642 ANNUAL REPORTS OF DEP.\RTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 



on experiments with all of the different methods of fumigation 

 "which have been mentioned. 



In cooperation with the Bureau of Chemistry, insects injurious 

 to imported dried fruits, and especially Smyrna figs, have been 

 studied. Means for their control have been formulated and the 

 work will be continued. 



INSPECTION WORK. 



As in previous years, all seeds and plants introduced and dis- 

 tributed by the Division of Foreign Seed and Plant Introduction of 

 the Bureau of Plant Industry, as w^ell as ornamental plants im- 

 ported by florists in the District of Columbia, have been thoroughly 

 examined. In addition to these, about 2,000 cherry trees, a gift from 

 the city of Tokyo to the Government of the United States, were ex- 

 amined and found to be infested with a number of injurious insects. 

 All of these plants were destroyed. Several insects were collected 

 on plants introduced by the Bureau of Plant Industry, which, if 

 allowed to gain a foothold in Florida or other warm portion of the 

 country, might prove serious enemies to cultivated crops. 



In addition to this work carried on at Washington, a somewhat 

 elaborate inspection system for products proceeding from regions in 

 New England inhabited by the gipsy moth and the brown-tail moth 

 has been conducted by the gipsy moth force as indicated in a pre- 

 ceding paragraph. 



INSPECTION FOR THE IMPORTED BROWN-TAIL MOTH NESTS. 



In the last report the efforts of the Bureau to prevent the importa- 

 tion of brown-tail moth nests upon seedlings shipped from Europe to 

 nurserymen in the United States were described. The extraordina y 

 numbers in which these nests were found upon- this imported stock 

 was due probably to the occurrence of the brown-tail moth in certain 

 parts of Europe in most unusual numbers during the summer of 

 1908. In the summer of 1909 the same conditions existed, and as a 

 result the shipments of nursery stock from portions of Europe in 

 the autumn of 1909 and the winter of 1909-10 again carried many 

 nests. Moreover, upon one shipment of nursery stock from Belgium 

 to Louisiana an egg cluster of the gipsy moth was found. By an 

 especial arrangement, through the kindness of the Secretary of the 

 Treasury, with the custom-houses, and by agreement with the rail- 

 roads, the Bureau was notified of all cases of plants received, and, 

 as in the previous autumn and winter, secured the inspection of 

 probably every shipment at the point of ultimate destination. Ship- 

 ments of nursery stock to the number of 291 were found to be in- 

 fested with nests of the brown-tail moth, and these went to the 

 States of Colorado, Connecticut, Georgia, Illinois, Indiana, Kansas, 

 Louisiana, Michigan, Montana, New Jersey, New York, Ohio, and 

 Virginia. In most of the States inspection was rendered simple by 

 the fact that there were efficient state inspection laws and official 

 inspectors. Notification in such cases from the Bureau was all that 

 was necessar3\ In other cases where there was no such state serv- 

 ice, the inspection was carried on either by employees of the Bureau 

 or by expert collaborators appointed for the purpose. 



