1901] ENTOMOLOGICAL NEWS. 2QI 



DEPARTMENT WMJGONOMIS ENTOMOLOGY 



Edited by Prof. JOHN B. SMITH, Sc. D., New Brunswick, N. J. 



Papers for this department are solicited. They should be sent to the editor, 

 Prof. John B. Smith, Sc.D, New Brunswick, N. J. 



DR. HENRY SKINNER, 



Secretary American Entomological Society, 



Dear Sir : 



The State of Virginia has passed a law requiring all nursery stock 

 coming into their State to be examined by a professional entomologist. 

 Our State has a similar law, and has appointed Mr. - - to do the work. 

 He has visited our nursery and has given us a certificate, but the Virginia 

 State Entomologist declines to accept it, as Mr. - - is not known to him 

 to belong to an entomological society and is not vouched for as being a 

 skilled entomologist. The laws of Virginia will not allow us to ship any 

 trees into their State without we have a certificate from their entomolo- 

 gist and pathologist tacked on each box, and Prof. W. B. Alwood will 

 not issue that certificate without we furnish him one signed by a profes- 

 sional entomologist who has examined our nursery. Prof. Alwood states 

 that any professional man known to the American Association of Eco- 

 nomic Entomologists will be satisfactory to him. 



Yours truly, 



Pennsylvania. 



The form of certificate of Pennsylvania reads as follows : " This is to 

 certify that the stock in the nursery of - - was duly examined in com- 

 pliance with the provisions of the Act of the Legislature of Pennsylvania 

 approved the loth day of June, A. D. 1901, and was found to be appa- 

 rently free from San Jose scale and other dangerously injurious insects- 

 pest or pests. This certificate expires July 3151, 1902." 



It will be observed that the date of examination is not given, although 

 the certificate is dated in this instance August 21, 1901. The name of 

 the examiner is not given, although the presumption is that the examina- 

 tion was made by the person or persons appointed by the State. 



I wrote to Prof. Alwood on this subject, and take the liberty of quoting 

 part of his reply : "* We not only have to bear the brunt of all 



this trying work in our own State, but we are held responsible by law 

 for admitting nursery plants to the State. I have worked for 



many years on the economic side of entomology, and presume it is fair 

 to say that I know something of this phase of the question, and I have 

 certainly had experience in administering the State laws. Notwithstand- 



