REPORT OP THE SECRETARY. 247 



imported nursery stock except under prescribed regulations to pre- 

 vent the spread of plant diseases and insect pests; to prevent the im- 

 portation of any plants, fruits, vegetables, roots, bulbs, seeds, and 

 other plant products not included in the term " nursery stock " when 

 such importation would introduce a plant disease or an insect pest. 



The Secretary of Agriculture is authorized and directed h) quaran- 

 tine any State or any part thereof when he shall determine the fact 

 that a dangerous new plant disease or insect infestation exists therein. 



Among the notices of quarantine already issued by the Federal 

 Horticultural Board is one forbidding the importation of certain 

 varieties of the pine tree from specified European countries; one pro- 

 hibiting the movement from Hawaii into any other part of the 

 United States of various specified fruits, berries, and seeds; and one 

 forbidding the importation of potatoes from certain portions of 

 Europe, the West Indies, and North America ; and one prohibiting 

 the movement of Christmas trees, holly, laurel, and other decorative 

 Christmas greens grown in New England from that part of the 

 countrj^ to other States. 



This quarantine law to prevent the introduction of plant diseases 

 and insect pests was caused by the immense damage that has been 

 done by those that already have been introduced. Among the 

 prominent insect pests that have caused enormous losses to this 

 country are the gipsy moth, the brown-tail moth, the leopard moth, 

 and the elm-leaf beetle, and to these should be added the notorious 

 San Jose scale, the black scale, the white fly of the orange, and the 

 codling moth ; and there are the alfalfa weevil, the cotton boll weevil, 

 the cabbage butterfly, and many others. 



Among the foreign plant diseases that have been introduced into 

 the United States, prominent ones are the asparagus rust, the cab- 

 bage blackleg, European canker of the apple tree, the anthracnose of 

 the grapevine, and to these should be added the crown wart of 

 alfalfa, the rust of clover, the black smut of rice, the blister rust of 

 white pine, and the dreaded blight of the chestnut tree; and there are 

 the rust of the carnation, chrysanthemum, and hollyhock. 



EX-OFFICIO FUNCTIONS OF THE SECRETARY OF AGRICULTURE. 



As a part of the work of this department, it is pertinent to men- 

 tion the ex-officio duties of the Secretary', most of them created within 

 the last IG years. 



The Secretary of Agriculture is designated a member of the board 

 of appeals from decisions of the Commissioner of Internal Revenue 

 as to oleomargarine and substances in imitation of butter, and as to 

 deleterious ingredients in filled cheese. 



