No. 7. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. lOl 



cent. With more stringent laws, the destruction of the San Jos(5 

 Scale on premises adjoining nurseries, the recognition of the pest 

 and proper cooperation by nurserymen, and continued application of 

 our inspectors, we believe that it is possible to eradicate this terri- 

 ble pest from the nurseries of Pennsylvania. 



The nurserymen have organized an association, which held a large 

 and successful meeting in Harrisburg in January, 1905, and they 

 have expressed themselves as being ready to cooperate with us in 

 every detail for the suppression of orchard pests, not only in the 

 orchards, but also in the nurseries and, especially, adjoining their 

 premises. The present San Jos^ Scale Bill in the State Legislature 

 is designed to give relief in this regard, and I earnestly hope to see 

 arrangements made that this Division of the Department of Agri- 

 culture will be able to undertake more than mere nursery inspec- 

 tion. 



At present our methods are to send inspectors to nurseries, and 

 when a nursery is found infested, all stock bearing the San Jos^ 

 Scale must be destroyed and the owner must file with this Depart- 

 ment an affidavit stating that he will fumigate all stock sent from 

 his nursery. After the erection of the fumigating house, and its 

 careful inspection by our nursery inspector, a certificate is granted 

 him permitting the sale of his stock; otherwise it is illegal for him 

 to sell, give away, or ship any stock, as a certificate is necessary. If 

 the scale be not found by our inspector, a certificate of inspection 

 permitting the sale of the stock is granted at once. The following is 

 a list of the nurserymen of this State. (See Appendix.) All nur- 

 series have been inspected, owners complied with the requirements 

 of the law ar have received certificates permitting the sale of their 

 stock, excepth those marked with an asterisk (*), for which their 

 certificates are \ nding. 



6.— INSPECTION OF IMPORTED PLANTS, SEEDS AND FRUITS. 



Many states require all nursery stock shipped into their states 

 to be fumigated before the shipment will be admitted. This is a good 

 plan, and had it been adopted in time in our Commonwealth we 

 should not have sustained the loss of hundreds of thousands of dol- 

 lars worth of trees, as we have at the present time. It is not too 

 late, however, to keep the pest from spreading in some of our im- 

 portant fruit-growing counties where it is not yet abundant, and for 

 that reason we have recommended the enactment of legislation re- 

 quiring the fumigaation of all nursery stock brought into this State. 

 The importance of this is shown in the fact that occasionally infested 

 trees are sent into our State, and unless we have a system for inspect- 

 ing every imported tree or shrub there is danger of its carrying liv- 

 ing San Jos(5 Scale, if it be not fumigated. The only safe method 

 is to require the fumigation of all imported stock, and to be very 

 careful and strict with the nurseries within our borders. 



Wherever it is possible we have tried during the past year to make 

 an inspection of imported shipments of fruit trees coming into this 

 State, and in some cases we have found them infested with living 

 specimens of San Jos6 Scale, and they had to be treated accordingly. 

 For example, in October Mr. Engle inspected a full carload of peach 

 trees from New Jersey and found that at least 40 per cent, of these 

 trees were infested with the living San Jos^ Scale. They had nof 



