INSPECTION OF NURSERY STOCK. COMMITTEE ON AGRICULTURE, HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, The committee met at 10.30 o'clock a. m., Hon. Charles F. Scott (chairman) presiding. The committee had under consideration the following bill: [H. R. 23252, Sixty-first Congress, second session.] A BILL To provide for the introduction of foreign nursery stock by permit only, and to authorize the Secretary of Agriculture to establish a quarantine against the importation and against the transportation in interstate commerce of diseased nursery stock or nursery stock infested with injurious insects, and making an appropriation to carry the same into effect. 66 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That whenever in this bill the term nursery stock" is used it shall be construed as including field-grown florists' stock, trees, shrubs, plants, vines, cuttings, grafts, scions, buds, fruit pits or seeds of fruit, and ornamental trees or shrubs. SEC. 2. That it shall be unlawful for any person or persons to import into the United States any nursery stock except under special permit from the United States Department of Agriculture. Such permit shall be issued by the Secretary of Agriculture to the importer on the receipt of an application stating the number and kind of nursery stock to be imported, the country and district where grown, name and address of the shipper, the port of entry, approximate date of the arrival of such nursery stock, and the name of importer or consignee and destination. SEC. 3. That all such nursery stock shall be subject to inspection by official experts of the Department of Agriculture at final destination on the premises of the owner or consignee. The Secretary of Agriculture may, at any time, extend the provisions of this act to fruits and vegetables or bulbs or to other plants or seeds not specified in this act and imported from foreign countries whenever he shall deem such action necessary to prevent the entry with such products or stock of dangerous insects or plant diseases. SEC. 4. That it shall be unlawful for any transportation company, person, or persons after July first, nineteen hundred and ten, to offer for entry at any port in the United States any nursery stock unless accompanied by a certificate of inspection by an official expert of the country from which the importation is made, which certificate shall be made in the manner and form prescribed by the Secretary of Agriculture, certifying that the contents have been examined and found to be apparently free from all dangerously injurious insect pests or plant diseases: Provided, That any nursery stock or other described articles offered for entry without such certificate shall be held in quarantine, either at final destination on the premises of the owner or consignee, or at port of entry or other designated place, at the option of the Secretary of Agriculture, and shall not be released by the official expert until its or their freedom from dangerous insect pests or plant diseases shall have been fully established by inspection or treatment. SEC. 5. That any transportation company, person, or persons who shall receive, bring, or cause to be brought into the United States any nursery stock shall, within twenty-four hours after the arrival thereof, notify the official expert of their arrival and delivery to consignee. The latter shall hold the same, without unnecessarily moving or placing such articles where they may be harmful, for the immediate inspection of such official expert. The official expert or his representative is hereby authorized and empowered to enter into any warehouse or premises of consignee or owner, or any other place where such nursery stock or other described articles are received, for the purpose of making the inspection or examination herein provided for, and such examination shall be begun, and, if possible, completed within ten days of such arrival thereof. SEC. 6. That each case, box, package, crate, bale, or bundle of nursery stock imported or brought into the United States shall have plainly and legibly marked thereon the name and address of the shipper, owner, or person forwarding or shipping the same, and also the name of the person, firm, or corporation to whom the same is forwarded or shipped, or his or its responsible agent; also the name of the country and district where the contents were grown. SEC. 7. That when any shipment of nursery stock imported or brought into the United States is found to be infested with injurious insects or their eggs, larvæ, or pupæ, or there is reason to believe that it is infested with tree, plant, or fruit disease or diseases, the entire shipment, or so much thereof as the official expert shall deem necessary, shall be disinfected at the expense of the owner, owners, or agent. After such disinfection it shall be detained in quarantine a necessary time to determine the result of such disinfection. If the disinfection has been so performed as to destroy all insects or their eggs, and so as to eradicate all disease and prevent contagion, and in a manner satisfactory to the official expert, the trees, vines, or other articles shall then be released. If it be not practicable to fully disinfect such stock, it or such portion of it shall remain infested shall be destroyed. SEC. 8. That whenever it shall appear to the Secretary of Agriculture that any nursery stock or other described articles or variety of fruit grown in an infested district outside of the United States is being, or is about to be, imported into the United States or the District of Columbia, and such nursery stock or such variety of fruit is infested by any seriously injurious insect or disease, and which insect or disease is liable to become established in the United States, he shall have authority to quarantine against any importations from said district and prevent the same until such time as it may appear to him that any such insect or disease has become exterminated in the country or district from which such nursery stock or variety of fruit is being, or is about to be, imported, when he may withdraw the quarantine. SEC. 9. That upon complaint or reasonable ground on the part of the Secretary of Agriculture to