S. R. A.-Fed. Hort. Bd. 30. Issued August 18, 1916. Instructions to postmasters relative to Notice of Quarantine No. 24.. Instructions to postmasters relative to Notice of Quarantine No. 25.. EXTENSION OF BONDING PERIOD BEYOND THE 40 DAYS PROVIDED IN DEAR SIRS: The collectors of customs at the ports of Boston, New York, and San Pending disinfection imported cotton must be stored in warehouses licensed under Regulation 10, as provided in the last paragraph of Regulation 7, and can not be removed from the port of entry until it has been disinfected. After disinfection 85 PLANT QUARANTINE DECISION NO. 10. The Federal Horticultural Board recommends that amendment No. 5, issued June 8, 1916, effective August 1, 1916, to the Rules and Regulations Governing the Importation of Cotton into the United States, as revised January 25, 1916, effective February 1, 1916, be suspended, and that the same shall go into effect January 1, 1917, in a form to be hereafter adopted and published. C. L. MARLATT, POSTPONEMENT OF THE EFFECTIVE DATE OF AMENDMENT NO. 5 TO THE RULES AND REGULATIONS GOVERNING THE IMPORTATION OF COTTON INTO THE UNITED STATES. JULY 3, 1916. DEAR SIRS: There is inclosed herewith a copy of Plant Quarantine Decision No. 10, postponing the effective date of the amendment referred to above from August 1, 1916, to January 1, 1917. This amendment places certain restrictions on the importations of burlap or other fabric which has been used to cover cotton and to which particles of cotton adhere, the purpose being to prevent the introduction into the United States of the most destructive known cotton pest, the pink boll worm, which might be contained in the seeds in the adherent particles of cotton. A further investigation will be conducted by the Board, and the amendment will be revised and reissued in ample time for consideration in connection with contracts to be entered into for the year beginning January 1, 1917. Yours very truly, Jos. H. BATT, Assistant in Charge Cotton Importations. INSTRUCTIONS TO POSTMASTERS. Seed and All Other Portions of Indian Corn, as Well as Certain Closely Related Plants, Prohibited Importation in the Mails from the Philippine Islands. DIRECTOR OF POSTS, OFFICE OF THIRD ASSISTANT POSTMASTER GENERAL, Manila, Philippine Islands. Washington, July 10, 1916. SIR: I have to invite your attention to the accompanying copy of Quarantine Order No. 24 (effective July 1, 1916), issued by the Secretary of Agriculture of the United States on April 29, 1916, under authority of the plant quarantine act of August 20, 1912, prohibiting the importation into the United States from the Philippine Islands of seed and all other portions of Indian corn or maize and certain closely related plants in the raw or unmanufactured state, and will thank you to take such action as may be necessary to prevent the acceptance of the products named for mailing from the Philippine Islands to the United States. Respectfully, POSTMASTER, San Francisco, Cal.: A. M. DOCKERY, Third Assistant Postmaster General. OFFICE OF THIRD ASSISTANT POSTMASTER General, Your attention is invited to Quarantine Order No. 24, effective July 1, 1916, issued April 29, 1916, by the Secretary of Agriculture, under authority of the plant quarantine act of August 20, 1912, and published in the Daily Bulletin of June 23, 1916, a copy of which is inclosed. This order prohibits the importation into the United States from the Philippine Islands of seed and all other portions of Indian corn or maize and certain closely related plants in the raw or unmanufactured state, and you are instructed to treat as unmailable and return to the Philippine Islands any of the prohibited products mentioned received in the mails from those islands. A. M. DOCKERY, Third Assistant Postmaster General, Copies of the above letter were also sent to postmasters at Seattle and Tacoma, Wash., and Los Angeles and San Diego, Cal.] Restrictions on the Mailing of Certain Plants and Plant Products from Portions of the New England States Quarantined on Account of the Gipsy Moth and the Brown-tail Moth. THE POSTMASTER: OFFICE OF THIRD ASSISTANT POSTMASTER GENERAL, Inclosed for your information and guidance, under the provisions of section 478, Postal Laws and Regulations, is a copy of Quarantine Order No. 25 issued by the Secretary of Agriculture, effective July 1, 1916, quarantining certain areas in the States of Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, and Connecticut, for the brown-tail moth and the gipsy moth. The coniferous trees, or parts thereof, and decorative plants; the forest-plant products; the field-grown florists' stock, trees, shrubs, vines, cuttings, and other plants and plant products for planting or propagation, and the deciduous trees and shrubs, or such parts thereof as bear leaves, the movement of which is restricted by the quarantine order above referred to, may be accepted for mailing only under the conditions prescribed by that order. Such of these articles as are required by the quarantine order to be inspected by the Department of Agriculture may be accepted for mailing only when accompanied with a certificate of a representative of that department to the effect that they have been inspected and found free from the brown-tail moth or gipsy moth, or both, as the case may be. Maps showing the areas quarantined on account of the gipsy moth and brown-tail moth can be obtained on application to Mr. A. F. Burgess, agent of the Department of Agriculture, 43 Tremont Street, Boston, Mass. These instructions