186 JOURNAL OF ECONOMIC ENTOMOLOGY [Vol. 14 



3d. It is impossible for an inspector to detect any disease in its 

 incipiency. There is always an incubation period after infec- 

 tion when it is impossible for an inspector to tell whether the 

 plant examined has the disease. 



4th. Most of us will admit that we are unable to do our inspection 

 work as thoroughly as we would like, because of lack of funds. 



5th. Occasionally nurserymen will conceal the presence of a pest from 

 an inspector by having the nursers^man's own employees 

 inspect before the inspector's coming, pulling tell-tale leaves 

 and twigs and spraying with a protective covering of Bordeaux 

 with plenty of lime in it. 



6th. The best inspection service in the world will only stop the most 

 severely infested stock. No inspector can get it all, not if he 

 has all the time and money in the world. The entire history 

 of horticultural inspection proves this. It has probably re- 

 tarded the spread of pests — but what pest has it actually 

 stopped ? 



If taken in time, a pest can be eradicated completely for less than 

 will be expended on it yearly in control measures alone, if not eradicated. 

 One of the most important points in any eradication campaign is to have 

 on hand a list of all points to which infected or suspected material has 

 gone. This makes eradication possible at a reasonable figure. 



In these days of world wide trade, and with the possibility of new 

 pests being introduced on so many different products, it is a foregone 

 conclusion that any quarantine service inaugurated by the Federal 

 Horticultural Board, or state agencies will be merely a sieve which will 

 barely keep out the most apparent, dangerous and easily intercepted 

 pests. If only 80 percent, efficient, that quarantine service is thoroughly 

 justified, but there are still one-fifth as many chances of our getting 

 new pests, and they are going to keep coming in as long as we continue 

 to trade with the outside world. 



If these statements are true, no inspection service is adequate that 

 stops with inspection only. If it is to give proper protection it must 

 provide, for instant use, a complete record of all nursery stock moved 

 with its sanction and permission. 



The advantages of this arrangement are many and important : 



First, it gives the Inspector a record as to where every plant that he 

 certifies is planted. If he finds that a pest in Mr. A's nursery is very 

 serious, he has only to go to his file, take out Mr. A's folder and he has 

 instantly a complete record of the points to which Mr. A 's stock has been 

 shipped. 



