120 ANNUAL REPORTS OF DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 



employees of the Bureau or by expert collaborators appointed for 

 the purpose. 



In addition all seeds and plants introduced and distributed by the 

 Division of Foreign Seed and Plant Introduction of the Bureau of 

 Plant Industry, as well as all ornamental plants imported by florists 

 in the District of Columbia, have been thoroughly examined. More- 

 over, about 2,000 cherry trees, a gift from the city of Tokyo to the 

 Government of the United States, were examined and found to be 

 infested with a number of injurious insects, necessitating, most unfor- 

 tunately, the destruction of all these plants. 



The United States is practically the only one of the great nations 

 of the world which is not protected by law from such accidentally 

 caused importations of pests of this character. During the last ses- 

 sion of Congress an inspection law, based upon the permit system, 

 was drafted and submitted to Congress after consultation with the 

 legislative committee of the National Nurserymen's Association. 

 Thorough hearings on the bill were held before the Committee on 

 Agriculture of the House, but, owing to pressure of other matters 

 which seemed of more immediate weight during the closing portion 

 of the session, the act was not placed on the calendar. The need, 

 however, of a national quarantine and inspection law of this general 

 form is a crying one, and the country is in constant danger of the 

 importation and establishment of new pests of a serious character 

 just as long as it docs not protect itself in this way. 



The extensive accidental importations of the brown-tail moth dur- 

 ing the past two years have been due to somewhat unusual conditions 

 in tlie nursery-growing regions in France, which have bettered much 

 during the past season. During the growing season of 1910 in the 

 nursery regions of France both the gipsy moth and the brown-tail 

 moth were almost entirely absent, so that the danger of importation 

 during the coming autumn and winter is undoubtedly less than dur- 

 ing the two previous seasons. Both the Belgian and French Govern- 

 ments, largely owing to representations from tliis Department, have 

 adopted regidations providing for the inspection of nursery stock 

 exported to this country, and such action is expected on the part of 

 England, Holland already having a competent service. These actions 

 on the part of these Governments will alleviate conditions, but will 

 by no means remove the necessity for a protective law in the United 

 States. 



OTHER WORK. 



Among the other important affairs of the Bureau during the past 

 fiscal year the following should be mentioned: 



The continued work on the cotton boll weevil and other cotton 

 insects in the South has shown good results in the utilization of native 

 parasites and in the study of the adaptation of the insects to the 



