264 JOURNAL OF ECONOMIC ENTOMfJl.OGY [Vol. 4 



Indeed, I am frank to admit that I was ignorant until the past two years 

 of the large amount of such stock that is imported into this country 

 With a view of stimulating a discussion of the methods emploj^ed by 

 the different inspectors and to show how this work is being handled in 

 Maryland, this brief paper is presented. 



Amount of Stock Imported 



During the last spring the following approximate amounts and 

 character of stock was imported by persons in Maryland : 



2,302,300 French fruit stocks. 

 754,417 Holland fruit stocks. 

 149,325 Holland Ornamentals. 

 10,000 French Ornamentals. 

 Total, 3,216,042 seedlings, plants, trees, etc. 



This does not include a quantity of herbaceous and florists' stock 

 that was also imported. However, until this fall no attempt has been 

 made to inspect some classes of this stock. As is quite general, I 

 presume, the large majority of this stock is imported by nurserj'^men 

 and wholesale dealers. Moreover, the bulk of the inspection has been 

 up to this time seedlings of apple or allied plants. 



In making arrangements for this inspection it was first thought 

 best to employ the local inspectors and send a gang of ten to twenty 

 to a place to go over carefully the large shipments of seedlings that 

 were being received bj^ different parties in the state. Upon a further 

 consideration of the case, after consultation with the importers, it was 

 found that the usual practice of growers was to carefully handle the 

 seedlings, trimming both ends, and either place them in sand for a time 

 or plant them in the field immediately. It was also learned that the 

 seedlings should be handled as little as possible as exposure to air or 

 added moisture would cause opposite but unfavorable conditions. 

 The nurserymen desired that the seedlings be handled but once, if 

 possible. The question to be decided was one of practicability versus 

 theory. Whether we should inspect the seedlings by a score of 

 inspectors at great expense, encountering the difficulties attending 

 such operation, especially the unfavorable conditions of inspecting 

 the seedlings when more or less packing was attached to them and 

 placing them back in boxes, or to inspect the seedlings after the nursery- 

 men had pursued their usual course in handling the trimming and pre- 

 paring for heahng in sand. Especially did the latter method appeal 

 to me as it was decidedly' the most economical and, I think, more 

 effective. Our present method of inspecting large quantities of 

 seedlings is as follows : 



