February, '13] severin: mediterranean fruit fly 71 



bunches of bananas were marked in the field and later tagged, and 

 arrangements were made with the steamship companies that no un- 

 tagged fruits or vegetables were to be shipped to California. The 

 material used in packing pineapples and bananas was changed from 

 grass, in which there was a possible danger of the pest to pupate, to 

 rice and excelsior. The wagons carrying the packed bananas were 

 to be covered with canvass to prevent any maggots from dropping on 

 the load while driving below fruit trees through the streets of Honolulu. 



What precautions are taken at San Francisco regarding pineapples 

 and bananas entering California from Honolulu? At a meeting of the 

 California quarantine officials on June 7, 1912, it was decided to burn 

 the wrapping material around bananas shipped from Honolulu, but 

 whether this good intention is being carried out at present I am not 

 able to state. All fresh pineapples destined for California points are 

 fumigated heavily as a matter of insurance before they leave the dock. 

 At San Francisco a man is especially detailed to make a thorough 

 inspection of banana imports on the dock and to inspect fruits in the 

 store-rooms of the commission districts. 



With all the evidence showing that the Mediterranean fruit fly has 

 been bred from pineapples and bananas, you may wonder why Cali- 

 fornia did not follow the footsteps of British Columbia and place a 

 complete quarantine against all Hawaiian fruits. At a meeting of the 

 quarantine officials at Sacramento, the California representative who 

 had been stationed in Honolulu admitted that California was taking 

 a chance in allowing pineapples and bananas to enter the state. After 

 discussing the fruit fly situation for six hours with the California quar- 

 antine officers, it was fully decided to put an absolute quarantine 

 against the Hawaiian Islands. At a meeting of a fruit fly committee 

 in connection with the California state fruit growers' convention held 

 at Santa Barbara on June 13, 1912, this question was put to me, ''If 

 there is a choice between (1) a complete quarantine against the Ha- 

 waiian Islands and (2) to stop the inspection of baggage, which would 

 you recommend on the strength of the greater danger of the Medi- 

 terranean fruit fly entering the state of California through these two 

 sources?" I replied that the greater danger would rest in infested 

 fruit being carried in the baggage. 



Baggage : The most dangerous loophole through which the Medi- 

 terranean fruit fly may gain entrance into the United States consists 

 in the fact that the California quarantine officers have no legal right 

 to search baggage. When a passenger at Honolulu goes aboard a 

 steamer coming from a foreign port, his trunk is sealed at Honolulu 

 and the customs' men do not search this sealed trunk at San Fran- 

 cisco, but only search his hand baggage. The United States Cus- 



