Inspection 19 



scale, yellows, rosette, and other injurious insect or disease;" 

 yet it would be impossible for any botanist to certify that 

 a dormant tree were certainly free of all disease ; and even 

 in the matter of some insects, an entomologist could not 

 give a clean bill of health without giving more time to the 

 examination of the tree than it is worth. These difficulties 

 are not justification for opposition to statutes or for in- 

 difference to them, but they are reasons why the grower 

 should be careful to avoid a false security. The grower 

 must add his personal endeavor, and watch his plantation 

 minutely with his own eyes even if it has passed the 

 scrutiny of the inspector. 



A knowledge of the natural history of the pests provides 

 the only final security. Most insects and diseases are be- 

 yond the reach of legislative fiats. Some of the demands 

 for functionary proceedings against the bugs recall the 

 laborious efforts of the Middle Ages. "At one time," 

 writes Fernald, "a thoroughgoing procedure, according to 

 all the rules of jurisprudence, occurred before the spiritual 

 judge. The accused insects were summoned, and in case 

 of non-appearance, which always occurred, unless the in- 

 sects were moving to new feeding-grounds and the court- 

 house happened to be in their way, a proxy was appointed 

 to represent the accused insects, who debated the whole 

 subject with the accuser, after which judgment was ren- 

 dered, invariably against the accused insect in the form 

 of an excommunication, which was carried into effect 

 only when the insects disappeared at the time of 

 pupation." 



The most effective legal means are those that endeavor 

 to regulate the commerce in diseased and affected plants, 

 to prevent the spread of the difficulty rather than to 

 solve the difficulty on a given plantation. In recent years, 