believe that any nursery stock grown within the United States and likely to become the subject of interstate commerce is infested with injurious insects or diseases new to the United States, the Secretary of Agriculture shall cause the same to be inspected by a qualified expert, and, if need be, placed under quarantine until such infestation is removed. SEC. 10. That it shall be unlawful for any person, persons, or corporation to deliver to any other person, persons, or corporation, or to the postal service of the United States (except for scientific purposes, and by permission of the Secretary of Agriculture), for transportation from one State or Territory or the District of Columbia to any other State or Territory or the District of Columbia, or for exportation to any foreign country, any trees, plants, shrubs, vines, or other nursery stock which are under quarantine in accordance with the provisions of section seven of this act, or which, on said examination, have been declared by the inspector to be infested with dangerously injurious insects or diseases. Any person, persons, firm, or corporation who shall forge, counterfeit, or knowingly alter, deface, or destroy any certificate or copy thereof, as provided for in this act and in the regulations of the Secretary of Agriculture, or shall in any way violate the provisions of this act, shall be deemed guilty of a misdemeanor, and on conviction thereof shall be punished by a fine not to exceed five hundred dollars nor less than two hundred dollars or by imprisonment not to exceed one year, or both, at the discretion of the court. SEC. 11. That the rules and regulations herein provided for shall be promulgated on or before the first day of June of each year. SEC. 12. That the sum of dollars, to be available on the day of nineteen hundred and ten, or so much thereof as may be necessary, is hereby appropriated, out of any moneys in the Treasury of the United States not otherwise appropriated, to carry into effect the provisions of this act. SEC. 13. That this act shall take effect on and after the nineteen hundred and ten. day of SEC. 14. That the provisions of this act shall not prevent the inspection of any nursery stock or other described articles by the authorized inspector of any State or Territory at the final point of destination in accordance with the laws of such State or Territory. The CHAIRMAN. Pursuant to an order made some time ago, the committee has met this morning to consider the bill introduced by Mr. Simmons, H. R. 23252, a bill " to provide for the introduction of oreign nursery stock by permit only, and to authorize the Secretary of Agriculture to establish a quarantine against the importation and against the transportation in interstate commerce of diseased nursery stock or nursery stock infested with injurious insects, and making an appropriation to carry the same into effect." It might perhaps be of some interest to the new members of the committee to know that a bill similar to this was introduced in the last Congress and was favorably reported by this committee, and passed the House under suspension of the rules. No effort was made to press it in the Senate during that Congress, however, for the reason that it was late in the session, and also for the reason that the nurserymen throughout the country who had not had an opportunity to discuss the bill while it was pending before the committee made objection to certain provisions of it which they seemed to think would be injurious to their interests. For that reason no effort was made to secure the passage of the bill through the Senate, and it was suggested to the gentlemen representing the nursery interests that during the vacation they confer with the authorities in the Department of Agriculture and endeavor to come to an agreement upon some measure that would be satisfactory to all those concerned. I understand that so far as possible that has been done, and yet it seems that the bill we now have before us is not entirely satisfactory. For that reason gentlemen representing nursery interests of the country have asked to be heard, and the committee of course is very glad to give them an opportunity to be heard. Mr. RUCKER. Mr. Chairman, let me ask you, when was this bill or one similar to it reported in the last session? The CHAIRMAN. In the last session of the Sixtieth Congress. Mr. RUCKER. Were any hearings had on that bill at that time? The CHAIRMAN. Doctor Howard and perhaps one or two gentlemen from the Department of Agriculture were heard. Mr. RUCKER. That was in connection with the general appropriation bill, was it not? The CHAIRMAN. No; it was not in connection with the general appropriation bill. I do not believe, however, that any printed record of the hearing was made. Mr. RUCKER. I merely want to say that so far as I am concerned I was not present at any such hearing, and I did not know that there was any hearing on it. The CHAIRMAN. As I remember it, it was a very brief and informal hearing. Mr. RUCKER. It is an original proposition to me, and I am not, of course, committed or biased by any action of the committee heretofore. I put myself on record as against it once before, but I do not want to be understood as saying that I have any bias from that. I will not say that I am in favor of it, nor will I say I am not in favor of it. The CHAIRMAN. Every member of this committee, I may say, holds himself ready to act upon new information that comes before us. STATEMENT OF HON. JAMES S. SIMMONS, A REPRESENTATIVE IN CONGRESS FROM THE STATE OF NEW YORK. Mr. SIMMONS. Mr. Chairman and gentlemen of the committee, primarily my interest in this proposed legislation is due to the fact that the district I represent is one of the greatest fruit-producing sections of the nation, Niagara County ranking first among the counties of the United States in that respect. While protection to the vast property of the fruit growers of my section is greatly desired by me, I nevertheless fully realize that the demand for this protection is nation wide. Experience in dealing with the pests which affect the fruit culture of our country amply justifies this legislation. We find that in the New England States some of the worst orchard and