PROCEEDINGS OF THE ANNUAL MEETING 155 



ovordoins the matter in ndvisiiij;- a .ucni'ial lioycolt of Ohio nurseries, -where there 

 is no (lanucr tliat I am aware ol' but from one. and this is no more llian lliere lias 

 been in patronizins" some Monroe, Michigan, nurseries tlie last few years. I have 

 two infested orchards, the trees of which came from there. 



Then, again, "what earthly use is tliere in giving such a certificate of inspection 

 as your State Board of Agriculture is doing? No one for a moment believes there 

 are no injurious insects in tlie nurseries of Michigan, or anj' other state. Mayor 

 Harrison might issue a certificate to the effect that there were no thieves in Chi- 

 cago, but it would not help Chicago in the least. It is simply folly to attempt to 

 misapply a law in this way. and is sure to Avork more harm than good. Restrict 

 your law to not to exceed three i)ests and name these in your certilicate, and you 

 will not bring the whole system into disgrace. 



I do not intend that any San Jose scale shall be sent out from Ohio if I can 

 help it. and I do intend that it shall be wiped out of the one nursery that it infests, 

 between this and spring; but unless there is a vast change in the Avording of 

 some certificates that are being di'mauded and given, 1 shall have nothing to do 

 Avitli nursery inspection. No man witli a reputation to lose, or who expects to 

 ever have one, can afford to do so. 



Yours very ti-uly, 



F. M. ^YEBSTER. 



Mr. Reid: In a prior letter Mr. Webster stated that he started in on 

 tlie work of nursery inspection in Ohio, but as there was no law pro- 

 viding for such inspection the State Board of Agriculture had caused 

 him to desist from the work. I presume he is laboring under the im- 

 pression, which has gone out from some of our own nurseries, to the 

 effect that the certificate given by the inspector declares the nursery 

 to be free from those pests, when it simply declares that the inspector 

 has not found anything of the kind. 1 believe that is the case, is it not, 

 Mr. Hedrick? Mr. Hedrick: Yes, sir. 



Mr. Reid: He perhaps got hold of some advertising matter, or some 

 statements from Ohio nurserymen, or some distorted idea of it in general. 

 I thought the letter sufficiently interesting to produce here. 



Prof. Taf t : I noticed one or two things in the letter of Prof. Webster 

 of which I would like to speak, and one is as to what he says regarding 

 the Monroe nurseries. I will say that I visited Monroe with Prof. Web- 

 ster, some two years ago, to investigate this charge that he makes, and 

 we were convinced that there was not at that time, and we thought there 

 never had been, any San Jos6 scale in the nurseries as charged. We did 

 find a few trees that had come from the Monroe nurseries, but by examin- 

 ing the books of the nurseries we were convinced, from their bills, that 

 they had bought these trees and had merely repacked and shipped them, 

 and as the nurseries are two or three miles from the packing-ground 

 it would show^ that the nurseries themselves had been free from it; and, 

 so far as I know, and I think I understand what he is charging, the scale 

 was never an\^'here near the Monroe nurseries where it could infest 

 them. As to the other point he makes, regarding the insects for which 

 the certilicate is given, I would say that Prof. Webster, this last year, 

 has given a certificate stating that he had examined certain nurseries 

 and found them free from San Jose scale. He does not say any further 

 than that. 



Mr. Morrill: Does he put it so broadly; finds them free? 



Prof. Taft: That he apparently finds them free. Our law requires that 

 they shall be examined and the certificate shall state that they appear 

 to be free from the dangerons insects and diseases, as the inspector has 

 told you. He has considered the black aphis of the peach a dangerous 



