INSPECTION WORK i.\ RELATION TO HORTICULTURE 689 



and the remarkable development of spraying apparatus have been 

 sufficient not only to save the trees from the scale insects, but to 

 improve and save the fruit from the attacks of minor pests; and 

 the enormous crops of fruit that are grown in this state at present 

 indicate that the industry has been saved and that the losses feared 

 by the fruit growers have not been realized. 



PATHOLOGICAL INSPECTION AND INVESTIGATION 



Within the last year the department has been able to give 

 particular attention to such pathological inspection as was made 

 necessary by the discovery of the powdery scab of the potato, a 

 newly imported disease that threatened the potato industry of 

 the state, together with a fear that the wart disease of the potato 

 might be introduced, to the further destruction or injury to the 

 crop. The crop produced annually in this state is valued at fifty 

 millions of dollars and should certainly receive attention the 

 best that can be given. The work along this line has been ex- 

 tensive and the information collected relative to the importance 

 of potato seed regulation is very convincing. There are at least 

 a ha If -dozen leading diseases of this important crop, most of 

 which could be controlled under an adequate inspection service. 



There are also many other diseases of trees -and plants that 

 properly receive attention under our existing laws. The most 

 important of these are the obscure diseases of the peach, the 

 blights and cankers of the fruit trees, the chestnut bark disease, 

 and the growth of bacterial diseases of plants, the scientific 

 investigation of which has quite recently led to interesting and 

 remarkable development. 



Foreign countries, and especially those of South America, 

 demand certificates of inspection for vegetable products expected 

 to carry insect or fungous troubles likely to cause loss in their 

 respective areas. At present this applies mainly to potatoes, but 

 indications point to the fact that it very likely will include many 

 others. The government of the Bermuda Islands has gone so 

 far as to require field inspections of the growing plants in the 

 country of origin. These inspections are made in cooperation 

 with a representative of their government sent here for the pur- 

 pqse. This work is fast assuming many varied forms. 