other tree pests of Europe (the gypsy and brown-tail moths especially) have been coming in on imported nursery stock and are being widely distributed. The best information shows that the damage to the country from the wide distribution of the pests mentioned and some others which have been accompanying such nursery stock during the past two years would aggregate annually many millions of dollars. The Secretary of Agriculture informs me that where the pests have already obtained a foothold in portions of the New England States, and particularly in Massachusetts, about Boston, the expenditures now for attempted control-which is only measurably successfulexceed $1,000,000 a year, and in spite of this enormous expense the pests are slowly spreading. It must be obvious that this condition of affairs, which is most regrettably bad, is certain to grow worse unless put under the rigid control of the Department of Agriculture; and I contend and believe that the inspection of nursery stock can be made without inflicting any hardship upon the importers, and at the same time protect this vast and growing industry of our nation. I have had the provisions of this bill carefully considered by the best entomological and horticultural experts of the country and it has been framed with the view to absolutely protect us against the importation of these pests and at the same time safeguard every interest-the importer of nursery stock, the grower, and the orchardist. There are gentlemen present who are specialists in the matters of entomology, horticulture, etc., who will give you full information on all the phases of this question, and, thanking you for your courtesy, I now yield to them.' The CHAIRMAN. I believe the most logical way to proceed this morning would be to have Doctor Howard, the chief of the Bureau of Entomology in the Department of Agriculture, state to the committee his reasons for believing that some legislation of this character ought to be enacted. STATEMENT OF MR. L. O. HOWARD, CHIEF OF THE BUREAU OF ENTOMOLGY, DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. Mr. HOWARD. Mr. Chairman, the damage done to the crops and agricultural industries of this country through injurious insects alone, not to mention plant diseases, has been conservatively estimated as running at from 800 to 900 millions of dollars a year. By careful study of the points of origin of these different insect pests, it has been shown conclusively that over half of the first-class insect pests in this country have been accidentally imported from foreign countries. On the face of it, it would seem as though we were suffering damage to the amount of $400,000,000 a year from pests that have been accidentally imported in the absence of any governmental effort to top such importations. There are in existence in every other government on the face of the globe regulations to prevent this sort of thing. There has been legislation of the kind which is proposed to this committee now. The United States occupies a unique position among the first-class nations of the world in that it has no national legislation to prevent the introduction of plant diseases and of insect pests. As the chairman has said, a bill was introduced at the last session, and passed the House. It was found that it was not agreeable to the nursery interests. They came together, and in an interview with, the chairman of this committee it was decided not to press the matter in the Senate, but, as the chairman has just stated, that the nurserymen and the Department of Agriculture should try to harmonize any differences that they might have in regard to the provisions of such legislation. The nurserymen themselves, be it understood, I think, on the whole favored legislation of some kind or another which would look forward to the prevention of the introduction of these pests. I think they have expressed themselves as being almost unanimously in favor of doing something to prevent this danger to the horticultural interests of the country. We have endeavored to harmonize our interests, the Secretary of Agriculture looking forward on the part of the department to economy of this administration, and the nurserymen looking forward to the doing of the work in the way that shall interfere the least with their business. The common aim which I think we all have is protection of the country. I think that is true, is it not? Mr. ROUSE. Yes. Mr. HOWARD. We have discussed different forms of legislation. The Secretary of the Department of Agriculture is fully of the opinion that the bill in the form which is now before you is the best from the standpoint of economy and from the standpoint of administration. We have made certain concessions to the nurserymen's national committee, and they have made certain concessions to our view. The latest result by correspondence is that we are perfectly harmonious on the bill, with the exception of one section; that is the section allowing the Secretary of Agriculture to quarantine against any foreign country or any section of a foreign country where it is known that certain dangerous diseases or pests exist that do not exist in the United States. The CHAIRMAN. That is section 8? Mr. HOWARD. Section 8. The matter that brought this before us in the most forcible way was the discovery that certain European nurserymen were shipping stock into this country infested with the winter nests of the brown-tail moth and also nests of the gypsy moth and other pests. The department did the best they could in the emergency. It secured, through the Secretary of the Treasury, instructions to the collectors at ports of entry to notify the department on the receipt of nursery stock, whereupon we notified the people at the point of ultimate destination, the state authorities where there were state inspectors to inspect this stock upon arrival, and where there were not state inspectors, under the fund appropriated by Congress to prevent the spread of moths, we paid the expenses of professors of state universities, and so on, and in that way we have been able to handle probably the bulk of the difficulty; but there are small shipments coming in all the time that we can not trace, and the danger is a very large danger. |