I omona C^ollco^c Journal of Entomology 



Volume 111 S K PT K M 15 1. k 1 'M 1 Numl.er 3 



A COMMISSIONER MAKES GOOD 



[The followiiip i-dilorial iirticlc in the "CiilifDrniii Ciilliviitiir" of May i, 101 1, hy 

 Mr. C. B. .Me.s.srii(fiT, tlic .Maiiii);iii); Kditor, was uTitti-ii after a visit In \'e'ntiira t'mmly, 

 (liiriti); which he made a thorough iiisixi-tioii iif the work of the \'eiitiira I'oiiaty llnrli- 

 eidtiiral ('oniniissioner. 



Attain and ajfain, throtifih the South, we have advm-ated with all our strenirth, llie 

 tnkin); of the County llortieultural t°oMiniissionershi|>s wholly out of polities, and the 

 rni|iloynient of trained men only, for this most im)>ortant work. It has seemed straufte to 

 u.s sometimes to ha\e to champion so self evident a proposition. It has only needed, 

 after all these years, lo have just one trained man employed in one of mir co'unlies, to 

 nuike us wake uj), ruh our eyes, aiul conn- to a ralhi-r painful realization of all that we 

 hn»c heen missing through these hard fought years, when the services of the Ik-sI expert.s 

 ohtainahle were urgently re<|uire(l. Countless thousands of dollars woulil ha\c lieen sa\cd 

 lo our people if this important work had hi'cn administered throughout by experts. 



Kven with such a demonstration as the present one in progress, polities still governs 

 this most important appointment in most of our counties, and the people still suffer 

 .sorely where they might, by choice, be benefited very materially. .In rrprrl hurlirulturnl 

 rnmmu»ii)ner if the motl efffctire known form of hortirulturiil iii»Mr<inrc.'--Kd.) 



No state in the L'nion lm.s given the attention to hortienltiir.il quarantine anil 

 protection of its fruit and other products from the depredations of in.seets and 

 fungi that California has. With the State Hortieulturnl Commission and it.s 

 deputies and employees in many sections of the state, and with most of the counties 

 of the state conforming to the state law and maintAining county commissions, all 

 sections are fairly well guarded. We say they arc well guarded, and this is true 

 theoretically, though it must be admitted that in some counties ri-sults have not 

 justified the expense. In contrast, others show results most remarkable. We 

 believe this latter class, however, may be counted easily upon one's fingers. We 

 would not discourage the work being done under the county commission law because 

 of some of these failures or partial failures. The effort is in the right direction, 

 and where polities has been obliterated, promise is given for proper results from 

 the funds expended. In some counties results have not been what they should, 

 l>ecause of lack of harmony between various producers rather than lack of ability 

 on the part of the commissioner and his hel)>ers. 



It was our pleasure recently to inspect one county where harmony and ability 

 unite in accomplishment of remarkable results. It is not a big county, though it is 

 big in some of its products. For instance, in lemons it produces over ^<)(),(I(H1 

 l)oxes valued at well up towards a million dollars, oranges a couple of millions, 

 dried apricots over five million pounds valued at nearly a half million dollam. 

 VNalnuts again is where it shines in the production of practically 1,000,000 pound* 



