TENTH ANNUAL REPORT OF THE STATE NURSERY 



INSPECTOR. 



To the State Board of Agriculture. 



I have the honor to submit herewith the tenth annual report 

 of the State Nursery Inspector. 



During the last few years the duties of the nursery inspector 

 have changed greatly. Originally, the work was simply an 

 examination by the inspector of the nursery stock found grow- 

 ing, and the removal of all insect pests and diseases discovered. 

 This work increased rapidly as the nurseries grew in number and 

 size, and in time other duties were added by legislative enact- 

 ment. One of these additions was the inspection o£ plants outside 

 of nurseries when their condition was such as to jeopardize the 

 health of other plants on adjacent property. The law declared 

 that such plants might be declared a public nuisance and pre- 

 scribed methods for abatement, the whole of which was placed 

 in the hands of the nursery inspector. Another addition was 

 the requirement that every agent selling nursery stock should 

 secure a license, and that has involved considerable extra time 

 and correspondence. The law of 1909 also required that every 

 shipment of nursery stock entering Massachusetts should be 

 accompanied by a tag permit from the Massachusetts in- 

 spector, who was expected to satisfy himself, before issuing 

 tags, that the stock to be sent into the State met our standards. 

 The amount of time and the correspondence necessary to 

 properly care for this portion of the inspector's duties was not 

 known when this section of the law was passed. In fact, how- 

 ever, it requires a great deal of time and many letters, as the 

 number of nurseries shipping into the State has proved to be 

 very large, and the shipments numerous. Many nurserymen 

 plan to satisfy IMassachusetts requirements and purchase tags 

 enough in the fall to provide for both their fall and spring ship- 

 ments, but last spring, notwithstanding this practice, 6,177 



