"218 Forty-ninth Report on the State Museum 



where Dr. Smith had found the scale, and, also, to give all these trees a 

 second treatment with gas." The Rural New Yorker concludes its ac- 

 count thus : " If this is done, there will be little danger of importing the 

 scale from this nursery. This statement refers simply to the trees now in 

 the nursery. What has already been sent out we do not know." 



Much may be inferred, and seems to be implied, in the short sentence 

 last quoted. It is here that the Lovett Company has chosen to place 

 itself in a position exposing it to just and severe criticism. It virtually 

 decHnes to do anything toward undoing the evil which it has perpetrated 

 — for the most part unwittingly, we believe — in the distribution of in- 

 fested stock in the State of New York, 



Request was made of them from this office in November, 1894, for a 

 list of sales such as Mr. Parry had sent me — stating fully its character. 

 After several months' delay, reply was made (February 4th), declining 

 the request upon the ground of the imm.ense labor that it would involve, 

 but offering to place their order books at the disposal of any persons who 

 might be sent for their examination. As this plan did not seem feasible 

 to Dr. Smith — after further correspondence with him, he was asked to 

 procure, if possible, the desired list from the company for me, for which 

 the expenses incurred would be paid. Dr. Smith wrote them, urging 

 compliance with my request. The letter received from the company in 

 answer contained the following proposition : "If he [Prof. Lintner] will 

 send us, or you either, a remittance of $250, we will attempt to make the 

 examination desired. * * * But we want a clear understanding be- 

 fore we begin as to the settlement of cost of sending the list he requires," 

 No comment on this modest proposal is needed ! 



The course taken by this firm has been so unaccountably strange in 

 other respects as to expose them to suspicions which possibly may do 

 them injustice. On the authority of Dr. Smith, the statement is made, 

 that during last autumn [in September] in a visit of observation made 

 them, he found that practically all of the trees in their nursery blocks 

 were infested by the San Jose scale. He notified them of this fact at the 

 time, and showed to both the president and secretary of the company 

 who were with him, the infested trees and the scales. 



Under date of December 28th following, the Lovett Company, writing 

 to the Director of the Ohio Agricultural Experiment Station in relation 

 to some infested apple trees that had been sent by them to Clermont 

 County, Ohio in 1890 — disavow all knowledge of the scale. They say : 

 " We would like very much indeed to have some branches of the trees 

 referred to for examination ourselves. We have made a critical examina- 