supersede those published on page 4 of the August, 1915, supplement to the Official Postal Guide. A. M. DOCKERY, Third Assistant Postmaster General. [Above letter was sent to all postmasters in the New England States. QUARANTINE AGAINST CORN FROM THE ORIENT. [The following press notice was issued from the office of information of the department, July 15, 1916.1 The Secretary of Agriculture has announced an extension of the quarantine against Indian corn from the Orient to cover all of southeastern Asia (including India, Siam, Indo-China, and China). Malayan Archipelago, Australia, New Zealand, Oceania, Philippine Islands, Formosa, Japan, and adjacent islands. The importation is prohibited of seed and all other portions of maize and closely related plants, including all species of Teosinte (Euchlaena), Job's tears (Coix), Polytoca, Chionachne, and Sclerachne. This quarantine is made necessary by the presence in these regions of several highly destructive diseases, caused by fungi of the downy mildew group, related to our grape mildew and to potato late blight. One species the Peronospora maydis, is, so far as is known, limited to maize. It attacks the young plants, causing great damage in some parts of Java. Another, Sclerospora sacchari, first described from Formosa but known to occur also in the Fiji Islands and Queensland, is also a very destructive parasite which in favorable seasons completely prevents corn from developing any fruit in Formosa. Unlike the Java corn disease the Queensland leaf stripe disease attacks also sugar cane, upon which it is a destructive parasite. The present quarantine, therefore, protects the sugar industry of Hawaii also. A corn downy mildew different from the one in Java is known to occur in British India, where it causes serious damage. In the Philippines a downy mildew attacks corn very destructively, causing in extreme cases total loss of the crop. All of these downy mildews are favored by warm, moist weather such as is considered to be ideal corn-growing weather in the Mississippi Valley. It is probable that if they succeeded in entering the United States and got into the Mississippi Valley they would be able to cause immense damage. Besides the corn downy mildews another group of corn parasites has been found in the Orient, namely, Physoderma maydis Miyabe, from South Japan, and Physoderma zeae-maydis Shaw, from India. The Japanese species is said to prevent fruiting of maize entirely in case the plants are attacked when very young. JULY 21, 1916. DEAR MR. PEMBERTON: Your letter of June 19 was duly received and, in the absence of Mr. Marlatt, referred to me for attention. I note that Mr. Willard desires to be informed (1) as to whether he is authorized to issue permits for the carrying of pineapples in passengers' baggage in view of the fact that no bills of lading are issued for such baggage, and (2) as to whether it would be lawful to issue permits to passengers taking pineapples in their baggage on Japanese steamers, as it is contrary to the coasting laws to take freight on such vessels from the Hawaiian Islands to the continental United States. In view of the legal questions involved, I referred your letter to the solicitor of this department for advice, and am just in receipt of his reply, which is quoted below for your information: The intention of these regulations-Regulations 2, 4, and 5 of Notice of Quarantine No. 13-is to permit shipments or transportation of pineapples upon a proper showing that they are free from insect infestation. Regulation 4 was designed to regulate transportation by common carriers, and is not applicable to the transportation of pineapples as a part of a passenger's baggage. Transportation of pineapples or bananas in small quantities under the direct supervision or care of the owner may be permitted under the terms of regulation 2, if the container is plainly marked and has attached thereto the inspection certificate or a copy thereof as required by regulation 5, and the container is of material approved by the inspector. In this connection it may be stated that if the fruit is placed in a trunk or other article of baggage and not carried as a separate parcel, then the marking required by regulation 5 must be on the outside of the trunk or other article; or, if this would for any reason be impracticable, the certificate should be kept in the possession of the owner. for ready reference if called upon to show compliance with the plant quarantine act. Section 4311 of the Revised Statutes of the United States provides: "Vessels of 20 tons and upward enrolled in pursuance of this title and having a license in force, or vessels of less than 20 tons, which, although not enrolled, have a license in force as required by this title, and no others, shall be deemed vessels of the United States, entitled to the privileges of vessels employed in the coasting trade or fisheries." The fact that the coastwise laws are made applicable to ships voyaging between the Hawaiian Islands and the mainland, by act of April 30, 1900 (31 Stat., 161), and that steamers of a Japanese line are not entitled to the privileges of coasting ships would seem to present no difficulty in this case, since pineapples intended for personal use and not for trade, barter, or sale would not come within the prohibition of such laws. It is suggested, however, that the matter be taken up with the local customs officers before issuing a certificate in any such case. Yours very truly, Mr. C. E. PEMBERTON, R. C. ALTHOUSE, Honolulu, T. H. |