FEDERAF. HORTICULTURAL BOARD. 445 



Florida, the Japanese beetle in New Jersey, the European corn borer 

 in Massachusetts, the oriental peach moth in eastern United 

 States, and in the campaion to secure the eradication of the common 

 barberry throughout the upper Mississippi Valley. 



The board has further cooperated with the Bureau of P^ntomology 

 in the enforcement of the moth quarantine afl'ecting portions of the 

 Xew England States, and in the Mediterranean fruit fly and melon 

 fly quarantine in Hawaii. In respect to these two quarantines the 

 board has supervision of the enforcement of the quarantines, which 

 are supported, however, by special appropriations assigned to the 

 Bureau of Entomology. 



TERMINAL INSPECTION OF INTERSTATE MAIL SHIPMENTS OF 

 PLANTS AND PLANT PRODUCTS. 



During the year the State of Washington availed itself of the pro- 

 visions of the act of March 4, 1915, by providing for terminal inspec- 

 tion of mail shipments of plants and plant products originating in 

 other States. California, the first State to make provision for such 

 inspection in 1915, was followed in 1916 by Arizona and Montana, 

 and in 1917 by Florida. All plants and plant products shipped to 

 these five States under the certification of the Federal Horticultural 

 Board are exempted from such inspection. 



VIOLATIONS OF THE PLANT QUARANTINE ACT. 



During the year the Solicitor reported to this office the conviction 

 of two shippers and two common carriers for the shipment, inter- 

 state, without inspection and certification, of plants and plant prod- 

 ucts from the area quarantined on account of the gipsy moth and 

 the brown-tail moth to points outside of that area. Fines aggregat- 

 ing $95 were imposed. 



POTATO WART IN THE UNITED STATES. 



In September of this year, subsequent to the period covered in this 

 report but prior to its publication, several well-established cases of 

 the wart disease of the potato were discovered in gardens in 26 small 

 mining towns in Luzerne, Schuylkill, and Carbon Counties in eastern 

 Pennsylvania. The full extent of the infestation has not yet been 

 determined, but an active survey of this and other districts is now 

 under way in cooperation with the authorities of the State of Penn- 

 sylvania. In most of these gardens it has been observed by the 

 owners during the last two seasons. In many gardens it has been 

 severe for three years, while in a few instances it has done consider- 

 able damage for four years. 



The source of the disease appears to be a shipment of several car- 

 loads of European potatoes of inferior quality, distributed in 1912, 

 before the passage of the plant quarantine act of August 20 of that 

 year. This act specifically provided for an immediate quarantine 

 against countries infested with the potato wart, and subsequent to 

 the passage of this act, no importations of potatoes have been made 

 from countries where potato wart is known to exist. 



