472

The Secretary of Agriculture of Puerto Rico is hereby directed to promulgate such rules and regulations as he may consider necessary for the purpose of protecting the present plantations of bay trees and of preventing their destruction, and that likewise tend to increase the cultivation of this tree in Puerto Rico; Provided, That as soon as possible, the Secretary of Agriculture shall take a census showing the names of those farmers who are cultivating this tree and the amount of land that each one is devoting to its cultivation, for the purpose of determining how far the planting of this tree may be promoted and of furnishing some special protection for its cultivation, if necessary and advisable, through action that this Legislative Assembly may take for the purpose at some future session. History —Apr. 9, 1941, No. 18, p. 356, § 2.