No. 6. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 119 



"Section 11. Tliis act shall take effect on the first day of August, 

 Anno Domini one thousand nine hundred and one." 

 - Approved— The lUth dny of June, A. D. 1901. 



This law relating to the inspection of nurseries, will, in time, 

 ver}' materially lessen the loss to the fruit interests of the State, by 

 injurious insects, and will be of inestinuible benefit to the pur- 

 chasers of nursery stock. It is a well known fact that the nursery 

 is one of the greatest distributing agencies of the San Jos6 Scale and 

 other destructive insects, and it was for the purpose of striking at 

 the root of this great evil that the passage of the law was so strongly 

 urged. The loss, annually, to farmers and fruit growers in the State 

 by injurious insects and fruit tree diseases is enormous, and the Divi- 

 sion of Zoology, working through the law prohibiting nurseries from 

 selling stock that is infested with injurious insects and diseases, 

 hopes to assist in diminishing this loss. The importance of intro- 

 ducing young trees that are free from disease is very manifest, and 

 at the same time lends additional encouragement in an effort to suc- 

 cessfully combat such tree diseases that have already gained a foot- 

 hold. Through the agency of the nursery, diseased stock has been 

 sent into localities free from such, and has introduced, in this man- 

 ner, dangerous tree diseases heretofore unknown, the complete 

 eradication of which may take years of earnest effort to stamp out. 



Under this act it is essential that all shipments of nursery stock, 

 whether from within or without the State, be accompanied by a copy 

 of the certificate of examination by a State or a United States official, 

 having the authority to issue same, showing such stock to be entirely 

 free from the San Jos6 Scale and other destructive insects; and also 

 empowering transportation companies to reject all stock not ac- 

 companied by a copy of the certificate of inspection. 



The following letter was sent to all the transportation companies 

 in the State, with instructions to notify their agents to reject all 

 nursery stock not accompanied by a certificate of inspection : 



"Dear Sir: Your attention is respectfully called to the last clause 

 of Section 4 of the act approved the 10th day of June, 1901, a copy of 

 which is herewith enclosed. 



"Under this act transportation companies are empowered to reject 

 all nursery stock not accompanied by a certificate of inspection. 

 Will you not notify your agents to refuse to receive nursery stock 

 that does not have attached to it a certificate showing that it is free 

 from San Jos^ Scale and other injurious insect pests. 



"A^ery respectfully, 



"JOHN HAMILTON, 

 "Secretary of Agriculture." 



