114 JOL'RXAL OF ECONOMIC EXTO.MOLOGY [Vol. 4 



the Treasury Department and customs officers and by agreement ^vith 

 the railroads, and probably most of the shipments of 1910 were 

 inspected at their destinations. 



Of the shipments of 1909-10, 291 were found to be infested with 

 nests of the brown-tail moth, and these went to the states of Colorado, 

 Connecticut, Georgia, Illinois, Indiana, Kansas, Louisiana, Michigan, 

 ]\Iontana, New Jersey, New York, Ohio and Virginia. 



In most of these states the inspection referred to was made by state 

 officials. In other cases, where there was no state service, inspection 

 was carried out either by employees of the bureau or by expert col- 

 laborators appointed for the purpose. 



Investigation of European nursery conditions. — During the summer 

 of 1909, and also again in 1910, Dr. Howard, who was in Europe prin- 

 cipally to supervise the introduction of parasites for the gypsy and 

 brown-tail moths into Massachusetts, made a careful inspection of the 

 nursery regions of Holland, Belgium, and northern France and also 

 England. 



The writer was in Europe, on a personal trip, in the summer of 

 1909, and made an examination of similar conditions in Holland, 

 Belgium, and parts of Germany. 



Holland probably presents the cleanest bill of health in the matter 

 of insect pests, and particularly of the gypsy and brown-tail moth. 

 This country enjoys a good inspection service, and all Dutch nurs- 

 eries are carefully inspected twice each year, so there is probably less 

 danger now from shipments from Holland than any other country. 



Belgium in 1909 was in very bad condition, and the writer found the 

 brown-tail moth more abundant there than he had ever seen it, hedge- 

 rows often being plastered with the winter nests. The location of many of 

 these being only a few miles from the border of Holland, is within easy 

 flight of the moths to large Dutch nurseries. Belgium has, however, 

 since September, 1909, established an inspection service applying only 

 to nurseries exporting to America and limited to field examination, 

 twice yearly, of growing stock. While a distinct improvement, the 

 inspection as indicated is still inadequate as shown by infested stocks 

 still coming under official certificate. 



In France in 1909, Dr. Howard found no governmental inspection 

 system of nurseries. The certificates attached to shipments of nurs- 

 ery stock received in this country from France were signed, as a rule, 

 by men connected with agricultural schools, and probably in the case 

 of most of the certificates the stock had never been seen by the expert. 

 At least the conditions of the stock coming to this country during the 

 last two years made it abundantly plain that these certificates were 

 valueless. 



