40 AGRICULTURE OF MAINE. 



farmers in general. The State of Massachusetts has already 

 begun an active campaign to wipe out this disease in that state, 

 and the State of Wisconsin has passed a state regulation, 

 prohibiting any white pines from the East entering that state. 



Nursery Inspection. 



Inspecting the growing stock in the nurseries of Mame 

 started about the first of June, and was divided about equally 

 between Mr. Eaton and myself. The work of inspection, as 

 a whole, was finished about the last of July, with many inter- 

 ruptions from other work, such as San Jose scale inspection, 

 orchard inspection, etc. Most of the larger nurseries were 

 visited by Mr. Eaton and myself working together, while in the 

 case of the smaller ones, only one man made the inspection. 



The condition of the nurseries this year showed a decided 

 improvement over last year, but as yet they are not exactly 

 up to standard. This is due chiefly to excessive rainfall during 

 the past few seasons, which has hindered proper cultivation 

 and care of the plants and trees. All nurseries inspected were 

 issued certificates upon the first inspection, with one exception. 

 This nursery, however, was cleaned up during the summer and 

 upon second inspection a certificate was issued. 



The list of nursery men this year contains fifty-six names, 

 which is considerable more than last year. This is due chiefly 

 to the fact that several florists, who make a practice of selling 

 a few plants each spring, made requests for certificates which 

 would enable them to ship by mail or express, in accordance 

 with the state law. The recent ruling by the Federal Horti- 

 cultural Board, declaring strawberry plants as being carriers of 

 dangerous insects and diseases, has also led us to make several 

 inspections of strawberry plantations which have not been 

 listed before. The list of nurseries for 1916, with date and 

 number of each certificate, is as follows : 



