244 BOARD OF AGRICULTURE. [Pub. Doc. 



It should not be forgotten in this connection that when 

 the inspection law was drawn and the appropriation therefor 

 fixed, only thirtj^-two nurseries were known, and even then 

 it Avas suggested during the preparation of the bill that the 

 appropriation should be made two thousand dollars ; to-day 

 one thousand dollars covers the cost of inspecting nearly 

 four times as many nurseries as it was at first feared that 

 this sum would be insufficient for. The appropriation as it 

 stands is none too large, however, and any year it may 

 prove too small, either because of bad weather during the 

 inspection season, or by an even small increase in the num- 

 ber of places it is necessary to inspect. 



The injurious insects and diseases guarded against by 

 inspection in Massachusetts are less numerous than in some 

 of the central and southern States, but are still important 

 enough to require the most careful work on the part of 

 the inspectors. It is perhaps well here to consider these 

 })ests in some detail, and particularly with reference to 

 their distribution and abundance in the nurseries of the 

 State. 



Of the plant diseases, crown gall has not thus far been 

 discovered by inspectors in Massachusetts. Farther south 

 it is very serious, and is the cause of much loss. Whether 

 this State is beyond its northern limit has not yet been de- 

 termined ; but it is one of the diseases watched for in every 

 nursery, though it is to be hoped that it will not make its 

 appearance here. 



Peach yellows, while present in the State, has not thus 

 far shown itself in the nurseries. Possibly the disease may 

 he present there in some cases, but if so, the trees are so 

 young that it fails to show itself until they are beyond the 

 nursery age. 



Black knot is far too abundant in Massachusetts every- 

 where, but this disease, too, rarely shows itself on small 

 trees. It has been found on nursery stock but a few times, 

 and then always on trees which were almost beyond salable 

 size. The treatment required has been to cut off and burn 

 all affected branches at least a foot below the external marks 

 of the disease. 



