with this
pest.
"Any serious contemplation of the
possibilities of the evil or loss that
would promptly result from the esab-
lishment of the insect pests and plant
diseases enumerated, on the farms and
field and in the forests of the Pacific
Coast, should be preceded by a thor
ough acquaintance with the actual f.
nancial loss to the crop producers of
the countries in which the. same have
been permitted to gain an entrance and
establish residence. The natural de-
ductions from such study, we believe,
would bring about a clearer, better
recognition of the value of efficient
quarantine work and a concerted de
termination to maintain, develop and
support the same. 3"
The session was by no means all
work. The college professors and sci
entific men relaxed Wednesday night
and forgot to talk shop at banquet at
the Columbia Gorge Hotel LEROY
Childs was toast master, and the fol-
lowing men responded: Senator +. L.