Washington Burned the Nursery Trees—Then Came the Lawsuit
The state horticulture commissioner destroyed infected shipments from eastern nurseries. Now the nurserymen say he broke interstate commerce law.
The story, cleaned up
A cleaned-up reading of the newspaper page: spelling and layout repaired, one story lifted off a crowded page. It follows the original closely but it is not a transcription. The original page is below; read it if a detail matters.
OLYMPIA, Wash., Nov. 27.—A. Von Holderbecke, state commissioner of horticulture, is threatened with a suit for damages to be brought by an eastern nursery company for the destruction of several carloads of fruit trees shipped to various parts of this state. Mr. Holderbecke was in Olympia today to consult the attorney general in the matter. The commissioner has been very active in condemning and destroying infected trees and fruit shipped into this state. Foreign nurseries, it is said, have been practically driven out of the market, as so many of their shipments have been condemned that orchardists are afraid to place their orders with eastern concerns.
Most of the eastern shipments of trees bear large labels to the effect that the trees have been examined by state inspectors of New York or other eastern states and found to be free from infection. Nevertheless, Mr. Von Holderbecke claims to have discovered a great deal of crown gall and woolly aphis affecting such trees and has burned large shipments of them. The eastern nurserymen claim that this action is in violation of interstate commerce law and that if the laws of this state give the commissioner such authority such laws are unconstitutional.
“The eastern nurserymen claim that this action is in violation of interstate commerce law and that if the laws of this state give the commissioner such authority such laws are unconstitutional.”
Washington's fight over infected nursery stock anticipates today's battles over invasive species, agricultural inspection, and how far a state can go to protect its orchards from out-of-state shipments. The commerce-clause argument is still the frame.
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