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NURSERY STOCK INSPECTION 



by the Division of Plant Industry, 

 New Hampshire Department of Agriculture 



Siegfried E. Thewke 



Ne 



IEARLY everyone who grows and sells nursery 

 stock in New Hampshire has met — or will meet — a 

 horticultural inspector from the Division of Plant In- 

 dustry (NHDA). Nurserymen, greenhouse growers, 

 plant dealers, and collectors often wonder what we, 

 in the division, are doing inspecting plants. There is 

 more to regulatory horticulture than looking at plants, 

 as many of you already know. 



Movement of plant material from Europe to 

 America prior to 1900 was infrequent and limited. 

 Plants could not take the rigors of a sea voyage last- 

 ing many weeks and nearly always died. Most of the 

 plant material imported then was in the form of 

 seeds. Development of the "Wardian Case", essen- 

 tially a miniature air-sealed greenhouse, allowed 

 plants in a growing state to survive long sea voyages. 

 Use of such cases enabled growers in Europe to ship 

 a lot of nursery stock to America. Inevitably, the 

 United States became a dumping ground for poor 

 quality, insect and disease infested/infected stock. 

 Plant quarantine laws to prevent such dumping had 

 not yet been put in place. 



The United State Department of Agriculture had 

 agricultural inspectors who became alarmed about 

 the importation of infested/infected stock. They did 

 not want to accept this stock but, due to the lack of 

 regulations, had to allow it in. Legislation to stem the 

 flow began to be put in place. The USDA established 

 a division of entomology in 1863 and passed a Fed- 

 eral Insect Pest Act in 1905. Importation of pests such 

 as the Gypsy Moth pointed to the need for quaran- 

 tines. Interestingly, opposition by economic ento- 

 mologist, the nursery industry, and especially garden 

 clubs had to be overcome. Passage of the Plant Quar- 

 antine Act of 1912 ended the unrestricted flow of 

 plants from Europe. 



The San lose scale, Aspidiolus pernicious Comstock, 

 was the one insect that led to the establishment of 

 nursery inspection in the northeast. This insect, a na- 



tive of northern China, arrived in California between 

 1870 and 1880. It arrived in Virginia in 1893 and 

 spread throughout the northeast. By 1898, 15 states 

 had passed laws addressing horticulture within their 

 borders, mostly directed against the San lose scale. 



Today, departments of agriculture of all the states 

 and territories have a section, branch, or division that 

 bears the responsibility for the inspection and certifi- 

 cation of nursery stock. The purpose of such work was 

 alluded to previously and is conducted to prevent 

 the introduction of harmful insect pests and plant dis- 

 eases. Nurserymen, greenhouse growers, and others 

 involved with nursery stock meeting our inspectors for 

 the first time are sometimes suspicious of us, perhaps 

 wondering what the state is up to now. 



They become even more skeptical when told they 

 will be charged! Have no fears. All the work we do is 

 for the good of the industry. 



The Division of Plant Industry has three inspectors, 

 all entomologists and each with expertise in particular 

 areas. An inspector cannot just be an entomologist 

 because the field of horticulture encompasses so 

 many disciplines. Our inspectors have between 15-20 

 years of field experience and are knowledgeable in 

 plant pathology, botany, nematology, forestry, 

 acarology (mites and ticks) and so on. The job of hor- 

 ticultural inspector in the division of plant industry 

 had to be performed by versatile individual — the in- 

 dustry requires it. 



Well, what exactly does a horticultural inspector 

 do? A couple of examples will illustrate the type of 

 work an inspector of the division is called upon to 

 perform. 



There are several horticultural establishments in 

 New Hampshire that ship nursery stock out-of-state 

 on a more or less regular basis. Any grower intending 

 to ship out-of-state should be aware of the import re- 

 strictions other states have. Failure to be aware of 

 these can result in dire consequences for the stock 



October & f^ovember 1993 

 15 



