Re: Peter Pauls' / mass raping the land

Patrick Cox (PCOX@cox.nsac.ns.ca)
Thu, 2 Feb 1995 08:59:10 AST

On Wed, 1 Feb 1995, Tom Hayes [as klmott@planetx.bloomu.edu (Kristin L.
Mott)] wrote: =>My name is Tom Hayes and I wanted to let fellow CP'ers
to be aware of =>the following events that transpired between James
Pietrapolo (sp?) and =>myself three years ago. => =>I called him and
wanted to buy misc. CP (cephalotus/ darlingtonia etc....) =>and
mentioned that I was planning to go on a trip down south to see CP in
=>their native habitat. The main purpose of the trip was to collect
seed of =>the SE pinguicula so I could establish those species into my
collection. => =>He then offered me .50 cents for as many as 300 of
each species of =>sariacenia that I could collect. Even though I needed
money, there was =>no way that I would mass rape the land and put even
more stress on these =>endangered plants. => =>Several months prior to
this phone call, I was planning a trip to see =>Niagra Falls, and
noticed that I would be passing his house on the way. =>I was told he
would not let me in to see his plants because he did not have
=>insurance. I now suspect he simply didn't want me to see that he
really =>doesn't have any plants in there. He gets the plants in and
fills the =>orders that have accumulated. (Does he really grow plants
other than =>darlingtonia and cephalotus). But then again, why bother
growing the plants =>when he can get "suckers" to pick them from the
wild? He risks nothing and =>offers near nothing in exchange. Whoever
is caught collecting the plants =>will have to deal with the law. What
a nice position for him to be in.

I've had a similar experience with him as well. I wanted to purchase
_Cephalotus_ and _Nepenthese_ seeds from him (no import permit needed).
He said that he didn't sell seeds for these but would trade for them.
What he wanted in return was a rare _Sarracenia_ species that grows
wild here in Nova Scotia. Since the area where it grew was distant to
me and in a remote location, I didn't think that this was a fair trade
and decided I didn't really need these seeds.

That's my story, and I'm sticking to it! (Damn sundew... I'm sticking
to it too.)

TTYL,
''' Plant Science Computer Technician
Patrick Cox (o o) Nova Scotia Agricultural College
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Gold is tried by fire, brave men by adversity. --Seneca