2 26 NEW YORK STATE MUSEUM 



with reason, decline to commit themselves so broadly, covering insects 

 of all kinds, both exposed to view and hidden from the eye. But for the 

 present, at least, while the scale infestation of these localities is so gener- 

 ally known, some assurance of protection will be demanded by all to whom 

 the knowledge has come, before further orders are sent to the nurseries 

 involved. 



The following form of certificate is offered to the consideration of pur- 

 chasers and nurserymen, in the belief that it would prove equally bene- 

 ficial to each party. Without it, or something to the same effect, there is 

 reason to believe, from action about to be taken in another State, that 

 some of the unfortunate nurseries may suffer for a time from a "boycott." 

 Let it be understood — there is no disposition on the part of any ento- 

 mologist to magnify the danger to important interests from this newly 

 introduced pest, but simply to accept it at its full magnitude : — 



I do hereby certify that the stock sent out herewith has been examined 

 by a competent entomologist, and has been pronounced by him, to the 

 best of his knowledge and belief, to be free from living San Jose scales 

 {Aspidiotus perniciosus); and in the event of its being shown that the 

 stock now sent has carried with it the living insects, I do hereby agree to 

 replace it free of cost with uninfested stock. 



Proposed Legislation. 



No legislation has been had in the State of New York against insect 

 pests. Laws of this character, more or less broad and stringent, have 

 been passed in ten of the States, viz., California, Colorado, Idaho, Kan- 

 sas, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, Oregon, and Wash- 

 ington. A compilation of these laws, which will be found convenient 

 for examination and as aids to future legislation, has recently been made 

 in a pamphlet of 46 pages by Mr. L. O. Howard, and issued as Bulletin 

 No. 33 of the U. S. Department of Agriculture — Division of Entomology . 

 California, it appears, has taken the lead in resorting to legislation, moved 

 thereto by the urgency of preventing the introduction of species known 

 to be destructive to fruit culture in other parts of the country and from 

 the Old World. 



Although the State of New York is subjected each year to losses from 

 insect injuries which would aggregate in amount to several millions of 

 dollars — a large proportion of which is preventable — no effort has 

 hitherto been made toward the removal of so onerous a burden through a 

 resort to legislative aid. An investigation of the insect pests of the State 

 which was commenced forty years ago and continued, with a short inter- 



