FEDERAL, HORTICULTUKAL BOARD. 635 



species was collected on a wide range of hosts arriving from a num- 

 ber of countries. Numerous insects injurious to plants and plant 

 products were taken, many of which are not known to occur in the 

 United States. Eecognized fruit pests, such as the Mexican fruit 

 fly in oranges and mangoes from Mexico, and sapodillas from Nicara- 

 gua; the Mediterranean fruit fly in peppers, guavas, coffee berries, 

 avocados, rose apples, etc., from Hawaii, in loquats from Bermuda, 

 and in apples from Algeria ; and the West Indian fruit fly in Cuban 

 plums and mangoes from Cuba and in guavas from Jamaica, wera 

 taken in ships' stores, crews' quarters, and passengers' baggage. 

 Avocados from the interior of Mexico were found on six occasions 

 to be infested with the avocado weevil. An unrecognized weevil 

 {Conotrachelus sp.) was taken in avocados intercepted at the foot- 

 bridge at Eagle Pass. 



LarvEe of the pink bollworm were intercepted in cottonseed arriv- 

 ing from Brazil, Egypt, Dominican Kepublic, England, Mexico, 

 and Porto Rico. Inspectors of the board located at Philadelphia 

 discovered that commercial shipments of cork arriving from France 

 occasionally bore egg masses of the gipsy moth. Brown-tail nests 

 wer.> on three occasions intercepted on plants from the same country. 

 The lesser bulb fly, which has been reported on several occasions to 

 be a serious onion pest in Europe, was collected in 27 shipments of 

 narcissi from Holland and one from France. In one instance a 

 single bulb was found to contain 77 living larvee. The narcissus fly 

 was also taken in bulbs arriving from England, France, and Hol- 

 land. The snag boring emphytus, which has been reported to at- 

 tack raspberries in Europe, was collected on rose stocks as follows: 

 England, 35; France, 8: Holland, 7; Ireland, 7. The European 

 earwig, which has been introduced into this country within recent 

 years and is now causing considerable alarm in the Pacific Northwest, 

 accompanied iris rhizomes from France and bulbs and delphiniums 

 from Holland. The "West Indian sweet potato weevil was inter- 

 cepted on a number of occasions in yams and sweet potatoes in the 

 possession of passengers arriving from Jamaica, Barbados, Brazil, 

 and Porto Rico. 



Many other interceptions of importance could be named. A full 

 list of "the insects intercepted on foreign plants and plant products 

 is published annually in the Letters of Information of this board, 

 which are available for clistribution. 



Better inspection facilities needed in Washington. — Quarantine 37, 

 as now administered, involves the handling and inspection in Wash- 

 ington of a vast quantity of plant material imported for introduc- 

 tion and propagation purposes by commercial growers and propaga- 

 tors throughout the United States. It also involves the inspection 

 of all foreign and domestic seeds and plants which are distributed 

 by the Department of Agriculture, as well as all commercial ship- 

 nients of plants that come into the District of Columbia for local 

 purposes or which are exported from the District in interstate traffic. 

 Much of this material must be fumigated or disinfected. It involves, 

 further, the receipt and examination of all foreign cotton samples. 



