438 Keport of the Entomologists of the 



INTRODUCTION. 



In the spring of 1896, the Maryland Legislature passed a law 

 providing that all nursery stock shipped into that state must be 

 accompanied by a certificate. This certificate must state that 

 the stock has been duly inspected by an authorized official and 

 pronounced by him free from indications of the presence of dan- 

 gerously injurious insects and plant diseases. It is stated that 

 this law was for the especial purpose of protecting Maryland 

 fruit growers from the further importation into their State of 

 that much-dreaded pest, the San Jos6 scale. Other States fol- 

 lowed suit until seven now have similar laws and the question of 

 similar legislation is being agitated in as many more. 



Owing to this agitation and also to the fact that much has been 

 said and written about the San Jos6 scale, its rapid work as a de- 

 stroyer of fruit trees and shrubs and the ease with which it can 

 be transported on nursery stock, Western New York nurserymen 

 soon found themselves in a position where it was necessary to 

 have their nurseries inspected or be seriously handicapped by the 

 inspeotion laws of other states. 



Although there was no evidence of an organized effort on the 

 part of the nurserymen to have the work of inspection put upon 

 a proper basis, the Station at once undertook to accommodate 

 them and has endeavored to do so as far as possible during the 

 past two years. 



That there will be still further need of nursery and orchard in- 

 spection in the State seems very probable. The San Jos6 scale 

 has been found in abundance in some sections of the State and 

 has already shown that it can thrive in Western New York. The 

 fact, also, that a small nursery has been found in the western part 

 of the State and others in the southeastern, in which the scale 

 has been thriving for several years, indicates that this insect may 

 have a much wider distribution within our borders than is at 

 present suspected. This seems all the more probable when we 

 reflect that just over the line in Canada the scale has been found 

 in a number of orchards and it is known to occur in states bor- 



