82 JOURNAL OP ECONOMIC ENTOMOLOGY [Vol. 3 



We have an expert fruit grower, and sometimes two, at each ' ' Insti- 

 tute" to do the talking. Some of these men are practical horticul- 

 turists, while others have taken courses in horticulture and entomol- 

 ogy at the Agricultural College. 



NOTES ON THE STATE NURSERY LAWS OF OKLA- 

 HOMA AND THEIR EFFECT 



By C. E. Sanboen, Stillwater, Oklahoma 



The nursery inspection laws of Oklahoma as outlined at present are 

 brief, but far reaching in effect. The nurseries of the state are the 

 primary objects of this legislation, though injurious insects or diseases 

 outside the confines of a nursery likewise come within the provisions 

 of the act. Large discretionary powers are given the State Board of 

 Agriculture, and the nurseryman is held responsible by law for 

 selling inferior grades of stock and stock untrue to name. 



Many nurserymen and especially agents from nurseries of other 

 states have heretofore found it convenient and profitable to line out 

 all stock held for sale but not disposed of in season, for the purpose of 

 disposing of it the following or even the second following season. 

 This sale of such trees as first grade stock is now declared illegal, 

 since such lined out stock is of inferior grade. The benefit to the 

 public accrues not solely by protection through elimination of ' ' debili- 

 tated" stock, but also from the consequent elimination of an unde- 

 sirable class of irresponsible nurserymen. 



The protection of the law does not leave the nursery stock when 

 the latter is shipped from the nursery, as many nursery laws do, but 

 persists for a period of seven years, so that stock may have ample 

 time to establish its identity. If true to name, it is exempt from 

 legal penalty provided it is free from any injurious diseases or insect 

 , pests. This is true of all agricultural products, such as seeds, fruits, 

 grains and vegetables. 



The law protects horticultural and agricultural industries as 

 above outlined. Furthermore, it empowers the State Board of Agri- 

 culture to promulgate, as the occasion demands, rules and regulations 

 governing any evil or apparent evil relating to seeds, plants, insects 

 or diseases. 



The effects are now quite obvious. The wild-eyed speculator who 

 a few years ago posed as a fruit tree dispenser of unbounded integ- 

 rity, has lately either changed his vocation or his methods of specula- 

 tion. The result is that the honest nurseryman now has the advan- 

 tage in his favor, and the people are beginning to recognize not only 



