MONTANA STATE BOARD OF HORTICULTURE 9 



Falls", Billings, Havre and Missoula. At these places carloads are 

 received from the western states and from California and are dis- 

 tributed to nearby points. In the Bitter Root Valley, the Missoula 

 Valley, the Flathead Lake section and parts of Carbon county locally 

 produced fruit is inspected for pests and diseases before it is shipped. 

 The railroads are forbidden by law to accept fruit for shipment be- 

 fore it has been inspected and passed as reasonably free from dan- 

 gerously injurious pests and diseases. 



Considerable fruit is sold locally near places of production. Much 

 of this fruit is not inspected and it would be practically an impos- 

 sible task fo attempt a complete inspection of such fruit. Such a 

 course would probably be unwise and of little value, as there could 

 be little likelihood that such fruit would endanger the industry. While 

 some of the fruit, especially apples, is more or less affected with 

 pests and diseases, they are not those which are not already estab- 

 lished in the locality. The inspection of fruit should be maintained 

 in Montana with such thoroughness that new pests and diseases will 

 be kept from the fruit sections just as long as is humanly possible, and 

 in such manner that the consumers will be protected from inferior and 

 worthless fruit. It would be well also to have a stronger law regulating 

 / the grades of apples and the marking of such grades upon the boxes. 

 However, since co-operative marketing is gaining favor, especially in 

 the Bitter Root valley, there is yearly less and less trouble along this 

 line. Growers now realize that the best business procedure is to put up 

 an honest pack and mark the box correctly. 



Nursery and Nursery Stock Inspection. 



Not only in Montana, but elsewhere in the United States, the 

 nursery business of late years has been at low ebb. The setting of 

 fruit trees has been very small with the exception of home orchards'. 

 Very few commercial orchards have been planted within the last five 

 years. Consequently only the older and well-established nurseries are 

 still operating. The nursery business at present is' concerned quite 

 largely with the production of shade and ornamental trees. Most 

 of the trees, of whatever kind, are planted in this state in the spring 

 and during the spring months most of the nursery stock must be in- 

 spected. The trees sold in Montana during the past two years have 

 been singularh' free from pests as shown by the fact that out of 



