34 Farmers’ Bulletin 1294. 
PENALTY FOR VIOLATION OF PLANT QUARAI SNE 
ACT. 
The plant quarantine act, August 20, 1912, as amended March 4, 
1913, and March 4, 1917, provides: “ That any person who shall 
violate any of the provisions of this act, or who shall forge, counter- 
feit, alter, deface, or destroy any certificate provided for in this act 
or in the regulations of the Secretary of Agriculture, shall be deemed 
guilty of a ‘misdemeanor and shall, upon conviction ‘thereof, be pun- 
ished by a fine not exceeding $500 or by imprisonment not exceeding 
one year, or both such fine and imprisonment, in the discretion of 
the court.” 
ARTIFICIAL CARRIERS OTHER THAN QUARANTINED 
PLANTS. 
GARBAGE. 
During the summer and early autumn the kitchen garbage from 
hotels, restaurants, private homes, and the like, may contain living 
borers, or pup, in ears or cobs of sweet corn, or portions thereof, 
which have been discarded after purchase, on account of the presence 
of the insect. Borers are also frequently present in the husks, silk, 
undeveloped tips, and the “shank” of the ears. These portions are 
commonly removed from sweet-corn ears before cooking and thrown 
into the swill container. Other plant material which frequently 
harbors the insect and which is commonly discarded during prepara- 
tion for the table includes the outer stalks of celery, and injured por- 
tions of beet tops, rhubarb, Swiss chard, spinach, and string beans. 
Garbage of this character may act as a carrier of the insect to new 
localities, as it is frequently transported considerable distances for 
use as food for pigs or disposal otherwise. Under these conditions 
the borers may escape en route, or before the swill is disposed of. 
Garbage is sometimes thrown into streams or bodies of water which 
may carry such material long distances through the influence of cur- 
rents, wind, or tide. Cor neobs which have been thrown into pigpens, 
and subsequently removed when cleaning out the pens, have been 
found to contain living borers. 
Collections of garbage made during the summer, autumn, and 
spring very frequently contain quantities of infested material con- 
sisting of cornstalks, other crop remnants, flowering plants, weeds, 
and similar plant material. Infested cornstalks and other plant ma- 
terial containing living borers have been found distributed along the 
beaches of New England, and also upon the shores of islands several 
miles from the mainland. Infested material of this kind has also 
been found distributed along the shore of Lake Erie on the Canadian 
side. It is probable that some of this material, especially corn- 
stalks and weeds, may be washed into streams, and eventually into 
the ocean or lakes, from farms and gardens during heavy rains or 
floods. 
The dispersion of the borer by means of infested garbage, crop 
remnants, and certain waste products, as discussed above, is believed 
to be at least a contributing cause of some of the infestations along 
the coast of New England and the shore of Lake Erie, as well as along. 
some of the river valleys within the infested areas. 
