38 Report of State Board of Horticulture. 



larly adapted to the production of fine nursery stock and this 

 has grown to be a very important business in this district. 

 The proprietors of the nurseries are careful to keep their trees 

 clean and free from pests, and it becomes our duty to see that 

 their grounds are properly protected from outside infection. 

 The Oregon Nursery Company, located at Salem, has two 

 hundred or more acres devoted to the growth of nursery stock 

 of all kinds, and hundreds of thousands of trees are shipped 

 from this district to all parts of the West. The inspection of 

 ]]ursery stock therefore becomes an important part of the work 

 of the commissioner of this district, particularly since many 

 car loads of trees and seedlings are shipped in each year from 

 the Eastern States and Europe. 



During the past two years a great many shipments of trees 

 from the East have been inspected, and, in several instances, 

 it has been necessary to have trees fumigated or destroyed. 

 One shipment, consisting of two car loads of peach trees from 

 Pennsylvania, were found to be badly infested with borers, 

 root-knot, and peach-tree aphis. These two car loads, con- 

 taining about 45,000 trees, were quarantined, and the con- 

 signors notified to reship them from this state or have them 

 properly treated for the destruction of the aphis and other 

 pests. They neglected to fumigate or otherwise treat the trees, 

 and, after a reasonable time, the trees were ordered burned 

 and the entire two car loads were destroyed. The importance 

 of preventing the introduction of the peach-tree aphis into this 

 state may be seen from an account of their destructiveness, 

 given in the last biennial report, page 393, from which I quote : 



Dr. Smith, who described this insect, says: 



"la Delaware, Maryland, and parts of New Jersey and Virginia this 

 aphis was reported everywhere to be unusually prevalent and destructive. 

 In April, when the leaf buds were pushing, I saw them cluster upon so many 

 shoot axes and so compactly as to kill young- trees, and even very considerable- 

 branches upon older trees. They were especially destructive to nursery 

 trees and to orchards just planted. I saw one nursery in which at least one 

 hundred thousand trees had been killed outright in two or three weeks time. 

 I also heard of half a dozen nurseries which were entirely distroyed or very 

 seriously affected, and of orchai^dists who will be compelled to replant hun- 

 dreds of trees. Such trees are badly dwarfed, and make only a feeble, sickly 

 growth. The leaves are light green or yellowish, more or less rolled at the 

 margins, and red or purple spotted from the attack of fungi." 



Few shipments of green fruits were made from this district 

 during the past season. The cherry, plum, pear, and straw- 

 berries yielding light crops. There will be a number of cars 

 of apiDles shipped and some very fine crops are reported. 



