April, '11] CONRADI: NURSERY QUARANTINE STATIONS 267 



moth get by them, because they do not want it on their own stock, and 

 more particularly because they do not want it on the larger amount of 

 stock which they ship out. Our most reliable nursery last year 

 placed two men as supervisors over their trimmers and graders. They 

 were talked to by the importer and by myself. The proprietor urged 

 upon them the absolute necessity of care, and the two men, his own 

 most careful foreman, were given to understand that nothing must get 

 by them. I had an inspector myself on the ground, and one brown- 

 tail nest got past them all. The trimmings were cleaned up thoroughly 

 and burned every day. 



President Washburn : Do j^ou think it is perfectly safe to let the 

 nurserj'men trim before they are inspected? 



Mr. Summers: I thought it was better to do so. The brown-tail 

 did get by them in two cases; one Avas a shipment into Illinois; the 

 other one was found after the seedlings had been set out the next 

 spring. We have adopted the policy of going over all seedlings as 

 soon as possible after they are set out. 



Mr. Engle: These conditions differ somewhat from those in my 

 state. There are two of us that inspect. All bundles were opened in 

 our presence and gone over, and passed on to another set of men, who 

 tied them up and took them away, and no trimming was done whatever. 

 Every package was opened and examined, except such varieties as 

 were practically all roots, which we did not open. 



THE PRACTICABILITY OF NURSERY QUARANTINE STATIONS 



By A. F. CoNRADi, Clemson College, S. C. 



For a number of years we have had fews in the various states to 

 govern interstate shipments of nursery stock. The object of these 

 laws is to protect the respective states against the introduction of 

 certain injurious insects and plant diseases. The laws of most states 

 closely resemble each other as far as the provisions contained therein 

 are concerned, though the rules and regulations governing the various 

 inspectors, vary to some extent. 



A mere law is not much of a protection unless the act and the rules 

 and regulations give wide latidude to the inspectors. The efficiency 

 of a law is mostly governed by the inspection force. The writer has 

 found badly infested stock bearing a certificate signed by one of the 

 most conscientious and one of the oldest entomologists in this country. 

 It was never inferred that this was a blunder on the part of that 

 entomologist. It is merely assumed and without hesitation that the 

 official whose name appeared on the certificate had never seen the stock. 



