24 



INSPECTION. 



Scale Inspectors. — During the past season there have been several inquiries 

 as to the appointment of inspectors, especially in townships where our survey of 

 the orchards showed there was scale, though the owners of the orchards either did 

 not previously know of it or were not aware that it was so serious a pest. Sec. 7, 

 Clause 1, of The Fruit Pest Act reads: "The Council of any local municipality 

 may, and upon the petition of twenty-five or more fruit-growers who are ratepayers 

 shall, by by-law, appoint at least one inspector to enforce the provisions of this 

 Act in the municipality, and fix the amount of remuneration, fees or charges he 

 shall receive for the performance of his duties." The Department of Agriculture 

 pays half the salary of these men and the municipality the other half. For further 

 particulars write to the Department for a copy of the Act. It is clear therefore 

 under what circumstances an inspector may be appointed. In many districts 

 inspectors are very desirable and helpful, but not in all. To be a success the 

 inspector must have public opinion behind him, and must be looked upon not as 

 an intruder, but as a friend who is trying to improve the fruit industry. Men who 

 will only spray because they are compelled will seldom have any success against 

 the scale, because they will not spray thoroughly, and poor spraying is very little 

 better than none. These men, as a rule, try to work up opposition to the inspector, 

 and often succeed so well that next year the Council thinks it expedient to get a 

 new man. Now a competent new man with plenty of backbone will not be easily 

 secured, because he can readily see that if he tries to do his duty he, too, need not 

 expect to be re-engaged the following year. It is difficult in the face of strong 

 opposition for a local man to do his duty as inspector and enforce the law 

 impartially. When he sees the task ahead of him he will usually resign. Under 

 circumstances like these I should urge the men who are anxious to have the scale 

 controlled in their district to try to show their neighbors by their own thorough 

 and successful work not only that the scale can be controlled, but also that it will 

 pay well to look after their orchards. To convince a man that a thing pays is the 

 surest way to get him to do that thing and to do it well. In most counties there 

 are district representatives, and these men, if their attention is called to it, are 

 always willing and able to help in arousing an interest in any great question, such 

 as the control of the San Jose Scale. They are sometimes able to take charge of 

 an orchard in an infested district and show by actual demonstration how to bring 

 it back to health and the bearing of large crops of good clean fruit. 



Inspection of Nueseries and Fumigation of Nursery Stock.— Since the 

 chief means of spreading San Jose Scale has been on nursery stock, and since there 

 is always a possibility of some of the stock escaping fumigation where the nursery- 

 man is careless and the inspector unable to guard against it, it has been found 

 advisable to supplement the fumigation by a careful inspection of the growing 

 stock itself in the nursery grounds. This year all saleable stock, over 4,000,000 

 trees, was examined tree by tree. Wherever possible, badly infested areas were 

 examined twice, and sometimes three times. Every tree on which even a single 

 scale, whether dead or alive, was found was broken down and the nurseryman 

 required to dig it out the same day and burn it. In order to insure better results 

 all trees and shrubs in fence corners, roadsides, and orchards in and for half a mile 

 at least on every side of the nurseries were examined early in the spring, and if 

 infested either required to be destroyed or well sprayed. The nurserymen have 

 heartily co-operated in this work. Inspection, however, though of great value, is 



