June, '10] FERXALD : NURSERY INSPECTION 273 



being ten or fifteen acres, while the largest ones are of less than 

 two hundred acres. It is probable that almost all of the interstate 

 shipping is done by twenty-five places, and it is remarkable how much 

 of the stock sent out is purchased, often from the very states to which 

 it goes. 



Every nursery is actively at work shipping, by the first of October 

 each year, and in order to complete the inspections in time to prevent 

 holding up business, these must be begun by the tenth of July. The 

 first places visited each year are those selling strawberries and hardy 

 roses only, as here sales are practically continuous throughout the 

 summer, and as by law all certificates expire July 1, these require the 

 first attention. By the time these have been examined, work must be 

 at once begun on the larger nurseries, which are actively shipping* 

 evergreens by the end of this month. 



As to methods of inspection, there is little to be said. Fruit stock, 

 Cornus, Viburnum, ornamental Prunus and Pyrus and other plants 

 liable to infestation are examined individually under a lens, and 

 with Cornus in particular, this means many wearj^ hours during 

 which the lowest parts of the body are the head, knees and tips of the 

 toes. All such plants are examined separately and this is also the 

 case with all kinds, at first. If after a prolonged search, however, 

 no scale is found on them, the inspector considers himself at liberty 

 to skip plants, examining every third or fourth, and finally if no 

 evidence of trouble is found he may cross the rows in a block, examin- 

 ing each row as he crosses backward and forward until the block has 

 been crossed several times at different points. From this sort of 

 inspection nothing is considered exempt, though perhaps Berberis, 

 Hydrangia and conifers are least thoroughly examined. 



While such methods as these hold good in general, when the Gypsy 

 moth is near the nursery, nothing can claim exemption and every 

 plant in dangerous or even doubtful blocks is thoroughly examined. 

 If the Gypsy moth is found, further inspection ceases until the 

 fifteenth of September, as until that time a nursery might become 

 infested from outside. After this date, inspection is resumed for such 

 places and when nothing more can be found, a certificate is given, and 

 as this expires before the next migration period for this insect, the 

 result should mean as great freedom from it as inspection can make 

 possible. In some cases where shipments before this date are im- 

 perative, an inspector personally goes over each plant dug, while it 

 is at the packing shed, and if satisfactory, issues a certificate covering 

 that shipment. 



During most of the inspection period the Brown-tail moth is not 

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