Rev. Crath left Canada in October 1936, and spent all of the following
winter in Poland. While he was there, I began the task of arranging for
the receipt of the walnuts and hazels he was to send, and so began a
wearisome, exasperating experience. First, it was necessary to obtain
permits from the Bureau of Plant Industry in Washington. Because of the
vast quantity of material expected, these permits had to be issued in
the names of five people. Next, I engaged a New York firm of importers,
so that no time would be lost in re-routing the shipment to the proper
authorities for inspection. This firm, in turn, hired brokers who were
responsible for paying all duty, freight and inspection charges. I
certainly thought that we had everything in such readiness that there
would be nothing to delay the shipment when it arrived. How wrong I was!

Although Rev. Crath had written me that the shipment had been sent on a
certain Polish steamer, I learned of its arrival only from a letter I
received from the importing company, which requested that the original
bill of lading and invoice be sent to them at once, as the shipment had
already been in the harbor for a week but could not be released by the
customs office until they had these documents. I had received the bill
of lading from Rev. Crath but not the invoice, for he had not known that
I would need it. So my valuable, but perishable, shipment remained in
port storage day after day while I frantically sought for some way to
break through the "red tape" holding it there. Cables to Rev. Crath were
undeliverable as he was back in the mountains seeking more material. In
desperation, I wrote to Clarence A. Reed, an old friend, member of the
Northern Nut Growers' Association and in charge of government nut
investigations in the Division of Pomology at Washington. Through his
efforts and under heavy bond pending receipt of the invoice, the walnut
and filbert material was released and sent to Washington, D. C. As there
was too much of it to be inspected through the usual facilities for this