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Show 1PLANT QUARANTINE LAW I WOULD SAVE BILLION YEARLY H Enormous Loss Inflicted by Insect Pests and Diseases Imported H with Foreign Plants Shows Need of Regulative Measures. H f WASHINGTON, Aug 26. Thepa- H tige a national quarantine ana jn- H spection lavr to goard against the im- H ' portation of plant diseases and insect H i pests l befog vigorously urged here in H &s effort to ctvc to agricultural interests H et least a part of the billion dollar lews H which results annually from present lax H' methods. Of all the great world powers K the United States alone lack? uch a law. Hp J While Imlf a dozen European naitoas Hn including Germany and France practice K ! complete exclusion of American nursery K ' Btccr and the strictest quarantine of b every plant importation from -whatever H source, the Unrtcd Slates Is so wholly B ' v.'idtout protection that there is no M I practical bar to the deliberate imporU- Hl tion of plant diseases aad predacious .HHHc l insccii. According to Secretary of C j AgrictiUare Wilson, the Uivited State f ' has become the "dumping pound" for H''- the refuse end iracstcu sloci: of Europe. Br A striking Hlmtration of the need for a Hr federal quarantine and inspection of Bi huportcd plants, such as is being ured H' bj- the Department of Agriculture and H'? j 'important ccricryinen's xsaocationa, h H' , Plants Shipped Under GorerBHtsai H Dlrectloo. Examining Imported Plant for H Disease. Hj ' afforded by the fact that within the past H ; t three years the ravaging brown-tail moth B has been imported in enormous numbers H on nursery stock fromFraDce, Holland R ' and Belgium and carried to 22 states, H!i The present cost of merely controlling Hp this pest in New England alone h $1,300,- H v 030 annually, ana according to the Hl I Bureau of Entomology of the Depart- H meat of Agriculture there is nothing H , under present conditions to prevent ita 1 spread to every part of the country with Hl tremendous loss to orchardmen. This is Hlr. true of practically every other predacious H insect sod devastating plant disease. H tn a eroalt but complete way the value H of & national plant quarantine and in- Hj spection law is receiving daily ilhistra- B tion here where Uncle Sam maintains K, sn inumgration bureau for alien plants. v Through the Office of Foreign Seed and H Plant Introduction thousands of plants H t ' and ccmntlesa seeds have been brought from every part of the world in the H v constant endeavor to add to the agri- R cultural wealth of the country by the L fatwducoajjf ntw crops and frulta, Naturally ajrreat many plant diseases and destructive insects are thu3 brought, In, but owing to the system of thorough, inspection nothing of a harmful char-j actcr has ever escaped the vigilance of) the department scientists, furnishing striking proof of the practicability ofV avoiding the dangers of unrestricted) importation. That the importation of foreign pbnb js vitally necessary to the welfare and) Crosperhy of the country is illustrated y the fact that nearly all of its wcaWi-' producing plants and crops are aliens ia the strict sense, having been introduced from time to time in the course of. national development. Hundreds of others w31 become of great va'ue follow ing their Importation and domestication.' Under existmg conditions, however, the activities of the Agricultural Department necessarily are devoted largely to combatting com-batting peits which it is powerless to keep out. At present especial attention is being devoted to the safeguarding of two big crops of national importance, alfalfa pnd augar beets, because of their aoUFUTil present and potential value. Alfalfa Is menaced by a weevil imported from Europe which hn already done much darnarge. .The normal spread of this peat is thirty miles a year but, vigorous measuresare bring adopted to, j control and stamp it out and so preiervo' . the great forage crop of the West. The 5trar beet is held to merit mora, tbzn ordinary attention for the doubl reason that it 5a intrinsically one of the most viluaWe crops crcr brought into the United States and because of its' extraordinary effect in increasing the1 yield of other crops grown jn rotation ' with jt This increase as noted from? experience in this country and abroadj is from twenty-five to 6 fly per cent. In Germany especially the sugur beet has) been the basis of the wonderful agri-j cultural improvement that has taken place there and the energy of the Department De-partment of Agriculture is being directed toward bringing about similar conditions' in this country with the hope that tho acreage yields of pie great staple crops obtained by Americans may be made to equal those of their German cousins. So important t this matter in the opinion or! those authorities who are most closely in; touch with the agricuhuralproblemsbrtbc country that officials of such diverse views as Secretary of Agriculture Wilson and Dr. Harrey W. Wfley have joined in urging Congress not to -withdraw tariff protection from sugar beet growing,' a step, they point out, which threatens to damage the industry far more serious ly tnan insect enemies have been able to) do. At present the sugar beet crop is worth upwards of $70,000,000 annuallyj hut it is the contention of agricultural sctentJEts that, by devoting to this cropj , only one acre m two hundred of the area adapted to it, the returns to American induBtrv from this source will amount! to 250,000,000 a year. Thousands of dangerous plant diseases, and insects with incalculably deAtmcrivo capabilities exist in foreign countries wtth no bar to entrance into the United States save fortunate circumstance. Until j some ItgisJaUoo is enacted centralizing j the -woik of inspecting and quarantining imported plants and seeds, way day may see the introduction of some scourge1 Jwbkhwjll beggar Jthedtpredationsofcvea ! the worst present pests. As this country ia already paying a penalty -of appro'xi-matery appro'xi-matery a buHon dollars a year for ita I laxnesa in this respect, it is urged by both commercial and aoentific interests , that there is need of a public awakening which will throw about the agricultural j interests of this country such safeguards ' as already have been adopted by every ' other great power, j |